tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59532758710251019102024-03-18T12:42:45.843-07:00Fantasy Illustration Blog by Cynthia SheppardCynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.comBlogger166125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953275871025101910.post-86012658718314686112017-05-13T09:02:00.000-07:002017-05-13T10:56:06.240-07:00What does a Magic art director do?<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Last week I learned I’ve been nominated for a <a href="http://asfa-art.org/" target="_blank">Chesley award for Best Art Director</a>… it was a very cool thing to find out, but also a surprise, given that I rarely talk about art directing and most of what I do is relatively invisible unless I'm directly working with you. </span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">To set the stage, I joined Wizards of the Coast in February 2015. All our work is top secret for a year or more until it’s made public, so run the math on my just-over-2-year career, and you realize that a good chunk of the stuff I've worked on is still necessarily shrouded in mystery. The nature of the job makes it difficult to talk about anything current without being annoyingly vague, and by the time I can talk about something it feels like ancient history to me...</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">...But<b> </b>in the wake of a Chesley nomination, I felt like breaking the silence and dusting off my lapsed Blogger account. This isn’t a solicitation for votes (the polls close tomorrow and I assume most folks have already voted), but it's a convenient excuse to provide some visibility and insight into <i>what Magic R&D art directors like me do</i>.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMkHIo8kxh9mAahZsU8kl4QM0_6lx1e5l8eJCvEHtRlVZoK3N7SX3nKyqpLofug1tL7GBxFrwP4AiwPyGvT3SgCGpRNnTQbx5XOW02cmHL1oTv9lvAzJCYMnuebjN3pVrnxUU4MPUbj2q8/s1600/card-frame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMkHIo8kxh9mAahZsU8kl4QM0_6lx1e5l8eJCvEHtRlVZoK3N7SX3nKyqpLofug1tL7GBxFrwP4AiwPyGvT3SgCGpRNnTQbx5XOW02cmHL1oTv9lvAzJCYMnuebjN3pVrnxUU4MPUbj2q8/s320/card-frame.jpg" width="228" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Our tiny domain.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I use <i>art directors</i> plural because there are currently four of us in Magic R&D. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A few years ago it was Jeremy Jarvis doing all of it solo, until veteran Sr. AD Dawn Murin came to the team, then Mark Winters, myself, and most recently Kieran Yanner. Jeremy has since been promoted to Franchise Creative Director and moved desks to a different floor of the building <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">(we miss him)</span> </i>and all his old responsibilities, plus some new responsibilities, have transferred to us. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We each do slight variations on the same job, so I'll be speaking mainly from my own experiences as a Sr. Art Director.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">COMMISSIONING ART</span></b></span></h3>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Magic: The Gathering</b> is an analog card game that requires at least one piece of art for every card, so working with freelance illustrators to make that art is the steady drumbeat behind a Magic art director’s day. </span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We work in six week cycles, beginning with reviewing card concepts and collaborating with the creative team writers (who hone the concepts and write the actual words that become the art descriptions) to find the best pictures to fit a card's rules. Each image is crafted to tell the player something about what the card does from its tiny art box across the table, and show off the setting and flavor. Does the card have <i>Flying</i>? The art might need wings... What color is it? If it's a creature, what is its power and toughness? What kind of tokens does this spell make? Is there a specific visual cue tied to a mechanic? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The art is as much a <i>gameplay communication aid</i> as it is fun to look at, and we consider all of that during commissioning.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Once the concepts are written and formalized into art descriptions, we hand-select from over 150 artists for each assignment, taking into account everything from the individual artist’s style and problem-solving strengths, to their availability, to conversations we’ve had with them about what they're excited about painting.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We follow the assignments through a rigorous feedback process, reviewing incoming sketches and finals constantly. Since the creative team is a highly collaborative organism, we get multiple sets of eyes on the art and synthesize feedback from within our team before reaching out to the artists. F<approved>eedback is our tool for making sure each illustration fits the needs of the card, is well-executed, and stays consistent within the context of the setting.</approved></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><approved><br /></approved></span></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZYRdJiJbpPDqL5cob0bcXtWlzoGIz6BTYWgZfH3ANrKl4spraZ-xbf076iJvsEKtkkPMG-iZhgLyBP4n4EpRpt96bsI7tkPwLCeSmmODoxU6mSTIwRk7t-u41Em6_52RoygSTrgmd3UX0/s1600/a-weapon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZYRdJiJbpPDqL5cob0bcXtWlzoGIz6BTYWgZfH3ANrKl4spraZ-xbf076iJvsEKtkkPMG-iZhgLyBP4n4EpRpt96bsI7tkPwLCeSmmODoxU6mSTIwRk7t-u41Em6_52RoygSTrgmd3UX0/s320/a-weapon.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">An elegant weapon.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>In 2016, I commissioned a total of 578 unique pieces of card art for Magic. </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> don’t think I need to say it, but </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">that is a lot of art.</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> And with 3 of us splitting up the commissioning in 2016, that paints a decent picture of the volume of illustrations that make up a year’s worth of Magic cards.</span></span></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">WORLDBUILDING</span></b></span></h3>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the wake of Jeremy leaving the Sr. Art Director role, we stepped up and started doing the <i>worldbuilding</i> that the cards depend on, too. <b>This is one of my favorite parts of the job.</b></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We currently visit two worlds (<i>planes</i> in Magic parlance) per year in our main set block releases. To get a deeper look into what “two worlds a year” means, you should pause reading this and go watch <a href="http://gdcvault.com/play/1024044/Achieving-Two-Worlds-Every-Year">the GDC talk Jeremy did earlier this year</a> on how we do it- for the sake of brevity I won't rehash that speech, but it's really worth a listen if you're interested in our process.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Every world has an <i>art lead</i>, and that role is now traded back and forth between the art directors (Mark art-leads a world, I take the next, and so on). <i>For reference, y</i></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>ou'll see the results of the first world I art directed this fall.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After the vision is captured by the team, the lead AD is responsible for art directing the <i>world guide</i>- a giant tome filled with hundreds of environment, character, creature and motif concept illustrations, plus text that gives artists and writers a holistic capture of the world. It's what our art descriptions refer back to often as a means of keeping visual and tonal consistency across a card set when a hundred different hands are touching the final product.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNjS35qSE49-P0RdSpH3HWBNipsm4tl8XhSgGnkPq3BSzJPAoufMJHkMf-JIkLII_xermkuh_KLfpP4LpYK6crY_ZwqWqHBl7CHaCcT_EvIjpz8IonqNDUgD7CAWVphwAMDbLvbiVHx71k/s1600/kaladesh-concept-art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNjS35qSE49-P0RdSpH3HWBNipsm4tl8XhSgGnkPq3BSzJPAoufMJHkMf-JIkLII_xermkuh_KLfpP4LpYK6crY_ZwqWqHBl7CHaCcT_EvIjpz8IonqNDUgD7CAWVphwAMDbLvbiVHx71k/s400/kaladesh-concept-art.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Actual pile of concept art</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Along with our in-house concept artists, we bring in illustrators from around the globe for three week events called “concept pushes” to help generate all that concept art. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The art lead kicks off the push by making and giving a detailed presentation about the world vision, and we work closely with the artists and whole creative team in reviews throughout. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We also try to have fun and… you know… make sure they get fed and see outside the building.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRAyHV6XA4Jw-q6Xbn4Jyz9dVux6iloYYyiANFBDpXqYIgnJSwqYmvVJ4xd3EZmWxcHU4h38TANai9PZuazH-bKJJEQjxg1Dmkq0Ke6hxERBZFD80X2_R1YnRpM6vBd3idllv7WMnDNmxh/s1600/actual-artists.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRAyHV6XA4Jw-q6Xbn4Jyz9dVux6iloYYyiANFBDpXqYIgnJSwqYmvVJ4xd3EZmWxcHU4h38TANai9PZuazH-bKJJEQjxg1Dmkq0Ke6hxERBZFD80X2_R1YnRpM6vBd3idllv7WMnDNmxh/s400/actual-artists.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Actual artists, actually outside.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></span></h4>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">CONCEPT ART </span></b></span></h3>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3/4 of the current Magic ADs started as card illustrators (including me) and we've been artists on some of those worldbuilding concept pushes ourselves. My biggest contributions as a concept artist were for <i>Kaladesh</i>, our 2016 Fall release. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Under Jeremy’s direction at the time, I designed things like aether pipes, some of the filigree* gears that you see throughout the setting, and a significant portion of the look of elves and dwarves on the plane. Here’s a Kaladesh dragon I concepted, and how it relates to finished works of art on cards:</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMjz5orGc5rCDp7y9sEqoM5cTKUuI53zG79w2QrRnCyXQZJzVunIZ93QneApcx-xxQNlnYOK4c_53Hkb8Ga-b5Cm7oVX-Z3gJDfYytOg4ahCEIlZRM72iK57Lr4jxkzMJavNAm0-pviKeE/s1600/world-guide-concept-art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMjz5orGc5rCDp7y9sEqoM5cTKUuI53zG79w2QrRnCyXQZJzVunIZ93QneApcx-xxQNlnYOK4c_53Hkb8Ga-b5Cm7oVX-Z3gJDfYytOg4ahCEIlZRM72iK57Lr4jxkzMJavNAm0-pviKeE/s400/world-guide-concept-art.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><br />*I make no apologies for the filigree.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">ADs still contribute concept art occasionally, when needed outside of the concept pushes.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">OUTREACH</span></b></span></h3>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The most visible part of many ADs’ jobs is scouting for talent at conventions and other events. We’re extremely proud to get to work with some of <i>the best of the best illustrators in the world</i>, and we have no shortage of assignments for new folks who meet our high quality bar and aesthetic. So while it's a big time spend, it’s also a special treat to get to travel, meet artists and review portfolios in person. In 2016 we traveled to SDCC and GenCon, and this June I’m excitedly looking forward to visiting the <a href="http://www.artimc.org/" target="_blank">Illustration Master Class</a> in Amherst, MA as a guest instructor.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivwKcfOgqiCVS2hyphenhyphen_ScCWcVr13h38Deck1CZ2wkjOhE7xWCWN42Wzutaj48U82bQzFWtT9Faik9cvrHok-pPRbw74vaK6YR1vbdXUHmc5Mt8WBbx-YPQTAHBiyjMrCMkTRhkoY0GXXveq2/s1600/northwest-college-02_small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivwKcfOgqiCVS2hyphenhyphen_ScCWcVr13h38Deck1CZ2wkjOhE7xWCWN42Wzutaj48U82bQzFWtT9Faik9cvrHok-pPRbw74vaK6YR1vbdXUHmc5Mt8WBbx-YPQTAHBiyjMrCMkTRhkoY0GXXveq2/s400/northwest-college-02_small.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I had an awesome visit with NCAD students on Wednesday.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">COLLABORATION</span></b></span></h3>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We work directly with folks all over the building, and are always on call to sign off on things or answer questions about art and worldbuilding from Design, Editing, Imaging, Brand, and executives. W</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">e like to say we have a </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">culture of collaboration</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">. What that means is, instead of giving handoffs or saying a bunch of words at people and walking away, we sit down around a table with one another. <b>Quite often.</b> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I thought a visual would help, so I'll let this image abstractly illustrate what my typical meeting schedule looks like:</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9EeLChuk275ISPyTX8TW-GLozMprlrJm6NjaGdZCciQ5qAg1Wj0NGdcgwv0-Cp-4C0KsIvwKtgauT5jE4ajHxME9ClBfqgfJqHf6ISGg-OIRn8SWbjzTFoPKJVVLkBxDy_mP9kAlr5cy3/s1600/calendar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9EeLChuk275ISPyTX8TW-GLozMprlrJm6NjaGdZCciQ5qAg1Wj0NGdcgwv0-Cp-4C0KsIvwKtgauT5jE4ajHxME9ClBfqgfJqHf6ISGg-OIRn8SWbjzTFoPKJVVLkBxDy_mP9kAlr5cy3/s320/calendar.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rectangle = a week. Blue = meetings.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">(In all fairness, these meetings are important and help us get things done).</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">MISCELLANEA</span></b></span></h3>
