The final artwork overlayed onto the original card, with updated "Illus." area.
Friday, 23 May 2014
The Final Piece, Sketches to Production Quality.
With the Style Guide made and a great deal of knowledge on brushes acquired, it was time to create the final piece of art.
I started out with some thumbnails which was presented to peers, similar to presenting to a publisher. The first image suited the style guide and peaked interest the most, so I created a more advanced sketch.
This piece, although has anatomy issues, was accepted by peers on the basis that it would suit the guide and sit well on a Magic: The Gathering card. This is due to the image's subject matter being quite simple yet effective and easy to convey on a small canvas.
Initial Colouring and texture.
Progressively adding more detail and texture whilst remove the line work. This piece was well received. Which meant I could continue on and create the final piece.
Adding Background texture to add interest and setting.
The final Piece. Added in more texture to be reminiscent of older artwork found in Homelands. Very happy with the art, especially the textures used, which was not a strong point of mine before the project. Now I feel a lot more confident with it.
This piece, although has anatomy issues, was accepted by peers on the basis that it would suit the guide and sit well on a Magic: The Gathering card. This is due to the image's subject matter being quite simple yet effective and easy to convey on a small canvas.
The final Piece. Added in more texture to be reminiscent of older artwork found in Homelands. Very happy with the art, especially the textures used, which was not a strong point of mine before the project. Now I feel a lot more confident with it.
Style Guide
In line with trying to simulate a commercial environment, I've created a short Style Guide to adhere to for the final piece.
The Style Guide can be found in .odf form here.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/eaafvobc5z7f12b/1101873%20Creative%20Research%20Style%20Guide.odt
The Style Guide can be found in .odf form here.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/eaafvobc5z7f12b/1101873%20Creative%20Research%20Style%20Guide.odt
Mirrodin Study
The following is a study of brush work used in the artwork for Memnite. Memnite is a mechanical creature created on a plane with a very harsh, arid terrain and I feel like it's some of the best magic art.
Memnite
Here is my study of that terrain.
Two studies without reference of Mirrodin. To practice keeping in line with the style of the set.
Quick Fantasy Study
A quick fantasy study of a hydra. Done quickly within 40 mins, an appropriate time scale for concept work. This was done in response to Noah Bradley's seminar on creating quick pieces.
Friday, 9 May 2014
"The Look of Return to Ravnica" and "The Art of Gatecrash"
I recently found two very useful articles on the style of two recent magic sets, Return to Ravnica and Gatecrash. They deal with the very relevant struggle of reimagining the aesthetics of a previous set. "Return to Ravnica" is a modernization of "Ravnica: City of Guilds" which was released back in 2006. Armed with more experienced artists and a greater set vision, the team reaffirmed the roles of each guild in a more relevant light, citing the shortfalls they faced in the previous incarnation.
The first article of the two, "The Look of Return to Ravnica" can be found here:
The first article of the two, "The Look of Return to Ravnica" can be found here:
http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/214a
While the second, "The Art of Gatecrash" can be found here:
http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/231b
http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/231b
The new guides address the issues faced by the old team, with the narrator having been on both. The narrator has with them however this time a want for a more relevant style for each guild and a stronger focus on their place within the world around them. Ravnica is a world covered by one massive city, so architecture and clothing are new points to address in assuring the success visually of the set. It's a great insight into developing culture in a fictional world.
Wednesday, 23 April 2014
Homelands Ferret Study
Homelands: The Making of a Magic Set
Homelands is considered one of, if not the, worst magic sets every printed. Not because of the vision or the mechanics, but because the cards themselves were all under powered. Wizards hae published a fantastic article detailing the process of creating Magic's first Theme-based set - which can be found here.
https://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/157
The article includes images from the illusive style guide, namely images of ferrets.
It's surprising that the artwork for Joven's ferrets was so poor, considering that these are all fantastically jovial images.
Excerpts from the article relating to the art.
"While the playtest groups were busy creating decks and strategies with the new cards, Kyle and Scott put together the list of cards and card titles for Sandra (Everingham) Garavito, art director for Magic A Magic artist herself, Sandra worked with the designers to prepare a package for the artists that would explain the history and context of the cards they would be representing. Guidelines on how the actual image should appear, however, were kept to a minimum. In keeping with the original diverse spirit of Magic, Sandra worked to make sure that the artists' vision wasn't compromised by too much artistic direction."
Sandra worked with the designers to make a few specific requests of the artists. "We wanted each group of related cards to be represented by one artist who style complemented the characters," notes Scott. Artists Pete Venters and Christopher Rush were singled out early on by the designers for particular concepts. Pete was asked to portray the royal family of Sengir, and Chris was also given a choice of several other cards and immediately chose Eron the Relentless, one of the chief figures among the red cards, and Rashka the Slayer, a Vampire hunter. "I wanted the Baron Sengir but he was taken, so I took the character that wanted to kill him," recalls Chris.
As the artists received their card titles and the histories, the final reports from the playtesters began to arrive. By mid-April, all the results had been gathered, and the R&D team set to work considering the opinions and concerns of the playtesters. Most cards required minor adjustments to statistics or casting cost; others were completely re-written. Since the artists had already begun creating the pictures according to the titles and descriptions sent to them weeks earlier, the developers attempted to keep the new powers in line with the artwork in progress.
...
In May, Sandra began to receive the finished paintings from the artists. Every time another package arrived in the mail, she took the new painting to Kyle and Scott for final approval. Both the designers were stunned to see the visions that their project had influenced. According to Scott, "Seeing the story we had worked on for so long come to life in the artwork was incredible—it was perfect!"
