FanArt_ink.Kind

 MTGinktober regards Day 13, "Kind," starring The Wandering Emperor and Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful! 

 I have basically just been listening to music all month since I can't seriously concentrate on making illustrations while listening to spoken word--so no podcasts, unfortunately--but I wanted to make time to check out  today's quasi-final January 6th Committee Hearing, so I had to plan to go for something much simpler--a pretty tight close up with basic posing.  And as anticipated, it was impossible to draw and listen to such gripping speech, so our simplified approach came in clutch.

 Fun Facts:  This is both characters' debuts, but we have had Isamaru--who also appeared on a politically adjacent illustration, oddly enough.
 

 Easter Eggs: The background is a rainy take on the background from Omae, and as the final part of illustrating this, I literally signed this puppy on his elbow, though to help obscure the date a little better I used Japanese numbers, though no kanji.  The muzzle, lick, and expression were based on some photos of my fellow former Sky Higher, Brian Kibler and the late Shiro.

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FanArt_ink.Forget

MTGinktober is fuzzy on Day 12, "Forget," starring Kari Zev, Skyship Raider and Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer!

 When in great doubt, as a brainstorming technique, I think of songs that use the prompt word to help inspire me.  I recalled "Every Time a Teenager Listens to Drum & Bass a Rockstar Dies," a song about a guy forgetting where he came from after becoming successful, so I looked for an outshined character in my daily trawl through Magic's legends.  I stumbled on Kari Zev and thought she nigh perfectly fit the bill of an overshadowed legend--the mere token she created has surely outclassed her (to be fair she sees some play on Arena, though there's no Monkey Man to compete).  

Fun Facts: This is Kari Zev's third MTGinktober appearance, and while I like drawing her, she tends to do terribly as far as reception goes--let's see if this one breaks the curse--and, yeah, it would probably be thanks to help from her popular monkey pal, who makes his second appearance here, his debut being last year's lead-off illustration.

Easter Eggs: I noticed his hairstyle changed from his token's gruffer look to his card's neater look, and thought that seemed poetic, given his rise in celebrity, so I went with a slightly more suave take on his current hairdo (primarily  Simon Dominic's version), a reference to him forgetting his past while he signs an adoring fan's card.

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FanArt_ink.Eagle

MTGinktober soars into Day 11, "Eagle," starring Siona, Captain of the Pyleas and Sea Eagle!

 Couldn't get to bed as early as I'd hoped, so I had to sleep in a little, so we went with a more straightforward one today. I wanted to get out of drawing a potentially highly fussy eagle, so I though about just doing a silhouette, lending itself to intimate the Prometheus myth, but ultimately thought that got a little too grim, given there's already chains involved, so we lightened it up with Siona being doomed to endure tea time with a lackluster conversationalist (Sea Eagle can talk) every day for eternity.  There are worse fates.

 Fun Facts:  For more time saving, since I had a hunch I'd be cutting it close today, to sell the Prometheus myth, I went for a play on Magic's version of that scene in Chained to the Rocks and then just changed the characters up.  Also I hate tea, so this is a considerably terrible fate, now that I think of it.

 Easter Eggs:  The pose is obviously Chained to the Rocks, but the background is a mix of that card and Siona's, which has a great coast.  Also Sea Eagle has a little cracker for Tea Time.

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FanArt_ink.Crabby

 MTGinktober bombs out of Day 10, "Crabby," starring Spike, Tournament Grinder and Vorthos, Steward of Myth!

 I kinda wanted to draw Kiora again, but since that was just too similar to her debut, we just went with the concept of being crabby, and who better than the ultimate tourney player getting pwnd by a goofy, unserious, costumed player? I wondered if they should both 0-3, since Vorthos wouldn't care, but maybe it's funnier and more humiliating/frustrating if she just wins it all.  Related, I was going to put the short but instantly recognizable name, road warrior Jůza, last, but realized it'd be the perfect place to sign the illustration, plus if anyone's out round one, it's gonna be me. 