</div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Apart from the "normal" paces of the job, other things ranging from office-y to specialized tasks come up all the time, and we activate. Some of those things include:</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<ul style="line-height: normal;">
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Making Powerpoint presentations <span style="font-size: x-small;">(with fancy animations and drop shadows and stuff)</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hand-fixing oil paintings that were damaged in shipping</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Documenting our processes & recording meeting notes</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Writing short essays <span style="font-size: x-small;">(or really long emails that have a thesis statement)</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Playtesting future card sets and giving playtest feedback</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Picking artists up from the airport</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Knowing about various printing methods</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Paperwork"</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Remembering our ever-changing placeholder names for things <span style="font-size: x-small;">(I am bad at this one.)</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<h4>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></span></h4>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">KNOWLEDGE OF THE BRAND</span></b></span></h3>
</div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is less tangible, but important. Magic has a set of standards and an aesthetic range that makes it its own unique thing, and knowing what’s important to capture in our images, worlds, and characters becomes part of our instinctual and emotional makeup as art directors.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Knowing what makes Magic Magic is obviously critical for card art, but it also extends to our IP outside the card game. An example of exercising this muscle was when I recently worked on a <a href="https://minecraft.net/en-us/article/magic-gathering-comes-minecraft" target="_blank">Magic skin pack</a> with the folks over at Minecraft and our brand team. I got to be a liaison to their in-house artists and art directors and talk with them about what features of our characters are most important to capture </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">when
they’re just a few pixels wide.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://minecraft.net/en-us/article/magic-gathering-comes-minecraft" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://community-content-assets.minecraft.net/upload/fbde85cf82725496eb9e428568398357-magic_header.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">New meaning of "block release..."</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>I’m also a long-standing Minecraft goob, so it was insanely fun to help bridge the gap between two of my biggest nerd-doms.</i> <i>Kudos to the Minecraft team, they did an amazing job.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">IN SUMMARY</span></b></span></h3>
</div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That's the basics. I omitted a lot for the sake of brevity and confidentiality, but what I hope you take away is that there's more to it than saying 'yes' and 'no' or waving a red pen around- Magic and its art are in the hands of people who care deeply about it. I don’t think any of us would do this job if we weren’t passionate about the art, or collaborating to make the things we make.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I mentioned only a slice of what I've worked on is public, so I’ll finish out this post by celebrating some of my personal favorites among the illustrations I've commissioned so far. You didn't think I was going to leave without sharing art, did you?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
<i>Eldritch Moon:</i></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe8P7JVY40jYsgUYB1I3SiiouVmcBA8NJQ1Ex9_AqEgefYpR-oDGfhYqS5xszSyO2bQHMVEuVIBhaHZnJNUofRmxoS2eNKVXaJxxFDeLt23SN_a4j75BR6VBExFuBDVDfef9XNGA08alxe/s1600/EMN_Howard-Lyon_Harmless-Offering.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe8P7JVY40jYsgUYB1I3SiiouVmcBA8NJQ1Ex9_AqEgefYpR-oDGfhYqS5xszSyO2bQHMVEuVIBhaHZnJNUofRmxoS2eNKVXaJxxFDeLt23SN_a4j75BR6VBExFuBDVDfef9XNGA08alxe/s400/EMN_Howard-Lyon_Harmless-Offering.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Harmless Offering</i> by Howard Lyon</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ZAudMQkMKWzPdvQz2z1Urauw5o-EjvuIqPn1c-tS4DTCixreECeIjzKh5zAIzUVciwqcG5TFKvUKtx6T4iOy9Ba9eEjngzW3JdTpb_UR5kD5pr5wgJr-j6t9HUCTM332stmGf0kpmjnN/s1600/EMN_Filip-Burburan_Voracious-Reader.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ZAudMQkMKWzPdvQz2z1Urauw5o-EjvuIqPn1c-tS4DTCixreECeIjzKh5zAIzUVciwqcG5TFKvUKtx6T4iOy9Ba9eEjngzW3JdTpb_UR5kD5pr5wgJr-j6t9HUCTM332stmGf0kpmjnN/s400/EMN_Filip-Burburan_Voracious-Reader.jpg" width="283" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Voracious Reader</i> by Filip Burburan</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcBXBSVFVYCCCi_7weRY5lzofvZkil83SQJp_p8Z0K1syuWz0lazg_-ljXii0R7XHcJTjKEjJ1emiG6AvEBI3RyGhfBCE4x3qpnA1UYCLUumW3BqI5e5M20bbeMX5SA32g2wu7PM2Nkd0W/s1600/EMN_Tyler-Jacobson_Murder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcBXBSVFVYCCCi_7weRY5lzofvZkil83SQJp_p8Z0K1syuWz0lazg_-ljXii0R7XHcJTjKEjJ1emiG6AvEBI3RyGhfBCE4x3qpnA1UYCLUumW3BqI5e5M20bbeMX5SA32g2wu7PM2Nkd0W/s400/EMN_Tyler-Jacobson_Murder.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Murder</i> by Tyler Jacobson</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnGSIonfeqhKCANNI2git-x9sVx5QalFHpswpVfSFW2U0MbJGHsEdyc6NbIN_fBcTke6q-2u9-xsRWa8UUwIcFU_NOR5Vlagzy-c-VYNKt0I83KfqK1HzBgJtqtwA0hlVHv-5D-rO93zQ-/s1600/EMN_Christopher-Moeller_Peace-of-Mind.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnGSIonfeqhKCANNI2git-x9sVx5QalFHpswpVfSFW2U0MbJGHsEdyc6NbIN_fBcTke6q-2u9-xsRWa8UUwIcFU_NOR5Vlagzy-c-VYNKt0I83KfqK1HzBgJtqtwA0hlVHv-5D-rO93zQ-/s400/EMN_Christopher-Moeller_Peace-of-Mind.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Peace of Mind</i> by Christopher Moeller</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUH-jtN9pmgfH2dNoTiVe1p2lV27OzHuN-P20MSez6D40VJcnvnRQwynPtVE2__Vv2DNEOqdabUx5JRYhf52CIrjbTNwXb52fjcuy6ro9Ktb0yzB94N0-chTTzQ7fKz1zfHXWuygu1r8hQ/s1600/EMN_Wes-Burt_Deploy-the-Gatewatch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUH-jtN9pmgfH2dNoTiVe1p2lV27OzHuN-P20MSez6D40VJcnvnRQwynPtVE2__Vv2DNEOqdabUx5JRYhf52CIrjbTNwXb52fjcuy6ro9Ktb0yzB94N0-chTTzQ7fKz1zfHXWuygu1r8hQ/s400/EMN_Wes-Burt_Deploy-the-Gatewatch.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Deploy the Gatewatch</i> by Wes Burt</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
<i>Conspiracy 2: Take the Crown:</i></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguBoaj1Ip5qpvaZJAXcV2VWmWbWmFnOpAo4Cn2apKw8s7gWMVWhlewy7Z7h_mus7JbYZkKo97FABYD8GvjQbynOXZRJJVh1HrADyzPeU3gla0FVtI02xw6b6C1q2mIVJPpiHhzyOcxq28H/s1600/CN2_Iain-McCaig_Caller-of-the-Untamed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguBoaj1Ip5qpvaZJAXcV2VWmWbWmFnOpAo4Cn2apKw8s7gWMVWhlewy7Z7h_mus7JbYZkKo97FABYD8GvjQbynOXZRJJVh1HrADyzPeU3gla0FVtI02xw6b6C1q2mIVJPpiHhzyOcxq28H/s400/CN2_Iain-McCaig_Caller-of-the-Untamed.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Caller of the Untamed</i> by Iain McCaig (also chosen for the <a href="http://www.spectrumfantasticart.com/spectrum-24.php" target="_blank">cover of Spectrum 24</a>)</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeTIWQBf_o-QXj1W7kyXGObGLdzZA7XFKxCAoMOvAyqHxzZ39JNQrtGNjYhvOGaVOpw43pFRjTTa6IsYRU5BJNIJVo33Km7THdPHsLkuhX4Imw4pK91GiIc59EImCVH5nhEidfHL-6_Y1C/s1600/CN2_Chris-Rallis_Kaya-Ghost-Assassin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeTIWQBf_o-QXj1W7kyXGObGLdzZA7XFKxCAoMOvAyqHxzZ39JNQrtGNjYhvOGaVOpw43pFRjTTa6IsYRU5BJNIJVo33Km7THdPHsLkuhX4Imw4pK91GiIc59EImCVH5nhEidfHL-6_Y1C/s400/CN2_Chris-Rallis_Kaya-Ghost-Assassin.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Kaya, Ghost Assassin</i> by Chris Rallis</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYYFPDi618dl2GqmwJnQqrJ7jji6F3PMQF1mmCidsVVN-NKC1xVPy8UZItHaMBK5g-8G4cL0NMIMlltoVXJH6x5V4WvLzFqHkpszA7MiJBzBZw0tuScKtysW5u17d9JQ_5KrpaKuF7xFal/s1600/CN2_Kieran-Yanner_Marchesa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYYFPDi618dl2GqmwJnQqrJ7jji6F3PMQF1mmCidsVVN-NKC1xVPy8UZItHaMBK5g-8G4cL0NMIMlltoVXJH6x5V4WvLzFqHkpszA7MiJBzBZw0tuScKtysW5u17d9JQ_5KrpaKuF7xFal/s400/CN2_Kieran-Yanner_Marchesa.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Queen Marchesa</i> by Kieran Yanner</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvpUjwuWLKK491JUs391dzdIZIwfjLi1e5M4xAQwvJ7DI02sbQVkaA7q8o-kIKzxYhC334R_Gj8uUa-G6JjZzpRiahiDycxDbhG65VE2EZDYdKXA4mcLsVVBWpbcwZgmeegbAq17kq0aeY/s1600/CN2_Steve-Prescott_Jeering-Homunculus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvpUjwuWLKK491JUs391dzdIZIwfjLi1e5M4xAQwvJ7DI02sbQVkaA7q8o-kIKzxYhC334R_Gj8uUa-G6JjZzpRiahiDycxDbhG65VE2EZDYdKXA4mcLsVVBWpbcwZgmeegbAq17kq0aeY/s400/CN2_Steve-Prescott_Jeering-Homunculus.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Jeering Homunculus</i> by Steve Prescott</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpevvOjY74vlBLI9awU7liUMic3q_UV0yTOD2uMP-FwxUeOX1ZlnJDnHjzvLAQSkdKST8OuMzM3yalHzb-CI7SCCiY761swSl_PJT79FnDn9o35VM4AwquZG8C1_psjjGBR1wLFfX2pcXj/s1600/CN2_Victor-Adame_Daretti-Ingenious-Iconoclast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpevvOjY74vlBLI9awU7liUMic3q_UV0yTOD2uMP-FwxUeOX1ZlnJDnHjzvLAQSkdKST8OuMzM3yalHzb-CI7SCCiY761swSl_PJT79FnDn9o35VM4AwquZG8C1_psjjGBR1wLFfX2pcXj/s400/CN2_Victor-Adame_Daretti-Ingenious-Iconoclast.jpg" width="298" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast</i> by Victor Adame Minguez</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
