The creative process behind each piece of Magic art is unique to the image and the artist.

From the art description to the final product, the Art in Focus series reviews every step involved in crafting the art of Magic the Gathering in the artist’s own words.

This week we shine the spotlight on the Sundering Titan Masterpiece by Lius Lasahido from Aether Revolt.

Take it away Lius.

The assignment I received for Sundering Titan asked me to draw a 70 feet tall humanoid machine designed by the consulate of Kaladesh, with a very hard armour, but without any articulate joints.

They also requested a few scale humans, appearing to be in progress of making the machine, that were really small compared to it. The most important element I got in that description was to make a precise comparison between the humanoid machine and the real human.

Actually the art director did give me a reference from the movie Pacific Rim, and I browsed some images myself, to find something I felt was close enough to what I imagined.

The trickiest part was to show how those humans were building the huge humanoid machine, because those humans are really small, as well as incorporating how the machine works. Therefore, I included some aether or energy-like aura around the creature to make it look like it was alive and operational.

I focused especially on making this Sundering Titan look huge, powerful, mysterious, and have the Kaladesh feel.

First I had to find the right angle to emphasize the machine's size and power, while also including the comparison with the humans.

Then I thought of the composition; where to put those humans, so it would look good on the card of course, since the card frame is in landscape, but I had to draw this image in portrait.

I eventually decided to place the focus on the centre and 3/4 upper part of the image (to fit the card frame). I chose to use lighting from above to make it more mysterious.

Because it is Kaladesh, I used many shades of gold (also since it is a Masterpiece card). After the angle, composition, lighting, and colour are determined, I moved to rendering process. The tough part is to make the Sundering Titan look like it is made of heavy and strong metal.

I am very pleased with the final result, but I think I am most proud of the details and mysterious-majestic feel of the Sundering Titan.

It was so great to illustrate in the world of Kaladesh, since curvy ornaments and shining gold metal are two things I love to draw (and am good at) in most of my artworks. It surely gave me advantage drawing for Kaladesh.

The original artwork for the Sundering Titan Masterpiece was created digitally.

You can check out Lius's portfolio of work at his ArtStation and you can check out his Patreon.

Thank you Lius for sharing this story with us.

Check back next Thursday for more Art in Focus.