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20 year
The Gatshoef Magic:
ri
page 46ng, on
FANTASY
CARD
ARTIST
Welcome to the world of
professional trading card art
In this special issue we take an inspiring look at the rst 20
years of Magic: The Gathering and catch up with the artists
creating characters for Blizzards Hearthstone. If you want to
break into card art yourself, we have all the training youll
need starting on page 66, including the art techniques of
artists working at Blizzard and Magic: The Gathering. Youll
learn how to paint card art characters and creatures, how to
create great compositions, how fundamental art theory can
help you create professional card art, and much more.
CONTENTS
GALLERY
Artist showcase
46
FEATURES
years of
46 20
Magic: The Gathering
The story behind the card game
juggernauts rst 20 years
INTERVIEWS
54 Anthony S. Waters
60
60 Sinad Jaruartjanapat
28
4 Fantasy Card Artist
34
40
March 2016
80
108
WORKSHOPS
REVIEWS
128
RESOURCES
76
142
146 Downloads
Gallery
FANTASY
GALLERY
A showcase of inspiring work from artists,
illustrators and designers around the world
Vance
Kovacs
Location: US
Web: www.vancekovacs.com
Media: Photoshop
Vance Kovacs is a typical modernday concept artist: hes worked on
feature films (Narnia) and video
games (Unreal III) but continues to
search for new ways to test his skills.
He acknowledges his influences too: I have
a great respect for past artists, artists that I look
to for inspiration Arthur Rackham, NC Wyeth,
Howard Pyle that whole Golden Age of
illustration, when the illustrators, as far as
entertainment went, were the top guys, he says.
But thats not to say theres anything typical
about his artwork, which is familiar enough to
grab your attention but original enough to take
you on new journeys in colour and composition.
Vance has also worked on an array of card
and tabletop games. He produced hundreds of
character portraits for WizKids titles, including
the sci-fi title Mechwarrior and Pirates of the
Cursed Seas. Hes also done regular work for
Wizards of the Coast and Magic: The Gathering
over the years, and more recently hes been
doing World of Warcraft cards.
Magic cards are nice because I get to explore
things visually. Its not set in stone, Vance
explains. Theyre a little bit more open with the
artists, whereas doing World of Warcraft, they
want you to follow certain design guidelines.
They have to fit in with the established Blizzard
style, which makes sense. I think the games
been a little bit successful
CERTAIN DEATH
For this Magic: The
Gathering card, Vance got
to indulge his own fantasy
painting a dragon.
Artist portfolios
Gallery
REALM SEEKERS
Mikes oil paintings are
packed with detail but still
clearly legible at card size.
Mike
Sass
Location: Canada
Web: www.sassart.com
Media: Oils
Mike spent over a decade at BioWare
he was the Canadian video game
developers first in-house artist,
where he worked on a string of hit
RPGs, creating everything from
box art and magazine covers to concept art and
marketing illustrations.
In 2009, Mike left BioWare to pursue his
passion for fantasy illustration and oil painting.
Hes since done illustrations for such celebrated
franchises as Star Wars, World of Warcraft,
Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons.
I now work almost exclusively in oils,
Mike says, although he has a substantial body
of digital work behind him. Im at home
combining gaming illustration with my love
for the craft of painting.
Mikes work for Magic: The Gathering
includes some pretty off-the-wall concepts.
Take Clockwork Golem, for example: its a scene
of elves battling a robotic menace in a tomb,
powered by an undead skeletal torso. Reckless
Reveler depicts a satyr setting fire to a Trojan
horse. It was difficult to make that clear, having
two elements of different scale, but Im really
happy with how it turned out, Mike says.
Battlefield Thaumaturge was also painted
for Magic: The Gathering. The client initially
requested a shot from behind, Mike reveals,
but I suggested this alternative pose and it
was accepted.
Aerie Worshippers was Mikes first oil
painting for Magic: The Gathering. Because
of the classical theme, I chose to paint it quite
a bit larger than card paintings are normally
done, says Mike, adding: This painting was
a finalist for the Art Renewal Center salon for
imaginative realist painting.
CLOCKWORK GOLEM
Mike says he really enjoys
painting multi-character,
epic scenes like this one.
BATTLEFIELD
THAUMATURGE
AERIE WORSHIPPERS
Painted in oils on a panel
at 18x24 inches, this piece is
larger than card art usually is.
Gallery
Yap Kun
Rong
Location: Tokyo
Web: http://krypt.cgsociety.org
Media: Photoshop
It can take a brave step to take
your art to the next level and find
a new spark of life. For the young
Singaporean Yap Kun Rong, that
vital spark came from his move
to Tokyo. The Japanese influence on his art
transformed him into an up-and-coming
phenomenon in the twin worlds of fantasy
and sci-fi art.
Coming to Japan has opened my eyes
like never before, in terms of style, technique
and subject matter. It is totally different from
the Western influences I have. For example, as
much as I work meticulously on perspective,
the ancient, perspective-free art from Japanese
tradition has given me a lot more insight, says
the artist.
In the process, it brought him into the realm
of game card art. For example, one recent job
that Kun Rong thinks has suited his style is a
set of digital paintings for the fantasy card game
Warlord CCG. His impressionist-like approach
works well when the pictures are seen at smaller
sizes on the cards themselves.
Meanwhile, the medieval theme meant he
could paint heroes, beasts and battles, which
obviously provides a lot of fun for the young
painter, not to mention some particularly
welcome income. I think card art is pretty fun
and definitely much less taxing. For Warlords,
its a medieval world so, yeah, I enjoyed doing
the dirty medieval fantasy art, he says.
ATTACK FORMATION
This is one of several
fantasy pieces Kun Rong
has created for the
collectable card game
Warlord CCG.
Artist portfolios
Gallery
Kieran
Yanner
Location: US
Web: www.kieranyanner.com
Media: Photoshop
FIRE SEED
A card gaming character
brings forth re in the
game Legends of Norrath.
COVER STARS
When not working on
card art, Kieran paints
magazine and book covers.
Dragons at War was a
front cover for Kobold
Quarterly, combining
detail and action like a
master of D&D artwork.
Artist portfolios
BUCCANEERS
Paizo Publishing
Gallery
Jean
Sebastien
Rossbach
Location: Paris
Web: http://ifxm.ag/jsrossbach
Media: Photoshop, Painter,
ArtRage, ZBrush
Like many fantasy artists, French
artist Jean Sebastien Rossbach often
creates card art for RPG companies,
including Wizards of the Coasts
Magic: The Gathering series and
others by White Wolf. He treats these just like
any other assignment. Working for card games
or an RPG or for a book cover is the same to
me, he says. Its a good mix of freedom and
direction. Sometimes the brief comes with a
preconceived concept or just a few guidelines,
and sometimes its a story to illustrate.
But would he prefer to be able to give his
imagination free rein? Does he feel constrained
when, as is often the case, the art has to follow
strict character guidelines?
I try to stay as close as possible to the
information, and the freedom comes from
what hasnt been said. I get joy in filling in the
blanks between the lines of the brief.
Of course, card RPG players can often be very
particular about their favourite characters, but
his work seems to meet with their approval, as
JS discovered when he went to his first Magic
event in Birmingham in the summer of 2008.
I was a little afraid to meet the players because
I know how big fans they are, but in the end
they all were absolutely charming with me. It
was delightful to meet all these passionate
people I had a great time.
EDGE OF AUTUMN
JSs rst public card for
Magic: The Gathering,
which was actually
created in 2006.
Artist portfolios
Gallery
Arthur
Bozonnet
FEMALE ANGEL
Card illustration for
Chains of Durandal,
2012. This was my rst
work for CoD. At the time
we would work from
rough sketches from the
games art director.
DWARVEN TEMPLAR
Card illustration for CoD,
2012. I based all
characters on the same
vanishing point for
better cohesion.
Artist portfolios
ZOMBIE GIRL
Card illustration, Heroic
Battle, 2012. I tried to
make her creepy and sassy.
I had fun rendering
her ornaments.
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Feature
ARTIST INTERVIEW
DANIEL
GELON
Games on
the move
Kabam
Valorware
Feature
Feature
Working on a legend
Ben Thompson, art director on
Blizzards Hearthstone, reveals
what its like to work on the worlds
leading digital collectible card game
STYLE COUNCIL
Hearthstones characters
were developed by a small
team of Blizzard artists,
who were familiar with the
World of Warcraft style.
Hearthstone
Hearthstone is
kind of game the
artists have as that
fun working onmuch
people do playin as
Ben Thompgso it
n
Feature
manager, so you need to make sure that
card looks good. It needs to look good as a
piece of art when its larger.
When talking about creating card art in
general, Ben says you should make sure the
art is readable at both a small and larger size,
present the character properly, and get across
their story in the piece its about being
economical with the details.
When talking specifically about
Hearthstone art of all those things, the most
elusive thing that we need artists to grasp is the
stylistic differences between World of Warcraft
and Hearthstone, says Ben. World of Warcraft
builds on the epic, it builds on the great, and
features over-the-top scale and proportions.
For Hearthstone we want to be about 20
degrees off of that. We dont want to be untrue
to the foundations of World of Warcraft, but
we want to celebrate it in a unique and different
way. We celebrate that charming, that lighthearted appeal that makes World of Warcraft
just a lot of fun for players.
DEVELOPING A CARD
Hearthstone
olios
f
t
r
o
p
s
s
e
l
t
I get cotunmatch the
tha of the work
standardce. The way to
we produout is to exceed
stand Ben Thompson
it
Interview
DIABLO III: STORM OF LIGHT
Laurel D. Austins cover art for the
Diablo III: Storm of Light book. Her
work also graces the screens of millions of
gamers the Diablo series has sold more
than 24.8 million copies worldwide.
THE ART OF
LAUREL D.
AUSTIN
N
ow senior illustrator at
Blizzard Entertainment,
Laurel D. Austin muses: I
was, perhaps like some of the
readers out there, the weird
arty kid in my class. Weird
or otherwise, her dynamic,
energetic style has served her well, winning her
commissions working on big-name trading card
series and numerous blockbuster games titles. It
has seen her grow from small-town Canadian
bedroom artist to becoming one of the leading
concept illustrators in the video games industry.
I was definitely an arty kid, says Lauren.
To the exclusion of a lot else, I think! I was lucky
that my parents were very encouraging. I loved
drawing, and they always made sure I had reams
of paper and buckets of crayons, pencils and
markers at my disposal. I was interested in a few
subjects from an early age animals of all sorts,
especially dinosaurs, mythical creatures and the
worlds they lived in. My parents told me they
knew Id be either an artist or a scientist.
Sciences loss is the concept art worlds gain,
though, and after a multidisciplinary art course
at NSCAD University in Nova Scotia, Canada,
Lauren embarked upon a career in the games
industry with the London-based Splash Damage
(creators of Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, Enemy
Territory: Quake Wars, Dirty Bomb and more).
Lauren was eventually let loose on the studios
first original title, BRINK. Under the stewardship
of art director Olivier Leonardi, she flourished:
It was a small team, but full of great talent, she
recalls. I learned a lot from artists like Georgi
Simeonov and Tim Appleby. I was incredibly
Interview
LORDS OF WAR:
GROMMARSH
One of Laurels concept
animation pieces of
Grommarsh Hellscream,
the legendary World of
Warcraft character.
HEARTHSTONE
The Hearthstone, Heroes
of Warcraft expansion is
one of Laurels favourite
games and features many
of her character creations.
LAUREL D.
AUSTIN
VITAL STATISTICS
The one-stop-shop for info on Laurel
Current location
Southern
California
Sketchbook or
canvas?
Sketchbook
Favourite artists
Too many to
count! Some
particularly
important
influences are:
James Gurney Dinotopia
was a revelation to me as a
kid. Ilya Repin theres just
so much feeling in every
story. Sebastian Krger
nobody paints a better
craggy face.
Favourite food
Candy. But as for
real food Im
spoiled by the great
vegetarian food in
southern California.
Irrational fear
Reanimated terror birds
Best holiday destination
Anywhere with a good
natural history museum and
good local food.
