Produced by Aaron Lee

Interview by Michael Paul Skipper

Welcome to PucaTrade's Artist Spotlight series. We are very proud to have the opportunity to speak with some of the fantastic talents that make the visuals for Magic: the Gathering. We hope this gives these creative individuals a chance to let their voices be heard and help more players appreciate their works. Today, we welcome Steve Argyle.

Your work is featured on MTG format all-stars: Deathrite Shaman, Glistener Elf, Liliana of the Veil, Monastery Swiftspear. Does Wizards of the Coast give you an idea of the power level of the cards that you illustrate when the work is commissioned?

I can tell the importance of the card depending on the size, spikeyness, and personal hygiene of the demon they send to deliver the description scroll. Bigger, smellier demons are used to courier and protect instructions for more potent cards. Poetically enough, Griselbrand himself delivered the description for Liliana of the Veil. A home restoration company was required to get rid of his unforgettable stench, but the assignment was well worth it.



Liliana of the Veil - Innistrad

You've told the story of being introduced to the 'Legend of the Five Rings' CCG through your brother and later working on that product through your relationship with fellow artist Matt Armstrong. Were you first introduced to Magic as a gamer and do you have any favorite cards or decks?

I was first introduced to Magic held in an underground Rakdos draft-to-the-death arena. Those guys are serious about their game nights.

Though my first, but not really true, introduction to Magic was when I was in high-school. Some friends of mine and I grabbed a bunch of packs, and clumsily played it completely wrong. Uno-style, where we all had one giant communal pile to draw from, and the only lands were the ones that came in the boosters. Pretty much unbearable games, with mostly discarding happening until somebody could afford a creature.

If I were to pick a favorite deck theme, it’s probably recursion. I’m so sad to see my little friends go to the graveyard. I revel in the power over death itself, to bring back any and all of my twisted summons.

The authenticity of your interest in sci-fi, fantasy, and gaming shines through in your work and it’s wonderful to have someone so passionate about these interests create card art. When Jeremy Jarvis from Wizards assigned you your first piece, Ponder, in 2007, did you think that you would still be marking artwork for the game almost a decade later? What does it mean to you to have developed a career in a world that you love?

I certainly hoped so. My time in Magic, and in fantasy and science fiction art, has been incredible, and it keeps getting better. I’m pretty much the luckiest guy out there. My work uniform is pajama pants and Mountain Dew stained t-shirts, and my job description is “make awesome.” Seriously not a better gig out there.



Even in high school, Mr. Argyle was well on his way toward a career in "make awesome."

You've cited Tim Burton's Batman and comic artists Alan Davis & Jim Lee as formative inspirations to help push you toward an artistic life. Now that you've established yourself as a professional, do you still find inspiration in those formative sources, and what keeps you driven and inspired as you evolve your craft?

You know, I was worried that if I became part of the creation of them, then at some point these worlds and characters I loved so much would lose their wonder for me. So far at least, it’s quite the contrary. Some of what keeps it all real for me, are the frequent caffeine and sugar induced hallucinations. But beyond that, the decisions entrusted to me become canon. What I do propagates throughout the stories, worlds and mythos I contribute to. They echo and inspire and grow and have little babies that I can watch grow up, like a proud grandpappy.

These creations are more real and important to me than ever before. They were such a big part of my life as a kid, and they inspired my path. It’s incredible that now I’m a part of their lives, inspiring their paths. Pretty awe striking.

Many of your works feature predominantly rich hues of light and bloom, pinks and purples. These cinematic effects “show volume, create mood, and focus the scene.” How do you relate to the brightness and the mood of your backgrounds?

There is a lot to juggle when creating a piece of art. Some famous artist – but apparently not famous enough for me to remember their name – said that “no part of art is difficult. Drawing a line, painting a stroke, this is easy. What makes art difficult is how many parts to consider and balance all at once.”

With all the technical stuff to worry about, proportion, anatomy, perspective, color scheme, composition, et cetera, it’s easy to forget the point of it all. To (hopefully) evoke an emotional response. To create a moment. To show more than simply “here’s what this thing looks like.” I find color and light make a big impact on the feeling a piece conveys. I try to think about how to affect the mood I’m going for right from the start.

When reading your interviews and blog posts, your penchant for Mountain Dew appears boundless. What does it mean to be "overclocked" on Mountain Dew, and if Pepsi asked you to design the graphics on the can, what do you think you would come up with?

Oh, by Thor’s mystical iron toothbrush, I would totally love to make a Mountain Dew marketing campaign. And I know exactly what it would be. Mountain Dew Cybervixens, who compete in ridiculously fast jetbike races through incredible sci-fi vistas. Also they’re just thoroughly awesome. Jetbike and rider themed for every flavor. Contact me anytime, Pepsi. (Yes, I will work for experimental, hyper-addictive super Slurm.)

Do you think we’ll ever see any Steve Argyle basic lands?

It might be too hard for me to not put things in those lands. Without Wizard’s properly reigning me in, my basic lands would probably end up looking like Planechase Vegas mardi-gras at peak hedonism.

…And they probably realize that, and it’s why they’ve never asked me to do basic lands.

Monastery Swiftspear is not only one of the best Magic cards from recent years, it's also one of the most beautiful. The timelapse video you released of its creation shows your process from posing to completion, with the character’s body being rendered in 3D along the way. How do you choose to incorporate 3D in your work and what do you feel it adds that you cannot get with 2D methods alone?

For me, 3D is about laziness. Ahem, I mean efficiency. I use 3D to work out perspective, complex composition or lighting scenarios, or if there’s a lot of repetition in a piece. Or in some cases, just because some days I feel like sculpting on the computer instead of painting. For Monastery Swiftspear, it was that last one.

