December 23, 2012

Joy to the Worldspine

Joy to the Worldspine
Season's greetings! Who doesn't love Ravnica at this time of year? The Izzet mix up their dangerous new holiday beverages. The air outside the Rakdos halls smells of roasting sage, thyme and victims. Golgari give each other gifts recycled from last year's gifts. Selesnyan chorale groups go door-to-door singing and handing out literature. The Azorius have their awkward office parties. And of course, the Schmazzgordios provided traditional wurm decoration.

As for the MTG community, my wish for the new year is for everyone to do their best to respect and include each other. It's been a rough patch (decade? forever?) for kindness in this community despite the fact that we have such excellent personnel. I don't expect MTGO to become a haven for enlightened discourse but let's all try harder to treat each other well, to think twice before shooting off that "clever" insult, and to understand the feelings of the players across from us. Let's make some progress.

XOXO
Looter

November 27, 2012

Blue Brothers

Hey these have been out in the wild for a while, but here's a closer look at the tokens I did for In Contention's Joey Snapsco, Trinket Matt Kranstuber and Reuben Bresler of Secrets.
Snapsco Trinket Matt
Bresler of Secrets

November 19, 2012

Lil Tusk

Lil Tusk
You're all playing Thragtusk. Shut up -- you are. It is known. But the real fail is in how you spawn that baby beast. You're using Centaur tokens, UltraPro ad cards, pennies and Arby's receipts. Unsightly.

Here's a proper Lil Tusk for you to print and play. God, you're welcome.

November 04, 2012

Tilt ain't sexy.

Tilt ain't sexy.
You know that thing you do where you get all indignant that your opponent got lucky and you deserved to win because your deck is better and their deck is trash and they made a million misplays and you correctly did not mulligan ... you know that stuff? SO not attractive. Be a rational competitor. Be sexy.

Possible shirt/print design?

October 22, 2012

I have cards. You have cards. Let's ...

Let everyone know what kind of cards you're packing with Inkwell Looter format buttons, on sale now! SOLD OUT.

buttons!

format buttons

October 04, 2012

Going Back to Ravni

Please forgive my lack of studio polish. I am pretty much yelling into a tin can connected to my laptop with string. And now, without further ado, Rise of the ELDRZA AKA InkweLL Cool J presents ...


 

(Note for my age-deprived fans: this is a parody of LL Cool J's old school jam "Going Back to Cali." Look it up.)

Going back to Ravni, Ravni, Ravni
I'm going back to Ravni ... ca, I don't think so.

I'm going back to Ravni, Ravni, Ravni
I'm going back to Ravni ... ca, I don't think so.


Going back to Ravni, the city, so gritty
no itty-bitty shred of pity, on these mean streets
Two-fers of mana, supposed to choose a guild
But for now I’mma stay a free agent
Cause there’s ladies in the Senate and the Barracks and the Sewers and I’m pleased
to make their acquaintance
KABOOM spells are flowin, keyrunes tappin
Swervin to dodge that mana-screw
Speech is slurred, summon a bird
Drop a shock and take 2.

[chorus]

I’m going back to Ravni, samplin em, tramplin em
Rampin em to drops they never before hit
In the garden of the Conclave, tree roots squirm
Where the dryads wink, then populate a wurm
Like a prison term, Azorius, she’s drainin
Motionin, fili-busterin, detainin
I met her at the Swarm, to scavenge up some hugs
I want her bod, Jarad, but I don’t want your bugs.

[chorus]

I’m going back to Ravni, blasting, surpassing
casting all my charms, all three modes
Her smile - leered; type - weird
She said, she liked, steam.
She showed me a chain, mocked my pain
and unleashed a devilish scream.
Now I thought I was sick, but this girl was sicker
She’s lustin for arterial spray
I said, “Let’s park,” ignited my spark
and planeswalked the hell away.

September 23, 2012

You need these stinkin' badges!

Magic badges

The idea here is to provide snappy visuals to communicate your chosen Magic activity. Who's got what decks? Where the binders at?

Buttons (and maybe stickers) available soon!

August 07, 2012

Snakes on a Planeswalk

Yeah, summer is really happening, so I whipped me up a seasonal batch of liquid snake and cranked the ol' Serpent Generator:

snake token

This one comes with ssspecial sssalutations (sssaLOOTations, even?) to James Turner of LoadingReadyRun whose Commander game has sssuffered without sssexy sssnake tokens for far too long.

SSSNNAKESSS!!!

As always, you may download this pixel-packed PDF to print your own sweet varmints.


August 02, 2012

The ox that blocks

the ox that blocks
Ink/watercolor/vanilla

"Sheath that sword and go home. There's an ox in the way."

July 18, 2012

MTG at SDCC 2012

After a five-day ride the San Diego Comic-Con day-glo party tsunami broke, washing me up on a barren shore devoid of both color and flavor. Since then I’ve huddled in my makeshift shelter and jotted down the following notes on Magic at SDCC.