Favourite music
Do podcasts count
as music?
Cake or pie
What kind of monster would
make someone choose?!
Brush or pencils?
Pencils
Website
www.laureldaustinart.com
SMAUG
SCULPTURE
Laurel sees sculpture as an
excellent complement to 2D art
After stumbling upon a Peter Konig
tutorial on an art forum a decade ago,
Laurel decided to try sculpting. He
made this fantastic gliding monster
and gave a super helpful rundown of
all the materials and steps involved,
says Laurel. I tried it out and loved it.
Its a nice break from the computer
without taking a break from art. Theres
something about having an object in
front of you thats extra cool. Plus you
get a toy for your desk at the end of it.
You cant lose!
Its not a main focus for Laurel. She
produces a couple of pieces a year
at most. But working in 3D is a nice
complement to 2D, she says. It helps
me understand 2D forms a bit better
composing a sculpture that looks great
from all angles is very challenging.
Giving people
warm fuzzes
and them saying
Holy crap, that is
awesome! goes
a long way
THE BUZZ AT
BLIZZARD
Laurel on being the driving force
behind Blizzards concept art
Blizzard Entertainment has been rocking the
world of gaming since 1991, producing hits
including The Lost Vikings and the Diablo
and StarCraft series. So whats the best thing
about being senior illustrator there?
The great people I work with, Lauren
says. The entire creative development
department are exceptionally skilled artists
and storytellers, and working alongside them
has made me a better artist. I cant emphasise
enough how important it is to get out of your
own head and spend time with other artists
you respect. Getting their feedback will help
you become a better artist.
At Blizzard I get to work on all of the IPs,
which provides a ton of interesting challenges
and variety. Most of my work is focused on
making supporting story art for the games,
and learning more about visual storytelling
is one of the biggest perks to being here.
PLATYBELODON
Laurels knowledge of
animal anatomy is
astounding and extends
to prehistoric beasts.
DRAGON DEMO
A piece that Laurel created for a talk at
Gnomon, to demonstrate different material
rendering possibilities for creatures.
ANTELOPE RIDER
A new concept piece
from Laurel. Even her
rougher painting style
captures the drama and
movement in the scene.
There is a ton of
decisions to make, but
always think about
what you want your
viewers to feel
Feature
HEL
The CROOZ
art style,
particularly
for Deity Wars,
is a rich and
distinctive
mix of colour
and detail.
SVAROG
Even when depicting
dark gures, CROOZs
artists manage to create
a beautiful design.
PURSUE
YOUR
PASSION!
CROOZ is an expanding Japanese online
games company and its on the hunt for great
artists, so portfolios at the ready
ith an enviable track record
in Japan and ambitions to
spread its distinctive brand
of artwork-driven social
gaming to every corner of
the globe, CROOZ is hungry for fresh illustrators.
With headquarters in Tokyo, CROOZ has a
branch office in San Francisco for marketing
activities focused on North America, but of
course it makes use of contributing artists based
just about anywhere around the world.
Since entering the social games market in
2010, the company has rocketed into the top
three games developers on Japanese platform
Mobage, boasting more than 20 million
registered users. But its sights are firmly set
on the number one spot, and you could help
it achieve that goal.
CROOZs most popular game is Ragnabreak,
which is better known to players outside Japan
W
DARK ARTIMA
Can you paint characters like
those of CROOZs art team?
ASTERIA
Deity Wars features some striking
anime-style character designs.
Feature
ART CLASSES
PHARAOH
Players must
feel they want to
evolve the card to
the next stage, so we
always create
attractive levelledup versions
DAMIEN
Japanese anime-style art is popular around the world, so CROOZ is
looking for illustrators who can adopt this style into its art process.
ARTHURIAN LEGENDS
Another illustration-heavy game in CROOZs
growing catalogue is Knights of Avalon, an
original browser-based fantasy RPG based on
the classic Arthurian legend. As one of Arthurs
knights, players fight against the notorious traitor
Mordred on the floating continent Avalon,
ANDROMEDA
Illustrator: Mirei Kobayashi
An illustrator on
CROOZs successful
Deity Wars social roleplaying game, Mirei
Kobayashi shares her
card art process
I begin by
examining the
brief and deciding
on what to create.
I wanted to draw a
female character
wearing a beautiful
piece of clothing in
a sea of stars.
Now I
begin to
make a final
pass of the
illustration,
giving it that
polished sheen
thats consistent
with the general
CROOZ style.
Im looking to
enhance the
overall feel of
the piece, so
I add the
materials that
change the
characters
silhouette.
Feature
VIVIAN
Illustrator: Yoshiro Ambe
Another member of the CROOZ team, Yoshiro Ambe guides
us through the creation of a piece of card art for Deity Wars
I start by
sketching my
ideas. In this stage
I think about the
composition and all of
the aspects required
in the character
illustration. I like to
create a number of
sketches to work
through my ideas,
before choosing one
to take through to
the final artwork.
SUCCUBUS
Characters such as Succubus, shown here, are good examples
of characters who are popular worldwide with fans of
CROOZs Deity Wars.
HELIOS
The Deity Wars art cards have wellbalanced proportions that, says Daisuke, Japanese
people would recognise as beautiful and cool cards.
IDEION
Cards in Deity Wars evolve and level-up, so each new
card level needs to feel special and stunning. Will you
be one of the artists to develop CROOZs card art?
Creating a large
variety of characters
that attract players
hearts is our
mission
Feature
ACES
IN THE
HOLE
Japanese online card game
company Applibot has
spared no expense in
employing the worlds best
digital artists for its
products. We showcase
some of the stunning
imagery theyve produced
MICHAEL
Remarkably, Crowgod uploaded his rst piece of art in
December 2011, and by July 2012 he was working on
Legend of the Cryptids, creating the characters Lucifer,
the Masters of Belial and Michael, shown here.
XU CHENG
(CROWGOD)
Maybe its because we cant play online
card games like Legends in China, but
I think physical card games will always
have a strong fan base around the world.
ODIN
Odin, the chief god of Norse mythology, crops up in
Legends of the Cryptids, battling the giant wolf Fenrir in
Ragnarok. In myth hes destined to lose, but thats where
the game and mythology diverge.
CLINT CEARLEY
Applibot doesnt describe a characters
appearance. The rst one I did, Lady
Paradoxia, was the princess daughter of the
Queen of Light and a fallen angel.
Artistically, thats quite a jumping-off point.
Feature
KERA
Most of the work I get nowadays
is for online card games, geared
for mobile devices. Its always a
challenge to create something thatll
look great full size and on a
4.5-inch screen.
HADES
This painting of Hades was created for Applibots
sci- adventure card game Galaxy Saga, and offers
artist Keras unique take on the chthonic character.
X-7 DEADWALKER
An upgraded take on the
Demon Droid. All Iwo had to
work on was that this guy liked
to inict pain. And thats
plenty, he says.
IWO
WIDULINSKI
I think that in my time well see people more often
duelling using their tablets, and tournaments being
held on big touch screens.
LUMINA
Lumina is the rst piece
Daren did for Applibot.
I used my wife as a
model wearing a bed
sheet. I made her younger
and prettier. Shes lovely,
of course, but not quite a
space princess!
DAREN HORLEY
Mobile phones are pretty much compulsory in
the developed world, so it makes sense to create
games for them. I collected bubble gum cards
as a kid. This is the 21st century equivalent.
Feature
WHITE BELLATOR
This is an example of
a card that Maxim
suggested to Applibot,
which was picked up on.
Its cool when your ideas
become alive in a game,
says the artist.
MAXIM VEREHIN
Artistic freedom doesnt just mean room to
move Ive also suggested my own characters,
and have three sets of my own creations
in these games.
QUIESCENT GREENMAN
This is the evolved version of Quiescent
Greenman. Here Mike makes the character
more dominant and imposing, while still
rooted in nature. Because the brief didnt
specify whether it needed to look human, I
went more abstract and elemental.
BRAD
RIGNEY
MIKE CORRIERO
The brief was a humanoid being that
guarded the forest and its animals. I had a
lot of fun playing around with the elemental
look of the original version of this card.
SHENHUA
My take on Shenhua was
someone who was capable
of altering machines at
will. I wanted to merge
my inuences and make
something that feels
Japanese by its design
but Occidental with its
graphic feel.
SIMON
GOINARD
THE WHITE KNIGHT LYDIA
This is the advanced version of
Rupid79s The White Knight Lydia,
Onyx Beast Master, with added
black cat support.
Feature
DEATHPACT ANGEL
Jason Chan produced this image for the Gatecrash
expansion pack released in 2013. With its landscape
size, its also been used in posters.
A COLOURFUL PAST
Its been over 20 years, and Magic: The
Gathering is still the most popular CCG.
Its morphed and shifted, expanded,
embraced digital art, developed huge
multi-tiered tournaments, and changed
scoring systems. Theres also one other
thing that makes it stand out.
Magic was the first CCG to be released
and its never given up the advantages that
head start gave it, says Peter Venters, an
art director whos been
involved with Magic since the
beginning. CCGs survive
through a thriving player
base. If people cant find
anyone to play a game with, they stop
buying the cards and the game dies.
A strong tournament scene has been
Magics life source, keeping the fans
engaged. It also helps, says Pete, that
the people behind the scenes know
what theyre doing. One of the secrets
to releasing a CCG is that by the time
you have a set released, the next set
better be on the way to the printers
Feature
DARK CONFIDANT
SOR
RCERERS APPR
RENTICE
Sometimes even suspicious parents cant get in the
way of a childs passion for playing fantasy games
Jason Chan has been a playing fan
of Magic: The Gathering since high
school, even though the game was
unceremoniously banned because
some parents complained that the
school was allowing black magic to
be practised.
Jason was not put off, and a few
years of hard graft later he was
creating art for the game. My first
PACT OF NEGATION
Jason Chans rst card for Magic
displays his budding talent
although the artist feels hes
come a long way since then.
Popular artist
Scott M. Fischer turns
completely to digital
methods to produce
this charming chap.
VAULT SKIRGE
Heres Brad Rigney's rst
card for the New Phyrexia
expansion. A common
card, it introduced
another recognisable
talent to the franchise.
MAKING MAGIC
Creating artwork for Magic is tricky. Youre
tasked with conveying a character, a skill, or
perhaps an evocative environment. And that
art will then be shrunk to cover a fraction of
a playing card. Yet people like John Stanko,
Donato Giancola and Scott M. Fischer jump
at the chance of a Magic commission.
Whats the process? Its a
secret, says Jason Chan,
a Magic player since high
school. A very well-planned
secret. Proceedings are
VET
TERAN PLANESW
WALKER
Magic: The Gatherings story is inevitably tied up with
various artists stories. Artists such as Peter Venters
MEINS OF WEEPING
Anthony Waters: They
wanted an environment full
of sadness and morbidity.
Yay, my bread and butter!
MEGATOG
The Magic art of the
1990s had more room
for humour. Below
right, Peter proves hes
a digital dab hand.
BURDEN OF GUILT
This is the follow-up to
John Stankos Gruesome
Discovery card, where a
wife nds her husband
dead. Here, years later,
shes unable to move on.
HANNA, SHIPS
NAVIGATOR
CHANDRA
One of the iconic pieces
of Magic art! Jason
Chan puts his humble
debut behind him,
displaying a dramatic
style thats all this own.
Feature
SERRA AVENGER
Scott M. Fischers most
popular image is an oil
and mixed media piece
on canvas, released in
2013 for Time Spiral.
RAMAZ
Brad moves on from
killer ying insect
creatures to crazy-eyed
cave men with this fella.
CRYPTIC ANNELID
Anthony S. Waterss worm
beast is an almost abstract
creature, pushing the limits
of whats considered the
Magic style.
EVOLUTION IN ART
In the early days artists worked for relatively
small sums. The art fees for artists were so
small, says Pete, that Wizards included
stock in the company to help entice artists
to work on the game!
