Philosophy Talks: Facts and Opinions

Negate Alter

I decided to try my hand at abstract altering, something that hasn't really been explored very thoroughly. I still don't know how I feel about abstract alters but this one isn't bad.

Swamp Panorama

This was a mock up I did for a potential commission. While that project never happened, I figured this sample would be interesting. I did two sketches of possible Marsh Flats before making a sample in paint. While the rough draft is rough, I'm rather found of my this work.

Nature's Lore Alter

And it's finished. I like the way Nature's Lore turned out. I'm still working on trying to alter at least tenth of my EDH deck. This one is #5.

Experimenting on Nature's Lore

Mana Leak Altered set

At work

The most helpful thing an artist can share with other artists is a how they arrange their work spaces. Making a good piece of art is hard work (magic alters or other) and it involves quite a bit work designed to hide how the art was made. The best extensions always look seamless. So when I look at other artist work, I have a general idea of how I could make the same thing. Sometimes, however I have no idea how a piece of work is done. Example: Card Kitty's Elen Elendra Archmage

This card is jaw-dropping for one reason in particular. Look at how smooth the card is! I am infinitely perplexed Card Kitty's stuff. There is a level of finish to them that you literally can't find in any other artist's work. Sometimes, I suspect that they photoshop their cards like models before posting them online. Probably not true but it makes me feel better about my life.


Knowing the tools used and the way some one organizes their space can be a big help in figuring work how a piece of work was make. Some artist only use the primary colors and white when altering. Others will have dozens of pre-mixed colors. This can make a difference in color matching. An artist using only the primaries can access a wider range of colors (all of them) but it takes them tons of extra time to do so. With mixed-paints we have to understand that all mixed paints (by the nature of being premixed) are closer to brown then the primary colors. Sometimes a primary colors artist will be unable to make a color because they are not patient enough. Sometimes a mixed-paint artist will be unable to make a color because they repeatedly make a brown color instead. So primary artist tend to have trouble matching browns while mixed-painter tend to have trouble matching neons or primaries.

This is important for more reason than just understanding other peoples work. By the very nature of altering cards, you have to get inside the head of the original artist and understand their process. Most work is done on computers these days so it is much harder to do but the idea is similar.

Painting is pretty a psychological game sometimes. It can be frustrating, boring, satisfying, exhausting, relaxing, and mindless. You want to approach art in a way that understands these emotions and works with them. And small things like how many tubes of paint you own can be a big determinate in whether you are successfully approaching your own emotions. Other things like choice of paint brush, amount of light, acrylic mediums, and organization of palette can have subtle but important effect on an artist at work.