The second piece I did for Bloomburrow was called Arthur, Marigold Knight.

My first instinct was to present him leading the charge as shown in the first sketch. It felt befitting the description and the character as I understood it. I've done similar compositions to this in the past however, and I wanted to explore more options. So, I looked to art history for inspiration. I found it in the form of Gericault's “The Charging Chasseur.” And so I sketched that version, as well.

Can't explain why I drew either vertically when the card compositions are horizontal, but it felt right at the time. After all, you can always add to them digitally, which I did before handing both sketches in.
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#stevenbelledin #sketches #inspiration #illustration #artprocess

Arthur, Marigold Knight

For Magic: the Gathering
Oil on hardboard, sixteen inches wide by twelve inches tall.
AD: Zack Stella

As I pointed out in yesterday's post, I found inspiration in Gericault's "The Charging Chasseur," which was nice as it pushed me in a direction I likely would not have gone on my own—both in terms of gesture and palette. But that's also true of the set itself, which required me to paint these adorable little critters in the first place. I'm frankly relieved and a little surprised that I was trusted to be a part of this set owing to how often I'm asked to paint things that are either directly horror or horror adjacent. In all reality, I think I've painted enough horror stuff to last a lifetime at this point. Minimally, I was very ready to paint cute animals when this piece came along.

#stevenbelledin #illustration #mouse #oilpainting #artwork

[...] this weapon was crafted from a massive tooth, honed down to a size manageable for little folk. The sigil-etched blade curved, sharpened on both the true and false edges, tapering to a wicked point. The hilt was simple, cord-wrapped, while the pommel was carved into the shape of a dancing flame.

The sword once belonged to Lily of the Valley herself, so the story went, formed from the fang of the Wildfire Wolf that nearly destroyed Bloomburrow. [...]

[...] cette arme était fabriquée à partir d'une dent massive, affutée jusqu'à une taille gérable pour les petites gens. La lame gravée d'un sceau était courbée, aiguisée sur les deux bords, s'effilant jusqu'à une méchante pointe. La poignée était simple, entourée d'un cordon, tandis que le pommeau était sculpté en forme de flamme dansante.

L'épée appartenait autrefois à Lily de Vallée elle-même [l'ancêtre de Mabel], ainsi que racontait l'histoire, formée à partir du croc du Wildfire Wolf qui a presque détruit Bloomburrow. [...]

I love the Tarot reference here!