<i>Kaladesh:</i></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSoSpRnbQcL0vSahIKG1wbN4l5QIftQDZURRQAkI8w9giZ3d9PDWry1JfdDbhHQ0p3-I-byW3c5vChCzDxWjF5ivqjO8d5hNu909gVcdIIRD6I6SbwiGbavU_UaMjPbZoCLSJXHNyDGUUB/s1600/KLD_Volkan-Baga_Angel-of-Invention.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSoSpRnbQcL0vSahIKG1wbN4l5QIftQDZURRQAkI8w9giZ3d9PDWry1JfdDbhHQ0p3-I-byW3c5vChCzDxWjF5ivqjO8d5hNu909gVcdIIRD6I6SbwiGbavU_UaMjPbZoCLSJXHNyDGUUB/s400/KLD_Volkan-Baga_Angel-of-Invention.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Angel of Invention</i> by Volkan Baga</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVPHJpy1gBvGzEEpIGWIQjLOX2RlkaQbyr9_ZbFDo34NEd5cZcp3Lu-1Fk5kUSLffL7NNyFVe9pQRttafcsjzEn5NpyZEO8_RTLQqHrRo2kvWPI4zghjS7Cv5_QeUD7mz4A8CJok_bm3-6/s1600/KLD_Matt-Stewart_Master-Trinketeer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVPHJpy1gBvGzEEpIGWIQjLOX2RlkaQbyr9_ZbFDo34NEd5cZcp3Lu-1Fk5kUSLffL7NNyFVe9pQRttafcsjzEn5NpyZEO8_RTLQqHrRo2kvWPI4zghjS7Cv5_QeUD7mz4A8CJok_bm3-6/s400/KLD_Matt-Stewart_Master-Trinketeer.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Master Trinketeer</i> by Matt Stewart</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc2wNiLv7fY5JRGj7DuqX0txqPbf306yiZl8MKOnMg8NM7wNd0y6Te4UXK2pcbCYAE1d07BFiF1poJBgbu1KkGTJ8pp0wAxkSFl0KFuMC1gjk7d-TKoo-GB6OQZZU4y0AeC-yjFerhr2Zi/s1600/KLD_Zack-Stella_Commencement-of-Ceremonies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc2wNiLv7fY5JRGj7DuqX0txqPbf306yiZl8MKOnMg8NM7wNd0y6Te4UXK2pcbCYAE1d07BFiF1poJBgbu1KkGTJ8pp0wAxkSFl0KFuMC1gjk7d-TKoo-GB6OQZZU4y0AeC-yjFerhr2Zi/s400/KLD_Zack-Stella_Commencement-of-Ceremonies.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Commencement of Ceremonies</i> by Zack Stella</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3e_-LnfDo2HMl4Uu2EzrD1svQV2pkLs9sAh3z24d1f9fQSgiU7Ggv9jfsVc5FxYF0Orl5RIe7WYEl0bZ0Ghqc2M66mJXTrcS9K5vB2hACCoqmmMALSj79fswyvWYnVXxQhcYZ5ZOgKTaN/s1600/KLD_Chris-Rahn_Mox-Opal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3e_-LnfDo2HMl4Uu2EzrD1svQV2pkLs9sAh3z24d1f9fQSgiU7Ggv9jfsVc5FxYF0Orl5RIe7WYEl0bZ0Ghqc2M66mJXTrcS9K5vB2hACCoqmmMALSj79fswyvWYnVXxQhcYZ5ZOgKTaN/s400/KLD_Chris-Rahn_Mox-Opal.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Mox Opal</i> by Chris Rahn</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Commander 2016:</span></i></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf2LPs4D3LcDJ8_Yj2AwV-_rWDd-zHR9nNMkyJxZdXGKKZxIrWOgPjf4c7Dm9MFJk8hsSD5LnESTRHepSVNI_qgLxJibw6xce86AsQMbc0ggNAfxQfDgqOpphfNiMAREhPU6RmGVFCx8bD/s1600/C16_Greg-Opalinski_Saskia-the-Unyielding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf2LPs4D3LcDJ8_Yj2AwV-_rWDd-zHR9nNMkyJxZdXGKKZxIrWOgPjf4c7Dm9MFJk8hsSD5LnESTRHepSVNI_qgLxJibw6xce86AsQMbc0ggNAfxQfDgqOpphfNiMAREhPU6RmGVFCx8bD/s400/C16_Greg-Opalinski_Saskia-the-Unyielding.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Saskia, the Unyielding</i> by Greg Opalinski</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Aether Revolt:</span></i></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA-HEw2uEv9AwI9tQmy_grJwCCUw8XTyyBsdDFAdaanHUYWFuV7ribf3ia6lS8qegWuoUNtDcDNEUYFll0wehyphenhyphenXC9at0J9GZYfalUeVI4qRGzSAjZF3UW4tZen9uecckt6cYF55klGofse/s1600/AER_Terese-Nielsen_Ajanis-Aid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA-HEw2uEv9AwI9tQmy_grJwCCUw8XTyyBsdDFAdaanHUYWFuV7ribf3ia6lS8qegWuoUNtDcDNEUYFll0wehyphenhyphenXC9at0J9GZYfalUeVI4qRGzSAjZF3UW4tZen9uecckt6cYF55klGofse/s400/AER_Terese-Nielsen_Ajanis-Aid.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Ajani's Aid</i> by Terese Nielsen</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcwUfjPkFfZS-PlD_JoAhSNlh7fYf-_OzoOzjTGqKJqDx4xr964okpTcsatDI-SmDpm9_yVDzu5Ixik-zjsQP4UtFIEBxaByNSGzAE8WtIA7s8v5bHgMYXefj_Qrtw4JHTBMO-hFGwkmpR/s1600/AER_Ryan-Pancoast_Deadeye-Harpooner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcwUfjPkFfZS-PlD_JoAhSNlh7fYf-_OzoOzjTGqKJqDx4xr964okpTcsatDI-SmDpm9_yVDzu5Ixik-zjsQP4UtFIEBxaByNSGzAE8WtIA7s8v5bHgMYXefj_Qrtw4JHTBMO-hFGwkmpR/s400/AER_Ryan-Pancoast_Deadeye-Harpooner.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Deadeye Harpooner</i> by Ryan Pancoast</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://magic.wizards.com/en/products/amonkhet/cards"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Amonkhet:</span></i></a></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ku3Z8qJzzFYY_zYA6BpvSUNzkdZw6wIVZ6MlKPpMTmDRp1la6I_BuSG4umakPZ41mKQVDvUfSBccXzTACsRNk2RbX_oYtXLTjNhxT4PhPVHm2OH8Xf7rn1aJOc61DDkuSp4Djpe621KH/s1600/AKH_Grzegorz-Rutkowski_Onward-to-Victory.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ku3Z8qJzzFYY_zYA6BpvSUNzkdZw6wIVZ6MlKPpMTmDRp1la6I_BuSG4umakPZ41mKQVDvUfSBccXzTACsRNk2RbX_oYtXLTjNhxT4PhPVHm2OH8Xf7rn1aJOc61DDkuSp4Djpe621KH/s400/AKH_Grzegorz-Rutkowski_Onward-to-Victory.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Onward (to) Victory</i> by Grzegorz Rutkowski</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXoXui26ERfAYYxtiGLy7SlwS74iMUV_1ZnTbgTCGHGXjaK0jioO56Bv-vuc5C4_-IhsR1xwqx8IlKDTIzBwzDBppK19F1LF8M5yWbTZ-vqqCJWRne_Zy-ArhvHMh96G4Hu5fI504tYv_u/s1600/AKH_Prepare-to-Fight_Zack-Stella.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="391" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXoXui26ERfAYYxtiGLy7SlwS74iMUV_1ZnTbgTCGHGXjaK0jioO56Bv-vuc5C4_-IhsR1xwqx8IlKDTIzBwzDBppK19F1LF8M5yWbTZ-vqqCJWRne_Zy-ArhvHMh96G4Hu5fI504tYv_u/s400/AKH_Prepare-to-Fight_Zack-Stella.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Prepare (to) Fight</i> by Zack Stella</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicuDFMvpIiuPq7Ee_tXvVKGN5RXvX0dtyWR_CdO-PnzAebg4nave9gj6-qznhIQGEvOg6YldxITzM7qBernRkDitJjRXmA0BwXDENhJ1sR59GR5VB-p0NvAZZlrgveojCL8IsCh8sRubWR/s1600/AKH_Raymond-Swanland_Glorious-End.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicuDFMvpIiuPq7Ee_tXvVKGN5RXvX0dtyWR_CdO-PnzAebg4nave9gj6-qznhIQGEvOg6YldxITzM7qBernRkDitJjRXmA0BwXDENhJ1sR59GR5VB-p0NvAZZlrgveojCL8IsCh8sRubWR/s400/AKH_Raymond-Swanland_Glorious-End.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Glorious End</i> by Raymond Swanland</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTJRl3rX2_ffTEzY3a3a1SpsC-2nlSpvao2jktTub0MFZLey2m-CO6pzSdNjmSaX9KpD7uPKdfU1xZ8kAse6QUtU8w29TsXZ6dt8gtmC0kDr8AXeamoJ58HP-p95I2FCVgEvw2sSM3Q449/s1600/AKH_Richard-Wright_Island.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTJRl3rX2_ffTEzY3a3a1SpsC-2nlSpvao2jktTub0MFZLey2m-CO6pzSdNjmSaX9KpD7uPKdfU1xZ8kAse6QUtU8w29TsXZ6dt8gtmC0kDr8AXeamoJ58HP-p95I2FCVgEvw2sSM3Q449/s400/AKH_Richard-Wright_Island.jpg" width="292" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Island</i> by Richard Wright</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Others: </span></i></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWLRm6m_V4tPJ-2yiUh9IdphSeIKiNZQHBMfG9lQlwkSvvQojC9oY598e3kdsoh8D6M-OPz8-WmUtsnNIaiMXZjQ4VQ3ORLfvUygJHlTpM3G7145GB9BB6yctPRq9eF-NHcmEMp-dfb3Mc/s1600/V16_Kieran-Yanner_Cabal-Ritual.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWLRm6m_V4tPJ-2yiUh9IdphSeIKiNZQHBMfG9lQlwkSvvQojC9oY598e3kdsoh8D6M-OPz8-WmUtsnNIaiMXZjQ4VQ3ORLfvUygJHlTpM3G7145GB9BB6yctPRq9eF-NHcmEMp-dfb3Mc/s400/V16_Kieran-Yanner_Cabal-Ritual.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Cabal Ritual</i> by Kieran Yanner</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs21jnzGbZT0ZOkGOWuUit7mehn1_E-9BxRcD1Xwslmvzo9UZptw_4CKcGgEgUNP5SViSDy9bZZleSXHl1a4xRowgMRrq9Hc0z_2Y1i7uLUB1G62p7pNEqqaTSMtPPHWuRXdvNrQ7zvl43/s1600/PRZ_Steven-Belledin_Black-Lotus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs21jnzGbZT0ZOkGOWuUit7mehn1_E-9BxRcD1Xwslmvzo9UZptw_4CKcGgEgUNP5SViSDy9bZZleSXHl1a4xRowgMRrq9Hc0z_2Y1i7uLUB1G62p7pNEqqaTSMtPPHWuRXdvNrQ7zvl43/s400/PRZ_Steven-Belledin_Black-Lotus.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Black Lotus</i> by Steven Belledin (<a href="http://stevenbelledin.blogspot.com/2017/04/black-lotus.html" target="_blank">see Steve's process for this piece here</a>)</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now get back to work. :)</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">#wotcstaff</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
Cynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.com86tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953275871025101910.post-16301509211113338722015-09-30T08:56:00.001-07:002015-09-30T09:58:33.234-07:00What I've been up to latelySince my last post in May, life has been crazy busy, both in the studio and the office, cooking up all sorts of crazy schemes, plots, and pictures. Here's a look at what I've been up to...<br />
<br />
<b>-You're a Wizard, <strike>Harry!</strike></b><br />
I'm now an art director for keeps. <i>Yay!</i><br />
Translation: My managers at Wizards of the Coast saw fit to convert me from contractor to full time in August. I was certainly hoping that would happen, but I didn't want to get too comfortable in my seat until it was set in stone. I've now commissioned hundreds of pieces of art for Magic, and cut my teeth on all kinds of creative behind-the-scenes stuff I can't talk about. That's really the only downside- the shroud of mystery evokes a similar feeling to painting something I like that has to stay under wraps for a year, but protracted.<br />
<br />
It's a fun, challenging, <i>hard-ass</i> job. I've learned a lot, and am still learning. Joking with a publishing AD I called it "atoning for all my sins as an illustrator." hah. It's a little true, though. If I could yell into the past, it would sound something like "Communicate! Don't rush that final! And for the love of god, <i>name your files correctly</i>!!"<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZbTOSjAiv0qyqgIT8e9DBoOV70s-c7Fk4KNq5snseqZkWSp9_taOdS_CJqeAZqbq9hMIYitzmardPLwlM5UOJs__CM6crgerOdDMimwyWgc-l_i5dVARr88QMu4YdFHF39kmRW1vUYjU/s1600/CNha-zWUkAAXG2h.jpg-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZbTOSjAiv0qyqgIT8e9DBoOV70s-c7Fk4KNq5snseqZkWSp9_taOdS_CJqeAZqbq9hMIYitzmardPLwlM5UOJs__CM6crgerOdDMimwyWgc-l_i5dVARr88QMu4YdFHF39kmRW1vUYjU/s400/CNha-zWUkAAXG2h.jpg-large.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">From L to R: artist Sara Winters, art director Mark Winters, and me. On our way to PAX Prime, Seattle</span></div>
<br />
As an extension of the art direction, I went to PAX Prime last month with my fellow AD Mark Winters to give portfolio reviews. I'll be flying to Pennsylvania for more portfolio reviews at <b>IlluXCon</b> in just a few short weeks: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/illuxcon/photos/a.462896836657.251710.36192446657/10153142216111658/?type=3&theater" target="_blank">Sign ups begin at 6PM Eastern Time on October 3rd</a>. Slots for reviews at IX have gone quickly in the past, so if you want to talk with me about your work, <i>do not</i> miss that signup date!<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>-Recent Work</b><br />
I've been remiss in my responsibilities to you and have skipped over posting a bunch of my artwork that's come out recently (for which I apologize). Some of this may be review for those of you who follow me elsewhere, but some will not. Starting off, my latest cover for Tor Books was released today, for Emily Foster's novella, "The Drowning Eyes," art directed by Christine Foltzer:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_P8SKhCG_O9AV2RhWcmhuvBHky7_ACoAeh8-DJxKJKIs2HTRUA55jXDOvN2Oe2Du-EoJsEn_t37BQ_YgxC9jPu-Qpgw9G0e0m1bDYFgBGZSQG_thte9yvCNTA_BZCUcpQOXe3RvGnfgV/s1600/drowning-eyes-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_P8SKhCG_O9AV2RhWcmhuvBHky7_ACoAeh8-DJxKJKIs2HTRUA55jXDOvN2Oe2Du-EoJsEn_t37BQ_YgxC9jPu-Qpgw9G0e0m1bDYFgBGZSQG_thte9yvCNTA_BZCUcpQOXe3RvGnfgV/s640/drowning-eyes-cover.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10207605001826988&set=a.1176032604848.26471.1349084565&type=3&theater&notif_t=like" target="_blank">full art on Facebook</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
