“The Call of the Dead,” Art Director Experience Reveal with Bima and FABTCGCARDS
“A necromancer powering up a dormant ziggurat by siphoning the power from the endless sea of corpses around him.” FAB artist Bimawithpencil took this user-submitted concept design and brought it to life! Behold, in the Flesh and Blood, our necromancer in all his unholy glory. How did we end up here? Well it was quite the process. Take a look below for an artistic play by play of this art commission.
The Call of the Dead by Bimawithpencil. Playmats and prints available in March of 2022 through FABTCGCARDS.com
Phase 1: Collect Data
Our first survey went out in December of 2021. We asked people to pick a character, an environment and submit their concept designs in a few sentences. We were looking for a majority consensus, and we wanted to move forward with what the community wanted. We had no preconceived notions or desires about where we thought the project should go. This was totally up to the users. After the first Google Survey, we drew the following conclusions.
People wanted an illustration with a figure, not just a landscape
Angel, Demon, Robot, Necromancer were the top figures
The most desired settings were Battlefield, Ruins, Steampunk City, Winter Landscape
The open submissions were full of incredible ideas. We looked for ones that aligned with the majority of votes.
Google Survey 1 Results
Phase 2: Refine Results
We needed another round of voting to select a winning figure and environment. We sent out another round of Google Surveys and invited users to help us narrow down the results. Another 100 people participated and made us feel confident that we were cultivating a valuable art experience. To calculate results, 1st choice were given four points, 2nd choice were given 3 points, 3rd choice were given 2 points and 4th choice were given 1 point. The results were:
Necromancer wins with 273 points
Ruins wins with 281 points
The two highest scoring concept designs both involved a temple/ziggurat . One specifically mentioned a necromancer, so we chose this because it was the highest chosen concept design that also matched the character and environment settings. Perfect! We also checked in with Bima to discuss the results of survey 2. Check out the video below to see what Bima thought of the survey results.
Google Survey 2 Results
Phase 3: Sketch Proposal
We sent Bima necromancer and temple concept images of what we were thinking. We found a collection of images that we felt represented the mood, style and emotion of what we wanted the art to convey. We wanted Bima to find inspiration in these images, and use his own creative process to interpret what he thought the illustration should be. What Bima came up with blew all of our expectations away. Bima took our concept images and proposed three sketches. We sent out another Google Survey and let people vote on which they preferred. With a close tie in votes between sketch A and C, we asked Bima to combine them and give us the perspective of C but the amount of corpses in A. We waited patiently while Bima went to work on the final masterpiece. At this point, all there was to do was wait with anticipation.
3 Necromancer sketches by Bimawithpencil
Phase 4: Illustration Draft
After several weeks Bima sent us a color draft of the Necromancer. We couldn’t believe how vibrant the color palette was, or how dynamic and dramatic the draft was. We were feeling it. The coloring of the light on the temple, the framing of the necro by the L-shaped arm of the dead and the menacing nature of the art gripped us immediately. The art has incredible movement, driven by the swirl of the green light, your eye is perfectly lead around the image to notice all the details. We decide on sketch A and awaited the final color illustration.
Color drafts by Bimawithpencil
Phase 5: Final Illustration
The final image arrived with much anticipation. Seeing the art for the first time, was a rush. This final draft was above and beyond our imaginations. It exceeding all of our expectations and we are so proud to reveal this artist commission to the Flesh and Blood community in it’s full glory. This commission was imagined by the FAB community, designed by a FAB artist and will soon be available on limited edition playmats, prints and artist certificates through FABTCGCARDS.com . We want to thank the people who took this journey with us and shared their votes, feedback and excitement! This art is for you! We had many people fill out all surveys, and that really means a lot to us at FABTCGCARDS. Thank you.
The Call of the Dead by Bimawithpencil
This image has it all! Swirling green soul siphoning, hordes of grotesque corpses, a ruthless necromancer and a sunlight ziggurat that even Bob Ross would stop to admire. The poses of all the figures are exquisitely suggestive and artfully placed. There are tiny details to admire like the ring on the necromancer’s finger, the leather-bound tomb at his hip and the rotting sinew of muscle on the skeleton warrior. Dig in!
Phase 6: Rewards (Coming March, 2022)
Limited edition playmats, art prints and certificates of authenticity will be available for purchase in March of 2022. Once we have the items from the printer, we will list them on FABTCGCARDS.COM for purchase. Our limited edition print run includes:
100 stitched playmats (with fab zones and artist’s digital signature)
50 art prints with artist’s digital signature ( 12 x 18 inches)
50 Certificates of Authenticity (included with art print purchase)
Grab em’ before they run out!
Available for purchase on FABTCGCARDS.COM
About the Author
Evan McGrew is an active member of the FABTCGDC group and 1/2 of the creative force behind FAB TCG CARDS’ playmats. He enjoys helping grow the local community one player at a time. When he is not putting counters on his Dawnblade, Evan teaches 5th grade in Fairfax, VA.