söndag 22 december 2013

Interview with Adam Paquette

At the artitst's own request, here's my interview with Adam Paquette from August this year. This is for you, Adam. Merry Christmas! :)


INTERVIEW WITH ADAM PAQUETTE
 

August: Hello, Adam. Thank your for accepting this interview!
I'm fairly certain you're from Australia, but apart from that I don't really know anything about you. Please tell us something about yourself!

Adam Paquette: I'm fairly certain of that too - although the more I travel, the more I wonder! Whenever I read or listen to interviews with other illustrators and concept artists, one thing that strikes me almost every time is how as children, those artists were very influenced by things like comics, movies like Star Wars, action figures, games and so on. This stuff wasn't really a huge part of growing up for me… and I always wondered if I could 'cut it' in the industry without the deep passion for these things that my friends seemed to have. But what I did have growing up was a lot of time in nature - my family spent a lot of time in the Australian bush, and I also grew up in an area with lots of walks and big trees. I also had a pretty alternative family growing up with a lot of different interests in spirituality, psychology, and native cultures. The more time goes on, the more I am growing into my love of painting these things - organic landscapes, wise characters and ancient, mythological things. I find it interesting how different people can arrive at the same point in such diverse ways! My childhood home was full of amazing stories, people visiting from far away places and beautiful objects collected from sacred places around the world. I hope one day I can raise my own children in such an inspiring place!

Au: Sounds like a great childhood!
Wizards of the Coast is one of the major players on the fantasy gaming market. How did you end up working for them?


AP: Before I worked on Magic the Gathering, I did about two years of work with D&D. The Magic staff obviously see a lot of this art coming in and occasionally have artists migrate across (or do both). In my case, I met Jeremy Jarvis at a painting workshop I attended in the US. I told him I'd really like to work with Magic, but I was worried that I could only tackle environments and couldn't handle the character and creature briefs. He was kind enough to bring me on board exclusively as a land-guy, and then work my way into the other stuff. The first job I actually did was concept art for Innistrad, and then came the cards!

Au: I've seen some work on your website that looks a little different, but the work you've done for MtG certainly has a touch of impressionism. Have you studied classical art?

AP: Glad that influence comes across! I never studied in a formal setting, but traditional painting is the 'other half' of my art life. Its what I love deep down, and probably where I'm headed more so in the long run. One of my big aspirations is that whatever illustrations I am working on, I can bring to them something of the maturity and depth I find in great classical painting. If you're too heavy handed with that influence your art can begin to look arrogant and it takes the fun out of it, but at the same time I think great entertainment should also come with something of the human spirit of curiosity and mystery. Sometimes I feel like I have been successful in this, and other times I feel that the pressure of the job doesn't leave time to sit with an idea the way you can with personal art. Magic is definitely one of those clients that gives you a huge amount of ownership over your conceptual process, as long as you stay within a few set boundaries. The more confident I become with painting, the less time I spend worrying about making things look pretty, and the more time I spend making sure they are inspiring and full of life! Here in Australia, our best period of art making were the 19th century Australian Impressionists like Arthur Streeton, Tom Roberts and Sydney Long - some of whom studied in France with Monet, etc - and so they have all had a huge influence on me growing up.

Au: You've mostly done land cards for MtG. Considering your style is very atmospherical, I can certainly see why you were assigned this work. Are you happy with this though? Let's say you could be your own AD, would you do anything differently?

AP: At Magic, we are working on our illustrations quite a while in advance of the release of each set. So a lot of the work I have been doing the past year is actually character based as well. Land cards were my launch pad into this work, and they continue to be my real joy and comfort zone. I'd probably be happy doing them forever. Having said that, I made a conscious decision to expand my figure work and nail that long-term thorn in my side. I had an awesome and patient art director who gave me the freedom to take that track and I'm very happy I did. It has been (and continues to be) a great challenge, and its deepening my art making in ways I didn't expect. It also translates directly into the work I'm doing on my own time in oils. I guess I'm at a point now where I feel comfortable painting almost anything (except maybe spaceships!) and thats a great feeling - not to be limited by your own blind spots. Now I get excited almost no matter what brief comes in!

Au: Let's talk about some individual lands... Haunted Fengraf is my favorite piece of art from all of Dark Ascension. That cemetery just looks so eerie and beautiful. Can you tell us something about it?


