Locations
We are in a weird week, you guys.
I have a longer article in the works with Neale Talbot (@WrongWayGoBack) about Magic Online, but that’s not for this week. I dug into my group of pitches, dusted one off, and realized I hadn’t mentioned this in a while. I actually feel bad I don’t do this more often, considering how much art I see on a daily basis, from DeviantArt to Instagram to Tumblr to random people adding me on Facebook. As I call this column Painter’s Servant, maybe you have a Kickstarter beginning soon and you need an artist. Perhaps you work at Wizards and read this column—however unlikely—and like one of the artists and will forward it to J. Jarvis and co. To what end, I am unsure, but perhaps learning about a few artists who are through the breach will be useful.
One of the biggest things Vorthos art writers discuss is “how to get a Magic art commission.” I won’t even cite my older articles; they’re there if you want them in the archive. In short, it’s damn hard to receive a call from Jeremy Jarvis and the host of other art directors.
Wizards of the Coast has more than enough people in their artist database to accurately commission niche images such as a “whimsical image of a fish hitting someone’s head” or a “Frazetta-esque dragon scene” for every setting you can imagine. Their database is constantly being churned with new talent. You’d think the up-and-comers are knocking on the door a lot, and while true, it’s rare to get in. Keep in mind that industry veterans also fear being upstaged by some young buck who thinks he’s hot shit, seeing that door of Magic slam shut for that venerable artist. If you’re a master artist, doing a good, solid piece isn’t good enough—you were commissioned for amazing. In a lot of other games, artists can punt from time to time. With Magic, a punt—i.e. turning in something way below your talent—will get you booted from the game. They don’t have to put up with crap.
Having four rarities in Magic actually helps the up-and-coming artist, not the established ones. Some commons that gain people life will barely be played and will elicit a groan from an artist looking to sell her seventy-eighth artist print at a convention. For that rural Croatian artist, it’s the ticket that allows him or her to visit more art conventions, improving his or her name recognition, earning him or her more work and notoriety. Comically, some of the best art pieces are not on mythic rares. Check Donato Giancola; the dude has a lot of uncommons, and one of his best artworks in Magic, Cartographer, is a common. Even in the best situations, for every Sovereigns of Lost Alara, you can expect a Jhessian Lookout in the same breath. For these young artists, they’ll take that Lookout and every terrible sorcery, gain-7-life card they can get their hands on.
For today’s article, these are the people who should start out with a strong uncommon, a playable one, to kick-start their careers to higher levels. They’ll get there soon let’s hope.
Chun Lo
I find Chun Lo to be incredibly strong at composing tight scenes between two figures. Perhaps that’s why he’s gravitating toward making incredible Eldrazi-inspired artworks. He’s been really pushing to get his name in front of Magic art directors for a while. He’s made a bunch of fan-made creations.
No, this is not an unused or promo art. This is fan art—really.
Mark Molnar
I have been seeing a lot of new MTG artists coming from the concept-art world. I see a bunch of environment artists who create work that looks eerily similar to Mark’s work. I see Mark as a very strong landscape painter with environmental subtlety. However, if you poke through his portfolios, you’ll see some over-the-top color, too. I find his speed-paints on Instagram to be a rather interesting insight.
In a set with winter environments or one of sand dunes, Mark could be incredibly useful to be given a shot when an art director is in a bind. He saved my butt more than a few times.
Tiziano Baracchi
Tiziano really does great portraits. Though Magic wants chocolate and peanut butter mixed into a perfect fusion, Tiziano is improving to make it there. He’s been making some Magic fan art to get a feel for the universe, and he pops up on Magic-related channels and forums from time to time. He’s getting there; this I tell you.
In the interim, man, there’s a ton of Magic work to be done with avatars on Magic Online. They could use a little help there. Really anything with a close-up—maybe an Elspeth post-portem photo or something of the sort to commemorate one of the most favored Planeswalkers this game has seen.
Sandara Tang
Sandara makes dragons really damn well. Imagine a young Todd Lockwood before he worked in-house at Wizards of the Coast. She’s at that stage and growing better all the time. She made the Atlanta Grand Prix play mat, and I guarantee you that you have seen one of her dragons on a play mat at a tournament while wondering what it was.
With Khans of Tarkir coming, the dragonless plane that Planeswalker Sarkhan Vol grew up on, I doubt Sandara will make it in, but maybe she will in a set after that! Maybe!
Oleg Shekhovtsov
Last I heard, Oleg was working for some small concept art studio in Russia. It might’ve even been for smaller web games or even movies. The man has a tiny, tiny portfolio, and you can’t find any other art of his online. That usually means he has a blog hidden, and it’s probably in a language that isn’t Internet-friendly—or he’s working with a concept-art crew under a heavy non-disclosure agreement.
Is he worth a shot for a single Magic card? Do we want to see him bring his A game and test out if he can do an open-ended art description? I’d argue yes, but it always depends. Maybe Oleg’s too busy to take the commission. You never know.
Let’s see them create some amazing Magic work soon. Yes.
-Mike
