I live in a small town and it isn't easy to find cards, specially pre-Lorwyn ones. I always wanted to make a sun bleached playset of Krosan Grip (bleaching the disintegration side), but wasn't able to find the cards (neither the climate helps around here). If I get to do it, I'll share (it would be cool if somebody else that's interested on this idea does it and shares too). I bet it would look really cool!
Nice work, narb. Now that we are able to compare, personally I find the black border makes the green frame to pop, while the green one turns it off. I always like how black works at framming colors, making them more vibrant.
You could just have them send you the cards to alter. Then they can simply photograph the card or make a note of some identifying scratch or whatever on the edges or back or any part of the front not to be altered, and know its their card again later.
Yes, but that's for comissions. I usually produce the pieces first, then sell them. Anyway, all this fake thing is affecting almost every group inside the community, including alter artists.
Chaos Moon2BR
Legendary Enchantment
Whenever a player loses life, exile that many permanents at random. Hatred not even a demon could comprehend.
What Plaguefather said (I really dig the old style art). Also, while colorpie seems to be fine, the PL of the card seems to be a bit too much OP. Even if this belongs to Custom Card Creation subforums, I'll give you a suggestion. What about:
Chaotic Evening3BR
Legendary Enchantment R
At the beginning of each opponent's end step, if that player has lost life since the end of his or her last end step, he or she exiles a permanent at random he or she controls. Hatred not even a demon could comprehend.
(If you want to keep talking about card design, please PM me or go to the custom card creation subforum).
How do you guys decide which cards to alter and which type of alter to do (border extension, full art, alter art)?
I'm having trouble generating ideas and am wondering how you guys work through creative block.
Well, this is a question that can be answered from a personal perspective only.
Personally, while it is not subject to a comission request (usually comissioners have a general idea of what they want you to do, so your input there seems to be stretched) I take in consideration in wich format the card I'm going to work with will be used. So, since custom art alters and textless alters tend to be problematic while trying to be used at sanctioned gameplay, I try to leave these for casual cards (cards that are casual play staples, not constructed). Also, I preffer to extend old fashion cards (such as Urza's block, Tempest, etc) as their pallete is more forgiving. New set cards tend to have pretty digitall palettes, wich are a sort of nightmare to mimic. It happened once to me when I needed to extend a Phyrexian Obliterator to make it textless. it was a comission, so I had to acomplish that in case I wanted to take the work, and I did. Emulating those digital greens was really hard. hat's why I always suggest to start with old cards and extend them, to make the practice of color matching far more easy until you get more confident and learn how to get a color easily.
Also, it is easier to add new elements when you have an artwork full of details, on the contrary being a bit harder to figure out what to do with those cards that have flat backgrounds and obscure palettes. Bitterblossom and Show and Tell are good examples of forgiving cards regarding the addition of new elements, while Phyrexian Obliterator and Illnes in the Ranks aren't.
You seem to have "the touch" in your hand (it looks like you had previous experience with brushes, did you?), and your improvement is being clear alter by alter. Keep these comming and a late welcome to our community! (Are you planning on giving a try to custom art? It would be interesting to see what style comes out from your own :thumbsup:)
Aaron Forsythe has announced a new frame for our beloved cards being applied to all cards moving forwards, and here are both, the images and his word on this (source: TheMagicTutor.com):
What's Going on with That Card Frame?
As you can see from the expansion symbol, Waste Not will be appearing in this year's core set,Magic 2015. As you can also see, a number of tweaks have been made to the card frame. I spent most of 2013 leading the design of M15, an ambitious set that will introduce a few new things to the game, not the least of which is an update to the existing card frame. We have a lot of smart people here in the building who are constantly thinking of ways to improve Magic. Many such ideas involved tweaks to the front of cards, but since we don't want to make sweeping changes to card frames often, we let a few such ideas pile up for a while before picking an opportune time to deploy them in a big batch. M15 was that time.There are five big changes visible above on Waste Not. Four are game-wide changes that will be implemented in M15 and every set going forward, and the last is a little something special just for this set. Let's go over them.
1) The font
Since its inception, Magic has used off-the-shelf fonts on its cards. As a brand, we feel that we'll be better served by having our own unique proprietary font—something with a little edge and character that is still very readable.
In general, we liked the heaviness and shape of the "Matrix Bold" font we'd been using previously, so there are a lot of similarities between the old font and the new, named "Beleren," which should alleviate any jarring feeling when you mix the two together in decks.
2) The holofoil stamp
You'll notice a little silver oval in the bottom center of Waste Not. That's a new unique holofoil stamp that we're applying to all rares and mythic rares going forward. This stamp makes those cards feel more special, as well as guarantees authenticity.
Commons, uncommons, and basic lands will not feature this stamp.
3) The collector info
In the lower left of the card is a series of letters and numbers that indicate the card's collector number (122/269), rarity (R), set (M15), and language (EN). The little dot between the set and the language will be a star on premium cards, so just about everything you'd ever need to know about a card's edition is in one easy-to-read place.