A couple more Tor book covers I worked on with Irene Gallo from earlier this year- for all the full art in one place, take a peek at my portfolio archive on Imgur: <a href="http://imgur.com/a/VVn9H">http://imgur.com/a/VVn9H</a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYS_tp2lb88R5Y3a0BxD1qzPq5r8ZtyXnc3zAF_ysS436sIMOUHqd1Wjjt9PLY5gDUG7Qcd9wcQsTb24EoB7DFuuAesWxY2oa4-iY9mSbzbS0AiCK5-v5qyqWU37FiThBE7aoPM1fzGpqT/s1600/9w66DUd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYS_tp2lb88R5Y3a0BxD1qzPq5r8ZtyXnc3zAF_ysS436sIMOUHqd1Wjjt9PLY5gDUG7Qcd9wcQsTb24EoB7DFuuAesWxY2oa4-iY9mSbzbS0AiCK5-v5qyqWU37FiThBE7aoPM1fzGpqT/s640/9w66DUd.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"A Daughter of No Nation" novel cover art</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">, © Tor Books</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNq8izCOAqDT6MyPgH3q6-VB_7bIdLeGTDHze3FsrEia2gGjuHtfD5m4mwPkbgkfhF3Ach0kYzIXMHArccAxjQ_hhSGD0JJtY9Gm2GoUXbYbCvPFQpvOHqSwtuXRl9GIntcKWNeHudkWWQ/s1600/iN8SPiU.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNq8izCOAqDT6MyPgH3q6-VB_7bIdLeGTDHze3FsrEia2gGjuHtfD5m4mwPkbgkfhF3Ach0kYzIXMHArccAxjQ_hhSGD0JJtY9Gm2GoUXbYbCvPFQpvOHqSwtuXRl9GIntcKWNeHudkWWQ/s640/iN8SPiU.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"World's End" novel cover art, © Tor Books</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Next up, some creepy Eldrazi and weirdly angelic Magic card artwork from the latest set, <i>Battle for Zendikar</i> (coming October 2nd!):</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGlGJRR_rJzFfHrV5e_lXWXoCt_pD1fNf8KedcQUAMxRUJCURyRQTchrYp4AYx2qQQJX5WddK9MldfP42dD8jjxRKqYJVGl9mKMZPH3fI7I8AwcYFleU60JAiVZ1-daRKh6UtHLQzhYHMo/s1600/12039452_10207542038732950_454643656878017162_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="481" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGlGJRR_rJzFfHrV5e_lXWXoCt_pD1fNf8KedcQUAMxRUJCURyRQTchrYp4AYx2qQQJX5WddK9MldfP42dD8jjxRKqYJVGl9mKMZPH3fI7I8AwcYFleU60JAiVZ1-daRKh6UtHLQzhYHMo/s640/12039452_10207542038732950_454643656878017162_n.jpg" width="640" /> </a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"Lithomancer's Focus"</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFAsr_P11vVraVwZM-qEACg6FVUwJ9zsU5I0mN0CPghUiIvsyvGpS8WJcm5cNKumSss91OrDswb8jRKHMH5DH4eWrMslbR3F6qb5dwhxP2_N79LbH2sa8l_w9eeouSShfZi8M4ymb333FV/s1600/10458017_10207419644713176_7402155949140539636_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFAsr_P11vVraVwZM-qEACg6FVUwJ9zsU5I0mN0CPghUiIvsyvGpS8WJcm5cNKumSss91OrDswb8jRKHMH5DH4eWrMslbR3F6qb5dwhxP2_N79LbH2sa8l_w9eeouSShfZi8M4ymb333FV/s640/10458017_10207419644713176_7402155949140539636_n.jpg" width="464" /></a></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"Incubator Drone"</span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU3naZY2PeAs4qTo6LEKwvWvXrWc01-COSYyiD9HqJlsdrD5VVzYu4Dv_MCx5m9XE0EH2EN1UZIyMvS_vF6MEdJu9lwEsZdh4XfHjfOF7QeIvYm8ns3yi7iI_An4SqxXFjTO1s_Y_x3GN9/s1600/12002784_10207542085294114_5867141618103013462_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU3naZY2PeAs4qTo6LEKwvWvXrWc01-COSYyiD9HqJlsdrD5VVzYu4Dv_MCx5m9XE0EH2EN1UZIyMvS_vF6MEdJu9lwEsZdh4XfHjfOF7QeIvYm8ns3yi7iI_An4SqxXFjTO1s_Y_x3GN9/s640/12002784_10207542085294114_5867141618103013462_n.jpg" width="468" /></a></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"Transgress the Mind"</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4nTpYVJzQHoDjXV18Uhr3TScopSVH0E9HtrnFWsvwRedNWRSfTveEH2BHqstyT5hHhjQqtnfUPSAaXBagP8lhzFmjHRwB1hH1a9gQOzaUyXbnLR6uTW4tMupr97IkzpYQvdMzFVd1bLJv/s1600/12036923_10207542054653348_5100695432912352837_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="481" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4nTpYVJzQHoDjXV18Uhr3TScopSVH0E9HtrnFWsvwRedNWRSfTveEH2BHqstyT5hHhjQqtnfUPSAaXBagP8lhzFmjHRwB1hH1a9gQOzaUyXbnLR6uTW4tMupr97IkzpYQvdMzFVd1bLJv/s640/12036923_10207542054653348_5100695432912352837_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: center;">"Emeria Shepherd"</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
And a few from the previous set, <i>Magic: Origins</i>:</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Ju8NVhRtNHp4fGiiL3_OqPuOoFNcUqDvOTYLRQG8Tz0Uoz14W5EYs3z4_UB3ScTXHTu-Z3DliBueJtgOLiJucQagXe8Ii5xmaFFskPGrgcP0-LG-vUInUZyAf2DN3RyVBIx57L8fXOAx/s1600/Archangel-of-Tithes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="481" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Ju8NVhRtNHp4fGiiL3_OqPuOoFNcUqDvOTYLRQG8Tz0Uoz14W5EYs3z4_UB3ScTXHTu-Z3DliBueJtgOLiJucQagXe8Ii5xmaFFskPGrgcP0-LG-vUInUZyAf2DN3RyVBIx57L8fXOAx/s640/Archangel-of-Tithes.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"Archangel of Tithes"</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhr_j8sXAAVWxCxZUb75DsAsffQTf0CUxCEkJAnQIc4oYFL5dY0yzSQ5RCoI6AYauiXmqGwycXg8cr1GCF24gZjjucsxZlVcN8ZIGi6X98mt2y9z4bXr5ZM6PHc3qmg8HSrHlJhrTgsUcc/s1600/11698444_10206957149511085_6289529340667023284_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="481" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhr_j8sXAAVWxCxZUb75DsAsffQTf0CUxCEkJAnQIc4oYFL5dY0yzSQ5RCoI6AYauiXmqGwycXg8cr1GCF24gZjjucsxZlVcN8ZIGi6X98mt2y9z4bXr5ZM6PHc3qmg8HSrHlJhrTgsUcc/s640/11698444_10206957149511085_6289529340667023284_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"Reclusive Artificer"</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj3K8MYz-VHEanc37ORl-8RtV5Rtjp8CvG5Sp7jw_McM0hTvok0CLoSpXJKW-xoecUM4s35_QJLVyCFVhydWcDfQuDFkf3SvX3u2vfJD_K_ScJiEh8oFMYltjwBoVAiL1-i3-yCdi7ibUM/s1600/10403253_10206883383106971_5373636141908524451_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj3K8MYz-VHEanc37ORl-8RtV5Rtjp8CvG5Sp7jw_McM0hTvok0CLoSpXJKW-xoecUM4s35_QJLVyCFVhydWcDfQuDFkf3SvX3u2vfJD_K_ScJiEh8oFMYltjwBoVAiL1-i3-yCdi7ibUM/s640/10403253_10206883383106971_5373636141908524451_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> "Send to Sleep"</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghntiUs6VdJuPs46hIJ1Agr5VyyhX9IOcIR-08SrVAxDYrZw5reZQmNSf1ARQqvzZlsIEXmiW_WuKzURW6uAicZYa3Y5VXEDNjFD7qC8oHi2_FsueF8crJ56dZGp0NEshUKMAuAsOjhPg3/s1600/11163915_10206900312490195_9195864351690477250_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghntiUs6VdJuPs46hIJ1Agr5VyyhX9IOcIR-08SrVAxDYrZw5reZQmNSf1ARQqvzZlsIEXmiW_WuKzURW6uAicZYa3Y5VXEDNjFD7qC8oHi2_FsueF8crJ56dZGp0NEshUKMAuAsOjhPg3/s640/11163915_10206900312490195_9195864351690477250_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"Ampryn Tactician"</span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(All Magic: The Gathering artwork above ©2015 Wizards of the Coast)</span></div>
<br />
<b>-Some semblance of a social life?</b><br />
If you find yourself in the Georgetown area of Seattle, I highly recommend going to <a href="http://www.ateliercoffee.com/" target="_blank">Atelier Coffee Company</a> for a cup- the guys are awesome and will take good care of you. The storefront has a curiosity shop/steampunk/artist studio vibe, and on Sunday afternoons it's filled with amazing costumed models and a range of artists, from beginners to skilled pros (many of them are my coworkers) for really cool figure drawing sessions. Whenever I attend, I like to post sketches on my <a href="https://instagram.com/sheppardarts/" target="_blank">Instagram</a>.<br />
<br />
Here's some stuff from the last few weeks:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3x8iy6ZBH8HzW4nrXcu_C90I3GJBdk_sY-CPz0TCX0Lx5DYKvhiA7FQf7s994XZZX_h30WqsA1eL38OG0EygWeMfsNI_lCtdrGtpQpxuFTgXEUoIqYz-p774yZJ7DdHbavsmKJckSoQ9z/s1600/11889464_10153025236832967_5715426332201035962_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3x8iy6ZBH8HzW4nrXcu_C90I3GJBdk_sY-CPz0TCX0Lx5DYKvhiA7FQf7s994XZZX_h30WqsA1eL38OG0EygWeMfsNI_lCtdrGtpQpxuFTgXEUoIqYz-p774yZJ7DdHbavsmKJckSoQ9z/s640/11889464_10153025236832967_5715426332201035962_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKsDWtxwI27G0atbVy-Zpnv8Z5XulXiTDIMZlWKZFYIw8a9oSgWE-24sWPUQ7C09mDsXeLEgT2UJYQoEBqcGOOKm3PA73_BoT9jiR2cv1Fhtm92grZ6INqFm-sJM-e_ARgh49KcMLVvUkq/s1600/11781837_10207190497464638_6778835005976642735_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKsDWtxwI27G0atbVy-Zpnv8Z5XulXiTDIMZlWKZFYIw8a9oSgWE-24sWPUQ7C09mDsXeLEgT2UJYQoEBqcGOOKm3PA73_BoT9jiR2cv1Fhtm92grZ6INqFm-sJM-e_ARgh49KcMLVvUkq/s640/11781837_10207190497464638_6778835005976642735_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB-PEws7m5tIDhCHvgv7n_89-ybnFudjc7hhEunKd9xZ6ZFAxi8ho2bwzB8Ynph1tlzoVnO_-EGEBdR0lFMrM4ME2Me41e9hqx689GGPpvmjs9G9FUbOZF8xXs4So6Yu1hyphenhyphenlnYoXtwzbtQ/s1600/11988321_10207507981041529_352246119830394531_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB-PEws7m5tIDhCHvgv7n_89-ybnFudjc7hhEunKd9xZ6ZFAxi8ho2bwzB8Ynph1tlzoVnO_-EGEBdR0lFMrM4ME2Me41e9hqx689GGPpvmjs9G9FUbOZF8xXs4So6Yu1hyphenhyphenlnYoXtwzbtQ/s640/11988321_10207507981041529_352246119830394531_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMHEebn7x4yg95c4VgIwgPkK1-GRj2iKCeWZjUqa3MxK_sTjPdNXTFY1D6pXEqCfQLMm7-K_sR6oR3C_lMsr7aNlJS5jBMFF47Qoi-e-1YoBDZKCKZ9FaEhcUiz5QnhwpL5ICqLZefW-4_/s1600/11999095_10207453584201642_8283267474241233947_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMHEebn7x4yg95c4VgIwgPkK1-GRj2iKCeWZjUqa3MxK_sTjPdNXTFY1D6pXEqCfQLMm7-K_sR6oR3C_lMsr7aNlJS5jBMFF47Qoi-e-1YoBDZKCKZ9FaEhcUiz5QnhwpL5ICqLZefW-4_/s640/11999095_10207453584201642_8283267474241233947_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjei0okc7Hp7PVYlF-GkM9sz1ufKCb1xfMDJJ8uTltGbWia6lbt4j2AV5CrDaWwEtUMMTBwfVfKiTCXfjtBMn6jsm8kh5qWuYi8-Zdt6mppnL8LzrMaWvDRUqi2i2VwGuCwYnU576caIlY/s1600/11998957_10103571689258058_3915551004060203315_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjei0okc7Hp7PVYlF-GkM9sz1ufKCb1xfMDJJ8uTltGbWia6lbt4j2AV5CrDaWwEtUMMTBwfVfKiTCXfjtBMn6jsm8kh5qWuYi8-Zdt6mppnL8LzrMaWvDRUqi2i2VwGuCwYnU576caIlY/s640/11998957_10103571689258058_3915551004060203315_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<b>-On the Horizon</b><br />
Heads up, <a href="http://hermespress.com/products/infected-by-art-iba-volume-3" target="_blank">Infected by Art Vol. 3 preorders</a> will ship in October- Earlier this year, I was fortunate enough to win the juried contest for IBA3 and my art for <i>Karen Memory</i> is featured on the cover. I'm looking forward to getting a copy, not just for myself but to peruse its pages for artwork- some people may think art directors don't use annuals to search for artists, but pssst... we actually do. ;)<br />
<b><br /></b>
With the full-time job at Wizards, I'm not taking new freelance assignments right now, but I assure you that does NOT mean I'm going to stop making art. Hell no! <strike>How could you even think that, you monster?!</strike> I'm finishing up some stuff through the remainder of the year, including 13 pieces for a 2017 calendar, and preparing some personal works for next year. Details on all that later. I'm looking forward to having more creative exploration time once my current projects are wrapped up.<br />
<br />
I hope I'll see some newcomers as well as familiar faces at IlluXCon! Signing off for now. Cheers, and happy painting.<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
Cynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953275871025101910.post-6944869823034392672015-05-30T16:26:00.001-07:002015-05-30T16:26:13.878-07:00Deer Skull with Dagger oil study<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i.imgur.com/q2BgAa9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://i.imgur.com/q2BgAa9.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="text-align: left;">Deer Skull with Dagger</i><span style="text-align: left;"> | oil study from life</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
After traveling or attending a big event like Spectrum Live, I usually take a short break from client work to recuperate. Doing studies like this can be a good way to relax, as they don't require much planning, but I still get to move paint around and learn things. It's like an appetizer - an <i>art snack</i> - before a bigger meal.Cynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953275871025101910.post-90204876113962168372015-05-28T14:17:00.003-07:002015-05-28T14:17:58.316-07:00Feature in Illustrators Quarterly issue #10<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
I recently received contributor copies of <a href="http://illustratorsquarterly.com/index.html">Illustrators Quarterly</a> spring 2015 issue, which includes a 21-page feature about me & my art.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTKwIQGXObFpDs5Da6XX5v5g60Jopj7XyKEWBQyxFRBJZJxyiUJN-_mqk5iWCf5ydPlSR6DngRxysMdXaWA5TCBrzl0cQNHyY1yV6Yfhd7sQXa29VWwAOFOhUm0rqETWJGVO7W11NW_nPi/s1600/blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTKwIQGXObFpDs5Da6XX5v5g60Jopj7XyKEWBQyxFRBJZJxyiUJN-_mqk5iWCf5ydPlSR6DngRxysMdXaWA5TCBrzl0cQNHyY1yV6Yfhd7sQXa29VWwAOFOhUm0rqETWJGVO7W11NW_nPi/s400/blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
I'm still surprised I had enough art to fill that many pages (have I been at this for that long??). The chosen images range from 2009-2015, which was a little scary to
think about publishing all together since I believe my work has changed
drastically over that time, but editor Peter Richardson and his team did
a good job presenting it as a cohesive whole. <br />
<br />
Here's a peek at a couple of the interior spreads:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1MW0PdDg3O5cXTEZtRm0WBaZaf5FG5UnQexHpyMKLvwUrPFA3CH8lc3o5RPVlo3VwlxzdOdKw1cJeJjlmYH1HAJ2elDXni7JXqd3J3t29JY8lHCc-_ilWMo3HeDrmVGMOaBcQ294DoEv9/s1600/illustrators-pages02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1MW0PdDg3O5cXTEZtRm0WBaZaf5FG5UnQexHpyMKLvwUrPFA3CH8lc3o5RPVlo3VwlxzdOdKw1cJeJjlmYH1HAJ2elDXni7JXqd3J3t29JY8lHCc-_ilWMo3HeDrmVGMOaBcQ294DoEv9/s320/illustrators-pages02.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV1wtDlUcX02Mn7p-ZoDXSt4jmzBoJ_PSFAdHcj5Ck2FsyiWa8EwgYp4brQxn7vqc8EF8KD6YOcmm77uV5aQd921dUoVOMxrVKMoVB2f4J-Tk5H2XHjVVTYzibCkHFARx458GnOUHMabd7/s1600/illustrators-pages03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV1wtDlUcX02Mn7p-ZoDXSt4jmzBoJ_PSFAdHcj5Ck2FsyiWa8EwgYp4brQxn7vqc8EF8KD6YOcmm77uV5aQd921dUoVOMxrVKMoVB2f4J-Tk5H2XHjVVTYzibCkHFARx458GnOUHMabd7/s320/illustrators-pages03.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I was also interviewed by writer Jennifer Gori about my work, life as an artist, and some of my plans for the future. It's a great pleasure to be a part of such a lovely magazine.<br />