AP: Awesome! Well that painting started with two trains of thought. One was that at the time I had just bought my first real camera - a Canon 7D - and I was researching all about different zoom lenses and so on. Amongst all that browsing I started looking at pictures of the moon people had taken with telescopic lenses, but with buildings or trees in between the camera and the moon. When cropped down it had the effect of making the moon look gigantic! I finally understood how all that worked, and I wanted to paint something with a gigantic moon in it!! Looking back now, I realise that doesn't actually make much sense with the way I actually painted the environment -- but by that point I was in love with it, so who cares!? The other inspiration was that after I visited Wizards in Seattle, I took a trip to stay with some friends down in the California redwoods. Those trees stuck with me for a long time… So Haunted Fengraf was Innistrad thrown in a blender with redwoods and a supermoon. Give it a shake (or was that 'Rattle'?) and the rest is history!

Au: You did the alternate art for Command Tower for Commander's Arsenal, a really gorgeous piece. Where you asked to reference Ryan Yee's original tower or did you work independently? What do you think about the original art?


AP: I wasn't asked to reference, but I was familiar with the painting and knew it was going to be its new baby brother! Ryan and I are part of a small group of Magic artists who give critique and feedback via email, so we are very familiar with each other's work. I love his paintings, and I don't think anyone handles wispy, translucent, ephemeral stuff quite like he does!! That painting was one of those ones that just flows, probably one of the quickest ones I've ever done, and one of my favourites too.

Au: Question from my wife: "if you were to build a house in one of your lands, where would you build it?"

AP: What a great question! Actually pretty easy to answer too… I have always been torn between living in the city, and living in the country. I love the complexity, crowdedness and emergent nature of the city. The way these beautiful unexpected spaces emerge from all the chaos and garbage of these places created by human minds. At the same time, nature is so vast and mysterious, and continuously rearranges itself to promote diversity, abundance and life. My favourite painting for Magic… ever… is probably the Basic Forest from Return to Ravnica. A rooftop shanty amongst the tree-city canopy? Best of both worlds! It's actually kind of sad to think that with all of our combined intelligence and imagination, we've never been able to create built spaces that harmonise beautifully with nature in that way. I hope one day that this generation of amazing artists can step outside the four walls of the canvas and begin to create some of these beautiful places for real.

Au: Recently, you've done some non-lands as well. One card that is pretty famous among players is Varolz, the Scar-Striped. That sure is one sinister-looking troll. Are you happy with the way he turned out?


AP: He was my first real character card - so he will always have a special place in my heart. I think part of his sinister vibe probably comes from how scared I was when I got that brief! I'm pretty sure Jeremy just figured it was time for me to step up to the plate, so he didn't mess around and gave me an important character to work on. I've been doing lots of characters since then, and recently, you could say some 'VIP's'. So, I guess I passed the test! I love the fungus on Varolz. See, another character torn between the city he loves and the nature he longs for! That's me showing my hand again...

Au: The members of our community were absolutely amazed with the art of Colossal Whale when they first saw it. Really epic, I like it too. Was it your first sea monster?

AP: It was! It was also an exercise in scale. Originally I just had the one ship in the foreground, and the whale in the background. I pushed the whale bigger…and bigger… and he just didn't look HUGE enough. Then I stuck that smaller ship in the middle, and pow - Colossal Whale. I feel like I captured something of an old fashioned sea-tale in that one - probably one of the pieces where something of my classical painting and poetic side had its say. In the research for that piece I read a lot of essays about the symbolism in Moby Dick, and how for some people the whale was a symbol of the vast and sometimes scary experience of being alive - the immensity of it all. Sea monsters are like those experiences in us that rise up mysteriously from the deep parts of ourselves, seemingly fill our whole world, let out a thunderous roar that shakes our foundations and then disappear just as quickly back into the silence they came from. All we are left with is a sense of awe and wonder and a renewed gratitude for being here, and alive!

Au: Fascinating! Thanks for sharing that with us.
Speaking of monsters, this fall we're off to Theros and the world of Greek mythology. Will we see you there?


AP: With bells on! Not only did I do plenty of cards for Theros, I was also a part of the concept team that developed the world. I can't wait to see how some of my favourite artists in the world have interpreted all those chaotic pencil scribblings we came up with! If you can't find me in the cities of Theros, its probably a safe bet you'll find me in the forest!!

Au: Thanks for doing this, Adam. Best of luck in the future!