Artists
Over twenty Magic artists exhibited at SDCC. I actually spoke to some of them! Despite their otherworldly talent they looked and acted just like friendly humans. I even got some cards pugged by rk post:

rk alters rk alters rk alters rk alters

If you attend a big event with exhibiting Magic artists I urge you to gawk at their original works and consider buying something. Hard-working artists make our game look good.

The panel
The Friday evening panel is THE hot ticket for magicians at SDCC. Here's how it goes down: head designer Mark Rosewater gets his Willy Wonka on during a slideshow revealing secrets of the coming year’s products, followed by a Q&A session with other Wizards. This year’s panelists were director of Magic R&D Aaron Forsythe, senior brand manager Mark Purvis, art director Matt Cavotta, and Organized Play program manager Scott Larabee.

It’s been archived if you want to watch it yourself, and Devon Rule wrote an excellent summary of the panel’s substance, so I’m not going to go over all that. We’re going back to Ravnica, guys. Choose your two favorite basic lands and burn the rest. Get your guild tattoos.

rakdos face
Rakdos or die

Raw information aside, the panel is thrilling. You sit in the temporary nexus of the Magic universe. The transmission signal is strong. The air contains a marvelous amount of oxygen. If you tap one of the convention center chairs mana might come out.

You can even play Magic
The Marriott alongside the convention center once again had a Magic-only ballroom with organized events from early until late. You want game? You got it.

As an exhibitor at SDCC I didn’t have much spare time for play, but Friday night I was happy to be included in a special M13 sealed event with the Wizards people and other members of the community. I was exhausted and asking too much of the lunch muffins I’d earlier shoved into my face while leaning over a trash can, yet this was really the perfect ending to the day. A relaxing environment, new cards, easy conversation. I got a Predatory Rampage yoinked from my hand by Wizards community manager Jon Hickey’s Mindclaw Shaman and it was AWESOME. Alex Shearer (writer, scientist, and officially one of my GP San Jose teammates!) and I had an exceptional three-game match. And when I played against Purvis, sitting next to the Rosewater vs. Forsythe battle, I managed to contain the squeals. Stay cool, Looter!

When I evaluated my sealed pool the next morning it was obvious I'd let a drunken ape build it, but Friday night's goofy grin just would not leave.

Is that ... the sun???
Every year a bit more of the convention sloshes across the street into the commercial area near the hall. This time Wizards of the Coast had a booth in the convention center for Kaijudo but Magic was a couple blocks away in a swank, dedicated storefront. The distance to the “Magic Experience” pop-up shop didn’t matter since it takes forever to wade anywhere through the sea of fan meat on the convention floor, though I imagine some Magic players straight-up did not know it was there. The shop itself had Duels of the Planeswalkers playing on iPads, a kiosk selling cards and branded merchandise, and that big statue of Jace looking like he wants to jam his thumbs in your ears. Attendees could jump through some hoops to score the delightfully weird promo pairing of a Euro basic land and a foil Merfolk Mesmerist with URL instead of flavor text.

odd couple promos

Before heading over to the Experience my pal Thien Pham, acclaimed cartoonist, teacher, and advisor to the Bishop O’Dowd High School MTG club, asked me to be on the lookout for M13 sample decks because the club makes good use of them with new members. When I got to the shop I mentioned this to Mark Purvis, and he instantly produced a full carton of the goods. Thanks Mark!

Pham
The inimitable Mr. Pham

O.G. (original goatnapper)
As for your Looter, I spent most of SDCC at my table selling my non-Magic comics. I was grateful to be visited by many fans of this blog though! I won't attempt a comprehensive roll call but I had the chance to meet tons of online acquaintances for the first time and catch up with others I only see now and then between rounds. This felt tremendous.

And during downtime at the table I cranked out original goat tokens, which sold out at a brisk rate. Here are some of them:

goats

Some of the goats escaped my crappy camera, but this gives you a sense of it at least. Also drew a goat zombie and regular zombie for Thomas, and a golem for Chuck:

randoms

Thanks for coming to see me at the show!

Now it's getting cold, the sky is gray, and I haven't seen a Wookiee since Sunday. Sigh.

--- LOOTER

July 09, 2012

San Diegoat

As I've mentioned before, I'm exhibiting at the San Diego Comic-Con Wednesday through Sunday of this week. What I haven't mentioned is that I'll be producing goat tokens on site, in various media and for sale, cheap! Stuff like this:

goats

So, if you're at SDCC be sure to come visit the herd in the Small Press Pavilion, around aisle 1800, at the Tammy Stellanova Comics table (O-13). I'll have non-Magic comics and t-shirts for sale too (read more about that here) and my cool pal Tammy will be selling her excellent art items as well.

