"Hanna, Ship's Navigator" the Girl Next Door?

"Hanna, Ship's Navigator" (for MtG's Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 first expansion) isn't the first time I've been asked to illustrate Hanna, but being asked to make her look appealing certainly was a first. In case you haven't been involved with Magic since the beginning, it might be revelatory to know that the style guides, back in the early days of Magic were, well... lets just say not as thick or nearly as highly developed as they are now.

 

Above was the version of Hanna, depicted in the style guide back then. At best she's, how shall I say, "the girl next door", and don't take me for a chauvinist, because I also thought Gerrard and Ertai were a wee bit, the "boy next door", until I had the opportunity to create my version of them. : )

 

When I painted Fact or Fiction and Jilt, I was asked to make her "normal" looking, which I loathe being asked to do. When an artist is told to paint a "normal" character it screams boring, lackluster, uninteresting, amateur (because clearly you must not be able to paint something pretty) or just emotionless.  

So, in honor of following the art direction, I used a very average model (myself) and didn't bother to idealize her. Of course I also required a photo of the basic pose and lighting for the goblin, so I grabbed who was closest, which was my partner Dawn. Fact...or fiction?   ; )

Jump forward 10 years from 2001 to 2011 and I'm asked to paint Hanna again, this time with the express wish from the art director "Can you please take this assignment? I want a T. Nielsen face lift of ‘Hanna’." How could I refuse? 

So this was the official art description I was given.

 

ART DESCRIPTION:

Title: Hanna, Ship’s Navigator

Color: White- and blue-aligned legendary creature

Location: Belowdecks aboard the wooden airship Weatherlight

Action: Show a glamour shot of Hanna, the talented artificer who went on to serve as navigator for the airship Weatherlight. Hanna wears her blond hair in a slightly disheveled ponytail and wears a uniform in blue and gold (see reference). Mystical artifacts (strange crystals, vials, puzzle-boxes) are strewn about the table, and she's looking up from a parchment map or blueprint, perhaps with a lock of hair falling across her face.

Focus: The artificer Hanna

Mood: A young, whip-smart artifact expert; grace under pressure

Notes: See Hanna's Custody, Fact or Fiction, Jilt, Protective Sphere, for Hanna's look and costuming reference (although we'd like her to look a little nicer/better here).

Great assignment right?!! A glamorized Hanna, in her lair, surrounded by all of these amazing old bottles, maps, puzzles, nautical instruments. Steampunk in Magic. If my studio lair looked like this I'd be in heaven... but I do have little corners of it going on here and there.

 

 



I knew I wanted her in a contemplative mood and pose. When I'm in my favorite reading corner or tucked behind my drawing table ruminating over my next project, you'll find me in this position.

 

So I gathered together little doodads I had laying around, some old photos of nautical devices from the internets and then grabbed a light and our daughter, Heather, to shoot for the basic pose and lighting.

After photos and reference gathering, I hunkered over and drew away until this appeared.

I was given the go-ahead on the sketch and immediately started painting. As the entire image was filled with interesting items, I enjoyed pretty much every square inch of this piece... love it when that happens.

Oh, and I guess there is still a bit of me, i.e. the girl next door, in this Hanna, as I needed the disheveled, iconic blond, Hanna-hair...and mine still worked for that.  : )

 

 Those interested in signed limited edition prints of this, just pop on over to the store.

 

 

 

Comments

[Dgundam3]

Thank you for the write up.

Your Ertai, Wizard Adept has always been one of my favorite MTG artwork.

Looking forward to the Hanna print so she can join her Weatherlight crew mate on display.

[PGaither84]

I don't think that being asked to paint somone "normal looking" as a bad thing. Not everyone in the world needs to be super exotic. Hanna is just this girl. She doesn't need to be a part time super model. I like what you did with her.

Your art really shaped my vision of the world of MtG... along with Rebecca Guay and Drew Tucker.

I really don't like this super generic art on all the new cards that have come out over the last 4 years or so. Your stuff still stands out in a very good way. I can see a card you painted for the first time and know it's you like 90% of the time without looking at the credits.

[Ely]

Hello, thank you for creating another beautiful piece for us. I for one am very excited to see a more personal look at one of my favorite Magic characters.

Hopefully Wizards will give us this in a paper reprint sometime in the near (preferably immediate) future :)

Thanks again
Your art is stunning

[April King]

If only we had some sort of time machine, so that we could combine the general overall quality of art of today with the loose style guidelines of the past. Although today's art looks far nicer overall, it certainly has a sad sense of sameness that past art certainly avoided.

Looking back, there were about two dozen different depictions of Hanna, and only a select few are what I would call great art. I consider myself very lucky to have my favorite painting (Opt, by John Howe) of this strong female character hanging on my wall, and it's a shame that so many of the other paintings of her are so homely in comparison. She deserves better!

You really did a fine job on this painting, and I'm glad that Wizards was a lot looser with their style guidelines this time. I've been a fan of you for, seemingly, forever, and it amazes me how much you have improved as an artist over the years, and it pleases me greatly that Hanna was able to benefit from that.