I have for you today the process and steps that went into my Monstrous War-Leech painting for the Magic the Gathering set, Dominaria United. This was my only contribution to any of the Dominaria United sets, but I got to finally work in the 'home' realm of Magic and design and paint a cool monster, so a win-win. Here is how the final painting for the Monstrous War-Leech turned out.
© 2022 Wizards of the Coast
This time, the assignment called for a gigantic leech-like monster to be riden by a Homarid. The leech monster is about to devour a dead animal in the swamps of Dominaria. While there was an initial design of the leech, I was able to flesh it out and make it my own. The Homarid is, of course, a classic Magic species, and it was fun to do one of those. Lastly, I got to design the dead monster, which I decided would be a weird Dominaria alligator beast. While I would usually do a photoshoot before getting to work on an assignment, with a request like this, there was not much I could glean from real world photos I could take. I had plenty of supplied references, so I got to work on some thumbnails. Here are the thumbnails that I submitted.
It was requested that the relationship between the creatures needed to be clear: the Homarid was riding the leech, which was about to eat the dead thing. I think that comes across clearly in all of the thumbnails. Looking back at them, I would have been happy to do any and all of them, but I am not sure "A" would have been the first I would have painted. It turned out that "A" was the one and only one I got to paint! There were no edits, requests, or changes required for thumbnail "A" (which is always nice), so it was time to get started on the drawings. After several years of not having enough time in my schedule to give the drawings the time and attention I prefer it was nice to dig down into this piece and have some fun. I produced a rendered drawing for the piece and a tonal study. Here are the drawings that I created for the Monstrous War-Leech.
© 2022 Wizards of the Coast
Original - SOLD
The drawings were approved, and it was time to paint. This one had a relatively quick turnaround, and it was nice that it came together quickly and easily. This was the third of three back-to-back Magic assignments, and by this time, I was ready to have a break and get back to the Grand Bazaar. Here is the Monstrous War-Leech painting taking shape.
As I said above, this was a straightforward and quick one. There is a straight line from the thumbnail through the drawings and to the end of the painting. Very little changed along the way, save for a few minor tweaks, and the piece ended about where I expected it to. A lot of work over decades has allowed me to have the finished painting in mind as I am creating the thumbnails. Colors may evolve and change, but form, composition, and lighting are there from the beginning. This workflow has saved me time and stress over the years. It might not work for everyone, but it has helped me. Here again, is the final painting for the Monstrous War-Leech and the production card.
© 2022 Wizards of the Coast
That's all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog. See you back here on Friday! Until then...
