MTG: Kithkin Soldier (2007)
Squash and stretch
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Because my own aesthetics are more naturalistic than cartoony, I’ve spoken here about usually needing to push portrayals that feature more whimsical anatomical structures. Magic’s Kithkin characters were among these.
In-game token cards (versus the custom ones I and other artists produce for ourselves) for Magic are usually character-focused and feature little to no narrative or abstract concepts. Because if a token card represents a, “Bird,” this bird can appear anywhere in the game, and so should not be too world-specific. In this case, this was a Kithkin Soldier, so while he would be identifiably Lorwyn (or Shadowmoor, to be specific), he should still be shown generically.
The figure study here tells the story, a story usually told with World of Warcraft illustrations. Basically, exaggerated large head needed, shorter arms, beefier hands, etc.. Artist Steve Prescott had a big hand in the original Kithkin designs, and he is fantastic, a natural at whimsical anatomy. Definitely the right pick for concepting the world of Lorwyn, For me, it took a bit more work to get there.
In the years since, I think I’ve improved at this aspect in my work. When faced with these kinds of concepts, I work more at embodying their intent and pushing aside any aesthetic preferences that I hold innately. But in the end, back then, though it might have required a bit more work to get there, once I did I was often happy with the final product, and this was maybe my favorite painting of the original Lorwyn/Shadowmoor block, as a result.
