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15

2 months ago

Dropping today in the (Sold Out!) Encyclopedia of Magic Secret Lair drop, you can find my Field of the Dead card! I can’t thank @jacobbcoveyy enough for bringing me in to illustrate the card and for his direction.

In this card we see Gisa and Geralf tending to their undead garden (a graveyard) while a 2-headed zombie (2/2) stalks the night. The zombie holds Gisa’s shovel and haunts about 7 grave stones (“7 or more lands”). Why is everything so smiley?! This is the brother and sister’s outlook on their merry activity—who wouldn’t be thrilled to join their macabre ranks of the dead?

While it’s an honor to work on Magic every day, having a card with my name on it and joining the halls of other Magic artists I look up to is a life goal achievement. Gonna go cry now bye!

#wotcstaff #magicthegathering #secretlair by @colbynichols

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9 months ago

I can’t believe I get to type this—I am announcing my new position at Wizards of the Coast as Art Director of Print Innovation for Magic: the Gathering!!!

I’ve been a Magic player / collector since 1995 and Magic’s art and lore have been a cornerstone of inspiration for me. I can’t wait to be a part of the storytelling that’s happening at Wizards and for the chance to contribute to the game’s legacy. This post art was inspired by some of my favorite card art from Magic’s history.

The new gig means Laura and I are making the move up to Seattle in March. These past few months have been packed with a lot of emotions as we get ready to depart Portland, but I can’t wait for us to start this next chapter together. This city has been an incredible home for me for the past 16 years—supporting me through starting a business and introducing me to life-long friendships.

Part of my title at Jolby was “1/2 Wizard” and I am so stoked to officially be able to call myself one 🙂

#mtg #magicthegathering #wotc #wotcstaff by @colbynichols

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362

2 years ago

Spell 01: Palpo’s Protection

A one-time-use spell which prevents an event that may harm you. This spell doesn’t know if its nullifying a bee sting or an atom bomb—it’s all the same to Palpo. The spell is cast upon your reading of it, specifically after you recognize one of Palpo’s flowers. You will feel a small tingle across your skull as the spell’s protection fades—Know in that moment you were spared.

5.5” x 8.5”
Tombow, Posca pens
On watercolor paper

#illustration by @colbynichols

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2 days ago

Budget EDH brew with the pod! THE GRAND GOATNAPPER doesn’t have a printed version of the card, so I made my own! 🐐😈🧳 Based off the original Alchemy art by Edgar Sánchez Hidalgo 🙇🏻‍♂️

Posca and Tombow pens.
Personal project, NFS.

#wotcstaff #magicthegathering #edh #commander by @colbynichols

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22 days ago

Colby is a designer, illustrator, dungeon master for hire, and Art Director of Print Innovation for Magic: The Gathering at Wizards of the Coast. So, besides my partner Meg, Colby is the closest thing to a Wizard I’ve ever met. lol. Anyway, before joining Wizards, he was a Creative Director and Co-Founder of Jolby, a design and illustration studio he started with his best friend Josh Kenyon. After 12 long years at Jolby, he decided to step away to rediscover his “why” and realized he was spending most of his time writing and playing tabletop games, which convinced him to pursue a role at Wizards. However, long before becoming a professional dork, Colby drew characters from Nintendo Power Magazine like Link from The Legend of Zelda, popped his first pack of Magic cards in 1995, and wanted to be a Sunday morning comic strip artist when he was a kid.

Fast-forward through hundreds of D&D sessions, therapeutic Post-It notes, and video games, and Colby has partnered with Nike, Pixar, Nickelodeon, Google, and many other impressive clients throughout his career. He lives by the “Rule of Cool,” knows how to “Ride the Weird,” and self-published his own light-hearted gothic “Karma Crawl” called Chadwick and the Southern Scourge.

Tune in for a talk about following his passion for storytelling and tabletop games, why he stepped away from a design studio he co-founded, and how playing D&D can help you become a better creative professional. Worst case, you get to hear us be reasonably cool-sounding dorks!

“You’re gonna need good people way more than you’re gonna need good talent.”

Follow @colbynichols taken in Seattle, Washington by @colbynichols

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a month ago

New MagicCon staff tees! Tons of hidden Magic Easter eggs for all the goblins out there. Can you spot them all?

Art Direction:
Jason Gomez @jasonnn19
Corbin Schroeder @corbsegrinder

Illustration:
Me

#wotcstaff #mtg #mcvegas26 #magicthegathering #magiccon by @colbynichols

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2 months ago

Filled with love coming back from MagicCon Vegas! Love from seeing an insane amount of Magic fans come together to play our favorite game, from slinging spells with my best friends @brettpstenson and @c_love, from sharing the stage with Mark Rosewater @mtgmaro (and winning the first public game of Mood Swings 😬) from being a part of the debut of Mood Swings and sharing this new and awesome game with others, and feeling love and gratitude to be at Wizards.

In 1998, I was 15 playing my favorite card game, Magic. In that same year Mark Rosewater began his work on Mood Swings. A game that he would have to fight for 28 years to get made. I am so proud of Mood Swings and cannot wait to play a game with you!

Mood Swings is a light strategy trading card game for two to four people. The game is playable out of the box and takes five to ten minutes to play. 1st edition printing is available online June 1 only at @mtgsecretlair!

#mtg #moodswings #MCVegas #wotcstaff #moodswingstcg by @colbynichols

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2 months ago

I illustrated this Secret Lair ad insert that you can find in play booster boxes of Secrets of Strixhaven! It’s got a big ol @jolbyjosh texture in the background!

#mtg #wotcstaff #strixhaven #secretlair by @colbynichols

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3 months ago

I worked these totally radical cards for Magic: The Gathering® | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

Borderless Signature Kevin Eastman Headliner Cards
I Designed and Art Directed the frame design, research and development, print treatments, and foiling decisions
Artist: Kevin Eastman
Art AD: Aliana Rood
Digital Artist: Kevin Yee
Senior Production Artist & Video: Nickii Caravalho
Digital Renders: Tatyana Dzyura

Sewer Frame Cards
I Art Directed the production of the card frame and foiling decisions
Frame Design: Dalton Pencarinha
Art AD: Corbin Schroeder, Aliana Rood, Sarah Wassell
Senior Production Artist: Nickii Caravalho

Borderless Pixel Cards
I was involved in the production of these cards including font decisions
(I did very little, these cards are just so cool!)
Art & Frame Design: Kirokaze
Art AD: Aliana Rood
Senior Production Artist: Nickii Caravalho

These cards couldn’t have been made without the countless other humans involved including our game designers, digital artists, technical artists, print vendors, producers, commissioning art directors, artists, operations, and an infinite amount of others who make Magic every day.

#wotcstaff #magicthegathering #MTGxTMNT #TMNT #MTG by @colbynichols

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3 months ago

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5 months ago

A grip of artist proofs I’ve sent out! Some commissions and some gifts for the homies. Still pinching myself.

#mtg #magicthegathering #wotcstaff by @colbynichols

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6 months ago