As the art continued to arrive, the process of putting the actual cards together began. The art was scanned onto computer and placed in the familiar Magic card borders. The cards then entered typesetting, during with the card text, art, and borders were assembled into complete cards. Meanwhile, R&D worked out where each card should appear on the press sheets, large grids which would be printed, cut into individual cards, and sorted into boosters.
All in all its a very insightful read on the production line for Magic.
https://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/157
The article includes images from the illusive style guide, namely images of ferrets.
It's surprising that the artwork for Joven's ferrets was so poor, considering that these are all fantastically jovial images.
Excerpts from the article relating to the art.
"While the playtest groups were busy creating decks and strategies with the new cards, Kyle and Scott put together the list of cards and card titles for Sandra (Everingham) Garavito, art director for Magic A Magic artist herself, Sandra worked with the designers to prepare a package for the artists that would explain the history and context of the cards they would be representing. Guidelines on how the actual image should appear, however, were kept to a minimum. In keeping with the original diverse spirit of Magic, Sandra worked to make sure that the artists' vision wasn't compromised by too much artistic direction."
Sandra worked with the designers to make a few specific requests of the artists. "We wanted each group of related cards to be represented by one artist who style complemented the characters," notes Scott. Artists Pete Venters and Christopher Rush were singled out early on by the designers for particular concepts. Pete was asked to portray the royal family of Sengir, and Chris was also given a choice of several other cards and immediately chose Eron the Relentless, one of the chief figures among the red cards, and Rashka the Slayer, a Vampire hunter. "I wanted the Baron Sengir but he was taken, so I took the character that wanted to kill him," recalls Chris.
As the artists received their card titles and the histories, the final reports from the playtesters began to arrive. By mid-April, all the results had been gathered, and the R&D team set to work considering the opinions and concerns of the playtesters. Most cards required minor adjustments to statistics or casting cost; others were completely re-written. Since the artists had already begun creating the pictures according to the titles and descriptions sent to them weeks earlier, the developers attempted to keep the new powers in line with the artwork in progress.
...
In May, Sandra began to receive the finished paintings from the artists. Every time another package arrived in the mail, she took the new painting to Kyle and Scott for final approval. Both the designers were stunned to see the visions that their project had influenced. According to Scott, "Seeing the story we had worked on for so long come to life in the artwork was incredible—it was perfect!"
As the art continued to arrive, the process of putting the actual cards together began. The art was scanned onto computer and placed in the familiar Magic card borders. The cards then entered typesetting, during with the card text, art, and borders were assembled into complete cards. Meanwhile, R&D worked out where each card should appear on the press sheets, large grids which would be printed, cut into individual cards, and sorted into boosters.
All in all its a very insightful read on the production line for Magic.
Wednesday, 29 January 2014
Style Guides
Most commercial artists, both for Magic: The Gathering and other works, follow a style guide when creating artwork. This has not always been the case for Wizards who, for the first few years of Magic: The Gatherings existence, omitted style guides from the process. This led to some confusing interpretations of cards and some of Magic's more iconically strange artworks. Wizards.com has several articles on the history of its art and the impact having a style guide (or not having one) had on the Multiverse.
The articles are very interesting and can be found here:
The Magic Style Guide Part 1: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mc3
The Magic Style Guide Part 1.5: http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mc4
The Magic Style Guide Part 2: https://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mc5
Magic: The Gathering started using a Style Guide in it's "Tempest" set, the first set of cards in the "Tempest" block. Tempest is the 12th card set of Magic: The Gathering, released in October 1997. This means that Wizards went 12 sets and 4 years without using a Style Guide - which produced some issues for it's artists and players.
The following art is from the "Ice Age" block, the 11th set released in 1995. Upon hearing the name "Ice Age" appropriate imagery comes to mind, which had worked for previous card sets. However, Ice Age had a race of people known as the "Balduvians" who resided in the universe and, without a style guide, artistic license was taken with their appearance. The following is artwork that appeared on cards from different artists depicting the Balduvians.
Although there are some similarities, the variance is still wild in some artwork. This is when a Style Guide would have created a much more unified look.
From looking at the rules, suddenly what is obvious is thrown out the window and new ideas need to be created to compliment the world created. I will challenge myself to create artwork adhering to these rules.
The articles are very interesting and can be found here:
The Magic Style Guide Part 1: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mc3
The Magic Style Guide Part 1.5: http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mc4
The Magic Style Guide Part 2: https://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mc5
Magic: The Gathering started using a Style Guide in it's "Tempest" set, the first set of cards in the "Tempest" block. Tempest is the 12th card set of Magic: The Gathering, released in October 1997. This means that Wizards went 12 sets and 4 years without using a Style Guide - which produced some issues for it's artists and players.
The following art is from the "Ice Age" block, the 11th set released in 1995. Upon hearing the name "Ice Age" appropriate imagery comes to mind, which had worked for previous card sets. However, Ice Age had a race of people known as the "Balduvians" who resided in the universe and, without a style guide, artistic license was taken with their appearance. The following is artwork that appeared on cards from different artists depicting the Balduvians.
Mirroden Notes
The Following is a set of written guides for the art style of the "Mirroden" Block.From looking at the rules, suddenly what is obvious is thrown out the window and new ideas need to be created to compliment the world created. I will challenge myself to create artwork adhering to these rules.
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