AP: One last thing… for anyone out there who loves the art they see on games like Magic, and who maybe - just maybe - would like to do this for a living some day… I just want to encourage you to follow your heart and give it a go. I've met too many incredible people who decided not to pursue illustration because they were intimidated and thought they could never learn to draw. That is my worst nightmare! If there's one thing I can honestly say I hope comes from my art, its to inspire others with that spark of creativity to dive headfirst into their art, writing, music, or whatever - no fear! That journey is bigger than any reward!!

Thanks for the interview!

***

This interview was orginally published in Swedish on SvenskaMagic.

torsdag 19 december 2013

Interview with Eric Deschamps

The previous artist interview had an astronomical amount of views given this blog's regular standards. You sure have a lot of fans, Cynthia!
Next up is an interview I feel pretty excited about. Without further ado:

INTERVIEW WITH ERIC DESCHAMPS


August: Hello, Eric. Thank you for accepting this interview!
While I might know you very well as an artist, I barely know anything about you as a person. Please tell us something about yourself!

Eric Deschamps
  • I live in New York (not the city but the state) in the U.S. 
  • I went to college at Syracuse University with a major in Communication Design. 
  • Before illustration, I worked as a broadcast designer for NBC in New York City. 
  • I’d rather draw trees and mountains instead of buildings and roads. 
  • I love the Zelda and Phantasy Star line of video games. 
  • I haven’t decided which mana color I like the best. I know it’s not white. Coincidentally, I seem to illustrate a lot of white cards.
  • I am married with an 8 year old daughter. 
  • I enjoy playing basketball. 
  • I have a beard.  
Au: According to your website, you have worked as an illustrator for 10 years. What was your first paid job as an artist?

ED: I received my first paid illustration job while attending the San Diego Comic-con. I signed up for a portfolio review with the Magic the Gathering art director at the time, Jeremy Cranford. I had exchanged emails with him a few times in the past but I did not receive any work until our face to face interview. My first assignment was Goblin S.W.A.T. Team and Pygmy Giant for the Unhinged set.

Au: Cool!
You have published some videos where we can watch you work from start to finish on some illustrations from MtG. I have to admit that I'm extremely impressed by your technical skill! When and why  did you start working digitally? 

ED: Thank you! Probably 11 or 12 years ago. I started working digitally almost out of desperation. Most artists that I knew started their path to become illustrators in college. I only took a couple of illustration courses in college and didn’t do much artwork after college while I worked as a graphic designer. I felt behind and I was worrying about bills pilling up if I painted traditionally. I thought working digitally would give me a quicker path to doing the paid work I wanted to do. If there are any aspiring artists reading this, I would discourage this route. Learning digital paint in place of traditional paint too early on can develop a lot of bad habits.

Au: You have been given an astounding amount of planeswalkers, powerful cards that often have a large impact on the game. Do you enjoy working with these iconic characters?

ED: I love working on planeswalkers. They are my favorite assignments. Illustrating a character that has the potential to stick around can’t be passed up. Even better if I get the opportunity to design them from the ground up.
Au: Speaking of planeswalkers, you have depicted Venser three times (two times as Venser, the Sojourner and once as Venser, Shaper Savant). Are you starting to get tired of that guy? ;)

ED: Nope. He was my first really big character. I owe a lot to him!

Au: Question from my wife: "What would be your title as a planeswalker?" (as in "the Sojourner", "Sun's Champion" and so on)

ED: Eric, Basement Office Dweller.

Au: Haha, that's epic!
Earlier this year, I did an interview with Adam Paquette. Together with Adam you were a part of the Theros concept design team, which also included Todd Lockwood, Peter Mohrbacher and Steve Prescott. Adam said the creative process was exhilarating. Please tell us about the dynamic in the group and the work you did together!

ED: It was intimidating to watch these artist work! It was my first time working on concept art with a team in the same location as well as being fully immersed in the process. Usually when I work as a concept artist I am working remotely. I am mostly filling in gaps for a game company’s on site staff. Partaking in the full process was quite a learning experience and I was very inspired by it. It seemed that each person was picked for a certain strength they had. For example Steve Prescott can draw just about anything in a moments notice and Adam Paquette kicks out great environment ideas like a factory. 

Au: You have some card illustrations in Theros as well. Elspeth, Sun's Champion of course, and Purphoros, God of the Forge. Purphoros particularly, looks absolutely amazing! To be honest, I even have him as desktop wallpaper on my Macbook. How was it to give life to a god?