 

Fun Facts:  I really like drawing Spike and this is her third MTGinktober appearance.  Vorthos has to set the record from print to MTGinktober debut, as she just got released three days ago (and release events were this weekend!  Sets are released constantly these days, so I wonder if we'll ever get a day-of type deal...I don't recall drawing a to-be-released card yet, either... 

 

 Easter Eggs:  The bracket features each of the Psychographics, with their fonts matching their styles--Spike is fussless and to-the-point, Timmy (eliminates Spike, natch) is giant, ridiculous letters; Johnny styles it up, Vorthos has flavor--plus Melvin, who writes like a computer. The remaining seats are ナカシュ, referencing the pro I got to play once, Shuhei Nakamura, and Mengu, a signature I copied from actual signed cards, to salute Andrea Mengucci, whose streams I really enjoyed learning from via voluminous questions, though one of the mods is kind of a jerk. Plus turtle logo.

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FanArt_ink.Nest

MTGinktober settles into Day 9, "Nest," starring Prime Speaker Vannifar!

Loathe to go too obvious with the prompt and draw a literal nest, I went with nesting dolls.  So I needed a Magic concept that lent itself to a chain of related things, ideally of diminishing size--enter Modern Vannifar Combo (slightly antiquated since I didn't want to use the current choice 2-drop, whose art was done by the art thief who got kicked out of Magic). Interestingly, two cards in the combo--Kiki-Jiki and Restoration Angel make their second MTGinktober appearances here.

Fun Facts: Despite spending a good four and a half hours on pencils alone and staring at this illustration for that long--let alone the two hours or so to ink--and having Sam Pardee's guide as well as giant images of each card in the chain displayed the whole time, I still messed up the combo (ironically the missing card had the biggest reference image, too).  Frustrating, but a classic blunder where you forget comically obvious stuff from tunnel vision (I even remember getting to the last doll and thinking, do I have an extra?  Hmm, might as well drop a BoP here). 

 Easter Eggs: Well, left to right, we've got Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker (Steve Belledin version); Restoration Angel (Hannes's version, of course); Bounding Krasis; Scryb Ranger; Birds of Paradise (Marcelo Vignali version); and then Vannifar's holding Noble Hierarch (Mark Zug version).  To counter these nesting dolls' home culture, I modified Vannifar's trident to the Coat of Arms of Ukraine, a really cool symbol in general. And speaking of cool symbols, whenever we draw Algen fan art, we hide that swishy B (ß), in this case in Resto's wing.

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FanArt_ink.Match

 MTGinktober pairs up Day 8, "Match," starring Saffi Eriksdotter and Hans Eriksson!

 I wasn't entirely sure what to do on this one, but I knew I didn't want to do something with a fire-based character or anything like that, so we went with some parallel outfits in the Erikssiblings, playfully mimicking the local monster that supposedly haunts these grounds, meanwhile they embrace their playful rivalry with matching Erik's Fave hats.   Fun Facts: I forgot the raw inks pic, but it's the least important progress shot. Anyway, this is Saffi's second MTGinktober appearance, but her brother's debut.  I felt oddly attached to these guys while drawing them, imagining their last words to each other--I rarely have emotional reactions to Magic cards/lore, but these two hanging out, having a great time, and then she watches Hans get eaten and then she gets jolted away...it's pretty heavy.  The pose is reminiscent of our Huatli piece, Fierce, but this one's a bit more playful all around, so knowing their fates hurt a bit.    

 Easter Eggs: Just like Saffi's last appearance, I decorated her (and Hans's) leather etchings with various Lhurgoys (though a different line-up and placement this time).  For Hans, his right arm has Mortivore, and his left arm has Necrogoyf.  Saffi's right arm has Ryan Barger's Tarmogoyf, her left arm has Justin Murray's, her torso has Alter of the Goyf, her right leg has Pete Venters's Ice Age version, and her left leg his 8th Edition version.  On top of that, it looks like I had parallel thoughts on the leather engravings with Ryan Pancoast, whose versions informed these. 
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FanArt_ink.Trip

MTGinktober loserly gets in Day 7, "Trip," starring Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor; Jirina Kudro; and Rowan, Scholar of Sparks!