Making the bottom of each card black to accommodate this information was not an easy decision, and may be the most disconcerting part of this frame update, but it was done with the best of intentions. This information is machine-readable by recognition software at our production plants. It will help eliminate the rare packaging error, like cards sneaking into the wrong expansion's boosters.
4) Decreased border size
In order to fit all this cool new stuff on the cards, we've reduced the width of the black border by almost a millimeter all the way around. This reclaimed real estate allows us to have slightly bigger art and text boxes as well.
5) The designer credit
You'll notice that we gave you all credit for making this card in the place normally occupied by flavor text—"Designed by the Magic community." This is the first time we've ever given credit for a specific card design on the card itself, and it's you! You should be very proud! While every card going forward won't feature a designer credit (kinda sad, really), there are a handful of others inMagic 2015, specifically, that will. (You'll have to wait on those details! It's cool, I promise!)
Those are the main components of the card frame update. Here's another M15 card for comparison. This one isn't rare, so it has no stamp; is a creature, so it has a P/T box; and isn't black, so you can see the frame design more clearly. All in all, it is an impressive modernization of the card frame, one I'll be excited to get my hands on this summer with M15.
It would be interesting to share here our diverse opinions about the matter, being us either alterers (brush artists), digital-renderers, or just alter-render lovers.
Personally, I hope they do not include that glossy surface that some side product have shown lately. It would make our labor harder if they decide to apply such thing to all the cards from now on.
Also, I bet that preserving the hologram will be added to WotC policies regarding alterations, so now we have a new element that could restrict the use of our alters in sanctioned gameplay. Luckily, that logo is placed on an area that doesn't bother much, except may be for those who like to create custom textboxes.
What do you think?
Note: I was almost posting this thread when noticed that Plaguefater and a couple more users raised this topic in other threads. I still thinking this deserves a thread on its own, so here it is.
The biggest thing is they use yearly core sets to fill gaps that they either cant fill in the block sets or forget until its too late. The way the core set is now is a precursor to the up coming block and its mechanics. If they switched back to every 2 years, it would be hard to hit at a block a year away without giving too much information.
I belive that core sets, in case of a return to the old formula, should work as a solid basis for sets to come in the subsecuent two years. They would need to be solid and safe enough to guarantee stability without undermining design flexibility regarding the second ones, while also ensure a solid toolkit that free R&D from the need of fixing base issues, such as color fixing, colorpie haters, etc. I see the current model as, to bring in a graphic example, a performing juggler instead of as a solid column, as it should be after 20 years of game development. Perhaps the next step is to revisite and improve old formulas with fresh experience from the current ones. We clearly haven't reached the perfect basis for the game from an organizational perspective.
There will always be people in the Magic player base that will complain about something. Doesnt matter if they go back, stay the same, or change it all together. Someone is going to complain they dont like it.
Yeah, perhaps I wasn't clear enough (my bad). There will always be ppl complaining, but the idea is to reach a point in wich these are the vast minority. Take a look at this poll and tell me if we have actually reached such point.
And as I said in my post above, if they went back to a 2-year rotation on Core Sets, they would have to reduce their power level and impact and then players would complain they weren't powerful enough and were more boring than they do now. The current method and design came about as a response to how poorly the summer reprint sets have done in the past and how little impact they had on the game.
How can you ensure ppl would actually complain if we have never came back from the current model to see what happens? Now that we have faced a long period of an enviroment in wich criters break the ground and spells suck as hell, it would be interesting to see how the community would react/adapt if returning to an improved version of the old formula and accept that the current one isn't making the whole community happy, many of these unhappy players being old ones who have tried to adapt to a model that they (we) do not agree with in many aspects, core release periods included.
I get the impression that those examples many of you are using (Titans, Thragtusk, etc.) are the result of the existence of the current model. I bet WotC wouldn't print such cards if they would have to stay for along two years. The way things work right now, we have to deal with cards that work as magnets, conditioning deck building around them for more than an entire year, and WotC's line of thought seems to be that puting an entire format under risk for such period of time is fair enough and justifies using standard as a lab to create bombs to expermient with.
A 2 year duration for cores would restrict them to be more careful with the reprints/new designs they decide to add. Yes, it would demmand more efforts from their side regarding logistics, but it would derive in a more healtier enviroment and, perhaps and luckily, into a closure for this era of bomby critters and crappy spells, wich happens to start worring me more and more as time goes on.
I would like to participate in altered-art contest. Is there one planned anytime soon?
Hello, Rhaegys
Thanks for asking and welcome to our forums!
Well, the idea is to have them back, but we do not want to do so in a rush. We have been talking about a completely new proposal for them, but I belive it would be better to leave holidays behind to sit and polish details. As the soonest, they could be back in February. As late, we don't know. You're invited to come round from time to time and check
I cannot see any posts by a Gonzalo L. Any idea what kind of images are being used?
