Magic: The Gathering artist David Petersen talks the Bloomburrow expansion

Magic: The Gathering’s upcoming Bloomburrow set will add new cards and content to the popular card game. Ahead of its release, we spoke with David Petersen, an artist for MTG to learn more about the Bloomburrow set as well as his own journey as an artist.

1. How did you get into art? Were you self-taught?

Every little kid is into art––it’s just that some of them stop, and I never did. I got more serious about art in Middle School and High School though. I’d take Art in school and then also sign up for various classes offered at the Art Institute in the evenings or the summer. In college I got a Fine Art degree in Printmaking, but the university I attended saw a clear distinction between fine art and illustration, and they looked down their noses and didn’t offer classes for the latter. So, once I graduated, I had to re-teach myself to do the kinds of fantasy illustrations I’d done when I was younger, but through the lens of the Fine Art degree.

2. When you tackle projects/jobs, is it hard adjusting your style (if it needs to be adjusted) from projects like Mouse Guard, Muppets, to Ninja Turtles?

The first time I do something new there can be an adjustment to find the right balance between the established characters or worlds and my own natural voice as an artist. Being true to what they are in tone and recognizability, but not changing my work to look like a bad impersonation of the artists or looks of those characters as they most often appear. Once I’ve cracked the code for one of them though, switching between them isn’t terribly difficult.

3. How did you get involved with Magic: The Gathering?

Art director Tom Jenkot reached out to me by email and couldn’t tell me anything about the set or theme yet but said that I wouldn’t have to change my art style at all for what they wanted from me. After signing the NDA and I received the Bloomburrow world guide materials, I was blown away by the world building and artwork already produced for it. I was thrilled to be a part of it and would love to draw more talking animals wielding magic for them.

4. Is the process of drawing a card different from comics? If so, how is it different?

The difference is that comics are multiple panels to tell lots of moments in a story. Often those moments can be differently shaped (tall, big, small, wide, etc) from each other. With a Magic card, it’s one Image that needs to sum up everything and imply a deeper world and story. But after the concept/layout process it done, the work of illustrating is the same for me with inking and coloring.

5. For your Magic: The Gathering project, what's the workflow like? Do you have to understand the game? What are you given to bring the cards to life on paper?

I played Magic back in the nineties, so I had some understanding of the game, but I don’t think you’d need that familiarity to illustrate for Magic. In fact, I didn’t get any info about the card mechanics.

My art director Aliana Rood provided me with a fantastic world guide with visuals for each animal type, their clothing, their weapons, their culture, their architecture, how their magic spells were visualized…it was great. Then for each card I was provided with a description of what the illustration should be of, what details they wanted me to include, and some words about the emotional tone each illustration was aiming for. Lots of room to personally interpret the request, while still having enough info to not feel lost.

6. How much time does it take, on average, to complete a finalized piece of art for Bloomburrow? Start to finish.

I’m terrible about tracking my time when doing art. It’s even harder for me because after many of the stages I need to stop to wait for approvals before I can move on to the next part of the process.

7. Are you on pen/paper still? or have you switched over to a fully digital process (wacom tablet etc.)

I do a mix of both. I start with a pencil on copy paper, and if I need to make adjustments or try a new idea out, I lay another sheet on top and use a lightpad––like a physical version of Photoshop layers. I just like the feeling of pencil on paper. Then I scan those, assemble them, make further adjustments if needed and block in some color before sending a rough in for approvals. When approved, I print out that digital composite, tape it to the back of a sheet of bristol board and ink the whole thing traditionally on a lightpad. I like traditional inking and then still have an original piece of art to sell or display. Then the entire thing is scanned and colored digitally.

8. Knowing human anatomy is a huge thing in the art profession. When drawing hybrid animals, does that come into play? Do you study animal anatomy as well?

I tend to draw almost exclusively talking animals and creatures or monsters anyhow, so, while I learned human anatomy in school, I don’t often have to flex that muscle very often other than to stylize it for whatever pose I need an animal or monster to make. I certainly look at a lot of reference photos and videos of animals when I draw ones I’m unfamiliar with or from an unusual angle.

That’s our full conversation with David Petersen about his career as an artist and work on the Bloomburrow set. The Bloomburrow set was released today and can be found on the MTG website.

Greg Burke

Head of Video

Greg is the head of Video Production for Shacknews. If you've ever enjoyed a video on Gamerhub.tv, it was most likely edited by him. Follow him on Twitter @GregBurke85.