That has all changed. The art became
increasingly sophisticated and an
CASTING A SPE
ELL
Terese Nielsen shares the original commission for the
Silverskin Armor card art, and how she brought the magic
After pondering the brief
description I received from
Magic, I do a few very rough
thumbnail sketches. I then find
and shoot the appropriate
reference for my idea, and ask
my photographer friend Scott
Harben to take some photos of
Jamie Reed-Kovac, the model
and former American Gladiator.
After that I create a rough
composite of some of the
elements using Photoshop.
Art description
VECORDIAN
PRIMORDIAL
Another card, another style:
Stephan Martinire swaps
sci- landscapes for this
hellish fantasy vision.
VISIONS OF BEYOND
For this 2010 card, Terese Nielsen
was given the island location and
the mans thoughts as the main
focus, with this note: Don't show
him in the lotus position.
THRILL-KILL
ASSASSIN
Tyler Jacobsons carnival
killer is gleefully psychotic,
a common trait in many of
his Magic pieces.
BOG MAN
Anthony S. Waters has produced over 110 cards for
Magic since 1993, although his rst batch never
saw the light of day because the project was shelved.
MA
AGIC: THE ART BOOK
There was rumour and conjecture about an ofcial Magic art
book for years. The original artists couldnt wait any longer
Amazingly, 20 years of magical
artwork did not result in any
official Magic: The Gathering art
books. Forty-one of the original
artists, including Jesper Myrfors
and Pete Venters, thought
theyd test the waters with
Magic fans and started a
Kickstarter project. It flew past
its $32,000 goal, with 1,500
backers pledging just under $150,000.
The artists who worked on Magic
in that first year are kind of a tight-knit
group, as we all experienced the same
rock stardom of being attached to the
hottest game of the 90s, says Pete.
Most of the artists have done a new
piece for the book, often revisiting one
of their classic Magic cards.
The goblin piece by Peter, pictured
here, is a mash-up/homage to the
artists many years of goblin paintings,
and his Legends card Hellfire.
SENSE OF SCALE
Scott M. Fischers art gets
the Magic card treatment.
Even at two-thirds of
the cards surface area,
the character still jumps
out at the player.
CACKLING FIEND
I remember the
description calling for a
creature whose manic
laugh echoes through the
pipes of the world, recalls
Brian Despain, for his
rst Magic card art.
SPITEFUL
SHADOWS
Artist John Stanko:
This is one of my
favourite Magic cards.
I enjoy its simplicity
while it still touches
some complex themes.
Interview
NIM GROTESQUE
This is the last example of my
collaboration with artist Cara Mitten.
Im hoping well get to work together
again, since I think we complement
each other well, says Anthony.
THE ART OF
ANTHONY S.
WATERS
An image should do more than tell you what a monster
looks like. It should forge a gut connection with the
subject. Discover the visceral style of Mr Waters
F
Hidden City Games LLC.
ARTISTIC IMAGININGS
While the evolution of a fantasy artist can
be traced easily enough, Anthony nds the
original creative impulse is harder to pin
down, and admits that hes unable to point
to any one moment of his life when he
decided that he wanted to be an artist.
Theres some indication of an early
tendency to make use of crayons, but Anthony
plays the modesty card by suggesting his
artistic talent simply lls a void: Its a good
thing Im able to make a living as an artist,
since I stink at most other stuff!
The most other stuff that people are
so often obsessed with is very often what
theyve been conditioned to want. On the
other hand fantasy, by denition, requires
an exercise of the imagination. As Anthony
puts it: An image should do more than tell
the viewer This is what a monster looks
like. It should forge some form of gut
connection with the subject.
THE ARTIST
Conceptual designer for video games and illustrator for WotCs Magic: the Gathering
card games, Anthony Scott Waters is an autograph hunters favourite at conventions.
Interview
PUMP STATION
Wizards of the Coast is just one of many well-known companies that can call Anthony a contributor. This is an image
from that series of ve environment pieces I did for Wizards of the Coast, says Anthony.
SECRET AMBITIONS
When Anthony is not busy providing
visual magicianship for the likes of WotC,
Lucaslm and EA, theres a hint of plans
afoot, although he remains pretty cagey: I
try to hold most of my personal goals close
ART IN FOCUS
What the surrealists did for us
EMOTIONAL LEVEL
What really counts is storytelling. Its a
key issue in my approach, says Anthony.
Artists are visual storytellers. A painting,
he believes, should be more than the sum
of its technically accomplished parts.
You should be left wondering what just
happened, or whats about to happen.
To generate this reaction the artist needs
narrative skills. When Im doing more than
straight concept work (for a client or myself)
I aim to create an image that engages on
some emotional level, says Anthony. He
developed his own narrative skills alongside
STYLE IN CHECK
In the search for narrative, Anthony believes
that style cannot be allowed to rule over
substance, and he almost has an allergic
reaction to the suggestion that he might
Stalking Vengeance is a
spirit made from those
whose deaths were unjust
a paranormal juggernaut
made of bone and
tombstones, bound
together with raging souls.
Anthony S. Waters is the
man that supplies the
magic in Magic cards.
Given the limited space
on a Magic card, every
element of a creature must
be carefully conceived. I
used insectine wings to
suggest the eventual ight
of the soul, once justice has
been done, says Anthony.
In developing his
approach to painting,
Anthony doffs his hat
to the great Zdislaw
Beksinski. The Polish
Surrealist helped him
understand that you dont
need to have obviously
human forms to make
statements about the
human condition.
ARTIST TIP
Big brushes
save blushes
I owe this tip to my
buddy Todd Lockwood.
He once advised me:
Always use a brush that
seems one size too big for
what youre working on.
Itll keep you from getting
too precious with
whatever youre painting.
Hes spot-on about that.
(Hes spot-on about
damn near everything.)
PHARAOH HOUND
CYTOSPAWN SHAMBLER
Heres one of Anthonys classic Magic: the Gathering cards.
Never one to miss an opportunity for an irreverent take on his
art, Anthony explains what it is: Its a blobular blobthing made
up of lots of blobby blobness. Sorry for all the technical jargon.
Interview
FEROCIOUS CHARGE
ARTIST TIP
Give your mind a workout
This tip is part technical, part artistic process.
Always try to push beyond the rst thing that comes
out of your pen. Sometimes the rst notion you have
is the best. More often, though, youll benet from
cranking through a dozen or so variations (or twodozen, or three). The minds an organ, but treat it
like a muscle. Work that sucker out.
DREAD SLAG
THREADS OF DISLOYALTY
HOLD TIGHT
Given such potential pitfalls, how can
the artist remain focused? Anthony is
clear: The main thing to keep in mind
when youre creating a work of art is,
what are you trying to say? If youve
gone to the trouble of devising a story,
he believes it only makes sense to let it
do the work it was born for giving your
image a purpose, a life.
I try to hold on to that thought
from start to nish, he adds. At the
beginning the connections pretty clear.
FAVOURITE THEMES
So just what is Anthony trying to say?
He gives us a cheery selection of the
subjects that go towards inspiring him:
Alienation, isolation, anger aimed
inward and outward, love, sacrice and
loss. Those things interest me most.
Essentially, these are the ingredients of
the human condition, the raw materials
of a sweeping novel by the likes of
Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky. Sometimes I
wonder if Im actually a Russian, muses
Anthony, somewhat wryly. Or maybe
its the Viking blood in me.
In truth theres not really any need
for him to try to explain. These are some
of the themes which art has attempted to
address since humans rst start drawing
on the walls of caves. Im less interested
in blood and thunder than in those
things that pull us apart, explains
Anthony. How much of that is a
reection of my own inner turmoil,
Im not sure.
ANTHONY S.
WATERS
VITAL STATISTICS
The one-stop-shop for info on Anthony
Place of birth?
Omaha, Nebraska.
Date of birth?
3 January, 1969.
Current location?
Washington State.
Favourite music?
I cant narrow it
down to one specic
type. I dont care for most
mainstream music its so
overprocessed that listening
to it is like eating a candy
bar: it temporarily lls the
void, but leaves you wanting
something truly substantial.
Favourite traditional artist?
John Singer Sargent. Hands
down, full stop.
Favourite digital artist?
Another hard one. Dave
McKean wins out, but there
are a host of folks who
deserve the title.
First memory?
Hard to say. I had a weird
nightmare thats stuck with
me since it happened,
around age eight or so.
Any pet hates or phobias?
Im scared of heights if Im in
a building, but I love ying in
one- and two-engine planes,
especially stunt planes.
Most prized
possession?
The Buddha gure
my friend John
gave me means an
awful lot. The lions
tooth I got from
my brother means
a lot, too.
Average time spent on
each image?
It depends on the subject
matter and size of the image.
Ive had some take as little
as a few hours. Others, like
the big landscapes I did for
the Ravnica card set, took
120 hours.
Single most important
piece of professional
advice?
Do what you love.
Everything else follows
on the heels of that.
Left- or right-handed?
I was born right-handed. My
mum and grandmum trained
me to be a lefty.
If you were an animal, what
would you be?
Maned wolf! Unless were
talking mythological
creatures, in which case itd
be a dragon. (One of my own
design, natch.)
Interview
GODDESS
Created for the Devacurse
trading card game. She
comes from a myth in
Thailand. Her duty is to
take care of all plants.
THE ART OF
SINAD
JARUARTJANAPAT
The Thailand-based illustrators bright and colourful work
is an extension of the artist himself theres no room for
gloominess in his beautiful pieces
CREATING A WORLD
Thats not a particularly fashionable ideal,
at least not in Western markets, but Sinad
doesnt seem to care about any concept of
being cool. As a child, he discovered he
enjoyed creating characters and props in
particular: When I designed those, it made
me feel like I could create my own little
world, he says. And like many artistic kids,
he was later delighted to discover that he
could actually do this for a living.
THE GUARDIAN
Created for the book dartiste Digital Painting 2, which was released
by Ballistic Publishing in 2008 and features a wealth of artists.
Interview
GUNDAM
Sinads unofcial
Wing Gundam fan art,
inspired by the Mobile
Suit Gundam Wing
anime series.
ON THE CARDS
Inspiration can come from anywhere,
although obviously jobs such as card
art require a more specific image
particularly if the game is well
known and fans expect a certain
style. Sometimes when Im first
assigned a job, I can imagine it immediately
and sometimes I hardly know where
to start, he explains. In that case Ill go
and find more information in a magazine,
or books, or even on the web, so I can
gather ideas. The important step for him
is to get it straight in his head before he
even begins drawing. Then Ill start with
the sketch This method can help me a
lot in cases like this.
WAREFOX
One of the character
races Sinad designed
for the Thai version
of online RPG
Perfect World.
SHY GUY
SINAD
JARUARTJANAPAT
VITAL STATISTICS
Myself today, much better than yesterday
Full name
Sinad
Jaruartjanapat.
Date of birth
8/9/80.
Current location?
Thailand.
Website
sinad.cgsociety.org.
Favourite artists?
They include Tatsuya
Terada, Ayami Kojima,
Tomasz Jedruszek and
Bobby Chiu.
Favourite music?
Theres no specific song. Id
say that I love pop and jazz
music equally.
What really scares you?
When the project
manager says:
Sinad, we need
you to fix some
things on the
(name of work),
blah, blah, blah.
Whats the
greatest piece
of advice that
anyones ever given you?
Myself today much better
than yesterday. That was
advice from the teacher
who helped me the most
while I was at university.
Average time spent on
an image?
The fastest that Ive ever
done is one day, but mostly
Ill take two to three days.
The longest Ive ever spent
on a piece is one month.
HUMAN
Another design for the Perfect World RPG.
This is Sinads Human Male character model.
OVERSEAS BIAS
The situation, he believes, has improved
since then: Now, we have more companies
and studios in this field, which is a good
sign for the industry. Difficulties arise
not because the world regards Thai artists
as somehow inferior, but that the
MATSURI
FESTIVAL
Interview
ANGEL
KNIGHT OF
THE RUNE
The image that marked Sinads
rst step into the pro art realm
Although Sinad created Angel Knight of
the Rune many years ago, its still one of
his favourite pieces, for various reasons.
