KATE IRWIN
Advice from D&D’S principal art director on what she looks for in aspiring artists
What do you look for in new artists?
The art of Dungeons & Dragons has deep roots in traditional painting. Although we use a variety of illustration styles, including both digital and traditional media, our house style might be described as cinematic realism or fantasy realism. We don’t often have projects where we use stylised illustrations like anime or caricatures. Occasionally we will have a project where we need something different, like our Dungeon Mayhem game or Alt Covers we make for game stores, but most of our art falls into fantasy realism.
A perhaps unexpected thing I also look for is consistency. Not in subject matter, but in quality. When we were able to do in-person portfolio reviews, I would ask myself, if I got the ‘worst’ piece in this
portfolio, would I still be happy? Art directors are risk-averse. We are on a schedule with a budget and pretty much have one chance to get it right. I want to know that the artist I hire can evaluate their own work and will be able to deliver highquality art consistently.
Once I’ve worked with someone their professionalism pushes them up or down the ladder. Did they meet their deadlines? Did they communicate well? Were they responsive to feedback? It’s one thing to get your foot in the door and another to become a member of my go-to group of artists and someone I would recommend to other art directors.
What three things should a portfolio include to impress you?
Show me you’ve done your homework by customising your portfolio for my brand. If you have various styles or interests, a section at the end that shows that is fine, but the main presentation should show why we are a match.
Lean into your strengths. If you are great at characters, show me that. You don’t have to be a jack-of-all-trades to have a career. I have categories for characters, monsters, action scenes, environments, items and so on. Some artists can do it all but you don’t have to.
Don’t work dark and check your colours in CMYK. We are printing on paper. There isn’t a screen to illuminate the art. Book printers may also run black heavier than other colours to make sure the words print well. If you use a lot of black and don’t have contrast in your images, they might end up muddy and all the beautiful details you spent time on become invisible.
How can an artist show their personality in a portfolio?
Paint things you enjoy! If you make a portfolio of work that you think will appeal to an art director or brand, you’ll be stuck doing that. I met Wylie Beckert at a convention where she showed me her portfolio. I loved it and knew I wanted to work with her but her style was so unique, I didn’t know how that would happen. A few years later the stars aligned and she painted the Alt Cover for Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.
Are there specific things you look for at Wizards of the Coast? A knowledge of D&D lore, for example?
If an artist has a passion for D&D, it is a plus but it isn’t necessary. I want to see story in each piece. In fantasy books anything we can show instead of tell helps build that world. It’s not just a pretty picture. For example, looking at a character, I want to know who they are and why they are there. An expression, interaction, stance, costuming… that shows how the artist layers story into an image. How can an artist get noticed?
I look in a variety of places like Instagram, Concept Art World, Artstation, and Deviantart. I check out competing products, so working for a smaller publisher or niche game can sometimes catch my eye. Of course, Magic and D&D have overlap and the art directors share up-and-coming artists with each other. We use to go to conventions and have inperson portfolio reviews and I hope that we can do that again soon. 2D, traditional or 3D art? Or does it no longer matter?
It doesn’t matter to me whether an artist works traditionally or digitally. Even the traditional artists scan or photograph their work for final submission and often do digital touch-ups so they have the same flexibility with edits. For complex pieces some artists will make 3D models to inform their paintings. Artist process is interesting but I care most about the final result.
I want to see how the artist layers story into an image