Stinging Lionfish - Magic: the Gathering - Process

I have for you today the process and steps that went into my Stinging Lionfish painting that was for the Magic the Gathering set, Theros Beyond Death. Of the three pieces created for this set, I believe this was the fan-favorite. My fish painting for Magic seems to be some of my most popular creations for the game. I am not sure why, but they seem to be the ones that receive the most fan love. Hopefully, this trend will continue. Here is how the final painting for the Stinging Lionfish turned out.

 

Stinging Lionfish

Magic the Gathering - Theros Beyond Death 

14 x 10.2 - Digital 

PRINTS available at OMA! 

All of my Magic the Gathering Artist Proofs!  

Art Director - Dawn Murin 

© 2020 Wizards of the Coast

 

The assignment called for an enchanted fantastical lionfish. For me, this felt like a straightforward painting. In my part of the world, the lionfish is a dangerous and destructive invasive species, and I have encountered them in the wild several times. I pulled from my personal reference photos that I took to begin my work on some thumbnails. The card focuses on this individual monster, so it was all about creating an interesting composition while featuring the fish. Here are the thumbnails that I submitted.

 

 

Stinging Lionfish - Thumbnails

© 2020 Wizards of the Coast

 

Thumbnail 'D' was selected, but I was asked to make the fins look and feel more like the fish in thumbnail 'A.' Personally, I still lean towards option 'A' as my preferred thumbnail, but that was not meant to be. I updated option 'D' to address the revision notes and submitted an updated thumbnail.

 

Stinging Lionfish - Updated thumbnails

 © 2020 Wizards of the Coast

 

This new thumbnail was approved without any further comments, and I was ready to create the final drawing. As stated before, I was too busy when I worked on this piece to create the drawing and the tonal study. So this drawing ended up being the only traditional original for the assignment. And when it came time to paint, I had to work out the values on the fly. Here is the final drawing for the Stinging Lionfish.

Stinging Lionfish

Magic the Gathering - Theros Beyond Death

14 x 11 - Pencil of paper

Original - SOLD
 © 2020 Wizards of the Coast

 

The drawing was approved, and it was time to paint! As previously mentioned, this felt like it would be a straightforward assignment, and it was for the most part. You will notice that the patterning evolved while I was working on it. The original plan for the fish's markings felt off to me as I was painting, and I updated them as I worked. They soon felt more fitting with the animal and the world it lived in. Here is the Stinging Lionfish taking shape.

 

 

Stinging Lionfish - Process

 © 2020 Wizards of the Coast

 

I believe that I was asked to increase the amount of enchanted starfield on the fish after I originally submitted it. Due to how I work that evidence to show just how much I increased the amount has been lost. All I have is a vague memory of adding more, and that updated didn't take long or require much effort. When it was all said and done the fish was approved and I moved onto the next assignment. Here again is the final painting for the Stinging Lionfish and the final production card. 

 

 

Stinging Lionfish

 PRINTS available at OMA! 

All of my Magic the Gathering Artist Proofs!

 © 2020 Wizards of the Coast 

Stinging Lionfish in handy dandy card form

That's all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog. See you back here on Friday! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact me regarding my availability, head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com