I was kinda unsure what to draw today--someone taking a tumble, or maybe the boy PW and his dog on his head on a trek like Ash and Pikachu, but ultimately, we went with a movie reference, which we haven't done this year yet.

Fun Facts: I've never seen Mean Girls, so it was tough to cast this scene, but I went with Lynde as the main girl since she's playfully mean, but possibly actually mean (I believe the movie girl is just plain mean), and it was a tough call to have her be up front or have it be Rowan (who looks more like her), but I am pretty sure she is not mean in any way, so we gave it to torture lady.  As for the third member of the car, I wanted to match the scene with a dark-haired girl, and Lil'iana just lost out to an MTGinktober debut character. In any case, this is Rowan's fourth appearance, and Lynde's first proper appearance.

 Easter Eggs: I hid my signature in Jirina's costume's design. 
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FanArt_ink.Bouquet

 MTGinktober blooms into Day 6, "Bouquet," starring Ghoulcaller Gisa! 

 I was going to go with Oliva, Crimson Bride for this one, but it was just too obvious, so we went with our old favorite, Gisa, casually brushing off everyone's fancy flowers.  I woulda liked to darken the sky like I do on occasion, but there just wasn't enough time, especially since my white ink isn't reliable, though I guess we could do it digitally, but that feels like cheating.  I notice I did the same technique on an earlier Gisa ("Angular"), even, so it's funny how I parallel think with myself years apart.

 Fun Facts:  While not as frequent a fighter as Chandra, Gisa definitely is a regular player, and this is her sixth MTGinktober appearance, but only her third solo appearance without her brother, who I actually don't enjoy drawing.  Also, I just noticed I had flipped my sketchbook, so this is actually the very last page of the sketchbook...ugh (this miscut sketchbook may be best drawn-in in reverse, anyway).

 Easter Eggs: There are four bouquets because 4 is death in Japanese, and among the flowers are Black Lotus (Chris Rahn version) in the upper left; Oona, Queen of the Fae (Adam Rex version) in the upper right, Bitterblossom (Jesper Ejsing version) in the lower left, and in the lower right is--wait for it--Hana Kami held by Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver in the pose of Broken Expectations.  And then my signature is etched into the dirt. 

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FanArt_ink.Flame

 MTGinktober stokes into Day 5, "Flame," starring Jaya Ballard and Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar!

 Yet another straightforward one that seemed like it'd fly by so I can work on other stuff, but then the hair and suit just took forever to ink, not to mention the last minute second-guess marathon on drawing the thumb.  Anyway, I was thinking maybe Spike raging on a keyboard about Magic's 30th--like an Internet flamer--but it was kinda too similar a concept to her last appearance, so we just got a known zinger and her little instigator buddy (I don't actually know the lizard's lore, so, as I enjoy doing for MTGinktober, I make up stories about how these characters meet and decide to team up).

 Fun Facts: This is Jaya's second MTGinktober appearance, where she debuted with--you guessed it, Frank Stallone--wait, no, I mean Chandra.  It's always Chandra.  Also, I noticed a weird ink spot right where light was supposed to hit her arm, so I improvised a new stitch in her sleeve, though it's not actually present in her costume design.

 Easter Eggs: I hid my signature in the upper flames.  Also, though I mainly referenced Fajareka Setiawan's version, which is based on Matt Cavotta's version, I bounced between the two to get some of the costume elements down.

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FanArt_ink.Scallop

 MTGinktober shells out for Day 4, "Scallop," starring Chandra, Dressed to Kill (Ekaterina Burmak version) and Charix, the Raging Isle (Kekai Kotaki version)!