It was one of his first serious attempts at
combining three of the elements he likes
the most: angels, armour and subtle use
of colour. He completed it just after he
graduated. Perhaps more importantly, it
was the first image he posted on CGSociety
way back in 2005, which gave him the
worldwide exposure he was looking for.
Understandably, then, it represents
something of a milestone in his career so
far. This was the first step for me to get this
job, he explains. While I was working on
this piece, I tried not to think about it too
much. I just did the best I could at the time.
USE REFERENCE!
When youre not sure about how something
looks, go and nd more information about it.
It makes all the difference and its so simple.
MYSTIC ALRAUNE
I want to change my
habits because I use the
Selection tool too
much, says Sinad.
This is the result.
FISHING
A saucy, unofcial fan art
image inspired by the Final
Fantasy XI characters and
their universe.
Final Fantasy is a registered trademark of Square Enix Co, Ltd.
Workshops
104
Contents
112
118
WORKSHOPS
122
124
Workshops
MACABRE
CARD ART
Dave Kendall takes you through process of completing
a typical Magic: the Gathering brief
he brief for this workshop was to explain
the process of producing a Magic card.
I took this a little literally and decided
to play on the idea of an enchanted
deck of cards. I had a dream that I noted in my
sketchbook a couple of years ago in which I saw a
demon illustrating a deck of playing cards. When
I was asked to do this workshop, the idea came
back to me. I changed it, however, to muse upon
what would happen if these cards were used.
A typical Magic: the Gathering brief would be
Dave Kendall
COUNTRY: England
Dave is an
illustrator who
started off in
comics in the
mid 90s. He
worked on Metallicas
comic and Brian
Lumleys Necroscope.
Recently hes produced
comics for America,
England and France and
illustrations for books
and trading cards. He
produces his work in a
mixture of traditional
and digital techniques.
www.rustybaby.com
GET YOUR
RESOURCES
See page 146 now!
Shuffle
The deal
Draw out
Workshops
Save often
Save often and make
good use of Painters
Iterative Save feature.
This feature will save
consecutive versions
of your image. If your
computer crashes while
saving, chances are your
image will be corrupted
beyond repair; at least
this way you will have an
earlier version available.
Opener
Early position
After scanning the pencil drawing into Painter I use the Simple Water brush to remove
the white background and add a rough colour scheme. Im thinking of an evening with the sun
setting through the window. The sun doesnt worry these demons. Dusk always seems spookier
than any other time of the day or night.
Two of a kind
Pot
Hold em
see you
13 Ill
I took a weeks break while
Photographic
memory
Take real or mental
pictures of everything
the light to the dark. Even
stuff like road kill can
create the most bizarre
ideas. Avoid becoming
road kill yourself, though,
and ignore all the strange
looks and dodge the men
in white coats.
10 Fossil
Next, I concentrate on painting
the head. I slightly reduce the size of it.
Using my Palette Knife and Scratchboard
tool, I build up the structure of the mans
face. Pay careful attention to the feel and
texture of the skin, and remember that
wrinkles and veins are part of its
structure. Too many beginners depict
them as separate entities, snaking over
the surface. Pay careful attention to areas
of high and low blood flow. The ears,
cheeks, nose and lips will be warmer and
look fleshier than the forehead and bony
areas. The area under the eyes will be
cooler as veins will be close to the surface.
Use the Spattery Airbrush tool to build up
noise and texture. Using opaque paint on
top will help model the flesh similar to
using glazes in traditional painting.
11
Marked cards
deck
14 Stacked
I think about the kings originating from the cards and decide
to apply some crumpled paper texture to their base. I then do an
observational painting on top of their robes using a luminosity layer.
This improves the visual contrast between the kings and their victim.
12 Help
To add more atmosphere
to the kings, I use a fitting, custom-made texture of some stagnant
water that I photographed. Experiment with the blend and
transparency options until you achieve the desired effect. I make
sure the kings are masked for this process. It doesnt have to be exact
as it can unify an image to have texture seeping into foreground and
background. You want the make photographic elements appear
subtle so they act on a subconscious level. Im usually searching for
a Goldilocks effect just enough, not too much or little. This is a gut
feeling that youll develop, rather than using strictly defined settings.
This can be applied to everything you do in art.
15 Showdown
I take the image back into
Photoshop for the final colour adjustment
and add a little separation to the kings. I
add a peach-filled layer set to Soft Light
to lighten the background. There is a
hard opaque mask over the old man and
I lessen its strength over the kings to
strengthen the contrasts in the piece.
Workshops
Photoshop
PAINT A
CREATURE FOR
A GAME CARD
Dave Allsop takes a simple card art description and
turns it into a gruesome, demonic painting
Dave Allsop
COUNTRY: Scotland
Glasgowbased Dave
is a fantasy
illustrator for
Wizards of the
Coast, Nightfall Games
and White Wolf, among
others. He also works in
video games.
www.daveallsop.info
GET YOUR
RESOURCES
See page 146 now!
Going grey
Doing a preliminary
greyscale version of the
image is also good for
preparing you for
troublesome areas that
lie ahead, and helping
you to better plan the
final colour painting.
Workshops
Hide marquee
Ctrl+H (PC) Cm
d+H (Mac)
Select someth
ing with any
Marquee tool
and then hid
e
the selection
outline to
colour in are
as without
crossing the
lines.
Greyscale mock-up
Background time
Special features
Sharpen up
PHOTOSHOP
Build shapes
STANDARD BRUSHES
Taking shape
Add shadows
orb
10 Fiery
Before I can do more on the
demon, I need to finish the external light
sources. The distant, gloomy light behind
the characters back is looking fine right
now, but I havent started the burning orb
above its head. Ill do this in three stages:
rendering the heart of the fire with deep
reds and orange; adding lighter strands of
flame rising up the outside of the orb; and
placing a bright Soft Light yellow layer
above it, to create a warm glow.
Add intense
light and texture
there
16 Almost
The paintings nearly complete now,
eyes
12 Evil
Most of the work on the body of
the demon is now done, so I focus on
one of the most important aspects of the
painting the eyes. When you look at any
character portrait, youll inevitably be
drawn to the eyes, and their colour,
lighting and expression convey the entire
mood of the scene. Here, the demons
eyes are sharp, beady and utterly evil.
drool
15 The
I want the demon to look gruesome and ravenous, as though
it forever hungers for fresh souls. I create the long strings of saliva
hanging from its jaws by using the same fine brush as before to paint
in the basic shapes in a light yellow hue. Once this is done, I reduce the
Layer Opacity down to 5-10 per cent to give it some transparency. I use
a finer brush and a paler yellow colour to create a thin, tapering line
around the outside of the initial layer, giving the saliva a watery gleam.
details
13 Extra
Some areas of the demons outline
are still looking a bit too simplistic,
particularly those beneath the neck and
along the lengths of the arms. I choose
a fine brush setting and add a few extra
details, including strands of hanging
flesh, to make these regions appear a
little more interesting.
Check
readability
Remember to zoom in
and out of the image
throughout the course
of the painting and
keep checking that its
readable at print size.
the image
17 Revisit
Heres our completed Archdemon
of Unx part two! Im quite pleased with the
end result, but Im still musing on whether
theres anything left to do. At this stage, its
best to leave the finished art for several
hours, or ideally a day. If you take a break
and return to the picture afresh, youll see
the art with a new perspective. I decide the
picture is looking a little murky and could
do with being lightened up a fraction. I use
Levels to brighten the painting slightly
dont push the slider too much, as this can
end up making things look a bit patchy.
fect
Inkwash ef(PC)
N
Shift+Ctrl+
N (Mac)
Shift+Cmd+
er and set
lay
w
ne
a
Create
r cent to
pe
60
to
y
Opacit
s with a
ea
ar
er
ov
t
pain
.
dark colour
throne
14 Screaming
Ive decided I want to make the mound of earth that the demon is perched on a
little more interesting. This time, Im adding screaming faces that correspond with those
on the demons neck. This new approach gives the overall painting a more infernal
mood than the previous version of the card.
Workshops
PAINT A SPECTRAL
HORSE AND RIDER
Matt Stawicki makes use of several photo references and a pumpkin
to produce a striking fantasy composition featuring a powerful steed
n this workshop Ill show you
my process of creating the
characters of a demonic
horse and its unearthly rider.
Ill work with photo references for both,
and use them as drawing guides for the
horse, hopefully creating a dramatic pose
thats based on several pieces of reference
material. Ill use a more direct photo
Matt Stawicki
COUNTRY: US
Since starting
his career in
1992, Matts
created many
images for a
range of products and
clients, including book
covers, video game
covers, collectible card
images, collectors plates
and fantasy pocketknives, to name but a few.
mattstawicki.com
GET YOUR
RESOURCES
See page 146 now!
In the beginning
Horse reference
Change of head
Keeping a method
to the madness
Workshops
Change
brush size
Ctrl+} or { (P
C)
Cmd+{ or { (M
ac)
Increase/dec
rease brush
size. This wo
rks with
many tools.
Surrounding colours
Forward thinking
adjustments
12 Mask
Now that I have what looks like
11
figure reference
10 The
Now its time to get the photo
reference for the rider into the piece. I set
up the lights so they match the lighting
on the horse and note the camera angle/
eye level I want. For this piece, I just need
a body in some period costume. After
shooting several poses, I select this one
because of how I think it will work with
the pose of the horse.
drawing
13 Figure
I duplicate and reorganise my
layers, and start a detail layer to further
correct the figures edges and costume.
I also start to add the saddle detail and
the pumpkin. At this point Ive started a
file of various Jack-o-lanterns. I also want
to shroud a cape around the main parts of
the figure. I constantly make corrections
to the size of the figure and saddle while
theyre still on separate layers, and rotate
the piece using the Rotate View option.
Further corrections
rim lighting
16 Selective
I continue to detail the figure and horse, adding the light from
the Jack-o-lantern as I go. I could have shot the figure reference with
this rim light, but I want it to appear only in very specific places. I use
a variety of textured brushes, playing around with the settings each
time usually the Scattering and Texture options. I also refine the
drawing of the tree in the background.
up
17 Tidying
Now that the piece is starting to
take shape, I go back into Painter to deal
with all the little bits of photography that
are left in the figure, as well as to soften
the maple leaves and background, again
using the Blenders brush. To add details
back in at this point, I use the Oil Pastel
Brush set to Chunky Pastel, and the Oil
brush set to Fine Camel Hair. Once Im
happy, I go back into Photoshop to draw
in some more environmental details.
horse head
19 New
The head of the horse needs to
RESOURCES
PHOTOSHOP
CUSTOM BRUSHES:
MAIN DRAWING 1
Select colour
the light
20 Pushing
I want to increase the light effect
from the Jack-o-lantern. On a separate
layer I use a Radial Gradient tool to create
a circular gradation over the light area, set
the layer to Color Dodge and reduce the
opacity to about 15 per cent. Then I set a
layer to Darken and work out the negative
space behind the tree and around the
figures upper body. Once Im happy I
flatten and add a detail layer for finishing
touches. I add a more detail to the horses
tack and some blowing leaves, which help
bring more of the orange colour into the
piece and add some more motion.
TEXTURE
15 This is the point where I start to use a wider assortment of brushes. I use the
Maple Leaf brush in a scattering effect to lay in the leaves, and adjust the colour until
Im happy with it. I also set a layer to Color Dodge to add some lighter background
values and enhance the glowing effect that I want to achieve in the back.
Workshops
Photoshop
CAPTURE THE
ESSENCE OF A
D&D CHARACTER
A strong D&D image is always a crowd-pleaser.
Dan Scott takes aim at a classic character class
Dan Scott
COUNTRY: US
Dan is a
freelance
illustrator who
produces art
for book
covers and interiors,
trading card games,
video games and comics.
www.danscottart.com
GET YOUR
RESOURCES
See page 146 now!
Gang of
four
I submit four rough
thumbnail sketches.
These are just quick,
loose sketches,
conveying general
pose and composition.