3D makes it into about a third of my artwork, I’d say. Sometimes it’s a tremendous help, other times it’s just a time sink and I end up tossing it out because it just doesn’t fit. But that’s art. Make decisions, build something, evaluate, refine. Art is a lot more like science than you might think. (I’ve always envied how scientists get to use robots and lasers and explosions. I want to figure out how to better incorporate those things into my art…)



One of the best one-drops in Magic history, Monastery Swiftspear.

Loose Ends and Stalling, your tumblr, includes visits to art museums around the world. The tools available to artists have changed throughout the centuries and digital technology has allowed for art to be a much more iterative process. 2016 products like Oculus and Vive allow artists to create directly within 3D virtual space. What is your relationship with the technology of being an artist and how do you think Magic art will evolve as time goes on?

What an interesting question! Technology and communication have grown so much since I was a kid. In my youth, the standard answer for whatever hope or ambition you might have was “Quit dreaming. Nobody actually makes a living as an artist/musician/actor/dinosaur-wrestler/space-cowboy. Go to school for a real job and become a bitter disheartened wrinkling husk of oily meat like the rest of us…”

And that was probably true at the time. But now, there’s far more demand for these dream jobs than there are people able to fill them. As technology and communication continue to grow, so will the need for creative folk to wield it, and make awesomeness. Entertainment first inspires, then drives these innovations. Where would computers be now if video games never happened?

So my prediction is that VR will create a new, more immersive, and more demanding medium for our adventures and shared experiences. More creators will be to needed than ever before, and their level of skill will need to be higher. The closer you get to realism, the more every tiny detail matters. More careful observation and creation will need to go into composing a virtual world, and that will drive artists and technologists to innovate.

I’m looking forward to it. When I’m hundreds of years old, just a brain in a jar safely floating in my sky yacht above the zombie apocalypse, I’m going to want some really good video games to pass the eons.

While your digital art skills are unquestionable, some of your most stunning card alterations are produced in oil paint and “unobtainium”. Do you have any aspirations to someday produce Magic art in oil paint?

They tell me that oil painting is how you get yourself fat stacks of Benjamins, knee-deep in top-shelf trim, and roll as alpha-wolf of a crew of heavys. I have no idea what any of that means. But it was all said with a manic gleam in the eyes and a rise in the trousers, so I’m guessing it’s good? Thusly, I have been working on oil painting.

I’ve just finished my first published piece in oil. Sorry, not MtG, but it won’t be long before you’ll see that happen, too. Then I get the well-trimmed Benjamin wolves or whatever.

As a leading alterist in the Magic community, Liliana of the Veil has been transformed into a multitude of popular characters from the fantasy zeitgeist. What does it mean to you to be able to create such personal momentos for fans?

It’s pretty great. It fills my otherwise black and frosty heart with glee to see someone light up as they watch their card transform.

I’ll admit, the old way used to be a little bit funner though. Before people knew what to expect, the process was a bit more roller-coastery for the patron. They’d hand me their expensive foil card, ask if I did alters, I’d extract what seemed like a totally unreasonable fee from them, and they’d watch. First in immediate, buyer’s-remorseful horror, as blobs of colorful paint smeared their way across the card in indiscernible chaos then sullenly, as they stared at what was once a mint condition card, the paint fumes rising from the surface as a funeral pyre. At around ten minutes, a quizzical cocked head and a raised eyebrow. It’s starting to make sense, but… Then the last of the lines go down, and the patron’s eyes explode with sudden understanding and elation, like the Highlander’s quickening. There have been screams. There have been drop-to-the-knees. There have even been tears. Of joy, I sure hope…

It’s also introduced me to a lot of things. As an aging hermit, I don’t always keep up with the latest and greatest in our expansive geekiverse. When someone asks for an alter of something I’ve never heard of, I’m welcomed into an entire new world to explore. And sometimes there are interesting side effects from worlds I do know. Ask me sometime about the Legend of Korra pseudo-spoiler alter.



A collection of Steve Argyle alterations.

If observations, evaluations, and decisions are the most important part of being an artist, how do you view your work through that lens, and what goals do you have for the future?

My goals for the future are the aforementioned sky yacht, but I’d also like to eventually have a robot body that is significantly more coordinated, and less squishy than this one. Omnipotence would be nice, too. But I’ve never been great with responsibly wielding even tiny amounts of power, so maybe it is best I don’t get that.

One of the things that I’ve learned is that artists are seen as specialists. When someone needs art, they don’t ask “Who’s a versatile and capable artist that I can trust with a multitude of responsibilities and build a long relationship with?” They ask “who’s the person who does the one very specific thing I need?” for each and every job. So as an artist, you kind of get typecast.

You asked about basic lands. One of the reasons I don’t get assigned to do them, is simply because I haven’t done them. If I filled my portfolio with dynamic landscapes, you’d start to see me doing nothing but lands.

Currently, I tend to get hired for strong, capable female lead characters. Not necessarily because it’s what I’m best at, or the only thing I do, but because it’s a snowball effect. My early hits were strong women like Chandra Nalaar. They printed a 60’ banner of her at Gen Con so I got hired by other companies based on that, for the same sort of illustration of their heroines. And it goes on and on like that.

There’s also no asterisk on internet searches of your work. Google Images doesn’t let people know “this image was an emergency piece. Steve was called at midnight with an illustration that was going to press at 4am. This is [not] representative of his typical work.”

These days, I’m much more careful about the jobs I take, and the way I represent the brands that hire me. I only take jobs that fit what I want to do, and only if there’s enough time and budget to do things right.

Mr. Argyle, we count ourselves among your loyal minions. Thank you so much for your time and for the dragons, monsters, and other cool stuff.

Thank you for indulging my rambling story-times!

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