Carly Janine Mazur
Carly talks growing up with a love of Magic since childhood
Tell us a little about your background as an artist.
My dreams shifted from entomologist/ herpetologist when I was about ten; I then knew I wanted to be an artist when I grew up. I went to an art magnet school in high school and started a tattoo apprenticeship when I was 15. I attended Massachusetts College of Art and Design and got my MFA in Illustration. The most credit, however, I give to Rebecca Guay’s Illustration Master Class and its roster of amazing artists that really connected me to and taught me the ins-and-outs of the sci-fi/fantasy illustration world!
Is the genre of fantasy/sci-fi a focused area for your art or do you work in wider fields?
I’m primarily a pop-surrealist illustrator, but I’m a child of sci-fi/ fantasy. I grew up on cartoons, video games, comic books, tabletop and card games. It’s where my roots are and where my family is, and when I am able to lend my artistic vision to such things my inner child screams and jumps around!
What does Magic: The Gathering mean to your art? Has this universe informed your creative choices?
Magic: The Gathering was a surefire catalyst to me wanting to be an illustrator. My older brother would take me along to buy packs and play at local comic shops, and I fell in love with the artwork on the cards when I was still a little too young to play.
Are there any artists who have worked on the Magic: The Gathering game who have inspired you and your work over the years?
Rebecca Guay and Scott Fischer, definitely! Each of them have styles you could pick out at a distance, and to this day their respective paths and everevolving artwork keep inspiring me.
Tell us a bit about your process. Are you traditional or digital? How do you approach a new piece? What tools do you use?
I work traditionally in oil and acrylic, but Photoshop is my friend. Composition is key, and I mess around with the sketch first on the computer, resizing and moving and rotating every element of the drawing before I then print it out and mount it on board. This is primarily for the figure in my pieces, as my more abstract and graphic elements come more organically while I work in paint.
What about the Dominaria expansion excites you as an artist?
Dominaria was where it all began! The world of Magic: The Gathering has expanded so much over the years, but to go back to its roots and for me to be able to lend my artistic vision to the true OGS was a dream come true.
How do you feel about being part of such an extensive universe with such a large and loyal following?
I got into Magic: The Gathering when I was in kindergarten. Having grown up with the game and its universe as I followed my own artistic journey, I wasn’t blind to the fact that my own style drifted away from what people expected of the artwork so ingrained to the franchise.
I resigned myself to never being able to contribute my own work, but one day a friend who is an art director for Wizards of the Coast approached me at a convention and asked if I was interested in doing card art. I probably let out some indignant “uuh, you kidding me!?”, before profusely accepting the offer, and the rest is history. I know my artwork may not tickle the fancy of some hardcore Magic fans, but knowing I’m helping to pave the way to expand the game’s visual catalogue humbles me in ways I cannot describe.
Magic was a surefire catalyst to me wanting to be an illustrator