Planar Chaos

I almost always shoot reference for a piece, and usually it’s just at the house, or at the studio, using friends or family and very ordinary props.  This was shot in the "middle room" of our house.  In the background you can almost see our purple couches in the living room 🙂 The lighting and shadows can be hard to fake, and if they’re off even slightly it can have a big impact on how successful the image is.

This is what I got from Magic the Gathering when they gave me the assignment:
TITLE: [Essence Warden]
ART DESCRIPTION:
Color: Green
Location: Yavimaya Forest (before its destruction).
Action:
Start with the Soul Warden illustration, but replace
the human cleric figure with a Yavimaya elf, and
replace the yellow energy motes with green ones.
Focus: the elf
Mood: wise, patient, calm
Notes: This card takes place in Dominaria’s
ancient past, before its apocalypses. It should be a fairly generic
fantasy setting, not the world of the styleguide.

I also did Voidstone Gargoyle (buy original)

ART DESCRIPTION:
FORGET THE SPLIT SCREEN!
Color: white creature
Location: roof of white ruins(I like where you’re showing it already)
Action: Show us a gargoyle treated like the white statuary golem in the SG (that’s where the ‘rebar’ comment came from). He
is bursting powerfully and without warning from the ledge. The gargoyle
should look intimidating, but noble… The way an old statue in a state
of ruin has personality and presence.
Mood: an unexpected savior from on high.
Whats important: cool gargoyle, treated like statue ruins in SG.