Im not too worried
about what shes
going to be wearing at
this point. I also keep
the background pretty
sparse, because I want
the image to focus on
the character.
Down to two
I usually do a tight sketch and add greyscale
values before I start working in colour, but
the art editor wants to see two of the rough
sketches in colour before deciding on which
of the images to go with. This image,
featuring the Elf Ranger in an action pose, is
eventually rejected on the grounds that her
body angle would look awkward on the
cover. In addition, the snowy background
might obscure the text that will eventually
be superimposed onto the scene.
Light it right
The face is the most important part
of the image. Its what sells the
character and compels someone
browsing the newsstand to pick up
the magazine. Its important to make
sure the lighting looks realistic and
believable, so I do a lot of research
for images with similar lighting.
Feeling of
texture
I dont use texture overlays
much, but I do use a lot of
texture brushes. In this closeup you can see Ive used
different brushes for the fur,
the leather, and so on.
AN ELF
RANGER
Surface
tension
Face the
facts
Get a grip
Once I have the official
go-ahead, I dive into all the
fun details that Ill be cursing
myself for adding when I get
to the rendering stage. I
originally wanted to have my
archer with an open grip, just
to try something different, but
eventually this got changed to
the traditional closed grip so
it wouldnt be confusing.
Scaling it up
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MAKING GREAT
COMPOSITIONS
Dan Dos Santos
Dan Dos Santos shows you his favourite tricks for strong
compositions that are guaranteed to have instant impact
COUNTRY: US
Dans work
spans a
variety of
genres
including
novels, comics and film.
He has worked for
Disney, Universal
Studios, Wizards of the
Coast, Dark Horse
Comics and DC Comics.
www.dandossantos.com
GET YOUR
RESOURCES
See page 146 now!
The basics
Lets look at the Golden Ratio. This was devised by the ancient Greeks, in pursuance of the Platonic
concept of ideals. This holds that all things, both tangible and intangible, have a perfect state of being that
defines them. The Greeks also felt that one should always strive toward achieving this ideal state, be it in
mathematics, ones physique, politics or aesthetics. Greek mathematicians, after repeatedly seeing similar
proportions in nature and geometry, developed a mathematical formula for what they considered an
ideal rectangle: one whose sides are in the proportions of 1:1.62. They felt that all objects that exhibited
these proportions were more pleasing, whether it was a building, a face or a work of art. To this day, the
proportions of standard sizes of books and even credit cards still conform to this ideal.
Workshops
3
Implied lines
These are probably the most important aspect of a composition, because you
notice them first. When youre painting realistically, theres no actual line around a
subject. The illusion of a contour is a result of different values and colours contrasting.
But even the impression of a line is strong, and our eyes will go to it and follow its
length until it ends or until it meets another line, which well follow again. A great
composition makes strong use of this natural attraction to lines.
By creating strong lines for the eyes to follow, we can decide what path we want
people to take and where we want that path to end. In this painting you can see a
strong contour that follows along the cape, down the womans arm, to our subjects
face, down her arm, and then back up to the cape. This creates a circular current that
keeps the viewers eyes flowing around the composition, holding their attention. That
current also brings their eyes past every key element of the painting, one at a time.
And dont forget, whether youre working for print or for websites, the borders of
your composition are an implied line, too.
By creating
strong lines for the
eyes to follow, we
can decide what
path we want
people to take
Reinforcing those
focal points
Middle-ground
Foreground
5
Imbalance of values
Balancing three elements seems to work its way into most aspects of picture
making, and value is no exception. When constructing compositions, I tend to think
in general arrangements of foreground, middle-ground and background. To heighten
the relationship between these three depths, I try to restrict each to a range of value,
favouring black, white or grey. For instance, you can let the background predominately
be white tones, the middle-ground predominantly greys and the foreground
predominantly black tones. Of course, any arrangement of these three values will
work. By restricting your values in these areas you reinforce your images sense of
depth and make the silhouettes very easy to read and that legibility is important.
Muddy values hurt the viewers ability to discern shapes, especially at a small scale.
Thats why youll see this technique used so often in trading card art. When your
image is just a few inches tall, high-contrast compositions work especially well.
Tripartite value schemes like this are readily apparent in the works of the Old
Masters, particularly in the engravings of Gustave Dor. His paintings all show
different arrangements of black, white and grey to emphasise the difference between
foreground, middle-ground and background.
Looking at Dors engravings, you can observe that not only has he divided his
composition into three obvious layers of depth by using three ranges of value, he also
creates an imbalance in the proportions of those values. For instance, he may use a
large amount of grey, and a small amount of white, but rarely equal amounts. This
reinforces the importance of imbalance to create tension. By letting the composition
be dominated by grey, the small accents of white and black garner more attention
and draw the viewers eye towards the subject.
Workshops
THREE DEGREES
OF SEPARATION
The rule of threes also applies to colour
Try breaking your composition down into three distinct temperature
ranges: warm, cool and neutral. Just like value, restricting certain areas
to a temperature will create a more legible composition and a greater
sense of depth. You can arrange these temperatures in any order. Use
tripartite schemes for colour temperature and value for maximum
effect, ensuring focus and legibility in even the busiest of compositions.
Reinforce your
idea
Values and
tones
Black and white are inherently powerful tones. If you use them
sparingly, and right next to each other, you can draw the viewers
attention to a particular spot with ease. When painting, try reserving
the purest whites and blacks for your focal point. For instance, if your
main character has very pale skin, try placing something extremely
dark on them, such as black hair or black clothes. This is one of the
easiest and most successful ways of making your subject really pop.
In my painting Blood Divided, I did just this to make sure the heroine
sat apart from the background.
LIGHTS,
CAMERA,
ACTION!
Whats your angle? It
can change everything
Imbalance can not just create
a more exciting flow to your
composition, but it can also
add drama. The next time you
feel that your painting isnt
exciting enough, try tipping
the camera angle. Even the
slightest tip to the horizon line
can turn a mundane scene into
a cool action shot. Experiment
with the psychological
impressions that different
camera angles create.
Straight, the painting below
lacks real excitement. The
bricks, rain and hair all create
simple vertical lines and dont
do much to enhance the
drama of the piece. Tipping the
image gives it a whole new feel.
Suddenly it appears like the
woman is being thrust against
the wall. Theres also more of a
sense of weight to their poses.
The slanted eye level adds a
sense of action, and helps your
eye slide through the image.
magic
10 Making
Colour is an extremely powerful
tool, and can inject a piece of art with
mood and light. But its also a strong
compositional tool. Just like implied
lines and contrasting values, colour can
be used to draw the viewers eye anywhere
we want. As mentioned before, disparities
draw the viewers eye. So, if your painting
has a colour scheme in place thats
predominantly red, then any other hue
(particularly a complementary green)
draws attention to itself. Or you can create
a disparity between levels of saturation,
such as a mainly grey or muted painting
with high saturation in a small area. The
greater the disparity, the greater the
attention it receives.
I often use this method to create the
illusion of magic or dramatic lighting.
You can make a colour appear intense
simply by making the rest of the
composition relatively desaturated, and/
or complementary, in comparison. My
painting Soulborn is primarily red and
purple, yet everything besides the
similarly hued magic element has
been slightly reduced in saturation.
Just like
implied lines
and contrasting
values, colour can
be used to draw
the viewers eye
to anywhere
we want
11
Putting it all
together
Workshops
Photoshop
Daren Bader
COUNTRY: US
Daren is the
senior art
director for
Rockstar San
Diego, where
he recently finished Red
Dead Redemption. At
the weekends he keeps
himself busy as a
freelance illustrator for
trading card games and
publishing companies.
darenbader.com
GET YOUR
RESOURCES
See page 146 now!
PHOTOSHOP
CUSTOM BRUSH:
KHANG BRUSH
TEXTURE 1
Thumbnail sketches
I start with multiple thumbnail sketches exploring various ideas. These are pencil
on paper and are about 1.25 x1.75 inches. Because Im going to be painting this image
digitally, I dont worry too much about the details. I know I can always manipulate the
image to my hearts content. If I were going to do the painting traditionally I would do
a lot more reference work for the figure and the bat before committing to canvas.
Workshops
Quick
navigation
Stylus butto
ns
Set the stylus
button to
Move, so you
can grab
and scroll aro
und
while working
.
Even at this high resolution (1,200dpi) the sketch is still relatively small. I like
to keep it that way so I can quickly block in colour and value without having to worry
about the brushes chugging. This is a fun stage to explore colour and value ideas, and
with the Sketch layer set to Multiply, its just like a page from a colouring book where
no matter how much you colour, you dont lose the original drawing.
Have no fear
Gently intensifying
the image
Opaque lights
Bat details
Character details
brightening
13 Minor
One of the problems I notice, while
the progress
14 Assess
I feel like Im finally achieving my
11
View it small
Because most of my
illustrations are usually
viewed from a distance
(like a book cover on the
store shelf) or printed
very small (like an
illustration on a gaming
card), I constantly view
my work at a small size
on my screen. It helps
to maintain an easily
readable image
essential for success with
this type of work.
Efficient art
Tablet butto
ns
Work faster by
setting
buttons to siz
e the brush up
and down, th
en one as
Undo and on
e to
Color Picker.
refinement
12 Further
As well as reducing the image on
screen regularly to see how things read at
a distance, I also turn the current painting
layer on and off to make sure Im making
the picture better instead of worse. I begin
to refine the shield and the scabbard as
well as the barbarian, working out the
lighting on the planes of his torso.
15 Monitor
compensation
After a little more noodling around I add
some falling debris and call it done. Now
I have one last thing to do. Because I know
that my monitor is too dark, making my
digital work appear washed-out on other
monitors, I have to compensate with an
Adjustment layer to tweak the Levels of my
image. (Layer > New Adjustment Layer >
Levels). Although this makes the image
too dark on my monitor, I know itll look
better on virtually everyone elses.
Workshops
Acrylics
ADAPTING
A FANTASY ART
CLASSIC
Tired of the same old approaches to fantasy icons, Kev Crossley breaks
out the acrylics to put a fresh and inspired spin on painting a unicorn
his is an interesting brief, as it brings
together two subjects with very specific
fan bases that you might not expect would
cross over. When you think of unicorns
youll no doubt think of a beautiful white stallion
with a noble gait and a sparkling golden horn jutting
proudly from the forehead. The clichs attached to
these mythical creatures are often a bit kitsch or even
twee, with soft colour schemes to match.
Zombies on the other hand couldnt be more
different: mindless, rotting, putrescent every new
film or TV show seeks to present ever more disgusting
make-up and special FX to make their zombies as
grim as possible, and zombies have never been more
popular than they are right now. So, lets combine the
two, to paint a zombie unicorn
The strong aesthetics attached to each subject are
tough to ignore, but I decide right away that I want to
do something a little different from what might be
expected. To this end I look to the heavy working dray
horses of yesteryear as a starting point for my unicorn.
These beasts are thick-set and heavily muscled with a
sturdy frame as would befit an animal bred for heavy
hauling and hard work.
Their physique also resembles some of the horses
that feature in the classic fantasy paintings of people
like Frank Frazetta, and having some stylistic
resonance with such great art is a welcome bonus!
MATERIALS Paints
Winsor & Newton
Galeria Range:
Phthalo Green,
Sap Green,
Pale Olive,
Cadmium Yellow
Medium Hue,
Pale Lemon,
Naples Yellow,
Crimson,
Raw Sienna,
Burnt Sienna,
Raw Umber,
Burnt Umber,
Ivory Black,
Mixing White,
Acrylic Glazing
Medium DalerRowney
Cryla Range:
Rich Transparent
Red Oxide,
Phthalo
Turquoise,
Vandyke
Brown Hue,
Prussian Blue
Hue, Titanium
White
Workshops
USING PENCI
LS
A 2H is usefu
l for fine
lines. The HB
is great for
strengthenin
g 2H lines.
2B to 6B are
soft, dark
grades used
for filling
in areas.
The sketch
Pencil: finishing
touches
I use an orange Col-Erase pencil to draw a rough outline for the unicorn,
before using an HB pencil to add detail such as protruding ribs, a skeletal aspect and
a broad head that is in part inspired by a pit bull terrier.
