Oloro, Ageless Ascetic

Oloro is an ancient giant who has discovered the secret to eternal life. Oloro has not moved off of his throne in ages. It keeps him alive. I thought I'd share this Commander 2013 card's progress from start to finish. Check out the video link at the bottom.

Video Link:



Here is a link to the rest of the start to finish videos I have put together:
More Videos

-------------UPDATE--------------

Mike, you asked about the sketch to the client. Here it is below. Conceptually it is right in line with the final. The art director was concerned about the fact that the open legs were too prominent in the composition. This particular piece had to have a really quick turnaround so I was glad he flagged me on it early on.  I made a change to the pose to deemphasize the area and then went to the final art.

Dragon's Maze: Ral Zarek

Magic the Gathering's DRAGON'S MAZE challenged me to shed my phobia of drawing and painting cityscapes. It would be the key art for the set which raised the stakes even more. I did't want to take the easy way out on this important piece of art. So I dove in recklessly and attempted a bird's eye view of Ral's beloved city in almost every thumbnail. The idea was that the city is so dense that it feels like a labyrinth. I decided to use bridges and walkways to emphasize the maze-like feel. In my original sketch to the magic team, Ral is perched on top of a building adornment looking back at the viewer before he jumps off into the depths of the city.



The camera angle on Ral ended up being too extreme for all of the different ways the artwork would be applied to advertising and packaging. If he was separated from the background it would look awkward and out of place. I was asked to keep the background but change the perspective on Ral. In order to put Ral in a more traditional point of view it meant that I would have to lessen the high angle on city as well. It is not instantly obvious when you look at the final art, but if you look closely it is noticeable.

My revised scribble:



Here is the final art:

Sunhome Guildmage

Sunhome Guildmage is a magic card to be released with "Gatecrash." Here is a start to finish video of the artwork. If I remember correctly I had 2 photoshoots to do that day and one of the characters had a mustache. So why not shave off my beard and leave a nice cop 'stache right?

Sunhome Guildmage -- Start to Finish Video