ED: It is challenge to get that sense of scale and grandeur you want in a depiction of a god. You almost always want the camera angle to be really low for that sense of scale, so at least I knew I could start there! I also tried to get him to meld into his environment and become a part of it. One trick that is used pretty often to make something look huge is to use atmospheric perspective where the atmosphere between the object and viewer makes the object look low in contrast and color. Since these gods had to have the black night sky peeking through their shadow areas, this common trick couldn't be used to any significant degree. Because of this, a lot of extra time was spent trying to really get the drawing right, so that it looked like we were seeing Purphoros from far below.

Au: I'm sorry if I'm completely off the mark here, but I have to ask: doesn't Purphoros have some striking similarities to one of your older works? The armor especially, has much in common with… Mirran Crusader!  What do you say?

ED: Hmmm. Richard Whitters did a bulk of the design work on Purphoros. But you are right, I see the similarity to Mirran Crusader. Maybe it is way I interpreted Richard's design. The Mirrodin characters consisted of a lot of metal and Purphoros is similar in that way. It makes sense that I might have unknowingly pulled from my work on the Scars of Mirrodin block.

Au: If you were commissioned to illustrate an actual god from Greek mythology, who would you choose?

ED: If I had to choose it would be Neptune. My choice has nothing to do with the story of Neptune. I have always had a connection to envisioning sea people. I was really excited to illustrate the tritons in Theros.

Au: You did the illustration for Oloro, Ageless Ascetic from Commander 2013. He sure looks awe-inspiring and erh… giant. Please tell us about the creative process behind this card!

ED: Oloro is supposed to be an ancient giant who has discovered the secret to eternal life. It is the waterfalls falling off of his enormous throne. He rarely moves off of it. I decided to focus on the throne before I worried about to much about Oloro. I wanted it to pass as ruined architecture that served as a throne for a giant. Next was figuring out how to make him look huge. I did this with a tree next to his throne that is about the same height as his sword. A low camera angle always helps too. I also put in a few subtle touches that you would only notice if you saw the artwork big. His chest and bicep straps are affixed with human swords and axes.

Au: On your website it says that you have worked as a video game concept artist. Considering I'm quite a gamer, this makes me curious! Which clients and games have you worked with?

ED: I worked on the game Marvel Ultimate Alliance II where I got to design a bunch of the heroes and villains for the game. I also worked on Reckoning: Kingdoms of Amalur and End of Nations.

Au: Please don't be offended by this, but since it's become an internet phenomenon: what's up with Olivia Voldaren's dress?

ED: Don't worry, I am not offended. This probably the most frequently asked question! I guess the hanging drapery of her dress doesn’t work as well as it should have. You can’t win them all.  She is supposed to be holding her dress up daintily while floating above with both of her legs stretched out. Nothing phallic. :)

Au: I actually find it kind of depressing that's the most common question. Good answer, though!
Thank you for your time, Eric, and thank you for all the fantastic art.


This interview can be found in Swedish on SvenskaMagic.

måndag 9 december 2013

CSS Invitational 2013

I lördags hölls CSS Invitational, en turnering där Kalmars tolv bästa spelare från det gångna året möttes för att spela Standard, Modern och draft. Varje format räknades som en separat swiss och det var alltså fullt möjligt att möta samma spelare flera gånger (något jag bittert skulle få erfara).

Fram till en FNM för ett par veckor sedan hade jag inte spelat Standard sedan 2002 eller något sådant. Jag hade varken orken att sätta mig in i metat eller ekonomin för att skaffa en dyrare lek. Mitt val blev därför att spela Heroic Red, den billigaste leken i formatet som fortfarande håller på tävlingsnivå. När leken flyter som den ska vinner den i princip mot allt som inte har Supreme Verdict eller Anger of the Gods.
Listan jag spelade på Invitational spelar Chainwalker över Ash Zealot för att få ut det mesta av Emissary.

HEROIC RED
Standard

Varelser (24)
4 Akroan Crusader
1 Arena Athlete
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Foundry Street Denizen
3 Gore-House Chainwalker
4 Legion Loyalist
4 Rakdos Cackler

Övriga spells (19)
4 Dragon Mantle
3 Lightning Strike
4 Madcap Skills
4 Shock
4 Titan's Strength

Länder (17)
16 Mountain
1 Mutavault

Sideboard
1 Coordinated Assault
2 Electrickery
4 Firedrinker Satyr
3 Peak Eruption
2 Pithing Needle
3 Skullcrack

Jag slutade 2-1 i Standard efter vinster mot Johan "zathe922" Fröbergs RDW och Robin "Rawbean" Karlssons Selesnya Aggro, samt förlust mot Martin "GlueBall" Thernlunds Naya.