<br />
Copies are available online here, and via subscription: <a href="http://illustratorsquarterly.com/art/Issue-10.html">http://illustratorsquarterly.com/art/Issue-10.html</a>Cynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953275871025101910.post-86996709854409321492015-05-25T20:46:00.000-07:002015-05-28T10:09:07.846-07:00Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 2015Before I talk at length about this year's Spectrum Fantastic Art Live (SFAL), let’s go back and play catch up to put some things into perspective. 2015 has already been a huge year for me, and I've been so busy living in it that I haven't had much time to talk about it.<br />
<br />
A while ago I had publicly talked about moving from Virginia to the great pacific northwest, but I was intentionally vague about why. Most people assumed I was coming out here to work on concept art for Wizards of the Coast, which was actually true, I did come out for a concept push. But after the concept push ended I rolled into a new contract as a full-time art director for Magic: The Gathering. It was a big decision that was in the works since last summer. I wanted some time to settle into the job before making a formal announcement, to learn the ropes and make sure art direction was a good fit for me. So far so good; It's a challenging job but very rewarding so far. And it turned this trip into a more-or-less-covert scouting mission as well as the usual business and pleasure.<br />
<br />
Ok, now back to the event:<br />
<br />
<b>The beginnings of a great event</b><br />
This past weekend started with a plane ride from Seattle to Kansas City, MO, where I shared an Alaskan Airlines flight and shuttle with artists Tyler Jacobson, Brom, Laurie Lee Brom, and Iain McCaig. Getting to know these folks better has been really special. Every convention has its personal highlights, and one of the big ones this year was a short chat with Iain at Starbucks about what stories I want to tell with my future personal work, which is still something I'm figuring out, and got me thinking hard on the subject.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUR1ik5Jmpk71y2AMbC3zDMBAjmNoBACPmfgNSS-bwkcQK5sdMFr3us3mIibOeP2rgze2-BdxfQMEJdc3XMe4tkGMlL7qNm1vrl5PAZkUAHQbnB-lVRjWxG997u3d6q3Qo4X5VdWrBRI3M/s1600/dude-on-the-plane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUR1ik5Jmpk71y2AMbC3zDMBAjmNoBACPmfgNSS-bwkcQK5sdMFr3us3mIibOeP2rgze2-BdxfQMEJdc3XMe4tkGMlL7qNm1vrl5PAZkUAHQbnB-lVRjWxG997u3d6q3Qo4X5VdWrBRI3M/s400/dude-on-the-plane.jpg" width="358" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I also got to sneak in a quick sketch of this engrossed reader on the plane...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
After arriving in the late afternoon, there was a lot of meeting and greeting (any time there's a gathering of the art family the hugs don't stop for a while). Friday evening capped off with an <i>Art Director Icebreaker</i> at the Marriott bar- an event where if you wore a lay around your neck it meant you were available for portfolio reviews. Fun! I participated in that for most of the evening, and had some great conversations with artists about their work, including doing a string of portfolio reviews on top of a grand piano... how cool is that?<br />
<br />
<b>More big news...</b><br />
I finally got a decent chance to wander the show floor Saturday morning, though for the first time I think I looked at more art in peoples' portfolios than the wall displays. At noon I attended the Flesk panel about the logistics of Spectrum and what's to come in the future. The panel consisted of people who had been involved in Spectrum 22- creators of the award Christine & Colin Poole, jury members Justin & Annie Stegg Gerard, Iain and Brom who are members of the advisory board, and John Fleskes who took over the publication from the Fenners with Spectrum 21. Each took their turn talking about their part in bringing the annual to life.<br />
<br />
Hearing about the judging process was especially helpful because I'm going to be a member of the Spectrum 23 jury next year. It's a huge honor to be chosen and a task I take very seriously. Justin mentioned the feeling of holding peoples' dreams in his hands, having been both accepted and rejected from the book in the past (same here, man!). John also spoke about his philosophy of bringing together judges from diverse backgrounds for a well-rounded representation of the industry. I already know that I'll have the pleasure of judging alongside Terryl Whitlatch, and I can't wait to hear who the remaining jury members will be...<br />
<br />
<b>The Spectrum 22 Awards Ceremony</b><br />
Saturday evening. The Fenners and John Fleskes put on a hell of a ceremony- dancing and aerialist performances punctuated the award announcements, with industry giants presenting the awards for each of the 8 categories.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i.imgur.com/0J8Q8UN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://i.imgur.com/0J8Q8UN.jpg" height="400" width="270" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Momentum"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<i>And my piece, "Momentum" won the gold award in the Unpublished category!!</i><br />
<br />
That was the climax of my art career to date. Greg Manchess presented the award, and I'm glad he's strong, because the hug I gave him might have broken a weaker person.<br />
<br />
I didn't give a scripted acceptance speech, so I don't remember exactly what I blurted out, but to recap: I dedicated this award to my grandfather, who bought me a copy of Spectrum 4 for my 14th birthday. I'd always wanted to be an artist, but that was the initial turning point that gave me a direction. Granddad wasn't an artist himself -he used to joke that he couldn't draw a straight line with a ruler- but he was a huge fan of science fiction and fantasy (especially dragons), and encouraged my interests in Dungeons & Dragons and all that "weird stuff." And the last thing I got to tell him was that I'd finally made it into the book- I'd just gotten my acceptance letter to Spectrum 15 a few days before he passed away. I've entered every year since, and I think he would be proud of me for keeping it up and getting this far.<br />
<br />
Some might argue that awards aren't that important, but industry recognition means a ton to me. It's an indicator that I've been successful in my work so far, and I'm very grateful to have the support of my peers.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<i>Congratulations to ALL </i>- <a href="http://fleskpublications.com/blog/2015/05/23/spectrum-22-awards-winners-announced/" target="_blank">the full list of nominees and winners, including art, is up on the Flesk blog</a>.<br />
<br />
<i>A special thank you to Arnie & Cathy Fenner for beginning and keeping this wonderful tradition, </i><i>John Fleskes</i><i>, Shena Wolf for her tireless work behind the scenes, and the panel of judges who saw something special in my work: Justin and Annie Stegg Gerard, Dice Tsutsumi, Greg Ruth, and Virginie Ropars.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8oJM4rSd-gepLrzdWRgd7CmJz9xsAR0fmAh22-icPSW57qiODvJMEDBRBBaRDrvzTiPV-phw4lFuk4eAf81Nhwx1tFNV6xRjpj3yxW9zTE58YPnvoujfBXB0dqdy98mJhaM_rcXiGNTIZ/s1600/gold-awards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8oJM4rSd-gepLrzdWRgd7CmJz9xsAR0fmAh22-icPSW57qiODvJMEDBRBBaRDrvzTiPV-phw4lFuk4eAf81Nhwx1tFNV6xRjpj3yxW9zTE58YPnvoujfBXB0dqdy98mJhaM_rcXiGNTIZ/s400/gold-awards.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me & Dan Dos Santos after the ceremony- congrats to Dan, who won the gold award in the Book category!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>The Artist's Muse</b><br />
I also wanted to take a minute to admire the breathtaking new award design that John Fleskes commissioned, created by sculptors Kristine and Colin Poole. Each award was cast in bronze and embellished with silver or gold. Their concept was to create a muse for the artist, since one didn't previously exist. Artists historically were thought to be craftspeople who simply imitated nature, but we celebrate a tradition of realizing the unreal, and now we have a muse of our own.<br />
<br />
(Update: <a href="http://fleskpublications.com/blog/2015/05/26/the-spectrum-muse-pictures-and-story-behind-the-new-redesigned-spectrum-award/" target="_blank">read more about the awards</a> on the Flesk blog) <br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i.imgur.com/RlTfzLU.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://i.imgur.com/RlTfzLU.jpg" height="449" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spectrum 22 Awards, created by Kristine and Colin Poole</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><br /></b>
<b>The Women of Wonder</b><br />
On Sunday I didn't have as much time to say goodbye as I wanted since I had to leave in the early afternoon to fly home, but I did get to pick up a copy of <i>Women of Wonder</i>, the book created by Cathy Fenner to celebrate past and present women in the imaginative arts. The printing and art selections are gorgeous. I'm proud to be included in this book, and I hope it serves as a positive example for all artists, men and women alike.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2OvMMwrzQxtdJgYd922lBekuf7u7LOjKGYv3Po1gnGKFF1PW-AV3LBv7JRGzj6u95kHxd4RcRja4TRJVWuzEnwUiA3FrC9v5z_-gJ5sC_yfpFhfGSYiodNJe6-oQsyhuAP_67wuSEb-BO/s1600/women-of-wonder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2OvMMwrzQxtdJgYd922lBekuf7u7LOjKGYv3Po1gnGKFF1PW-AV3LBv7JRGzj6u95kHxd4RcRja4TRJVWuzEnwUiA3FrC9v5z_-gJ5sC_yfpFhfGSYiodNJe6-oQsyhuAP_67wuSEb-BO/s1600/women-of-wonder.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Women of Wonder | Edited by Cathy Fenner, Introduction by Lauren Panepinto</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The book is now available on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Women-Wonder-Celebrating-Creators-Fantastic/dp/1599290723">Amazon.com</a> if you want to pick up a copy (and you should)!<br />
<br />
<b>Life after SFAL</b><br />
My first order of business (besides sleeping in late) after SFAL was to go through my stacks of business cards and codify my notes from portfolio reviews. I was pleased so many people wanted to share their work with me, considering how new my AD position is. There were a handful of up-and-comers in attendance I'll be keeping a close eye on, for sure.<br />
<br />
Now that I've typed up this huge post, I'm going to get back to work, because that's what we've gotta do. The show left me feeling so inspired, and kicking around all kinds of ideas. Winning awards is wonderful, but it doesn't mean I can put up my feet and rest on my laurels- in fact, I need to work even harder!<br />
<br />
Til next time, happy painting.<br />
<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D5953275871025101910%23editor%2Ftarget%3Dpost%3BpostID%3D8699670985440932149&media=https%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-8qfBMNvVnfg%2FVWOv5e2zLvI%2FAAAAAAAAA2Q%2FcUHnjHsqN3s%2Fs400%2Fdude-on-the-plane.jpg&xm=h&xv=sa1.35&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 174px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 384px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D5953275871025101910%23editor%2Ftarget%3Dpost%3BpostID%3D8699670985440932149&media=https%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-8qfBMNvVnfg%2FVWOv5e2zLvI%2FAAAAAAAAA2Q%2FcUHnjHsqN3s%2Fs400%2Fdude-on-the-plane.jpg&xm=h&xv=sa1.35&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 174px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 384px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>Cynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953275871025101910.post-75347878610624532922014-12-05T19:35:00.000-08:002014-12-05T23:54:46.969-08:00"Momentum" | New personal workWhat gives you your sense of wonder, when your momentum is stolen by your surroundings?
