Winter is officially upon us. The temperatures are below freezing and scarves and mittens are taken from their hidey holes to keep us warm. It’s the only time of year where it becomes an ice level outside your door. I love it. The snow, the cold, the smell of a subzero wind, it’s all amazing. I’ve always really appreciated the colder places in The Legend of Zelda series. Hebra was one of my favorite parts of Breath of the Wild — definitely not for Revali, but for the atmosphere. They are always so peaceful and fun to be in.
DeviantArt user and member for the Zelda Universe DA group TinyRedSquirrel created a really beautiful piece called “The Beauty of a Hyrule Winter” which I think really encapsulates the season well.
The piece takes a very refined, straightforward approach. It’s simply Zelda from Breath of the Wild standing off center, gazing out in wonder at the snow falling all around her. That’s it. It’s such a minimal piece, but it shows so much. Zelda’s expression is perfect for what is going on around her. She is having one of those moments we all have when the first snow of winter starts falling. No matter what your age is, you always tend to get a little misty eyed at snowfall.
I also want to call attention to her outfit. Her coat is so accurate to what you would see in-game, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was an actual outfit for snowy regions when BotW 2 comes out. I love all the little details on the coat and gloves. The artist really put in a lot of detail work on this piece.
Color is always an important part of any piece of art. Sometimes, a lack of colors can help establish a mood better than the actual subject. In this case, the piece is almost entirely shades of blue. Blue is really the perfect color for the winter season as even pure white snow has a tinge of blue to it. It works to make this a moment frozen in time, a memory of the season. The blue-gray of the background serves as a subtler contrast to the white of the snow falling instead of using a harsher or more prominent color such as black or even solid gray.
Everything about this piece just screams “Winter”, at least all the fun parts of the season. Strolling outside during a light snow with the wind blowing your hair is, in my opinion, the best way to experience winter. Thank you to TinyRedSquirrel for submitting this piece to our DeviantArt group! You can check out their other works on their DA page here.
