Cynthia Sheppard
Garrick Webster talks to the dark queen of Magic: The Gathering about art direction and her fantasy illustration career
She’s a titan of the global art scene and her art accomplishments are an inspiration to us all.
Known and revered around the world for the work she does as a senior art director on Magic: The Gathering (MTG), Cynthia Sheppard is a busy woman. At any one time, between 100 and 200 illustrations will be in progress as future card sets for the game are constructed. Cynthia will be world-building with Magic’s writers and commissioning artists to bring their ideas to life. In addition, there are always portfolios to review, ensuring that Magic is benefiting from the best and brightest fantasy art talent out there.
“In short, things are busy,” says Cynthia. “Magic is on track to commission over 3,000 card illustrations next year – a number that’s been growing year-on-year. Just yesterday I had a meeting with the art team where we discussed which art directors are handling which projects for 2023, then went back to my desk to give feedback on art that will be released in 2021.”
Imagine that: 3,000 illustrations in 2020. It’s a breathtaking figure, and an indicator of how popular MTG has become around the world, but Cynthia seems to take it all in her stride. Art directors are everyday people, she insists. However, let’s not forget that beyond MTG, Cynthia is a successful and influential illustrator in her
Magic is on track to commission over 3,000 card illustrations next year
own right. She might be taking a break from freelance projects while she processes those 3,000 images, but since her career kicked off in 2002 she’s worked for a range of top-drawer clients in fantasy publishing and gaming. Tor Books, Pyr Books, Mcgraw-hill Ryerson, Asimov Science Fiction, Fantasy Flight Games, Cryptozoic, together with her current employer Wizards of the Coast… the list goes on.
KEEPING BUSY
Once in a while, Cynthia has the opportunity to paint a Magic card herself, and Ashiok, Dream Render from the 2019 War of the Spark set is a recent example. In addition to that, she always has one or two personal projects on the go.
“They tend to live under the umbrella of practice and exploration, which is important to keep from getting rusty while I’m not painting as
Being around other creative people has been instrumental in my growth
my full-time job,” she says. “My favourite simple indulgence is doing oil portrait studies to test out various techniques, or just for something relaxing to do on the weekend.”
Even those are busy for Cynthia. She sometimes likes to record songs with one of her friends, or build furniture for her house, a doer-upper in Renton, Washington, not far from Seattle. Most of her space at home is treated like an art studio, filled with paintings, while the rest is under construction. When she goes out, it’s often to hang out with other artists.
“Unlike other places I’ve lived, Seattle has a huge and thriving art community,” she explains. “Being around other creative people all the time has been instrumental in my growth. I’ve been part of small, online critique groups over the years, and I strongly recommend finding other artists to bounce ideas off of and trade honest feedback with, but it’s more fun when it’s in person.
Long-term readers of Imaginefx will already know that Cynthia is always willing to share her techniques with others. She used to answer reader