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://i.imgur.com/0J8Q8UN.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/momentum-by-cynthia-sheppard.jpg" /></a>
<br />
<i>Momentum | digital painting, December 3, 2014</i>
<br />
<a href="http://www.inprnt.com/gallery/sheppardarts/momentum/" target="_blank">Prints available here</a>
<br />
<br />
Wednesday was my 31st birthday, and I also finished and released this new personal painting.
<br />
<br />
The development of the piece was a bit fuzzy and half-baked (like most of my personal paintings), and started with an emotion and a vague composition and color scheme. A feeling of hope as a jewel set into a wall of stagnation. This is a page from someone else's story, as interpreted through my eyes, but one that I closely relate to, having experienced similar feelings. Like my environment was slowly killing me, and if I didn't have my creativity I would die, or at least go mad.
<br />
<br />
Subject vs. environment has been a running theme in my work for years, and something I haven't gotten as much of an opportunity to explore in my commercial work. In older personal pieces like <a href="http://sheppard-arts.com/_img/portfolio-artwork/east-end-of-the-water-chamber.jpg" target="_blank">East End of the Water Chamber</a> (2009), <a href="http://sheppard-arts.com/_img/portfolio-artwork/escapism.jpg" target="_blank">Escapism</a> (2009), and <a href="http://sheppard-arts.com/_img/portfolio-artwork/beautiful-grim.jpg" target="_blank">Beautiful Grim</a> (2010), there's a character featured in some kind of hostile or dilapidated setting, either remaining strong despite it, or succumbing to it, depending on what I was going through at the time.
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/momentum-wip-1.jpg" />
<br />
<i>Early sketch.</i>
<br />
<br />
My original idea was a figure placed among large stone monuments of some kind, frozen in time. I didn't know they were going to be horses, but horses were the first thing I tried, and it worked, mostly. I started with several more horses, going in different directions, because I thought that would make a good representation of arrested movement, but instead I got a composition that spiraled directly into a giant horse butt. <i>Not exactly what I was going for.</i> So I kept the top three horses which were galloping in the same direction, and surrounded them with rocks and rubble, and that felt much more like the arrested movement I was going for. The metaphoric steeds <i>were</i> headed swiftly in a direction and halted. Perfect.
<br />
<br />
A quick note for the groups of students I've talked to recently: When I said don't be afraid to edit something that's not working, that's exactly what I meant!
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://i.imgur.com/eyb91Sq.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/momentum-blog-2-sm.jpg" /></a>
<br />
<i>"Momentum" figure detail.</i>
<br />
<br />
The finish on this piece is one of the tightest I've done recently, and to date. You can still see the digital brushstrokes when you get up close, but there are <i>more of them</i> per sq inch. I used some textures over the whole image to add sharp grit to the rocks and debris. The figure was painted in a separate file first at 2x resolution. High detail has been coming up a ton recently while discussing art with other people, so the thought of doing something where more forms are realized and fewer things are suggested by fat brush strokes felt natural. I was transported back to my teenage years when I enjoyed doing <a href="http://sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/csheppard-old-work.jpg" target="_blank">detailed drawings of ruins</a> in which you could see every leaf and crack in the stone... and apparently busted stones in the foreground, I swear that wasn't even intentional.
<br />
<br />
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this image. It's been very well received so far, and I think it's a nice send-off to a big year. For the first time ever, I'm proud to show off my work this year and say "this is who I am as an artist," and this new piece has got me more excited for next year.Cynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953275871025101910.post-49160374320055257352014-11-24T12:50:00.002-08:002014-11-24T14:32:07.232-08:00Magic ProTour Qualifier and visit to Havre de GraceAs an artist for <i>Magic</i>, I get a lot of really interesting opportunities for travel and exploration, and I've been taking advantage of a lot of them since I've been on my own this year. I'm also guilty of failing to document most of my trips- I'm the type who doesn't like to be on my phone or behind a camera the whole time I'm having an in-real-life experience so I forget to update social media, then when I return I'm often swamped with work or email and writing about my travels gets put on the back burner, and then forgotten forever.
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT0tykLCHQzix52PzuypYfNSr2OdS9e82vvrrvJPicfRn3Oln4DN0oBRcEt-J_oE62XkSkxLu7e3MHzRExPYGRS6Ya9eKp3CCk9yfYxfN3bDoHay1TL1VqimUHROIOEoUpbTTICLauQ02r/s1600/ptq-hdg-md.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT0tykLCHQzix52PzuypYfNSr2OdS9e82vvrrvJPicfRn3Oln4DN0oBRcEt-J_oE62XkSkxLu7e3MHzRExPYGRS6Ya9eKp3CCk9yfYxfN3bDoHay1TL1VqimUHROIOEoUpbTTICLauQ02r/s1600/ptq-hdg-md.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Last Saturday's journey was up to a ProTour qualifier (aka "PTQ" -a small-ish event where folks play competitive Magic, and the winner(s) get to move on to compete in an upcoming ProTour). That was the official reason for leaving home, but there were so many unique aspects of this trip that I feel compelled to sit down and spend a minute time typing them out before getting back to business.
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikoHFpOfaGMxPxK33HdhEl_3n7-frhqbVrEB981sfP5fuivDIm5dtcNmSgQqMwIFRpVEvVYnfcrL_HJEyVoQtGar2yNgPmHL0eh2nn8BxpQ_9WwoK_Q376rtPnz1e5TjN9xL1iGNLtRKjL/s1600/living-room-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikoHFpOfaGMxPxK33HdhEl_3n7-frhqbVrEB981sfP5fuivDIm5dtcNmSgQqMwIFRpVEvVYnfcrL_HJEyVoQtGar2yNgPmHL0eh2nn8BxpQ_9WwoK_Q376rtPnz1e5TjN9xL1iGNLtRKjL/s400/living-room-4.jpg" /></a></div>
<br /><i>Spencer Silver Mansion: Living Room | digital painting study from life (while sitting in front of a fireplace)</i>
<br />
<br />
<hr>
<br />
PTQ's don't normally have artists, since they're hosted by independent game stores, but John Klisavage who owns <a href="http://washingtonstreetbooksandmusic.com">Washington Street Books</a> wanted to make the experience for his players different. I happened to luck out and take another artist's place because he had a schedule conflict, and it was drive-able for me. The PTQ itself went great- I got to sign a lot of cards, do lots of sketches and alters, and chat with folks. A good day's work, and I think people had fun.
<br />
<br />
Now, the trip's first interesting side feature was that I got to stay in a beautiful historic Bed & Breakfast built in 1896, called the <a href="http://www.spencersilvermansion.com" target="_blank">Spencer Silver Mansion</a>. I also had extra down-time since it was only a one-day event, so I got to do some sight-seeing and sketching that I'm normally too rushed or tired to do during events.
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSNx3PdSJOD_hdvfXaOD_vJUigbom31Hstuwsn1beKYLQ42zkKLnEscu0i187XP5apLppJNHoqciohbRzYG3Os8bP422vMGbgzGX04bddOwBIOXqNuia_GNuD_kiKY0mOWlf5m5ZaCR-hA/s1600/concord-lighthouse-sketch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSNx3PdSJOD_hdvfXaOD_vJUigbom31Hstuwsn1beKYLQ42zkKLnEscu0i187XP5apLppJNHoqciohbRzYG3Os8bP422vMGbgzGX04bddOwBIOXqNuia_GNuD_kiKY0mOWlf5m5ZaCR-hA/s1600/concord-lighthouse-sketch.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<i><a href="http://www.concordpointlighthouse.org" target="_blank">Concord Point Lighthouse</a> | Graphite in moleskine sketchbook</i>
<br />
<br />
One of the best places I visited during the whole trip was John's store itself. Washington Street Books is a collector's paradise. You think that you can find anything in a big city, but this is the kind of out-of-the-way place where you find amazing things you can't even find on eBay. He has everything from rare old books to movie props from The Last Samurai. I ended up doing a fair bit of Xmas shopping at the store, and picked up a couple things for myself...some Magic cards, comics, and an all-Japanese box set of collectible figures from Final Fantasy 9, including Princess Garnet, who is my video game alter ego (still totally geeking out about it!!!). John was kind enough to let me browse through a bunch of his collectibles and even sent me off with some of his Lone Wolf Cub comics. You just don't have nice personal experiences like this working from home all the time.