It has been deleted by the admins. There were thousands of renders and also many hand-painted alters. I've also found another guy in a latin FB group selling cube boxes full of counterfeits, among wich there were many digital renders took from MTGS (fortunately, we knew this guy in person and he was a gentle guy who was being a victim of his own missinformation). It seems that counterfeit sellers are now starting to use FaceBook to promote their activity, so I would suggest to keep an open eye on such site.
Thanks!
Yes, but that's for comissions. I usually produce the pieces first, then sell them. Anyway, all this fake thing is affecting almost every group inside the community, including alter artists.
Damn fakes...
What Plaguefather said (I really dig the old style art). Also, while colorpie seems to be fine, the PL of the card seems to be a bit too much OP. Even if this belongs to Custom Card Creation subforums, I'll give you a suggestion. What about:
Chaotic Evening 3BR
Legendary Enchantment R
At the beginning of each opponent's end step, if that player has lost life since the end of his or her last end step, he or she exiles a permanent at random he or she controls.
Hatred not even a demon could comprehend.
(If you want to keep talking about card design, please PM me or go to the custom card creation subforum).
Personally, while it is not subject to a comission request (usually comissioners have a general idea of what they want you to do, so your input there seems to be stretched) I take in consideration in wich format the card I'm going to work with will be used. So, since custom art alters and textless alters tend to be problematic while trying to be used at sanctioned gameplay, I try to leave these for casual cards (cards that are casual play staples, not constructed). Also, I preffer to extend old fashion cards (such as Urza's block, Tempest, etc) as their pallete is more forgiving. New set cards tend to have pretty digitall palettes, wich are a sort of nightmare to mimic. It happened once to me when I needed to extend a Phyrexian Obliterator to make it textless. it was a comission, so I had to acomplish that in case I wanted to take the work, and I did. Emulating those digital greens was really hard. hat's why I always suggest to start with old cards and extend them, to make the practice of color matching far more easy until you get more confident and learn how to get a color easily.
Also, it is easier to add new elements when you have an artwork full of details, on the contrary being a bit harder to figure out what to do with those cards that have flat backgrounds and obscure palettes. Bitterblossom and Show and Tell are good examples of forgiving cards regarding the addition of new elements, while Phyrexian Obliterator and Illnes in the Ranks aren't.
As you can see from the expansion symbol, Waste Not will be appearing in this year's core set,Magic 2015. As you can also see, a number of tweaks have been made to the card frame. I spent most of 2013 leading the design of M15, an ambitious set that will introduce a few new things to the game, not the least of which is an update to the existing card frame. We have a lot of smart people here in the building who are constantly thinking of ways to improve Magic. Many such ideas involved tweaks to the front of cards, but since we don't want to make sweeping changes to card frames often, we let a few such ideas pile up for a while before picking an opportune time to deploy them in a big batch. M15 was that time.There are five big changes visible above on Waste Not. Four are game-wide changes that will be implemented in M15 and every set going forward, and the last is a little something special just for this set. Let's go over them.
Personally, I hope they do not include that glossy surface that some side product have shown lately. It would make our labor harder if they decide to apply such thing to all the cards from now on.
Also, I bet that preserving the hologram will be added to WotC policies regarding alterations, so now we have a new element that could restrict the use of our alters in sanctioned gameplay. Luckily, that logo is placed on an area that doesn't bother much, except may be for those who like to create custom textboxes.
What do you think?
Note: I was almost posting this thread when noticed that Plaguefater and a couple more users raised this topic in other threads. I still thinking this deserves a thread on its own, so here it is.
Original Artist: Ryan Yee
EDIT:
Yeah, perhaps I wasn't clear enough (my bad). There will always be ppl complaining, but the idea is to reach a point in wich these are the vast minority. Take a look at this poll and tell me if we have actually reached such point.
A 2 year duration for cores would restrict them to be more careful with the reprints/new designs they decide to add. Yes, it would demmand more efforts from their side regarding logistics, but it would derive in a more healtier enviroment and, perhaps and luckily, into a closure for this era of bomby critters and crappy spells, wich happens to start worring me more and more as time goes on.
Perhaps you mean this post from Casparro. Is this what you're looking for?
Hello, Rhaegys
Thanks for asking and welcome to our forums!
Well, the idea is to have them back, but we do not want to do so in a rush. We have been talking about a completely new proposal for them, but I belive it would be better to leave holidays behind to sit and polish details. As the soonest, they could be back in February. As late, we don't know. You're invited to come round from time to time and check
-BBull
It has been deleted by the admins. There were thousands of renders and also many hand-painted alters. I've also found another guy in a latin FB group selling cube boxes full of counterfeits, among wich there were many digital renders took from MTGS (fortunately, we knew this guy in person and he was a gentle guy who was being a victim of his own missinformation). It seems that counterfeit sellers are now starting to use FaceBook to promote their activity, so I would suggest to keep an open eye on such site.