art of francis tsai

new Magic: The Gathering artwork

francis tsai — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:00:53 +0000

Here are two recent artist proof cards I received from Wizards of the Coast. I haven’t done a whole lot of these, so I think I’m still kind of feeling my way around how the artwork needs to work with the game rules. Anyway they are fun to do, hopefully there will be more down the road. The original artwork can be seen in the COLOR WORKS section of the portfolio.

art book now available; cover art for Mercy Thompson: Homecoming #2 - revised

francis tsai — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 05:42:34 +0000

My “how-to” book is now available and in stock at the Bud Plant site. Click on the cover thumbnail to go to their page.

I wanted to revise the Mercy Thompson #2 cover illustration a bit. Something in the face in the previous version was bothering me a bit. Anyway, the original version is still in the gallery in case you want to compare.

Also, Dabel Brothers Publishing has issued a press release for this miniseries, along with a preview of the first eleven pages. You can check it out here.

Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #46

francis tsai — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:23:02 +0000

last page of Marvel Comics Presents “Vanguard”

francis tsai — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 21:25:23 +0000

This is the last page of the Vanguard story in Marvel Comics Presents issue #12, which is out on the store shelves now.

a mask

francis tsai — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 02:08:31 +0000

Procrastination - I am a bit swamped at the moment, which is usually when I start creating little sketches like this. But now it’s out of my system and maybe I can get back on track. Actually I think taking a few minutes out to do stuff like this once in a while is a good way to clear your mind out a bit, especially if you are on a fairly long term project as I am right now. Or I may just be trying to justify it.

man-thing with retro cover

francis tsai — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 05:17:22 +0000

I know I posted this painting already, but I wanted to show the work done on it by an artist named Matt Kaufenberg, who added the type and logos as shown below. I love this take on it, it really makes the image feel like it was taken from an old 70s/80s era Marvel Comic. More of his work can be found at his deviantART site and his blog.

Mercy Thompson: Homecoming

francis tsai — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:16:22 +0000

Hi -

This is the November Previews ad for Mercy Thompson: Homecoming, a 4 issue miniseries from Dabel Brothers Publishing, one of the projects I am working on at the moment. The original illustration of the main character Mercy Thompson can be found in the gallery in the comics section.

Man-Thing

francis tsai — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 05:37:01 +0000

4th edition Dungeon Master’s Screen

francis tsai — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 05:16:16 +0000

Hi! Earlier this year I worked on this giant piece for Wizards of the Coast. It is the artwork for the new 4th edition Dungeon Master’s Screen. This piece is huge, over 40 inches in width (13200×2550 pixels). It was actually a lot of fun to work on, trying to figure out how to make that many characters inhabit the same space in a way that is not TOO contrived (you can be the judge of whether or not I succeeded in that). There were some interesting problems to deal with, such as where the folds hit and which panel would be used as the “cover” when placed on the store shelves. Also, towards the end of the process I had to incorporate a few extra inches on either end to accommodate some last minute dimension changes. This provided an opportunity to add a couple of creatures to each end. I talk a little more about the making of this piece in the forthcoming “100 Ways to Create Fantasy Figures” book.

cover art for MARVEL ADVENTURES IRON MAN: ARMORED AVENGER #1 trade paperback

francis tsai — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:58:01 +0000