The artist who I’ll be doing my first critical essay over is a digital artist who goes by the pseudonym “Daarken”. He has created many images for various game company, one being Wizards of the Coast, who produces the trading card game Magic:The Gathering. I’ve included two of his pieces, printed as they are normally seen, on the magic cards.
I really love both of these pieces, and they both utilize very similar design elements and principals. One way in which Daarken creates an overall visually appealing piece is by using psychological line to lead your eye effectively in and around the piece. In the first piece, he does this through the lines created by the use of red coloring, it leads you in through the right side, and then around the piece, eventually settling at the focal point of the creatures face. In the second piece, the line created by the butterflies are what guide your eyes through the piece. He also used very organic shapes in both pieces, which contributes to what feels like a free-flow throughout each piece. They both also utilize similar principals that create depth in the pieces. In the 2nd he not only uses the repetition of the butterflies to create movement, but he also varies them proportionally to create an illusion that they are moving towards you. He uses a similar tactic in the first piece, adjusting the proportion of the arms on the creature to make it feel as if he is reaching out toward you. One way in which he creates variety and catches the eye in both pieces is by using a color that greatly stands out. In the first, he uses red to contrast from the rest of the piece which is very dark, and in the second he uses blue which contrasts from the backdrop of the creatures body. He also uses the same tactic in both pieces to create unity, by generally featuring the color in the piece that would border it. The first piece was commissioned for a “black” card, which will always have a black border. In this situation, he used dark blacks/greys/blues in most of the art in order to make it feel unified with the border and card it would be placed in. The second piece was commissioned for a “blue” card, and in this piece he mostly features the color blue in the butterflies as well as the background.
Even though he has created many pieces for many different companies, you can definitely see a link between his works as far as the principal and design elements that he utilizes. All of them create a very interesting, eye catching piece that holds attention well.
First Piece:
Artist: Daarken
Title: Bloodghast
Year Produced: 2009
Medium: Digital
Source: http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=192230
2nd Piece:
Artist: Daarken
Title: Vanishment
Year Produced: 2012
Medium: Digital
Source:http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=240130
