Magic: The Gathering artist Christina Kraus joins Magic Untapped for a Q&A.
For the past several years, Christina Kraus has been a growing presence in the artwork of Magic: The Gathering, as well as other games such as Hearthstone. Known for her fantasy and animal art, Christina has helped create some modern day iconic artworks for MTG.
She was kind enough to answer some questions from Magic Untapped about Magic, art, Germany, and swashbuckling weasels -- all while busy working on many upcoming commissions.
Magic Untapped: What inspiration and influences in your life drove you to be becoming a professional artist?
Christina Kraus: I always loved drawing as a kid. When I was a teenager I used to draw my own manga and anime characters. Sometimes I got up at 4 a.m. just to be able to draw for a couple hours before I needed to leave for school. I guess at some point this interest shifted towards a more realistic approach to art when I read the The Lord of the Rings and also watched the movies. The world of Tolkien and the concept art created by John Howe and Allan Lee absolutely fascinated me. Ever since then, the fantasy genre had a huge influence on me.
MU: How long do you typically spend on a piece?
CK: That really depends on the individual illustration and how clear of a vision I have for it or how complex it is. Some artworks I finish within a week. Some need 3-4 weeks or even more until completion. Especially when there is a lot of prep work like 3D models or reference shootings involved. I usually work on several pieces at once though, so I‘m never working straight on just one piece. Portraits or smaller illustrations of course take less time and I can finish those within a few hours!
MU: You‘ve done the artwork on many Magic cards. Which of your cards have been your favorites and what is it about them that makes them stand out?
CK: My favorite piece is still my very first Magic card that I have ever painted: Bill the Pony.
As a huge LotR fan it was an honor for me to paint Sam‘s companion animal. Even though the artwork is almost five years old now, you can still see the love that went into it. I remember needing forever to finish it because my skill wasn‘t quite there yet and I was very nervous during the process and worried they wouldn‘t like it. In the end in turned out to be one of the staffs favorite.
My second favorite card is Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm. It might not be the most interesting card in terms of composition but it was assigned to me by Kieran Yanner, who was and still is one of my favorite artists and inspirations. Working with him as an [art director] was very special to me!
MU: Your artworks and illustration tend to use a lot of light and shadow contrasts. What challenges does this bring to your work?
CK: The biggest challenge is to balance these aspects so it works very small on a tiny sized card. I push the contrasts more for a Magic card than I would do for personal work simply because the read is so important! The priority is always the read on card size and not the full sized illustration.
The other challenge is to find and make matching references to portray light in a way that is convincing and looks "right" and pleasing to the eye even though it‘s technically not.
MU: Have you ever tried a more "out of the box" approach to a card when you try a new or style?
CK: I usually try not to experiment with client work and especially Magic cards because it does a disservice to the product in my opinion. In the end a Magic card is a commercial art job that has to operate under a certain set of rules to fit into the mechanics and aesthetics of the game.
I also learned over the years that I burn out quickly when I put too much of myself into client work. The risk of having to change large parts of it is always there and that‘s quite disappointing for the artist ego that always wants to feel fulfilled with a piece. The separation between client work and personal work has become very important to me because conflating the two is usually a receipt for disaster.
MU: Last year you did the art for the Bloomburrow character the Infamous Cruelclaw. How did you put together such a unique piece. What were you favorite details on it?
CK: Cruelclaw definitely was a very special illustration to me and he turned out to be one of my popular cards. My process for him was the same as it usually is. When I got it and read the brief I already had a few vague ideas in mind. It's never really something concrete and more like a feeling and vibe that I have in my head for the illustration. In this case I also researched fencing techniques since this was an important key element to his character and I needed to know what poses would potentially work for him.
I then sat down with my sketchbook and pencils and tried to find a composition of lines that convey this feeling that I had in my head. Cruelclaw is a very charismatic character with a lot of energy so I tried to convey this energy early on already. This process usually takes me a full day until I arrive at something that I like. Those sketches are very rough and very tiny on actual card size. This way I get a grasp on how the composition will look on the card late and if it's readable. After this I took photos of the sketches and pulled them into photoshop where I blew them up to a bigger size. I chose four compositions that I liked and worked them up through several stages of drawing iteration until they looked like a proper sketch with all the key elements in place which I then sent to my art director.
In the case of Cruelclaw it was very important for me to nail his mischievous smile at this stage! After this I looked for references of weasels and did a few quick studies on them to get a better understanding on the anatomy, especially the face. Faces are always the most important thing to nail since this is what the viewer will connect with the most. After receiving feedback from my art director it was just a matter of painting light and shadow in a way that is appealing and makes the illustration pleasant to look at. I focused mostly on his face expression and the dynamic of the piece. It's very easy to lose dynamic when rendering this out realistically, so I always have my sketch open in a window to check back if it's still there.
MU: Do you have a favorite art medium? If so, does it make fantasy art harder or easier to create?
CK: My background always has been traditional. All of my comics and mangas in my late teenage years were drawn with pencil, inks and then colored with alcohol markers or water colors. My favorite past time is to sit down with my sketchbook and just sketch with pencil. Feeling the lines out on paper has something incredibly satisfying a digital workflow just can‘t match.
For client work I‘m always going to prefer digital work though since it‘s a lot more economical and easier to change in case there are revisions. I don‘t think there is an art medium that is easier than others. All come with their own challenges, advantages and disadvantages. I personally love oil a lot and I‘m currently learning to oil paint, but as someone who isn‘t really patient, the drying times are incredibly annoying for me and always pull me out of the flow. My patience in that regard is definitely something I have to work on.
MU: Being from Germany, do you sometimes put a bit of the culture or landscapes into your artworks?
CK: Landscapes for sure! I just came back from a trip to the alps and took a lot of reference photos of mountains, glaciers and vegetation while hiking that I hope to use for future Magic cards! Germany has really beautiful landscapes, especially in the south.
Culture wise I didn‘t really have the opportunity yet to put something "typical German" into an illustration but also not sure if I ever want to do that. I don‘t consider German culture to be very interesting but that's probably due to the fact that I'm constantly surrounded by it.
MU: What kind of things are more tricky for you to create (landscapes, people, creatures etc.)?
CK: Anything hard surface is an absolute nightmare for me. That usually includes Sci-Fi, Vehicles and certain modern architecture styles. It‘s simply no fun. I don‘t like painting "dead" things.
MU: Finally, aside from continuing to play and collect Magic: The Gathering cards, how else can fans of your artwork support what you do? Do you have any future projects coming out soon that you are excited about?
CK: There are two ways of supporting me.
If you want to support me financially with the work I‘m doing for Magic, and also want to receive a unique card/drawing in return, I‘m offering Artist Proofs and prints of all regular cards on my website! (Exceptions are Universes Beyond cards.)
If you want to support my morale as an artist I’m always happy to receive messages from fans that send me photos of my cards during play or simply write a few sentences to tell me how much they appreciate my work or what inspires them about it. It always puts a smile on my face and makes my day a little bit better!
I have a couple exciting projects that I‘m currently working on and that will be released in the future, but unfortunately I can‘t share anything about that yet due to strict NDA‘s.
However, if you love traditional work, I‘m working on painting my Magic cards in oils in the future and I‘m very excited to share my journey with oils as a medium soon!
Thank you, Christina, for participating in this interview.
