Caraid

Caraid

@caraid.bsky.social

AKA Ilse Gort. Professional illustrator & cat lady, 35, she/her. WotC / Hi-Rez / MacMillan / Penguin Random House

29.9K followers735 following1K posts

Caraid
@caraid.bsky.social

"Craftwork Crusher" for the new Magic: the Gathering set, Reality Fracture! Painted in acrylics on Canson Acrylic paper, roughly 11x15" (30x40cm).

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Caraid
@caraid.bsky.social

The card! Actually pretty excited about this as I expect it will see a good amount of play in draft. Also pleased with how well the illustration reads on the card; something you never really know for sure until you see it!

Caraid
@caraid.bsky.social

"Craftwork Crusher" for the new Magic: the Gathering set, Reality Fracture! Painted in acrylics on Canson Acrylic paper, roughly 11x15" (30x40cm).

Caraid
@caraid.bsky.social

Only one sketch for this one! I did try out different angles but just kept returning to this as the one I wanted to paint. Sometimes it turns out your first idea simply is your best.

Caraid
@caraid.bsky.social

I feel a bit bad for how little I have to share these days. With the advance of generative AI and the general state of the world I lost a lot of motivation to engage in social media but also to invest in my art beyond what's practically necessary.

Caraid
@caraid.bsky.social

In some ways it's been good, but I miss the joy of sharing. I miss caring about my work beyond what my clients want. Disconnecting a bit was good and necessary for my mental health, but it's getting to the point where I'm losing sight of the joys of being an artist at all, and that's going too far.

Caraid
@caraid.bsky.social

I have a lot left to do this year, but I'm planning for 2027 to be the year where I focus on reconnecting with my art. I want to reinvest in my skills, focus on making work that makes me feel good and share more, even if it isn't very impressive. I appreciate you all a lot for sticking around ❤️

Caraid
@caraid.bsky.social

They will be sold separately. Although I did design them to look well together, they do also look very nice on their own! If you're interested I would recommend having a look at them in person 😊

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Caraid
@caraid.bsky.social

The card itself. For the card I was asked to add some purple to his coloration to give him a bit more Black mana flavour (which is fair). I made this change digitally, as I felt the original colors were quite good as they are and I did not want to change the actual painting.

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Caraid
@caraid.bsky.social

For the color rough which was also done in acrylics, I started with an orange wash and while I was very happy with my chosen palette, the result was a bit too warm for a Black and Green mana card. To cool it down a little, I used a brown wash for the final painting instead.

Caraid
@caraid.bsky.social

This was one of those pieces that just came together exactly like I wanted it. After I saw the brief I attempted to make multiple sketches like usual, but I just kept coming back to the first vision I had. He is a perfect chunky lad and I love him.

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Caraid
@caraid.bsky.social

Sketches! These came together quite well I felt, the second is still my favourite personally but I was happy to do any of them. Always fun to work with weird hybrids!

Caraid
@caraid.bsky.social

Sketches! I made no color rough for this one as I pretty much knew where I wanted to go with it, so I jumped straight into painting. I had a lot of fun making this guy look like a goofy goober!

Caraid
@caraid.bsky.social

The card! I didn't know the card was going to have Flying, I was given a specific type of bird to work with which I am aware looks flightless, so that was not my choice haha. In some ways though I think it adds to the humour.

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