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqjwOc-lAGcXjtLPCOJaQHANvNuO_7V4lOnaOV0VQbOES4sZbtiPAwct4f3ETOyeRzlUhuW5v3zde93cv9doF2mhU8ceu8Ja1M4E-nrcDqQcewJNd8S3peKdMtZknYmybdYohbVL1qajj8/s1600/wash-street-books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqjwOc-lAGcXjtLPCOJaQHANvNuO_7V4lOnaOV0VQbOES4sZbtiPAwct4f3ETOyeRzlUhuW5v3zde93cv9doF2mhU8ceu8Ja1M4E-nrcDqQcewJNd8S3peKdMtZknYmybdYohbVL1qajj8/s1600/wash-street-books.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<i>One of the many many display shelves at Washington Street Books- I spent a good deal of time with the Star Wars collectibles, duh.</i>
<br />
<br />
For those who like my step-by-step posts, I'll leave you with a two-night digital painting study I did of my cozy bedroom:
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPSB82b1-ifkbYvb7YN0sdiLM5_RtD_XNY0Zrf1TOlkyg_gMCy3IRvukVkg8_AbmEUdmJzBtaJbcjjwlL8cmKllmmLpQFHSuG24mYM-LMHJe8kv9k4aGgtu8jp-roqxz2TKFZCB0FDfcQp/s1600/carols-room-steps.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPSB82b1-ifkbYvb7YN0sdiLM5_RtD_XNY0Zrf1TOlkyg_gMCy3IRvukVkg8_AbmEUdmJzBtaJbcjjwlL8cmKllmmLpQFHSuG24mYM-LMHJe8kv9k4aGgtu8jp-roqxz2TKFZCB0FDfcQp/s1600/carols-room-steps.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Thanks again to John K. (and family) for the experience and for hosting the event, Carol for taking great care of me at the B&B, and all the players and fans who came and said hi. :)Cynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953275871025101910.post-86420450442073121182014-11-19T10:44:00.001-08:002014-11-19T10:44:31.065-08:00"Karen Memory" | Tor.com Book Cover Reveal!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5b4-cB6N1S0r7jw3_KyAkvhZdwNAAOHUf0wl6p60ve1rSQBoCedhf9aW7Sh28JNXz0x86_1PxeBPtlOUCaQUjXEvTjn6_pyH8z1mcMLmSigCEMrhe_Yq9d4rgN1MX0ivo5ZDfzc85S0d3/s1600/KarenMemory_Bear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5b4-cB6N1S0r7jw3_KyAkvhZdwNAAOHUf0wl6p60ve1rSQBoCedhf9aW7Sh28JNXz0x86_1PxeBPtlOUCaQUjXEvTjn6_pyH8z1mcMLmSigCEMrhe_Yq9d4rgN1MX0ivo5ZDfzc85S0d3/s1600/KarenMemory_Bear.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />"Karen Memory" | Digital painting, 2014
<br />Cover for novel by <a href="http://www.elizabethbear.com" target="_blank">Elizabeth Bear</a>
<br />Art director: Irene Gallo
<br />
<br />
It's with <i>immense</i> pleasure that I get to show you my latest illustration: the cover artwork for Elizabeth Bear's novel <i>Karen Memory</i>, published by Tor Books. This was actually my second time working with the inimitable and talented Irene Gallo. I don't know if she knew how badly I've wanted professional excuses to paint Steampunk-oriented stuff, but let's just say this was one of those dream jobs you spend years hoping for.
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/11/cover-reveal-for-elizabeth-bear-karen-memory-cynthia-sheppard" target="_blank">See the official post via Tor.com</a>
<br />
<br />
Prints available in my INPRNT store: <a href="http://www.inprnt.com/gallery/sheppardarts/karen-memory/" target="_blank">http://www.inprnt.com/gallery/sheppardarts/karen-memory/</a>Cynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953275871025101910.post-79655679245533426002014-10-03T09:20:00.000-07:002014-10-03T09:20:16.657-07:00Magic Card Art: Canyon Lurkers<a href="http://sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/magic/mtg-canyon-lurkers-by-cynthia-sheppard.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/magic/mtg-canyon-lurkers-by-cynthia-sheppard-sm.jpg" /></a>
<br />
<br />
<b>Card Name:</b> Canyon Lurkers
<br />
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast
<br />
<br />
<b>Gatherer Link:</b> <a href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=386503" target="_blank">http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=386503</a>
<br />
<br />
<b>Medium:</b> Digital
<br />
<b>Original Art Available?</b> No
<br />
<b>Prints Available?</b> <a href="http://www.inprnt.com/gallery/sheppardarts/canyon-lurkers/" target="_blank">Yes</a>
<br />
<b>Artist Proofs Available?</b> Yes
<br />
<b>Foil Artist Proofs Available?</b> Yes
Cynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953275871025101910.post-28910159534733828162014-10-03T09:19:00.000-07:002014-10-03T09:19:57.721-07:00Magic Card Art: Sultai Soothsayer<a href="http://sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/magic/mtg-sultai-soothsayer-by-cynthia-sheppard.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/magic/mtg-sultai-soothsayer-by-cynthia-sheppard-sm.jpg" /></a>
<br />
<br />
<b>Card Name:</b> Sultai Soothsayer
<br />
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast
<br />
<br />
<b>Gatherer Link:</b> <a href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=386679" target="_blank">http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=386679</a>
<br />
<br />
<b>Medium:</b> Digital
<br />
<b>Original Art Available?</b> No
<br />
<b>Prints Available?</b> <a href="http://www.inprnt.com/gallery/sheppardarts/sultai-soothsayer/" target="_blank">Yes</a>
<br />
<b>Artist Proofs Available?</b> Yes
<br />
<b>Foil Artist Proofs Available?</b> Yes
Cynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953275871025101910.post-9912787484755158442014-10-02T11:50:00.004-07:002014-10-02T13:46:53.876-07:00Magic Card Art: Sorin, Solemn Visitor<a href="http://sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/magic/mtg-sorin-solemn-visitor-by-cynthia-sheppard.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/magic/mtg-sorin-solemn-visitor-by-cynthia-sheppard-sm.jpg" /></a>
<br />
<br />
<b>Card Name:</b> Sorin, Solemn Visitor
<br />
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast
<br />
<br />
<b>Gatherer Link:</b> <a href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=386672" target="_blank">http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=386672</a>
<br />
<br />
<b>Medium:</b> Digital
<br />
<b>Original Art Available?</b> No
<br />
<b>Prints Available?</b> <a href="http://www.inprnt.com/gallery/sheppardarts/solemn-visitor/" target="_blank">Yes</a>
<br />
<b>Artist Proofs Available?</b> Yes
<br />
<b>Foil Artist Proofs Available?</b> Yes
<br />
<br />
<b>Artist notes:</b> My first Planeswalker! Eeeee!!! I could not have been happier for it to be Sorin, either. You know, me and vampires and all. ;)
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/magic/mtg-sorin-solemn-visitor-thumbnail-sketches.jpg" />
<br />
<i>^^Some of the early sketches</i>. The mood was "mysterious," as Tarkir is definitely not Sorin's home turf, and he was supposed to look and feel a bit out of place. Because of that I decided early on to make the terrain warm, in yellows and oranges. Some folks have even commented that Sorin's gray skin looks blue because of the color contrast between him and the landscape.
<br />
<br />
If I had to pick a favorite technical part of the painting, I'd choose <a href="http://sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/magic/mtg-sorin-solemn-visitor-armor.jpg" target="_blank">the scrolly armor</a>. Metal filigree is up there with fabric as one of my favorite things to paint. Thankfully, Wizards provides us with detailed reference, so I was able to look closely at the original designs before attempting to render them. But maybe the coolest thing of all is that dragon bones in the landscape weren't actually part of the assignment, and I was unaware of the lore reasons for Sorin being on Tarkir (<a href="http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/ur/sorins-revelation-2014-09-24" target="_blank">his search for Ugin</a>). I had just read that Tarkir was "littered with dragon bones" and thought they'd make an awesome visual backdrop for our vampire protagonist. As a humorous extension of this happy accident, the painting has earned the nickname "Is That Ugin?" among my close friends. And there was also one evening where we were just looking at random objects around my apartment and asking each other if they were Ugin... [at my lamp] "Hey guys, is that Ugin?" Repeat ad nauseum. Heh.
<br />
<br />
*UPDATE: Want to see a larger version of the image? Wizards featured it in their <a href="http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/wallpapers" target="_blank">Wallpapers</a> section!Cynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953275871025101910.post-67193043762926478382014-10-02T00:30:00.000-07:002014-10-02T14:47:38.065-07:00Magic Card Art: Treasure Cruise<a href="http://sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/magic/mtg-treasure-cruise-by-cynthia-sheppard.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/magic/treasure-cruise-by-cynthia-sheppard-sm.jpg" /></a>
<br />
<br />
<b>Card Name:</b> Treasure Cruise
<br />
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast
<br />
<br />
<b>Gatherer Link:</b> <a href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=386705" target="_blank">http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=386705</a>
<br />
<br />
<b>Medium:</b> Digital
<br />
<b>Original Art Available?</b> No
<br />
<b>Prints Available?</b> <a href="http://www.inprnt.com/gallery/sheppardarts/treasure-cruise/" target="_blank">Yes</a>
<br />
<b>Artist Proofs Available?</b> Yes
<br />
<b>Foil Artist Proofs Available?</b> Yes
<br />
<br />
<b>Artist notes:</b> This will now and forever be known as the "on a boat" card. For the uninitiated, just watch this video (NSFW):
<br />
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/R7yfISlGLNU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<br />
<br />
Seriously though, this was probably the most challenging assignment I've ever had to date, because... it's a boat! As I remarked on Facebook, I was confused because I'm a figurative artist, and I finally got an assignment where people didn't fit in <i>at all</i>. But sometimes it's good to push out of your comfort zone, and now that Treasure Cruise was in the winning deck at a Legacy tournament, it looks like the boat isn't gonna sink any time soon.Cynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953275871025101910.post-42245680620915912152014-09-12T13:38:00.000-07:002014-10-02T13:40:00.516-07:00Magic Card Art: Vampire Token (KTK)<a href="http://sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/magic/mtg-vampire-token-by-cynthia-sheppard.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/magic/mtg-vampire-token-by-cynthia-sheppard-sm.jpg" /></a>
<br />
<br />
<b>Card Name:</b> Vampire Token (from Khans of Tarkir set)
<br />
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast
<br />
<br />
<b>Gatherer Link:</b> No
<br />
<br />
<b>Medium:</b> Digital
<br />
<b>Original Art Available?</b> No
<br />
<b>Artist Proofs Available?</b> NoCynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953275871025101910.post-34544531656057947812014-07-07T13:06:00.001-07:002014-07-07T13:06:55.737-07:00Magic Card Art: Altac Bloodseeker<a href="http://sheppard-arts.com/_img/portfolio-artwork/mtg-altac-bloodseeker-by-cynthia-sheppard.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/magic/mtg-altac-bloodseeker-by-cynthia-sheppard-blog.jpg" /></a>
<br />
<br />
<b>Card Name:</b> Altac Bloodseeker
<br />
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast
<br />
<br />
<b>Gatherer Link:</b> coming soon
<br />
<br />
<b>Medium:</b> Digital
<br />
<b>Original Art Available?</b> No
<br />
<b>Artist Proofs Available?</b> Coming Soon
<br />
<br />
<b>Artist notes:</b> Third and final card spoiled for M15. This and Blood Host were painted before some of the other art I've shared recently, and it's interesting from a technical perspective to see my heavier use of the flat & angled brushes in these two. I don't dislike it here, but it was something I was playing with at the time and consciously scaled back a little in future paintings.Cynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953275871025101910.post-7445004623413835892014-07-05T13:01:00.000-07:002014-07-07T13:01:56.931-07:00Magic Card Art: Blood Host<a href="http://sheppard-arts.com/_img/portfolio-artwork/mtg-blood-host-by-cynthia-sheppard.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/magic/mtg-blood-host-by-cynthia-sheppard-blog.jpg" /></a>
<br />
<br />
<b>Card Name:</b> Blood Host
<br />
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast
<br />
<br />
<b>Gatherer Link:</b> coming soon
<br />
<br />
<b>Medium:</b> Digital
<br />
<b>Original Art Available?</b> No
<br />
<b>Artist Proofs Available?</b> Coming Soon
<br />
<br />
<b>Artist notes:</b> Second card spoiled for M15... Dinner parties at my house can get kinda weird.Cynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953275871025101910.post-17762164896051413012014-06-26T17:09:00.000-07:002014-06-26T17:09:26.445-07:00New Personal Work: "Soulbound," and DeviantArt UpdatesFirst off, here's a new personal piece I finished yesterday:
<br />
<a href="http://sheppard-arts.com/_img/portfolio-artwork/soulbound-by-cynthia-sheppard.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/soulbound-by-cynthia-sheppard-blog.jpg" /></a>
<br />
<i>"Soulbound," digital painting, ©2014</i>
<br/>
[<a href="http://www.inprnt.com/gallery/sheppardarts/soulbound/" target="_blank">prints available here</a>]
<br />
<br />
This piece was originally conceived as an entry for a male pin-up challenge on the <i>Women in Fantasy Illustration</i> Facebook group, believe it or not. Through a couple conversations and the ideation process it ended up evolving into something else- there's a story that's been developing behind the scenes, and you can see some recurring symbolism and themes emerging in my recent personal work. If you're feeling adventurous, <a href="http://sheppard-arts.com" target="_blank">see if you can spot some of it</a>.
<br />
<br />
On a style note, I really enjoy that aesthetic in 19th century paintings that feels like you're watching actors in a Greek tragedy, with sheet-draped actors and the intimate eye-level POV. I don't know how many more I'll do like this because I don't want it to become a crutch or a formulaic "thing." I dig it here, though.