Robin Karlsson spelade Selesnya Aggro i Standard,
Sedan jag började med Modern hösten 2012 har jag spelat Soul Sisters i olika utföranden, och jag visste därför att mina motståndare skulle utgå från att jag spelade en sådan lek. Istället bestämde jag mig för att överraska och dyka upp med en Boros Aggro.
Det finns egentligen väldigt mycket att säga om denna lek, men jag nöjer mig med att understryka förekomsten av Theros-korten Soldier of the Pantheon och Chained to the Rocks. Soldier är säker från mycket av det removal som spelas i Modern och springer dessutom igenom många av formatets vanligaste varelser, som till exempel Deathrite Shaman och Kitchen Finks. Chained är bättre än Path i leken eftersom den inte sätter fram motståndaren en runda, något man absolut inte har råd med mot kombo och kontroll.

BOROS DECK WINS
Modern

Varelser (21)
3 Figure of Destiny
2 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Goblin Guide
2 Grim Lavamancer
1 Isamaru, Hound of Konda
3 Ranger of Eos
4 Soldier of the Pantheon
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

Övriga spells (15)
3 Chained to the Rocks
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
2 Proclamation of Rebirth
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of War and Peace

Planeswalkers (2)
2 Ajani Vengeant

Länder (22)
4 Arid Mesa
2 Marsh Flats
2 Mountain
4 Plains
4 Sacred Foundry
2 Slayers’ Stronghold
4 Tectonic Edge

Sideboard
2 Blood Moon
2 Boros Charm
1 Chained to the Rocks
3 Combust
2 Forked Bolt
3 Rest in Peace
2 Wear // Tear

Modern var det format jag förväntade mig skulle gå bäst, men lite snöpligt slutade jag 1-2. Jag inledde med en förlust mot David "duddelutten" Calås UWR. Därefter förlorade jag näppeligen med 1-2 mot Thernlunds Twin (han hade 1 liv kvar i avgörande duellen) och vann till sist mot Fröbergs Scapeshift.

Förra årets mästare, den diaboliske Martin Therlund.
Jag överlevde cutten till åtta spelare och gick därmed vidare till sista tävlingsmomentet, tre rundor draft. Vår ditresta domare Mikael "maddog" Ristovski såg till att det blev en called draft, vilket påskyndade det hela och var väldigt tacksamt för alla trötta spelare.
Jag älskar Theros-limited, men med en genomgående hög nivå på spelarna blev det svårt att få ihop sina 23 playables. I slutändan hade jag en varelsetung, i mitt tycke ganska dålig lek.

UB
Booster Draft

Creatures (16)
3 Breaching Hippocamp
1 Burnished Hart
1 Cavern Lampad
1 Crackling Triton
1 Erebos's Emissary
1 Felhide Minotaur
1 Fleshmad Steed
1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1 Horizon Scholar
1 Keepsake Gorgon
1 Mogis's Marauder
2 Omenspeaker
1 Prescient Chimera

Övriga spells (7)
1 Annul
1 Dissolve
1 Divine Verdict
1 Lash of the Whip
1 Pharika's Cure
1 Triton Tactics
1 Voyage's End

Länder (17)
8 Island
1 Plains
6 Swamp
2 Unknown Shores

Draften inleddes med dagens tredje förlust mot Therlund. Ganska förödande för självförtroendet, men jag lyckades vända det och vinna mina två resterande matcher mot Davidh "galatorik" Gunnarsson och Sebastian "sebas3n" Hernandez.

Mikael ser föredömligt bister ut, som en domare bör!
Efter nio spelade rundor slutade jag femma. När prisceremonin började satt vår judge redan på tåget hem mot Skåne. Förstaplatsen och en display Modern Masters plockades hem av Mr SvM TV himself, David Calås!

Årets julklapp

På något vänster lyckades jag komma 2:a i årets PT Picks på SvenskaMagic. Vinstpengarna gick egoistiskt men välförtjänt till att köpa julklappar åt mig själv. Bland annat blev det en spelmatta och plastfickor från Dragon Shield, samt en Holiday Gift Box.


Holiday Gift Box är en fantastisk produkt, en snygg förvarningslåda med plats för ca 2000 kort och dessutom medföljer avskiljare, fyra boosters och ett promokort. Även om man inte hade fått extraprylarna hade enbart själva lådan varit värd sina 180 kr. Utan tvekan årets julklapp!