Today, I have for you the process and steps that went into my Cackling Prowler Magic the Gathering card that was released this past November. While you may be familiar with my many process posts, things will change moving forward. First, due to the constant and widespread attacks of bad agents stealing our work to power their failing theft algorithms, I will only share images I can Shade and Glaze. This means the days of animated gifs to show you the painting coming together are now a thing of the past (until there is Algorithmic Disgorgement). Second, WotC has changed what and how we can share the work that led to the final MtG paintings. This is totally within their rights to do so, but it does add an extra hurdle in sharing a piece's process. It starts with cards released in 2025 and forward, but I have erred on the side of caution with this and my next process post for the Caphalid Inkmage.
Now that all the bookkeeping is addressed, let us have a look at the steps and process that went into the Cackling Prowler. To start it all off, here is the final painting for the Cackling Prowler.
Cackling Prowler
Magic the Gathering - Foundations
14 x 10.2 - Digital
Art Director - Forrest Schehl
© 2024 Wizards of the Coast
The assignment was a fun one, as I was asked to design and create something new for the game on the fly. The hyena creature is a new creation for the game, and I got to design it as part of my thumbnailing process. Sort of, "HEY! Make us a hyena dude, and whatever you do, we are sure it will be fine." Well, it did turn out just fine. The card needed to depict the as-of-yet-designed hyena creature in a clearing in the grass, and it has been disturbed as it was about to eat a freshly killed animal. All straightforward, so I grabbed my cloak, sword, and rolled-up towel to stand in for the dead animal and got to work on a photoshoot. During the photoshoot, our grey cat Zemo came into the frame and flopped down under my outstretched hand for pets. So, Zemo became the 'dead animal' in my photos. His patterning and color carried through to the final painting. Here are the thumbnails that I submitted for this assignment.
Cackling Prowler Thumbnails
Magic the Gathering - Foundations
Digital
© 2024 Wizards of the Coast
It should be evident that thumbnail 'A' was selected, with no notes. This is always a tremendous occasion as it means (1) that there are no further revisions or additional steps that I need to take and (2) since it was my first thumbnail, it is the version I most want to do and the one that I feel the best about. This is not always the case, but this time around, it was. It was time to get to work on the drawings and studies for the assignment.
Cackling Prowler Line Art
Magic the Gathering - Foundations
14 x 11 - Pencil on paper
© 2024 Wizards of the Coast
Above is the line art of my drawing. This is the version of the drawing that I paint on top of. While it used to be the final stage for my drawings, they were not giving me what I needed most out of these assignments... TO DRAW MORE. So, a number of years back, I began finishing out the drawings so that they were a more finalized image, a more interesting image, and a way to start working out what I wanted to do with the overall look of the painting. That meant it was time to render!
Cackling Prowler Drawing
Magic the Gathering - Foundations
14 x 11 - Pencil on paper
Above is the fully rendered drawing for the Cakling Prowler. This is the version of the image that I submit to production for final approval before I start painting. Even though the thumbnail gives you a lot of what the piece will look like, the drawing gives me the time and size to work out all the details and make sure that I have something that can go directly to paint. While it is rare, there have been times when last minute changes have occurred and they are caught at this stage... I am looking at you, Blufferfish and Coveted Peacock. Now that I have an approved drawing, I completed the final tonal study to work out the lighting and value structure for the image. I have the final drawing and the tonal study with me throughout the painting process and refer to them constantly. Here is the final tonal study.
Cackling Prowler Tonal Study
Magic the Gathering - Foundations
14 x 11 - Pencil, ink, and acrylic on paper
This would be where I shared the animated gif and talked a bit more about the painting process. Sorry that this part, for some, the most important part, is now gone. My process hasn't changed much over the past ten-plus years, and all my other process posts are here on the blog for you to enjoy. I will say that the painting on this one was straightforward and direct, save for the cloak. I originally had the cloak painted green as the creature would want to camouflage itself to its surroundings. But that green cloak was also hiding the creature in the painting. My personal art director (my wife) pushed me to adjust it, and she suggested the purple. I worked on it and shifted the cloak from green to purple, and, doing so, made the character really pop now. The painting was approved without notes, and I must thank my wife and the purple cloak for that. Here is the final card for the Cackling Prowler and the final art again.
Cackling Prowler in card form!
Magic the Gathering - Foundations
© 2024 Wizards of the Coast
That's all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog. See you back here on Friday! Until then...