 Another one where it felt like we were making solid progress, but then the metal decorations and the complicated chair just tanked all my lead time.

 Fun Facts:  Chandra is definitely our MVP, she's gotta be my most-drawn character, and regularly makes multiple appearances per year, as was the case last run. 

 Easter Eggs: The chair is from Dark Confidant (Scott M. Fischer version) and I took advantage of the weird statue head to hide my signature in his beard.  Also this illustration features scallops as in the shellfish as well as the fashion style via Chandra's shoulder frill things.

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FanArt_ink.Bat

MTGinktober echo-locates Day 3, "Bat," starring Radha, Heir to Keld and Eyetwitch!  

 Man, this was a close one, but we made all posting deadlines.  No matter how clear a composition we have, how much is already ironed out in-mind, there's always something that brings progress to a screeching halt and eats away at all that advance work--the musculature took forever to get down, so no time for a neater background or at least a less blistering pace on everything else, so naturally errors become more likely. 

Case in point, the above is how we went to "print," and upon closer examination, there are a few missing spot blacks, and stuff, so we just gave it a quick touch up and re-scanned.

Fun Facts: I forgot to ink the blood on her torso, so I did some quick digital inks there, but still no erasing.  This is an extremely rare instance of using digital to add in marks (not counting flat blacks), which we did to hit our daily deadline, rather than have to re-scan the actual updated inks (as a personal goal, I want to hit all sites by midnight Eastern this year--you can see some timekeeping notes at top in the margin).  This is also Radha's second MTGinktober appearance (or third, depending on how you count "Swollen"...).

 Easter Eggs: The stadium and pose are from the incredible video for "会心の一撃" from Radwimps.  Also, the logo on the hat is the Strixhaven expansion symbol.
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FanArt_ink.Scurry

 MTGinktober skedaddles into Day 2, "Scurry," starring Soul Warden; Scurry Oak; and Toski, Bearer of Secrets!

 I try to avoid just using cards that have the prompt in their name, but this felt like a fun enough art order, since I love seeing combos and synergies actually illustrated out, as if they are teammates.

 Fun Facts: I am not a big fan of straight-up "I play these couple cards and I essentially win," except I do have a pet combo deck that I've had since it was Standard legal, and for now mainly resides in eternal Artisan formats--Vampire Wand, and eventually I would certainly love to draw that combo (in-game and ink-game).

 Easter Eggs: Don't fret, Heliod's wreath thing means Scurry Oak's ready to roll.  Also Soul Warden's incantations include an Among Us guy, and Toski's tail runes include the middle school gangsta S, the Konami Code, and my signature and a reference to OK Go.

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FanArt_ink.Gargoyle

MTGinktober shows its mug once again for Day 1, "Gargoyle," starring Cormela, Glamour Thief (Samy Halim version) and Wakestone Gargoyle!

 And we're back!  I've got a fresh sketchbook that should be able to handle the year's entire run, uninterrupted, not to mention fresh inkpots, plural, so I should have no shortage of supplies for this run, just need my body to hold out.  I feel so out of practice, but hopefully we snap out of this funk we've been in for some time now.

 Fun Facts: I thought I might have drawn this particular Gargoyle before, but it was actually on the cutting room floor for "Screech," back in 2017, but just like in this piece, we've got a screaming goyle friend paired with a humanoid anchoring figure.  Anyway, right off the bat, we're hit with an inksplat crisis, but I'd say we handled it well enough, but I remain unable to find a good white ink.
 

 Easter Eggs: The background is also from Cormela's showcase version.  Also I hadn't thought to have her smooch the not-actually-an-artifact creature, but while hatching during pencils, it looked like a lipstick stain, and that made it more amusing since it kinda looks like he's screaming his head off cuz he's not good with feeling loved.  Tragic, comedic, it's got everything.  I then noticed a similar gag on the actual showcase illustration...so interesting parallel thinking.

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