MTG: University Campus (2025)
Idle Time
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Showing a courtyard of a Tolarian Academy from the Dominaria world/plane was a bit of a challenge. There was the place itself, existing within the transforming city of New Argive, a place heavily structured from concrete, with brass plumbing and infrastructure, and lots of lawns. Then there was the fact this was a university of sorts, and one can't simply portray the place without people.
My concepts played with camera pulled out at different points, figures tiny in some, or more prominent in others. In the end I chose a composition that is rather unusual in that it attempts to have no area of focus. This is one of those times where trying to break a rule seemed like a wise path. The figures here--going about their day, chatting in pairs, relaxing on the lawns and so on--none of them could become a focal point, even when large within the composition. The fountain itself is closest to focal, but the wyvern flitting about it keeps it from being so; the muted color of the wyvern makes it stand out less than it might if it were a bright red or something
Having worked out the bones of the environment digitally, I printed that out at high contrast and placed a piece of layout paper over it, then drew out the figures at-scale on this one sheet of paper, even if their relative placements aren’t where they would be in the final. After scanning it back in, I moved the elements to where they needed to be for the final composition, before moving to paint.
I utilized a restrained palette, a modified Zorn palette consisting of Titanium White, Payne's Gray, Pyrrole Red and Cadmium Yellow Medium. This had the effect of keeping the figures' blue robes muted, to again keep them from drawing the eye too much as figures are wont to do. In the end, the goal was to create a snapshot of an active school quad. My wife likened it to an environment's establishing shot in a Star Trek episode or something, which was perfect as it's essentially what I was after.
Shared with permission from WOTC
TM and © Wizards of the Coast
NEXT WEEK ON ART OF THE DAY:
We continue complete our tour of Marvel’s Spider-Man artwork
We’ll finish our Through the Omenpaths art posts. Original paintings and preliminary studies will be continue being available here. Paid subscribers will get first dibs, regular subscribers will have a chance the next day before they go broadly public. The next Omenpaths art will go up on Friday, October 3, 7am Pacific as usual