Scaling up
3D texture
Keep
acrylics wet
Use a spray-nozzle
bottle of water as
needed to keep the
acrylic wet on your
mixing board.
I apply thicker paint in some areas that require darker tones. The 3D textures
come into their own too, with dark tones settling between the ridges and veins to create
terrific effects. The pencil is then strengthened with black pen, with Titanium White
acrylic providing light tones.
Colour glaze
moving into
10 Background:
the foreground
As the background is refined, I begin to enhance a few areas on the
unicorn itself, as well as the ground it stands on. The emphasis is on
the animal, so I deliberately leave the brushwork loose and underworked on the creatures and the stony ground beneath the unicorn.
Workshops
BRUSH SIZE
S
Sizes 3 to 6 ac
rylic or
watercolour
brushes are
suitable for th
e painting
work. Sizes 00
to
0000 are go
od for
the fine detai
l.
11
Colour tips
1 Use Photoshop
to paint over your
scanned underdrawing to work out
what colour schemes
to use when you
begin painting.
Background:
texture detail
the skin
12 Painting
For painting the texture on the
zombie skin I use Pale Olive, Flesh
Tint, Sap Green and Pale Lemon, with
Van Dyk Brown and Titanium White
for darks and lights. I apply dabs and
strokes of colour onto the animal,
working around the scarred and
veined details.
Unicorn
13 Detail:
I use a smaller brush to refine
details. I add shadows, blending tones
and evolving textures. Lemon Yellow and
Titanium White reinforce highlights and
lighten the colours across the back and
upper haunch, and I give particular
attention to the metal discs scattered
behind the mane.
2 Light conditions
in your studio can
affect the way mixed
colours turn out, so
paint in a bright,
well-lit space.
3 Scan traditional
painted art into
Photoshop to subtly
tidy up any mistakes,
and then adjust the
colour balance and
tone quality.
random
14 Detail:
noodling
The painting feels mostly done by now,
but there is always time for a little more
noodling. So, I have some more fun
playing with the background textures,
and continue to add bold brush strokes
alongside finer details.
15 Finishing
In the final painting, there is a balance between loose brushwork and finely
rendered modelling. The reddish under-painting permeates the colours on top of it,
holding everything together, while the 3D textures offer shifting patterns of shadows
depending on the lighting conditions.
THE ART OF
BATMAN V SUPERMAN
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Workshops
ENHANCE YOUR
WEAPON DESIGNS
Dan Scott reveals his thought process and painting techniques for
depicting the weapons of his fantasy characters. Draw your swords!
Dan Scott
COUNTRY: US
Dan has been
a freelance
artist for
several years,
creating
illustrations for books,
magazines, comics,
trading card games,
packaging and dabbling
in concept art.
www.danscottart.com
GET YOUR
RESOURCES
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1 OFFENSIVE MATERIAL
Whats the weapon made of? Its
an important consideration when
approaching rendering. A shiny
metal weapon should have a high
level of contrast and reflect some
of the surrounding colours. A
leather grip might be duller in
contrast and have some frayed
edges. A rough-cut weapon may
look like its made of stone, with
many cracks and crevices. Perhaps
a weapon has a magical aura or
parts of it are partially transparent.
2 POINTS OF INTEREST
The internet is one of the quickest, easiest and most thorough ways to
search for references. For example, it could help me design a unique
sword hilt or come up with an interesting colour scheme. One tool I use
that helps a lot in weapon perspective is SketchUp and Googles 3D
Warehouse (3dwarehouse.sketchup.com). The basic version of SketchUp
is a free program and there are several great designs for free download in
the 3D Warehouse. As with any reference, be sure to make it your own
and dont just trace someone elses hard work.
4 EVIL NEVER
SLEEPS
e e eents
elem
Ornate sculptural ele
p al
cann help conveyy how speci
and powerful a weapon is.
g t wayy to
a e a grea
uneses are
Run
add an interestingg desiggn
your weappons.
elemeentt to yyo
he p ggive a
They can help
mystical feel to them.
Chaos is the
epitome of evil and
the only limit when
designing Chaos
weapons is your
imagination
Fantasy Card Artist 99
Workshops
ROUGH
N READY
When painting a rough-cut
weapon like this I use a more
hard-edged brush with a
texture applied to it. I also
tend to mix in more brown
and red tones to indicate
dirt, rust, and blood.
5 ITS A TRAP!
Poorly composed weapons can
fatally damage your composition.
Tangents are an easy trap to get
caught in with weapons. A
tangent occurs when lines from
two different objects appear to
touch each other. This can cause
confusion and depth problems.
Another pitfall is when your
weapon is too vertical or horizontal
and divides the image in half.
There are exceptions to this rule
when youre making an iconic
symmetrical composition, but
in general it should be avoided.
6 STRIKE A POSE
One giveaway of amateur work is
when a weapon is shown exactly
symmetrical and parallel with the
viewers perspective. This can make
a weapon look static and pasted-in.
Always try to add at least a little
tilt and foreshortening to your
weapons. Rotate them or
obscure parts of them for added
believability. Its extra work, but
adds a lot to the piece and can help
make an image more dynamic.
7 MASS EFFECT
Consider the size of the
weapon in relation to the
wielder. When doing
personal work youre free
to create whatever type of
weapon you think works
best, but when producing
art for clients you always
have to be aware of what
type of setting the weapon
is appearing in. Some
properties are more
historically accurate, with
realistic weapon sizes and
designs. In contrast, most
fantasy settings go over
the top with unbelievable
(and sometimes unwieldy)
designs and oversized
weapons. Always take this
into account when working
on a piece.
t nt in
ta
m is impoorta
Symbolism
e gn. It can be
weappon desig
used tto ggive a weappon a
mood and meaning.
8 PRODUCE GOOD
WEAPON DESIGN
Workshops
10 GET THE KILLER LOOK
SHINY BUT
DEADLY
RESOURCES
PHOTOSHOP
CUSTOM BRUSHES:
HARD STRANDS BRUSH
This is one of my
favourite brushes, not
just for weapons but for
just about anything. It
has a nice natural look
while still offering plenty
of control.
LIGHT GRUNGE BRUSH
11 BACKGROUND
INFORMATION
Details are an important part of
weapon design. An ornate weapon
could have a flowery filigree pattern
or harsh zig-zagging runes. It may
have either tiny detailed gold
intricately woven into the design, or
big clunky pieces of stone or metal
welded to it. Perhaps the weapons
owner has tied a charm to the hilt,
wrapped a favourite bandana
around the grip, or used notches
crudely carved into the blade to
denote each kill. All of these details
add flavour and interest to how the
weapon is portrayed.
12 SNEAK ATTACK
These Dark Elf weapons
are yet another visage of
evil. The designs have an
angular intricacy to them,
with patterns that are more
geometrically complex.
The metal even looks to be
forged differently and has a
purplish blue hue to it. You
can tell from the slender
forms that these weapons
are designed more for
stealth and subterfuge than
direct mle combat.
e t with
Experiment
symmetrical and
y metrical
asym
etimes
desiggns. Someti
des
the best solution is a
combination of both.
Workshops
Photoshop
CAPTURE LIGHT
AND MAGIC
Winona Nelson makes the most of a real-life reference model, then
demonstrates how the right light can evoke a scene of magical drama
Winona Nelson
COUNTRY: US
An avid gamer
and reader
as a child,
Winona grew
up dreaming
of designing game
characters and painting
fantasy and sci-fi book
covers. She freelances
in concept art and
illustration, and works
on Warhammer covers
and card art for Magic:
the Gathering.
winonanelsonart.com
GET YOUR
RESOURCES
See page 146 now!
Initial sketch
Brush modes
Reference shots
Costume elements
Sense of motion
Workshops
Switch
foreground
and
background
colours
X (P
C & Mac)
Great for dig
ital inks
and sketchin
g
silhouettes.
Assemble a montage
of photos
After Ive got a selection of good shots that are close to my initial idea, I ask my
friend to try a lot of different motions. To obtain good facial expressions, I then tell her
to go ahead and make noise, because its hard to fake an expression without making
sounds. You can also take video and use still frames for reference. This way you have
a lot of options that you can piece together digitally.
Keep it simple
I usually work on a single flat layer. It feels and looks more like
traditional mediums this way, and it enables me to paint with my
brush in different blending modes. I add layers of flat colour at times
and change the blending mode to explore glow effects, but I dont
often separate the layers out to more than a few at a time.
RESOURCES
PHOTOSHOP
CUSTOM BRUSHES:
<3
This is my all-purpose
brush thats good for
sketching, laying in big
areas of colour, and
rough rendering.
<3 CHALK
Introduce texture
<3 SOFTIE
This is a soft-edged
brush with Flow set to
40 per cent. It comes in
useful for blending soft
areas and painting light
blooms. I use it in the
skin and the magic glow.
11
Temperature changes
Think in planes
13
The wiggle
17
Polygonal
Lasso step ba
ck
Backspace (P
C & Mac)
Undo an inacc
urate click
with the Lasso
tool
without losing
the selection.
it right
14 Get
Because Ive lit my figure from below, its a challenge to make the face look both
realistic and attractive. Underlighting can make people look otherworldly, which is
why Im using it, but it can also make them look monstrous. In addition, Ive chosen a
rather complicated facial expression. Understand where the biggest challenges in your
painting are, and hit them hard! Nailing the tough spots makes your work sing.
marry the
15 Dont
reference shot
Some things look fine in a photo but
wrong in a painting. So, the shadow on her
upper lip is important to the expression,
but paint it too dark and she has a
moustache! Painting the highlight under
her nose too bright makes her nose
disappear. I simplify the wrinkles on her
cheeks, nose, chin and corners of the eyes,
but I retain enough to keep the expression.
Workshops
Photoshop
COMPOSE A GAME
CARD CHARACTER
Craig Elliott reimagines World of Warcrafts Lady Sylvanas for Blizzards
card game, explaining his colour and composition choices as he goes
ainting trading card images
for Blizzard is a challenge
similar to the ones I face
when Im designing for a
Disney or Blue Sky movie: I need to
create a compelling image, that fits
with the style already established by
the studio, but at the same time has
something new and unique about it.
Juggling these seemingly contradictory
elements is the hidden part of designing
for other people and companies. When
Craig Elliott
COUNTRY: US
Craig is a
freelance
concept artist,
illustrator and
character
designer for animation,
TV, games and films.
Hes worked for Disney,
DreamWorks and
Warner Bros., among
others. A book of his art
has just been released by
Flesk Publications.
www.bit.ly/craigelliott
GET YOUR
RESOURCES
See page 146 now!
Feeling sketchy
Adding colour
Preserve
transparency
/ (fo
rward slash
Mac & PC)
Lock transpa
rent pixels in
the layer your
e working
on, so you aff
ect only
pixel conten
t.
Workshops
3
Dont sweat
the small stuff
RESOURCES
PHOTOSHOP
CUSTOM BRUSHES:
LOOSE ROUGH BRUSH
MEDIUM ROUGH
This is my workhorse
brush, used for painting
detail all the way up to
atmosphere. It has a
touch of texture in it
that keeps the strokes
looking natural.
STREAKED BRUSH
Its important to always keep the whole painting in mind, and what youre trying
to achieve with it. To this end, I go back and make some changes to the composition to
work with the new figure pose better, adjusting the overall lighting and focal point to
be closer to what the final will be. I also change the cloak to be a bit more energetic and
more complementary to the curves of Sylvanas figure. I sometimes spend half my time
on an illustration just getting these little rough things right, so that when I put my foot
on the gas and start making things look real, everything is in the right place, in the right
colour and is drawn correctly.
Starting to bring
things together
Final colours
and shapes
Final touches
Realistic art
Im often asked, How
do you paint something
that looks so real? Its
knowing how to draw
any basic 3D shape, first
in line, then lit from any
angle or angles. You
merge these shapes until
you get something that
resembles what you want.
