At the beginning of 2020, which is the same year I am writing this, though it feels as if a decade has passed, I had three cards released in the Magic the Gathering set, Theros Beyond Death. One of these three cards was Nylea's Forerunner. Today, I have for you the process and steps that went into creating the Nylea's Forerunner painting. I think it is fair to say that most artists have their favorites and their not so favorite pieces that they create. Not every painting can live up to expectations, what you planned for it to be, or stand up to other pieces in a series. Nylea's Forerunner was my third completed painting for this block of MtG, and it followed the Shimmerwing Chimera and the Stinging Lionfish, so at the end of the day, the Forerunner held a distant third place in my heart. Not that this piece is terrible, I think it has two much prettier siblings it was competing with. I still gave it all the time and attention that I gave the other two paintings, if not more, and made sure I produced something that production with happy with and met their expectations. Here is the final painting for the Nylea's Forerunner.
Nylea's Forerunner
Magic the Gathering - Theros Beyond Death
14 x 10.2 - Digital
Art Director - Dawn Murin
© 2020 Wizards of the Coast
There is a plethora of reference for the Theros realm, and I have worked on the very first Theros set, so it was a world I was comfortable and excited to return to. The Forerunner was a modified monster that was based on a previously illustrated monster. While I was working with some existing elements, I was given a fair bit of direction on how they wanted it to change and plenty of room to make it my own. Since this was very much not a humanoid monster, I, sadly, didn't use myself as a reference. I did pull from my knowledge of animal anatomy and my numerous quadruped reference aids. With world and monster reference in hand, I produced four thumbnails.
Nylea's Forerunner - Thumbnails
© 2020 Wizards of the Coast LLC
Option 'A' was selected without revisions or comments. While it is excellent to have nailed it on the first pass, it is sometimes a little frustrating that I spent all that time on the other thumbnails. This is a passing thought since it is my job to work out ideas and concepts and explore the many possibilities for any given illustration. I need to provide production options and different compositions for the particular assignment so that they can choose what works best for their needs. In this case, the first thumbnail accomplished this and met the needs of production. I still have all of these other thumbnails and compositions to later explore my own work, though the monster would need to change. Now that the thumbnail was selected, it was time to create the final drawing.
Nylea's Forerunner
Magic the Gathering - Theros Beyond Death
14 x 11 - Pencil of paper
© 2020 Wizards of the Coast
The drawing was approved with the only note that I need to remove the pattering on the monster. This was not a natural animal of the world of Theros that would have crazy patterning. This was an enchanted monster that would have the starfield effect and more natural skin textures. While the drawing was now approved to begin my painting, I was not completely happy with it. Sometimes things that are technically correct have a way of looking off. That back foot bothered me something fierce, and I knew that if I painted it the way it was, I would either regret it or I would be asked to change it after it was reviewed. When I removed the markings, I adjusted the foot to be more like the expected foot in a pose of this nature rather than the foot that is actually coming forward with splayed toes. Here are the process steps that went into painting Nylea's Forerunner. Take note of how the drawing changed in the first couple of steps and later how that foot continued to adjust to finally reach a point I was happy. Also, you can see how I built up the enchanted starfield effect.
Nylea's Forerunner - Process
© 2020 Wizards of the Coast LLC
If I remember correctly, Nylea's Forerunner was approved without needing any edits to the painting. My wife, who is my in-house art director, worked a bit after I had completed the piece to push and pull things so that it all worked as well as it can. Making sure that the shadows have the starfield effect while simultaneously trying to define forms and volumes can get a little tricky. While this is not the favorite of my Theros Beyond Death paintings, I still think it is a successful piece, and I learned a lot from it. Here again, is the final painting as well as the art on the card.
Nylea's Forerunner
Magic the Gathering - Theros Beyond Death
© 2020 Wizards of the Coast
Nylea's Forerunner in handy card form!
That is all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog. See you back here on Friday! Until then...
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