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4rjSheq9IiSBhyuE-xqnrD_R_pbVEIbpZOXaFe74d_JUvY0m4z4IMmafCXAu2JBXdn_ewF2nx3CKPl9Ml6L2j0FGG9jY6mH7mFxQUk5X11lirHfmG8-0n7a5AxI3v4bhILFH1t8-rDeua/s1600/da-update.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4rjSheq9IiSBhyuE-xqnrD_R_pbVEIbpZOXaFe74d_JUvY0m4z4IMmafCXAu2JBXdn_ewF2nx3CKPl9Ml6L2j0FGG9jY6mH7mFxQUk5X11lirHfmG8-0n7a5AxI3v4bhILFH1t8-rDeua/s1600/da-update.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>"OMAIGAHHH..."</i>
<br />
<br />
Second off, I finally updated <a href="http://sheppardarts.deviantart.com" target="_blank">my DeviantArt account</a> again, with loads of work from this year so far. There was some shockingly old (translation: bad) work still on there that I cleared out, too. And I don't want to hear about how DA is a <i>great place to show an artist's evolution</i>. No one needs to see that crap within 100 miles of my portfolio. Those lazy compositions, the blinding saturation, the knuckleless sausage fingers...
<br />
<br />
Yeah, <i>sausage fingers.</i>
<br />
<br />
Ok, my dear readers... It's been a day. Time to paint.Cynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953275871025101910.post-17370679762274876472014-06-23T14:40:00.000-07:002014-07-07T14:54:44.735-07:00"Athena" cover for ImagineFX Magazine, issue #110I'm honored that I get so many amazing opportunities in the illustration world, and this is no exception. Some of you who follow my work know that I've been creating workshops and tutorials for ImagineFX Magazine since 2009 (June 2009, to be exact). Here we are exactly five years later, and I get to show you my very first COVER for the illustrious publication!
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://i.imgur.com/5sX5yBZ.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/imaginefx-athena-cover-blog.jpg" />
</a><br />
<i>ImagineFX Issue #110 "Athena" Cover</i>
<br />
<br />
The subject was Athena for their Myths & Legends issue- the magazine features a <a href="http://beta.imaginefx.com/issue-110-workshop-files-and-videos-76400" target="_blank">step-by-step workshop</a> on the process of creating the image. No spoilers here... go buy the issue! You can also see the full painting without the text <a href="http://www.sheppard-arts.com">on my portfolio website</a>.
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/cynthia-sheppard-imaginefx.jpg" />
<br />
<i>Proud moment when my copy arrived in the mail today!</i> via <a href="http://instagram.com/sheppardarts" target="_blank">Instagram</a>Cynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953275871025101910.post-1309397527701295742014-06-02T20:50:00.003-07:002014-07-07T13:00:41.238-07:00Magic Card Art: Wind Dancer<a href="http://www.sheppard-arts.com/_img/portfolio-artwork/mtg-wind-dancer-by-cynthia-sheppard.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/magic/27-wind-dancer.jpg" /></a>
<br />
<br />
<b>Card Name:</b> Wind Dancer
<br />
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast
<br />
<br />
<b>Gatherer Link:</b> <a href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=382407" target="_blank">http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=382407</a>
<br />
<br />
<b>Medium:</b> Digital
<br />
<b>Original Art Available?</b> No
<br />
<b>Artist Proofs Available?</b> Yes
<br />
<br />
<b>Artist Notes:</b> I made <a href="http://sheppard-arts.blogspot.com/2013/06/death-to-old-long-live-new.html">a blog post exactly one year ago today</a> about a painting that changed everything. This is that painting.
<br />
<br />
I had been going through a tough time for months prior to working on this, both with my work and my life in general, and was starting to give up on myself. The painting depicts a faerie character reaching out to the viewer over turbulent waters, offering safety, or a way out- in a sense, that's exactly what I was looking for at the time. The creation of the painting itself is what jolted me out of that bad period, and another literal interpretation of something I was going through, that paved the way for more recent pieces like <a href="http://sheppard-arts.blogspot.com/2014/02/learning-to-leave-new-personal-work-and.html">Learning to Leave</a>.
<br />
<br />
2013 was a crazy growth year no one knew I was having, and I came out of it with momentum that's still going. Thank you to those who've stood by my side.
<br />
<br />
EDIT: Adding a link to the <a href="http://www.gatheringmagic.com/mikelinnemann-061814-conspiracy-art-review/" target="_blank">art review on GatheringMagic.com</a>.Cynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953275871025101910.post-13866854759844517892014-05-28T00:09:00.002-07:002014-05-28T00:10:13.531-07:00"Divine Restraint"I took some time away from concept art over the long weekend and made a quick & fun personal piece. My partner-in-crime <a href="http://jonathon-reed.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Jonathon</a> modeled as the character, and made up a back story involving how he came to possess the magical armor and its power.
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://imgur.com/x0LrB2x" title="Divine Restraint"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/x0LrB2xl.jpg" title="Hosted by imgur.com" alt="Divine Restraint"/></a>
<br />
<i>"Divine Restraint," digital painting, 2014</i>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.inprnt.com/gallery/sheppardarts/">Prints Available</a>Cynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953275871025101910.post-32323379883381034042014-05-25T03:00:00.000-07:002014-07-07T12:57:05.067-07:00Magic Card Art: Shadowcloak Vampire<a href="http://sheppard-arts.com/_img/portfolio-artwork/mtg-shadowcloak-vampire-by-cynthia-sheppard.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/magic/mtg-shadowcloak-vampire-by-cynthia-sheppard-blog.jpg" /></a>
<br />
<br />
<b>Card Name:</b> Shadowcloak Vampire
<br />
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast
<br />
<br />
<b>Gatherer Link:</b> coming soon
<br />
<br />
<b>Medium:</b> Digital
<br />
<b>Original Art Available?</b> No
<br />
<b>Artist Proofs Available?</b> Coming Soon
<br />
<br />
<b>Artist notes:</b> First of my cards spoiled for Magic's core set, M15. The art brief for this one was largely open to interpretation, as long as it had a big flowy batwing cape, so I spent a lot of time noodling on the fabric for fun.Cynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953275871025101910.post-53949759631137899472014-05-22T21:12:00.000-07:002014-05-22T21:14:05.314-07:00New "Virtual Plein Air" Landscape Studies<a href="http://imgur.com/YBFDoCD"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/YBFDoCD.jpg" width="500" height="235" title="Cynthia Sheppard"/></a>
<i>Study of Melville Caves Trail, Australia | <a href="http://tinyurl.com/pevymod" target="_blank">Google Street View Reference</a></i>
<br />
<br />
I'm just finishing my second of five weeks working in-house at <i>Wizards of the Coast</i> on a concept art project. It's been an amazing and very challenging experience; since I come from more of a finished illustration background, doing concept design is something I'm just starting to sink my teeth into, but I'm learning a ton and the educational rewards of each day at the office are plentiful.
<br />
<br />
One of the biggest challenges has been doing environment designs for the first time. I've always thought of myself as a "micro" painter, looking inward toward everything, instead of outward. I was the kid that picked four leaf clovers, always looking down at the ground and imagining being really really small. Imagining vastness is a new feeling.
<br />
<br />
Suddenly, with the most fortuitous timing imaginable, the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/290155717818479/" target="_blank">Virtual Plein Air</a> Facebook community sprung up. The group, founded by artist <a href="http://timothyrodriguez.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Timothy Rodriguez</a>, prompts group members to find places on Google Street View, and paint studies from them. Of course nothing can compare to actually going outside and painting a plein air study, but this is a really fun and novel way to draw interesting scenery that's inaccessible, and get some quick practice to jumpstart my brain into making images of wide open spaces. The group has been exploding with studies since its inception one week ago today.
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://imgur.com/Q7MCNgi"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/Q7MCNgi.jpg" width="500" height="235" title="Cynthia Sheppard"/></a>
<br />
<i>Study of Jasaan, Philippines | <a href="http://tinyurl.com/nanxzrt" target="_blank">Google Street View Reference</a></i>
<br />
<br />
This is the study I posted in the community yesterday. A couple people wanted to see the process, so I'm happy to oblige.
<br />
<br />
Like all my figure work, I start with a sketch to get the landmarks in place. I jump straight into color without doing any black and white or value studies, since the value and color information already exists in the reference image. Jumping straight into color, I put in large areas of local color to start with, and do several detail passes.
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://imgur.com/BtuqLgH"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/BtuqLgH.jpg" title="Hosted by imgur.com"/></a>
<br />
<i>Close up of water detail.</i>
<br />
<br />
A few people specifically wanted to know about the water texture, and it's actually fairly simple to achieve. Starting over the base color (the greenish-blue gradient) I brushed the lighter color all over the surface, then erased away the ripples. It's not an exact match to the photo but the surface highlights follow the same "rules," so to speak.
<br />
<br />
During the last few steps of each painting I do something I like to call "atmospheric noodling," which is mostly using Screen and Overlay layers to apply subtle changes to the contrast and color over the whole piece. In the case of the Jasaan study, I used the Gradient tool on a Screen layer to simulate the mist in the background, etc. This is the biggest thing that makes digital painting different from traditional for me- if it was oil, I could glaze darker darks into some areas, but it's harder to go lighter at the end with real paint. Digital allows you that flexibility, so the order of operations is a bit different.
<br />
<br />
Most of the textured brush work is done toward the end as well. Here's what the Jasaan study looks like from start to finish:
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://imgur.com/VTQ0Njw"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/VTQ0Njw.gif" title="Hosted by imgur.com"/></a>
<br />
<br />
Enjoy, and I hope you'll check out the Facebook group and try one of your own.Cynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953275871025101910.post-20068487457385477012014-04-18T12:42:00.000-07:002014-07-07T12:51:56.183-07:00Magic Card Art: Reviving Melody<a href="http://sheppard-arts.com/_img/portfolio-artwork/mtg-reviving-melody-by-cynthia-sheppard.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/magic/mtg-reviving-melody-by-cynthia-sheppard-blog.jpg" /></a>
<br />
<br />
<b>Card Name:</b> Reviving Melody
<br />
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast
<br />
<br />
<b>Gatherer Link:</b> <a href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=380483" target="_blank">http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=380483</a>
<br />
<br />
<b>Medium:</b> Digital
<br />
<b>Original Art Available?</b> No
<br />
<b>Artist Proofs Available?</b> Yes
<br />
<br />
<b>Artist notes:</b> My 3rd (and favorite) card released from Journey Into Nyx. It's partly a gender-reversed Orpheus & Eurydice, and the could be read as disintegration or reintegration, though given the flavor of the card we know she's bringing the hoplite back from Erebos's clutches through the power of her song.
<br />
<br />
Also, <a href="http://www.gatheringmagic.com/mikelinnemann-043014-journey-into-nyx-art-review/" target="_blank">here's a review</a> of this and other JOU art on GatheringMagic.com.Cynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953275871025101910.post-42246547286715195622014-04-16T20:39:00.000-07:002014-04-20T21:00:21.998-07:00"Inside the Deck" Interview with Gathering Magic<a href="http://www.gatheringmagic.com/" target="_blank">Gathering Magic</a> was kind enough to have me for an interview on their <i>Inside The Deck</i> series, filmed at last month's Grand Prix in Richmond, VA. Thanks again to Richard Castle, Gathering Magic, <a href="http://www.coolstuffinc.com/" target="_blank">CoolStuffInc.com</a>, and all those involved in the production.
<br />
<br />
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/G43dkuzlbGs?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Cynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953275871025101910.post-53118053063713791472014-04-14T12:38:00.000-07:002014-07-07T12:52:07.379-07:00Magic Card Art: Prophetic Flamespeaker<a href="http://sheppard-arts.com/_img/portfolio-artwork/mtg-prophetic-flamespeaker-by-cynthia-sheppard.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/magic/mtg-prophetic-flamespeaker-by-cynthia-sheppard-blog.jpg" /></a>
<br />
<br />
<b>Card Name:</b> Prophetic Flamespeaker
<br />
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast
<br />
<br />
<b>Gatherer Link:</b> <a href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=380475" target="_blank">http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=380475</a>
<br />
<br />
<b>Medium:</b> Digital
<br />
<b>Original Art Available?</b> No
<br />
<b>Artist Proofs Available?</b> Yes
<br />
<br />
My 2nd card released from Journey Into Nyx.Cynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953275871025101910.post-47454567705520726342014-04-10T07:42:00.001-07:002014-04-10T07:42:06.527-07:00Magic Card Art: Interpret the Signs<a href="http://www.sheppard-arts.com/_img/portfolio-artwork/mtg-interpret-the-signs-by-csheppard.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.sheppard-arts.com/blog/img/posts/magic/23-interpret-the-signs.jpg" /></a>
<br />
<br />
<b>Card Name:</b> Interpret the Signs
<br />
© 2014 Wizards of the Coast
<br />
<br />
<b>Gatherer Link:</b> Coming Soon
<br />
<br />
<b>Medium:</b> Digital
<br />
<b>Original Art Available?</b> No
<br />
<b>Artist Proofs Available?</b> Coming SoonCynthia Sheppardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16608334519180890928noreply@blogger.com0