Terese Nielsen - Fantasy Artist, Star Wars, MtG and Angel Art

Magic Lorwyn Art by Terese Nielsen... who???

So besides trying to keep up with a few Magic cards, I've been doing a lot of Star Wars packaging designs.  But it's still top secret, so I can't give you a cozy little link or anything.

I've also had fun with several magical horses and unicorns for Bella Sara.  But back to Lorwyn since that's the title of this post.  By far, the most popular of the 5 illustrations I did for Lorwyn was Secluded Glen.

When I got this assignment I thought, "Hey, cool, mostly a landscape all magical and pretty," and it reminded me of a photo I took of myself at our cabin several years ago.

I really love the streaming light.  I brought the feel of our cabin into the painting.  I imagined myself there in Secluded Glen... the magical domain of the Queen Fairy.  Its first name was "Fairy Glen."  It was supposed to be over-the-top colorful, green, storybook.  I first had to figure out how it would look in real life and then push it to be more magical, colorful and enchanting...that was the challenge.  Apparently it was a good card for some reason.  The day before the pre-release I got several emails asking about the sketch and original.

And then there are the 2 that Philip Tan and I did together: Deeptread Merrow and Timber Protector. I know Philip through Kirk Dilbeck, a mutual friend and art collector.  He's done amazing pencils for Spawn, etc., (go check him out) so he sketched and I painted...it worked really well.  Philip is a detail maniac.  We worked together on the composition of the tree guy (which had 3 different incarnations), but the other one I only painted.

TITLE: [Inkfathom Deeptread]*
SIZE: 2 1/16" wide x 1 1/2" tall

ART DESCRIPTION:
Color: Blue Creature
Location: undergound river or aquifer
Action: A deep-swimming merfolk holds a waterproof 'lantern' that consists of a sealed glass container full of fireflies. This illuminates her way through the murky depths where almost no merfolk venture
Focus: the merfolk
Mood: merfolk aren't really capable of fear, so she should seem curious and alert
Notes: Merfolk concepts are on pp. 32 - 37 of the styleguide.

I did a cool sketch for Timber Protector, but Jeremy didn't like it.

Timber Protector:

TITLE: [Noble Taoiseach]*
SIZE: 2 1/16" wide x 1 1/2" tall
ART DESCRIPTION:
Color: Green creature
Location: forest
Action: Show an ash-treefolk leader. He wields a staff that looks made of carved bone. He stands proudly, and behind him can be seen the silhouettes of other treefolk -- the ones he leads.
Focus: the ash treefolk leader Mood: Proud, wise

 

The other 2 cards I did were Faerie Trickery and Moonglove Extract:

TITLE: [Crimping Glamer]*
SIZE: 2 1/16" wide x 1 1/2" tall      

ART DESCRIPTION:
Color: Blue Spell
Location: unimportant
Action: A salamand shaman fires a burst of flame from his/her hands, but at the end of the burst, the flames burn in multiple vivid colors and transform into colorful flower petals that float away on the breeze. The salamand should look outraged.
Focus: the spell being neutralized
Mood: foiled
Notes: Faeries on styleguide pp. 38 - 41.

TITLE: [Moonglove Tincture]*
SIZE: 2 1/16" wide x 1 1/2" tall    


ART DESCRIPTION:
Color: none (artifact)
Location: mat of greenery
Action: Show a small glass or crystal vial that contains an opaque liquid of the palest blue, almost white. The vial sits on a bed of greenery, but the greenery has shriveled and turned black in the area around the vial itself. This vial contains magically deadly poison.
Focus: the vial
Mood: beautiful and capable of causing instant death

So, that's a little bit of the skinny on my Lorwyn art.  I wonder how this will look when I hit "publish."  This blogging thing is still a bit new.

Barnes and Noble Signing

Hey, if you happen to live in the southern CA area come by Barnes and Noble this Saturday!
I'll be there signing the new book "World of Warcraft: The Art of the Trading Card Game" along with Ben Thompson, Randy Gallegos, Tom Baxa, Glenn Rane and Sammy Dider.

Date:Saturday, March 1st, 2008
Time: 2:00-4:00pm
Location:Barnes and Noble, 7881 Edinger Ave. #110, Huntington Beach, CA 92647

Stranded

So, I don't think we'll forget Mercury retrograde Feb 2008.

I know...saying something like this makes me seem "out there," and well, I probably am.  I usually enjoy reading my horoscope by Susan Miller (www.AstrologyZone.com) so I'm starting to pick up the lingo a little.

Anyway, the month started out with a one-night trip to our cabin at Chantry Flats above Sierra Madre.

Isn't it really so quaint?



And I totally love how magically mossy the foundation gets in the winter.

But just so you're not too impressed...here's the side of the cabin we haven't finished painting yet...it's only been this way for at least the last 4 years.

Well, anyways, it accidentally turned into a 3 night stay.  The night we went up, torrential rains made the river swell, and we couldn't get across to hike out.  I pulled the Bridge Out of Troubled Water, but it wouldn't be until the third morning that we could use it to "escape" back into our busy lives consisting of 4 teenagers, 2 cell phones, several email accounts and a puppy.



Our only way to communicate with the rest of the world was to break into one of our neighbor's cabins and use his old crank phone that connects all the cabins in the canyon with the Pack Station at the top.  It's the same kind of system I remember my Mom using (and hating for the lack of privacy) when I was a little girl growing up in Nebraska. 

Anyways, we cranked a couple of times and got Sue on the line.  She promised to email Grandma to tell her we were OK and to ask her to look after the kids until we could make it out.  People worried about us, wondering if we would have enough food to survive an extra couple of days, but we made out like bandits raiding wine and Smirnoff Ice from our neighbors.

We kept an eye on the river from the cabin, but once we realized there was nothing else we could do, we settled into the deliciousness of being stranded.

There's nothing cozier than a nice wood-burning stove, candles and oil lamps.  The warm glow is unbeatable.

And we were protected by tree spirits floating above the shed all night long.

And really, all you need is Jiffy Pop, anyways.

Not that 2 unplanned days at the cabin was a bad thing, but it did throw a bit of a wrench in our schedules, which was a little disconcerting.  But not as disconcerting as the following week when the electrical power at our house went postal, frying several appliances and light bulbs with a powerful surge on a Friday night.  Edison, to avoid paying a little overtime, let us sit over the weekend without power, so we had to hook up our refrigerator to the neighbor's house to await Monday morning when we would be eligible for a little attention from a monster monopoly that has no incentive to provide decent customer service.  "So sue us," was their basic attitude.  I can't wait until I can get off the grid.

While I was fighting with Edison on the phone, I heard a rather unpleasant sound.  I ran out to the front to observe our minivan, which had been parked on the street in front of our house, looking very scrunched up as it sat halfway up on the sidewalk.  A young man driving his friend's new sports car had come around the corner too fast and basically totaled our car.  His car was totaled, too, but luckily, no one was hurt.

But, you know... I was starting to think Lemony Snicket.

Anyhow, after today, Mercury retrograde will be over, so I'm breathing a sigh of relief.  I'm really not a drama queen, usually, so try to enjoy this while you can, OK?