Mai art recs

For day 3 of womenlovefest.  I was briefly tempted to save the art recs post until after I had posted my own sketches, so as to avoid unflattering comparisons, but then I realised I was kidding myself. 

So!  One of the things that I love best about Avatar fandom is how it is exploding with talented fan artists.  You have people dedicated to reproducing the style of the show (and it really is weird and uncanny and amazing to have a fandom where, in fact, fan-created stuff can be eerily indistinguishable from the real thing), and people who bring their own style and create something new and delightful in the way it remixes the familiar.

So with that in mind, here's a dozen or so links to my favourite pieces of Mai art.  Which is not remotely exhaustive (and I tried to steer clear of some of the more obvious choices, but then I realised I didn't even know what the obvious choices were, and how could I leave out missbennet's realistic portraits, or ignore aliwildgoose?) but if you're new to Mai art, I hope it serves as an introduction.

All are worksafe (although "Weapon of Choice" features underwear), although, this being Mai, you can pretty much assume images of sharp, pointy things are a given.

Lady Mai by Fuienu-chan

How Sokka Saw It by swan-swan

Mai's Hidden Knives by daskirtz

Mai by Ketoprak (at first I almost missed what the artist did with the leaves here.  And then I exploded with envy that I don't have the skill to do the same thing.)

Portrait of Zuko and Mai by missbennet

Avatar - Mai by NorthernBanshee

Maiko - Weapon of Choice redux by AliWildgoose

The Female of the Species by xcgirl08

So It Goes by N3L (this may be the closest thing in the world to Aang/Mai fan art!)

Can I help you? by swan-swan

Fire Nation Gothic by Booter-Freak