Create card art that’s romantic

Dong-Wook Shin shows how he utilises light to develop an emotional moment between the king of the jungle and an unsuspecting princess…

Dong-Wook Shin uses light to create drama.

This image was designed for the card game Legend of the Cryptids. I’d recently read the story of Henry VIII and an idea came to me from that. What about painting a tyrannical Lion King who, for emotional contrast, is pictured next to a young girl? The story developed further…

Nobles from neighbouring kingdoms have gathered to see the Lion King, at his request, who will announce his new bride at a banquet. The animal guests are surprised when he reveals that he plans to marry a princess from the human kingdom – and the princess had no idea of his intentions, either. The animal guests respond with surprise, while the princess isn’t particularly keen on the idea.

When I pass my initial sketch on to show the art director, he says that while the Cryptids’ current cards are generally dark, he suggests aiming to create a card with a bright feel. This was kind of an adventure for me.

Overall, I tried to create a fairy tale atmosphere, as well as a light touch to help generate a realistic portrayal. The work was very highly saturated, to give a refreshing feel, with the warm colours.

I was told that sales of the image were quite good, as was the reaction from the card users. It was encouraging to receive such positive feedback.