The Legend of Korra—The Art of the Animated Series, Book Two: Spirits

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The cover art for the book features Korra.

The Legend of Korra—The Art of the Animated Series, Book Two: Spirits (ISBN 1-61655-462-2) is an art book written by Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, and Joaquim Dos Santos that is based on the second book of The Legend of Korra. Similar to its predecessor, the volume offers an inside look at the developmental and creative process that Book Two underwent prior to its release through a series of preliminary artworks supplemented by commentary from the creators.

The second of four art books, one for each book in the series, it was released on September 16, 2014, and spans 184 pages.

Contents

This book contains fifteen chapters:

1. Rebel Spirit (pages 9 through 30)
2. The Southern Lights (pages 32 through 49)
3. Civil Wars, Part 1 (pages 50 through 57)
4. Civil Wars, Part 2 (pages 58 through 67)
5. Peacekeepers (pages 68 through 75)
6. The Sting (pages 76 through 83)
7. Beginnings, Part 1 (pages 84 through 101)
8. Beginnings, Part 2 (pages 103 through 113)
9. The Guide (pages 114 through 122)
10. A New Spiritual Age (pages 123 through 135)
11. Night of a Thousand Stars (pages 136 through 143)
12. Harmonic Convergence (pages 144 through 153)
13. Darkness Falls (pages 154 through 163)
14. Light in the Dark (pages 164 through 171)
15. Ancillary Art (pages 172 through 183)

It also includes an introduction by Avatar creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino on pages six and seven, respectively.

Chapter One: Rebel Spirit

The first chapter introduces the reason behind the six-month time skip, plus the new characters and plot of the second book. DiMartino explains that he always liked time-skips because it made him feel as though "characters have a life of their own" when off the air. Mako is a cop, Asami runs Future Industries, and Bolin is still trying to keep the Fire Ferrets alive. The other aspect was that it enabled the creators to change the style of the characters slightly; Konietzko states that he wishes that he used Korra's long-sleeved style throughout the entirety of the second book.

The initial concept art for Kya showed her to be older and with a different outfit compared to the finalized design.

The chapter also covers the introduction of new characters, such as Kya, someone who DiMartino labeled as one of his "favorite additions", together with her brother Bumi. Konietzko explains that her design was an "interesting collaboration" between Lauren Montgomery, who made the initial concept, Ki Hyun Ryu, who added to that concept, and himself, who made the final touches. It was Konietzko who pushed for Kya to wear an outfit that reminisced her mother's outfits from the first series. Joaquim Dos Santos add that the final design tweaks, such as drawing her eyes slightly bigger and giving Kya a more youthful and "cute" appearance, helped bolster the "free-spirit" aspect of her personality.

Varrick is another one of those new characters. His design represents for DiMartino the prosperity of the Southern Water Tribe and was designed very realistic, while the characters of Tonraq and Unalaq were designed to be in contrast with one another; where Tonraq is more brutish and fights like a barbarian, Unalaq is refined, with a more elegant technique. The characters of Desna and Eska took some time as, according to Joaquim Dos Santos, the artists were unable to pin down a look for the twins. It was not until Ki Hyun Ryu attempted that they figured out the twins' signature deadpan look and hunched back.

The "owl-faced spirit" that marked the first appearance of such the dark spirits was a challenge as it set the mold for the dark spirits that would appear later. Konietzko states that he "had to establish how they would look in various states"; the dark, neutral, and light versions.

See also

• Avatar: The Last Airbender—The Art of the Animated Series
• List of Avatar books
• The Legend of Korra: Enhanced Experience
• The Legend of Korra—The Art of the Animated Series, Book One: Air
• The Legend of Korra—The Art of the Animated Series, Book Three: Change
• The Legend of Korra—The Art of the Animated Series, Book Four: Balance