"The Realm is big place, Sometimes its geography is orderly. Sometimes it makes absolutely no sense. Of course, in Sorcery, both can be correct."
Erik’s Curiosa just reminded us all that the Realm is a very big place. Sometimes it’s orderly, sometimes it’s chaotic and disorienting. It all depends on your point of view and what you want it to be. This is no less true for the card we can exclusivly reveal to you today! With a big thank you to Erik’s Curiosa and especially to artist Brian Smith, we reveal to you “Icicle Dome“!
A new Trap site from the eagerly awaited set Frost Mage vs. Lavamancer which releases November 13th.
Brian Smith
We’ve had the opportunity to talk to one of Sorcery’s most prolific and influential artists, Brian Smith, about the painting he has created for Icicle Dome. Even Brian, who is known for the ominous, otherworldly landscapes he has painted for Sorcery, was struck by how strange and disorienting the Realm can be! Let’s hear from Brian how the art for Icicle Dome came to be.
Spires of Ice
Every Sorcery illustration starts with a brief from Erik’s Curiosa. “The working title for this one was ‘Spires of Ice’,” Brian explains. “Erik wanted a landscape of icicle-looking spires, with faint creatures within the ice, or being speared by it.”
The original painting in its habitat
Brian has painted his share of ice and cold over the years, and it is a subject he clearly loves. “I enjoy painting icy, glassy, transparent kinds of surfaces and textures, so I knew I would be able to use those techniques with this one,” he says. What was new this time was the scale: “The forms were meant to be big, like mountains.” Can you spot the small figure viewing the spires from an icy, jagged plateau?
True to his usual approach, Brian went straight to the panel without a detailed plan. “I could be wrong, but I believe I dove right into this one. My only plan was to create a landscape similar to City of Souls, using the same wide-angle perspective.”
The first mark went “probably right in the middle of the panel.” From there, Brian sketched in the land beneath the spires to give the landscape a foundation. With very little fine detail, the painting took two to three weeks.
A World Turned Upside Down
“The painting went according to plan, more or less,” he recalls. “Until I saw it as a card, that is!”
As the astute reader may already have seen, strange things have happend in the Realm. The original art has been turned upside down for final printing of “Icicle Dome“. Which makes for a very surreal and disorienting perspective!
Depending on how you perceive the Realm, your eyes are either drawn down or up toward the sky.
“Unusual, indeed! That was very much unintentional,” he admits. “In fact, the painting is upside down.” The ground you see at the top of the card is the land Brian painted first, beneath his mountain-sized spires. Turn the card around and the original scene appears.
Seeing it the other way up took some getting used to. “It’s disorienting for me to see it in this form, but now I view it as maybe an enormous cave or tunnel, and you can see the sky through the opening at the other end. It also looks like the dome has a giant mouth, with sharp teeth.”
So how does Brian feel about seeing his work flipped on its head?
“It hurt my brain to see this painting turned upside down for the card, but I appreciate EC’s daring, and willingness to do something like that. It’s a bold move, and in this case it really works. It’s actually a more impactful image in dome form. It’s more powerful and mysterious, so I really enjoy it. And now I have two paintings in one!”
Whichever way you hold it, one thing hasn’t changed. “The dome is a trap,” Brian says. “There are creatures embedded in the ice, upside down, near the top. It’s definitely a deadly trap.”
A mystery remains...
How ‘Spires of Ice’ became Icicle Dome remains a mystery, even to the artist. “One day I’ll have to ask Erik how the Dome came to be, and whose idea it was to flip the image. I’m intrigued by this!”
The Realm is indeed a mysterious place and we look forward to continue our awesome and surprising journey across the realm with Frost Mage vs. Lavamancer! Thanks again to Brian and Erik’s Curiosa in making this reveal happen. If you want to see more of Brian’s work, follow him on his Instagram page.
Now you know the story behind the art, let’s hear from our friends, Geoffrey and Felix, a.k.a. The Helpful Hobs, all there is to know about how Icicle Dome actually plays!