Zoom in and
out
Alt+-
and Alt+= (P
C)
Cmd+- and Cm
d+= (Mac)
This is a grea
t way to
check that yo
ur whole
painting is co
ming
together.
Missing pieces
A raft of refinements
card image
12 Final
The final trading card shows how the art directors at Blizzard
crop the image to best explain the action described on the card itself.
I always like to give them more art than they need so they have the
freedom to choose how to crop things. This also enables them to use
the bigger image later for a banner, box cover or poster, if they want.
up
10 Softening
I soften the bowstring, the overall
outline and things like hair and feathers.
The softening around the figure avoids
that cut-out look and makes the figure
look part of the world shes in. I also add
armour and clothing, as well as more hair
and bits of detail everywhere. Here again
I jump around trying to keep the whole
painting at the same level of finish. I
also refine the face and expression. Her
expression was a little wooden and I want
her to have a wry, superior and confident
expression while still being sexy. I also add
a bit of bounce light from her red eyes, to
give her a slightly more evil touch.
Blizzard Entertainment
Workshops
Photoshop
CAPTURE THE
DRAMA IN A SCENE
The tense showdown between owyn the shield-maiden and the evil
Witch-king in Tolkiens Return of the King is visualised by Nacho Molina
RR Tolkiens work is famous for
its richness when describing
a characters feelings and
the emotion of a scene. His
sensitivity for storytelling makes it possible
for readers to imagine his heroes, villains
and locations in great detail. Whether its
the majestic eternal clash between good
and evil, or a classic home-loving scene
from Hobbiton, the authors work is a
never-ending inspirational source that has
set a precedent in both fantastic literature
and the world of illustration.
Nacho Molina
COUNTRY: England
Nacho is a
freelance
illustrator and
concept artist,
originally
from Spain. Hes created
art for movies, video
games, card games and
book covers for Blizzard
Entertainment and
Londons Moving Picture
Company, among others.
www.bit.ly/ifx-nmolina
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Basic considerations
Initial sketch
Workshops
4
Creating masks
Try to be
organised
My illustrations usually
end up with more than
100 layers. Thats why I
try to separate them into
groups, such as Figure
or Background. It will
save time and make the
painting process easier.
PHOTOSHOP
CUSTOM BRUSHES:
CUSTOM BRUSH 1
owyns portrait
If youve read the Battle of the Pelennor Fields chapter, youll know that its
a horrifying location where the elements play a key role. I decide to paint some
smoke and clouds, and having her clothes and hair blowing in the wind achieves
a nice visual rhythm. Notice how all these elements lead us to the main focal
point: owyn. Checking out romantic painters such as Turner may help you here!
Environment elements
Its time to introduce the elements on the ground. Using the Clone Stamp tool,
I duplicate some weeds and stones from a real photo, making sure that they match the
perspective and light direction. Then I paint some objects in the foreground, for three
main reasons. First, itll create more sense of depth in the image. Second, because Im
painting them in dark tones itll settle down the composition. Third, it gives the viewer
more information about the battles ferocity.
11
Hide select
ion
On to the sword
Ctrl+H (PC)
Cmd+H (M
ac)
Keep pain
ting within
a
selected ar
ea without
seeing any
distracting
lines or gu
ides.
Witch-king
10 The
When painting any kind of beast
you should think about real creatures.
Nature is the best designer and gives us
brilliant references. The Witch-king rides
a nasty and slimy flying creature, so I
need to understand how animals such as
reptiles, birds or even fish look. The rider
is the secondary figure in the background,
so I avoid detailing him too much and
keep his contrast levels down, otherwise
hell appear too close to the viewer.
textures wisely
12 Use
Just as with your colours, hues and saturation, you should find
a balance in your textures. A repetitive texture element may lead to a
boring image. To counter this, try to combine different finishes. For
instance, metal is usually strong and rigid, which implies sharp edges.
In contrast, hair or robes are fluffy and delicate, which necessitates
painting them using softer brush strokes. Notice what happens with
the sky and the ground when I do this.
Workshops
coat of arms
13 owyns
Minor elements such as coat of
arms on a suit of armour or a shield can
actually tell us more about a character.
Because owyns shield isnt facing the
viewer, the one thats lying on the
ground is an alternative area in which to
paint some heraldic elements. So I start
designing a simple silhouette thats
reminiscent of a horse. Then I transform
and match it with the shields perspective.
Finally, I select that shape and paint it on
a new layer using a custom brush that
imparts a dirty, irregular texture.
attention to
14 Pay
those details
Small details can make the difference
between a rather good illustration and a
magnificent one. How far to go with them
is a personal decision, but remember that
sometimes less is more. To depict details
and polished surfaces Id recommend
zooming into the image and out of it
regularly, checking that your detailing
is working up close as well as from a
distance. In addition, I use the Lasso and
a low opacity brush (between 15 and 20
per cent) to achieve clean shapes with
sharp edges. This will give the sense of
a more finished illustration.
persevering!
15 Keep
Detailing may be the toughest part of the painting process, but if you bite the
Select a layers
contents
Ctrl-click (PC)
Cmd-click (Mac)
nail
Click the layer thumb
s
to select its content
automatically.
bullet itll be worth it when you print out your image. I keep working on the chain mail,
shoulder pad and hair, trying to make these elements visually richer. This wont be too
difficult because theres a good base in place. Thats why its important for emphasising
the general look of the image. It also enables me to find different nuances without
losing the sense of unity.
the
16 Enhance
atmosphere
Finally, I add some small details like
blood and dirt to make the scene more
believable. I use a Soft Light layer and
paint in a dark red colour around the
shoulders, chest or cheekbones. I then
strengthen the highlights on a new Soft
Light layer, but this time using bright
yellow. This gives the impression that
owyn is illuminated by divine golden
light, which will contrast with the evil
creature in the background.
The Golden
Spiral
Have you heard about
the Golden Spiral? Its
a visual proportion
technique thats been
used throughout art
history. Try to set up
your composition using
it and youll soon see
how your art looks more
aesthetically pleasing.
colour adjustments
17 Final
When youve been busy working on an image for a lengthy period of time, its
sometimes difficult to see things that arent quite right. I recommend leaving a painting
for a couple of days before continuing to play with light and colour adjustments. I use
Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Selective Color during the final stages of my painting
process. It may reveal a completely different aspect to your image. Try it!
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Workshops
Painter
Howard Lyon
COUNTRY: US
Howard
studied
illustration
at Brigham
Young
University. After 13 years
in the video game
industry he now focuses
on illustration and fine art.
www.howardlyon.com
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Workshops
Thumbnail
Drawing
RESOURCES
3
PAINTER
CUSTOM BRUSHES:
SMEARY ROUND
A word about
reference
Change
brush size
Colour wash
Painting clouds
Brushes
The first thing I decide is the colour or temperature of the light in my painting.
There are multiple sources, the torch and the sun, and the temperature of the light will
be warm on the right-hand side, where the sun is, and then shift towards cooler colours
across the landscape. The torch fire will provide a second warm light on the girl in the
foreground, providing a colour contrast against the cooler background. The colour at
this point is simple, but its a key point in any painting. With digital tools its easier to
make a course correction, but its still better to try and start out on the right foot.
Clouds are so versatile. You can paint them almost any colour, dark or light, and
just about any shape theyre a compositional wild card. Clouds can also be tricky to
paint, though. You have to keep in mind that they have form. If you struggle with
clouds, remember this: they have a light side and dark side. Theyre also reflective and
translucent at times. As artists, we can use this to great effect when creating motion in
our compositions.
Layers
I dont have many layers. If I should need to make a new selection and lift
something out of the background, it doesnt take much time. And I find working with
the edges much easier when the different elements are on the same layer. Here, on the
horizon, once I merged the sky and landscape layers, getting the right blending and
mixing of colours is much easier. This usually means I work back to front, and have
three layers: background, middle-ground and foreground. I collapse them as I work.
By this point I have two layers: the figure in the foreground and the background.
Rotate canv
as
Course correction
11
Painting flesh
12
Finishing touches
Grey is your
friend
Grey makes colours pop
and flesh tones lively
and bright. When
surrounded by a more
saturated colour of a
similar value, itll take
on the properties of the
colours complement.
Grey next to orange
looks bluish, by yellow it
will appear purple, and
with red itll look green.
Use grey to make skin
seem full of colour.
I realise that my sunset is going to steal the show away from my protagonist and
her nifty torch. The bright yellow sunset is too strong. So it has to go. While the colours
still stay warmer on the right, I knock the sun down with some clouds and change the
colours. As the painting progresses, youll see how important this change was. It isnt
always easy to make big changes, but if your gut keeps nagging at you, then do it.
fabric
10 Painting
Painting cloth is all
about patience. Slow and steady
observations get me where I
want to be. When I start to rush,
things get out of hand. You want
to be aware of the folds and the
form at the same time. When you
do this, the wrinkles and creases
and folds will help you describe
the forms underneath.
Workshops
Photoshop
REWORK AN ICONIC
CARD CHARACTER
Aleksi Briclot mixes fantasy, manga and mech tech to produce an angelic
figure who looks equally good scaled up or on the front of a card
Aleksi Briclot
COUNTRY: France
Aleksi creates
concepts and
illustrations
for video
games and
comic books. Hes also
co-founder of DONTNOD
Entertainment, which is
behind the sci-fi game
Remember Me.
www.bit.ly/ifx-abriclot
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Persistence
is key
Always keep an eye on
When people ask me for
a piece of artistic advice,
I tell them that the key
word is perseverance.
You also need the ability
to look at your work
with fresh eyes, and to
analyse your creative
process and always
learn from it.
I usually begin in my sketchbook. After reading the client brief, I fill pages
with notes and quick doodles. Making connections, keywords, references this is
the fun part for every project. I like developing original ideas at this stage, and in
doing so avoid suffering from creative block while sat in front of my computer.
Graphic elements
Concept art
up
9 Finishing
The picture is pretty much
Body gestures
The face
Polishing
Workshops
Traditional skills
TELLING A
STORY IN
THE DETAILS
Volkan Baga explains how he creates narrative
compositions in his detailed trading card art
he trading card game Magic:
the Gathering is based on
a sophisticated concept and
universe. The design team
creates a detailed world for each set
with far-reaching background and
narrative depth.
Each of my paintings refers to this
world, shaping it with my ideas into
a coherent composition of story and
pictures. The players want to dive into
Magics atmosphere, they want to feel it,
experience it.
Therefore, its extremely important that
each of my paintings is not only beautiful
to look at, but also communicates to the
viewer. At best, they even have the ability
to tell a whole story with just a simple
portrait, in which the viewer wants to
stay for a while.
That adds value to the painting and it
shouldnt be underestimated. A perfect
Volkan Baga
COUNTRY: Germany
Volkan lives in
Wrzburg,
Germany, and
has been
nominated for
several Chesley and Graf
Ludo awards. As well as
personal projects,
Volkan regularly paints
card art for Wizards of
the Coast.
www.volkanbaga.de
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Workshops
Sketching out
each element
Compiling
your portfolio
Trading card games
show a variety of
subjects: humans,
monsters, animals, odd
creatures, landscapes,
items and suchlike. You
need to be versatile and
show examples of each
in your portfolio. And
select only the best
ones. Quality is more
important than quantity.
Adding symbolism
Merging the
composition
Colours are
not the same
Drawing in detail
The degree of realism that I strive for in my paintings relies on photo material
which I can reference while Im painting. Meanwhile, I know my Spymasters character
and his story. The photo serves as a basis for the preliminary drawing, which I refine
until it fits my imagination. A Spymaster who doesnt look like one would ruin the story.
Choosing my colours
and review
10 Painting
After I finish the painting, I put it aside for a few days and
then have a fresh look at it. I check again whether the expression,
ambience and narration are good and consistent. I retouch some areas
to optimise them. Then I look at the painting and the character, and
Im glad to see he begins to tell me his story of the legendary and
notorious Edric, Spymaster of Trest
Workshops
Photoshop
TELL A STORY
WITH AN IMAGE
Applibot illustrator Crowgod lays out the process he uses to create
artwork for the online card game Legend of the Cryptids
ne of the things Ive learned
from working on Applibots
Legend of the Cryptids line is
the importance of being able
to tell a story through an illustration.
