Here is one of the first cards I did for Jeremy Cranford when he took over art direction on the WoW TCG. Too this day it is one of the most popular card illustrations I have done.
Card Title: Dwarf Warrior # W2_055 Card Type: Ally - Alliance Action: Show a grim dwarf warrior raising a deadly battleaxe, as if he were about to strike Setting: Warsong Gulch Notes: Dwarf warrior must follow reference, can be any pose artist desires Flavor: a seasoned warrior, favoring strategy to blinding rushing into a fray
Here is my initial thumbnail
and my first sketch
Art Direction
"Blizzard feels that the armor for W2_055 isn't really reading as Warcraft… this almost looks like a robot... Maybe it's a problem with the chestpiece. Also the shoulderpad (the way it points) makes it look like a robot arm."
Jeremy and I decided it would be better to put him in a different set of armor altogether.
Sketch 2
This got approved with the caveat of removing the symbol from his shoulder
Final Art
to which Jeremy said
"I LOVED your last Dwarf painting. Really good stuff."
