Artist Spotlight - Mohrbacher

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

We have for you today, a great post about a great artist - Peter Mohrbacher.  If you are a Magic: the Gathering player, then this name should seem rather familiar to you as Peter has about forty or so MTG cards he has illustrated for Wizards of the Coast so far.  Commander fan favourites like Animar, Soul of Elements, horror trope Innistrad block cards like Grimgrin, Corpse-Born, classic hero / god cards from Theros block to the very latest  Destructor Dragon from Fate Reforged.

Peter Mohrbacher  is an independent illustrator and concept artist living in the Chicago area. Primarily self taught, he has been working in the game industry for around 7 years. More recently he is working primarily on self-owned projects in addition to an online mentoring program aimed at helping aspiring artists establish themselves.  One of his newest projects is Angelarium, a beautifully constructed concept world he has created.  You can help Peter get this project off the ground and soaring in the air over at this page on Patreon.

For now, we have for your eyes some truly amazing Magic: the Gathering pieces we've picked up from the very talented Peter Mohrbacher.  If you happen to find yourself in Kansas City next month for Planet Comicon, drop by Peter's booth! 

Sorry, but we must admit that our crappy camera does these beautiful illustrations no favours at all.

Brimaz, King of Oreskos

Born of the Gods Mythic Rare

Erebos, God of the Dead

Theros Mythic Rare

Mogis, God of Slaughter

Born of the Gods Mythic Rare

Pharika, God of Affliction

Journey into Nyx Mythic Rare

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3D MTG

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I had just recently read an interesting article over at Curiosidades de Magic, a spanish blog personal una gran variedad de interesantes de la Magic Gathering historias, erratas, modificaciones y curiosidades. Specifically, I found the article on artist Seishiro Ookubo very interesting.

Seishiro Ookubo has never executed any pieces commissioned by Wizards of the Coast yet this Nagoya-born Japanese artist is very well known in the MTG art community. WoTC had invited Ookubo to past tournaments to showcase his amazing art. The art in question is certainly all Magic the Gathering but what sets Ookubo apart from other artists is that he creates 3D art from actual cards.











Ookubo, as many other MTG artists, is a fan of the game and had started playing during 4th Edition, and like many avid players started to acculumate a vast collection of cards. Apparently, one evening while taking stock of his collection of cards, Ookubo had several extra copies of
Pradesh Gypsies in his hand when he struck upon the idea that the card would looking rather interesting portrayed in the third dimension. After many attempts and many cards, Ookubo had refined his technique. He now typically takes two to three hours and six copies of a card, and then intricately cuts each card to create his layered masterpieces.

Ookubo typically works on commons and uncommons and amazingly often trades his works of art for the MTG cards he wants to play with. He also often provides his art as gifts, tournament prizes and charity auctions. His works often commands high prices from $400 to $500 (US dollars) which according to him, very much surprises him.


Perhaps the most impressive piece thus far though has been Mark Rosewater's Maro. If you look at the picture on the Mirage version of Maro, you will notice a great deal of leaves and vines in the background, all of which have been cut and detailed by Ookubo -- an insane amount of work by any standard.

If anyone out there has a personal page for Ookubo we can link to, we would really love to show our appreciation to him for his work. Also, if we every have a bag of money fall from the sky on us, we hope to commission a 3D Black Lotus.

Anywhoos - let's have some images of Seishiro Ookubo's art work . . .

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Also - Here is a very cool video of a MTG life counter created with Ookubo's 3D Maniacal Rage.

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