With Applibots appetite for success, the
art has to appeal to a wide audience who
may be unfamiliar with the Cryptids
brand, which in turn might be the push
they need to try out the game.
Therefore, before drawing even a rough
sketch, I read the description of the scene
carefully and imagine whats happening
to the character. The premise of the scene
Crowgod
COUNTRY: Japan
Crowgod, aka
Xu Cheng,
graduated
from Central
Academy of
Fine Arts in Printmaking
in Beijing, where he also
taught himself digital
art techniques. He is
now an in-house
illustrator at Applibot.
crow-god.deviantart.com
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Quick sketch
Monochrome sketch
Colour process
Workshops
4
Levels
Ctrl+L (PC)
)
Cmd+L (Mac
eful for
This tool is us
e proportion
tweaking th
ite
of black, wh
and grey.
Grand vision
Colour sketch
Colour tweaks
Building structures in
fantasy art are often
grand affairs. But when
your evil queens castle
looks more like a drab
block of flats, its time
to take one of these
approaches to the
composition. First,
ensure that the
perspective is correct
by using grid lines on
a separate layer. Then
place people or other
recognisable objects to
give scale to the scene.
Finally, add details where
appropriate, to help give
those objects a palpable
sense of volume.
You could also adjust the colour using the options within a
Fill or Adjustment layer. I choose Vibrance from the Create new Fill
or Adjustment layer pop-up to tweak the saturation. I also use the
Selective Color menu. I set up my colour palette as HSB sliders its
a quick way to adjust the purity of colour and saturation in the image.
Character accessories
Adjust the
atmosphere
and volume
12 Depth
I add gnarly details to the tree
trunk in the mid-ground to show its
almost menacing bulk. Then I create
more layers and paint a range of different
elements such as clouds and the land
far below, which enhances the depth
between the background and foreground.
elements
13 Additional
I add more details and a pattern
to the axe. Then I adjust the edge line of
character and foreground to accentuate
the volumes and the depth within the
painting. Highlighting the edges and
painting reflected light also helps to
bring out the volume of objects.
design
10 Detailed
I always think that a well-thoughtout design aids the storytelling in the
scene. Here Ive indicated the interaction
between the young warrior and the
dragon, which enhances the feeling of
movement. The figures pose is offbalance and his muscles are tensed, which
shows hes ready to strike the dragon. The
direction hes facing also adds to the sense
of threat in the situation.
Auto Color
Ctrl+Shift+B
(PC)
Cmd+Shift+B
(Mac)
Use this tool
to quickly
adjust the ba
lance of
colour in your
image.
11
up
14 Finishing
I decide that I want to make my
warrior look even younger, so I adjust his
face accordingly. Finally, I introduce a
beam of light that picks out his body,
and tweak the highlights in the scene.
Workshops
Photoshop
USE PERSPECTIVE
TO CREATE DRAMA
Sara Forlenza uses beams of light to help portray a cathedral interior,
as she paints a scene from history Thomas Beckets final moments
he beauty of digital art is that
there are many approaches
you can take to painting a
scene, especially when it
comes to enhancing ambience levels
and creating atmosphere. The ease with
which youre able to draw perpendicular
or parallel lines, just by holding down
Shift, makes it possible to create complex
perspective scenes relatively easily. This
means you can concentrate on developing
the feeling of the scene.
Sara Forlenza
COUNTRY: Italy
Sara is a
freelance
illustrator
living in Italy,
working
mostly as a book cover
artist on digital card and
role-playing games.
http://ifxm.ag/s-forlenza
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Liquify tool
(PC)
Ctrl+Shift+X
(Mac)
Cmd+Shift+X
ct small
Quickly corre
s with the
imperfection
Liquify tool.
Sketching a
thumbnail
Laying down a small
sketch with a few
touches of colour before
starting on the painting
itself enables me to think
clearly about what kind
of image I want to paint,
what kind of light and
colour combination to
use, and how to balance
the composition of the
whole scene. When Ive
clarified these points,
painting the artwork
becomes much faster.
Sketching perspective
Workshops
Adding texture
The line art step is very important, because its here that
I define the characters and their poses. I try to make them as
natural-looking as possible, keeping in mind the wonderful
medieval miniatures references. For the background architecture
I draw the Gothic features: the distinctive high columns and
pointed arches that frame the stained glass windows.
Time to colour!
RESOURCES
PHOTOSHOP
CUSTOM BRUSHES:
BACKGROUND BRUSH
11
colour layers
10 Merge
I merge the colour layer with the black line art and I set it
to Color Dodge in the Layers palette. Everything that was black
becomes transparent and everything that was colourful becomes
bright, but also with a hint of the dominant picture colour. Now
its just a case of editing, transforming, distorting and adapting
the frames shape to my perspective lines.
Merge layers
Ctrl+E (PC)
Cmd+E (Mac
)
Merge your
working layer
with the one
below. This
makes it easy
to use
blending mo
des.
A perfect floor
knight
13 Medieval
I give the knight attacking Becket a simple chain-mail
tunic and helmet. Hes placed in the cast shadow too, so he looks
darker except for the light reflected from the floor behind him
and the blade of the sword thats in the stained glass light. This
makes the knight seem more menacing.
touches
14 Finishing
I give a touch of colour to the knight in the background
and were almost done. I add the beams of light coming from
the windows and I stress the luminosity with an additional
Color Dodge layer. Finally, I paint small dabs of paint in a very
light blue, which simulate the effect of dust hit by the light.
Reviews Contents
138
143
140
142
REVIEWS
144
Reviews
iPad Pro
TURNING PRO Apples newest iPad is aimed at digital
creatives, but is the extra screen size worth the money?
Price From 679 Company Apple Web www.apple.com
DAVE
BRASGALLA
Features
Q12.9-inch
Retina display
Q A9x processor
Q Four high-fidelity
speakers
Q 6.9mm thick
Q Up to 10 hour
battery life
Q 32 or 128GB storage
Q Wi-Fi standard; top
model Wi-Fi+Cellular
QM9 motion
coprocessor
Q8MP iSight camera
Q1080p HD video
recording (30 fps)
Rating
Dave is a Stockholm-based
illustrator and designer, as
well as a partner and senior
designer at The Iconfactory.
www.pixelhuset.se
Reviews
PAOLO
L
LIMONCELLI
The artist and brush designer on
his time with Afnity Photo so far
Features
QClone tool
Q Dodge and Burn
brushes
Q Sponge and Smudge
brushes
Q Blur and Sharpen
brushes
Q Colour Replacement
brush
Q Healing brush
Q Blemish removal
Q Inpainting (similar to
Content Aware Fill)
Q Frequency
Separation editing
Q Liquify toolset
System
Requirements
Mac: OS X 10.7 or later,
Core 2 Duo CPU,
2GB RAM, 630MB free
disk space
Rating
Reviews
Features
QCustomisable
brushes
Q Stroke correction
Q Customisable
dynamic interface
Q Close Gaps function
ideal for flat colouring
Q Customisable panels
Q Brushes can bind to
perspective
Q Seamless brush
blending
Q Intuitive hotkey
assignment
System
Requirements
PC: Windows Vista, 7
or newer, Core i3 CPU,
2GB RAM, 100MB hard
drive space, nVidia
GeForce 8800/
Radeon x1900 or
higher
Mac: OS X 10.7 or
newer, Core i3-4150,
2GB RAM, 100MB hard
drive space, nVidia
GeForce 8800/
Radeon x1900
or higher
Rating
iPad
Pixelmator 2.2
BRUSHING UP A
powerful photo editing
app that paints well, too
Price 3.99
Company Pixelmator Team
Web www.pixelmator.com
RATING
Pixelmator 2.2 is quite frankly
a joy to use. Its marketed as a
powerful photo-editing tool for
mobile apps, which it absolutely
succeeds as it includes level
and curves adjustments, colour
corrections, blurs, cloning, filters
and suchlike. But Pixelmator is
also a fantastic painting app.
Its a triumph in user interface
design. Anyone whos ever used
an iPad will intuitively know where
everything is and how to use it. The
sign of a great mobile painting app
is not how satisfying it is with
something fancy like the Apple
Pencil (which is fully supported,
alongside the iPad Pro, by the way),
but how well it works with just your
finger. And Pixelmator delivers
wonderfully. The pressure sensitivity
is great and theres no noticeable
lag. Brushes are gathered up into
collections, each one represented
by an accurate thumbnail, so
despite there being over 100
of them to choose from, it never
feels excessive.
Pixelmator enables you to import,
edit and export Photoshop files, so
you can work on your iPhone or
iPad and switch back to your Mac
or PC whenever youre ready. At
only 3.99 this is an absolute
bargain for your iPad.
Publisher James Gurney Price $25 (DVD); $15 (download) Web www.jamesgurney.com
ow do you follow
Watercolor In The Wild
and Gouache In The Wild,
James Gurneys previous
two titles in this series? Coloured
Pencils In The Wild, perhaps? James
has other ideas: with Fantasy In The
Wild, he both stays true to the series
concept of creating art outdoors and
greatly expands the territory he
could cover in future instalments.
James presents two projects in
which he uses his surroundings as
both inspiration and reference, adding
fantastic elements to otherwise
ordinary scenes. As an exercise, its a
test of your painting skills, because you
have to interpret the light and colours
you see and apply them to forms that
exist only on your canvas. Its also a
great way to generate new ideas that
you probably wouldnt have devised
otherwise. And, above all, James
makes it look like a lot of fun.
The first project sees James adding
a flying vehicle to a suburban street.
Topics covered
QGenerating ideas
and back stories
Q Making a visual grid
Q Painting from
reference
Q Using toys and
maquettes
Q Merging fantasy
and reality
Length
71 minutes
Rating
ARTIST PROFILE
JAMES
GURNEY
James specialises in painting
realistic images of scenes that cant
be photographed, from dinosaurs
to ancient civilisations. Hes also
a plein air painter and sketcher,
believing that making studies from
observation fuels his imagination.
James taught himself to draw by
reading books about Norman
Rockwell and Howard Pyle. He
received a degree in anthropology
at the University of California, but
chose a career in art.
James has written the
instruction books
Imaginative Realism
and Color And Light.
www.gurneyjourney.blogspot.com
Reviews
RATING
Inspiration Books
RATING
RATING
Fantasy Card Artist 145
Downloads
VIDEO
TUTORIALS,
CUSTOM
BRUSHES &
MORE!
RESOURCES
Follow the training with our video tutorial, and Download the custom brushes, step images
download the artwork, brushes and step images. and the final illustration for this tutorial.
PLUS
FANTASY
CARD
ARTIST
EDITORIAL
IAN DEAN EDITOR
ian.dean@futurenet.com
NICKY GOTOBED ART EDITOR
ALEX SUMMERSBY PRODUCTION EDITOR
CONTRIBUTIONS
Dave Allsop, Daren Bader, Volkan Baga,
Aleski Briclot, Kev Crossley, Crowgod,
Dan Dos Santos, Craig Elliot, Sara Forlenza,
Dave Kendall, Howard Lyon, Nacho Molina,
Winona Nelson, Dan Scott, Matt Stawicki
ADVERTISING
SASHA MCGREGOR advertising manager
sasha.mcgregor@futurenet.com
+44 (0) 1225 687675
CHRIS MITCHELL account executive
chris.mitchell@futurenet.com
+44 (0) 1225 687832
IMAGINEFX
BEREN NEALE EDITOR
beren.neale@futurenet.com
DANIEL VINCENT ART EDITOR
CLIFFORD HOPE OPERATIONS EDITOR
GET YOUR
RESOURCES
Workshop resources
from this special issue
are organised according
to tutorial name.
Applibots a
share therirtists
amazing a
on page 40rt
9001
Its alwayscraeate
challenge gto thatll
somethin full siz e
look great 4.5-inch
and on a Kera
screen
MASTER STORYTELLING