Monday, July 15, 2013

You Make the Card: Waste Not

At the Daily MTG site, You Make the Card 4 is going on. This is where readers of the Magic's website create a Magic card by voting the various aspects of a Magic card's creation. The finished product will appear in a future set. The game design aspects have been established, and now the creative side of the production is up. I was given the honor of being chosen to create the illustration for this card. I was asked to create three different takes on the the art description below.  Fans will vote for which sketch will carried on into a final painting. Go to the Daily MTG page here to cast your vote. 

Waste Not
Color: Black Spell
Location: A nasty trash heap outside a small settlement
Action: We see a RAG MAN , a hunched and withered humanoid figure who appears to be held together by frayed ropes and worn leather straps. The being is standing triumphantly atop a heap of bones, broken armor, and weapons, and other less identifiable trash. It is holding up a skull in one hand; the other clutches a filthy sack that is bulging with "treasures". The glow of purplish power surrounds the Rag Man and the Skull.
Focus: the glowing figure.
Mood: Creepy, yet eco-friendly.



 Sketch A


 Sketch B


Sketch C

Thursday, July 4, 2013

The Benefit Auction for Cyril is open!

The second round of the benefit auction for Cyril Van Der Haegen just opened up on Ebay! It's a great opportunity to grab a great piece or art. Cyril's a talented artist and a great guy who's been battling both a form of Leukemia and a form of bone cancer. You can read about Cyril's condition in more detail here.

My contribution to the auction is the original oil painting done for the Magic card Viridian Emissary. It was done for the Mirrodin Beseiged expansion set. The painting measures 12" x 16".  Check out the Ebay auction here.  



Monday, July 1, 2013

Woodborn Behemoth



Woodborn Behemoth
oil on paper on board, 12" x 16"
©Wizards of the Coast

This is my contribution the the upcoming M14 core set for Magic: The Gathering. Aside from trampling the forest beneath like grass, I needed to give this creature something to do so that it looked alive. So I made it going after a flock of birds with its gigantic maw. The birds are lost when the image is reduced to card size, but you can see it in the image above.