And once you're done basking in my presence, be sure to take advantage of your chance to interact with the whopping 21 Magic card artists in attendance.

2 more sleeps 'til San Diego!

July 01, 2012

Magic artists at San Diego Comic-Con

I'm busy getting ready for San Diego Comic-Con and haven't had much time to update this site but I want to post this.

List of Magic card artists who will be attending San Diego Comic-Con 2012
(links go to visual spoilers of their cards).

Steve Argyle (booth #4503)

Daren Bader (booth #4914)

Ron Brown (artists' alley, EE-17)

Matt Cavotta (attending as part of Wizards of the Coast)

DiTerlizzi (various book signings/panels, schedule here)

Dave Dorman (booth #4500)

Jason Felix (booth #5005)

Donato Giancola (booth #4503)

Thomas Gianni (artists' alley, GG-10)

Michael C. Hayes (booth #4817, Alain Viesca Arts)

Todd Lockwood (booth #4722)

Stephan Martiniere (booth #4503)

Christopher Moeller (artists' alley, II-22)

David Palumbo (booth #4914)

rk post (artists' alley, BB-01)

Mark Rosewater (attending as part of Wizards of the Coast)

Brian Snoddy (booth #2000, Maerkle Press)

Greg Spalenka (artists' alley, BB-22)

John Stanko (booth #4815)

Ruth Thompson (booth #4912)

Allen Williams (booth #4912)

If you know of additional Magic artists who will be at the show please let me know and I'll add them to the list. For more Comic-Con exhibitor info and a map of the convention go here.

And, oh yes, I'll be exhibiting too, table 0-13 in the Small Press Pavilion, up aisle 1800, at the Tammy Stellanova Comics table. Ask for the Looter.

June 14, 2012

Stone cold sexy

Sexy Stonewright

I dunno ... this guy's hair and fashion decisions just kind of crack me up.

June 08, 2012

In the shadow of the bug

"Unfortunately, all my test checklist cards got bent or smeared, so I shall be the final subject. I feel no fear. This is a momentous night."
— Art studio notes, final entry

I broke out the Exacto knife and spray cans to make some punk-looking Delver stencil cards:

Delver stencil project

Delver checklist

Delver checklist

Delver checklist

Reverse-o:

Delver checklist

The bug ... it's still out there.

Delver checklist

May 28, 2012

Randos

For all you completists, here's a tour of random images I've previously posted on my Twitter but not here. Follow me!

Why, it's the Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa token I illustrated for Channel Fireball:
PV token

Speaking of Channel Fireball, when the whole team included stomach flu details in their Pro Tour Avacyn Restored tournament reports I was compelled to deliver Channel Vomitball. Sorry guys!
Channel Vomitball

Mark Rosewater recently mentioned that a card with the working name "Elephurtle" had been axed by R&D. I drew this for Mark, and for the Elephurtle we never knew.
Elephurtle

Ah, digging through old boxes of cards, always good for a laugh.
meekstone

Brian David-Marshall isn't shy about his guild/color preference. Rich Hagon isn't so sure.
Simic 4 Life

Here's me, pretending to be Nicol Bolas with the three most humorous objects I could grab. Idiot.
Nickel Bolas

Some Wurmcoil Engines I'm growing.
Wurmcoil plant

May 23, 2012

Hexproof and I Know It

Certainly I self-identify as a cartoonist most of all, but this evening the spirit moved me to assume the form of a parody rapper. Armed with nothing more than a laptop and Audacity (the audio editing program but, yes, also the personality trait) I descended to the Loothouse's acoustically suboptimal garage to record this track. Forgive me, or maybe don't.

Next update will be a drawing.

May 02, 2012

So happy together

I did the whole Avacyn Restored prerelease thing this past weekend. Delightful discovery of unanticipated interaction. Dopey blunders due to reading failure. Helvault cracking. All of it. Whenever a new set hits I keep my whiskers on swivel to detect the greatest token needs. And the people cried out, "Wait, which guys is she soulbonded to?" Such anguish. Let me soothe.

Soul Bond

Soul Bond

Cute couple, eh? Here's a handy high-resolution PDF if you wanna lock up your own BFFs.

Anyway, yeah, prerlease was fun. I Nephalia Smuggled my Timberland Guide many times. And at the end of the rounds we opened the Helvault and I got to meet my own, new BFF: Oversized Griselbrand.

Oversized Griselbrand and a rose
See more of our ongoing adventures here.

April 27, 2012

Picture Me Scrollin'

Tamiyo emblem

Yeah, I'm Tamiyo, the Moon Sage. What, you thought Soratami were only on Kamigawa, huh? Sorry to disappoint you. Here I am.

And this is what I want you to do next time y'all got 8 loyalty to drop. Put down your weak stylus. Lay the sweet emblem on the table. Close your eyes. And picture me scrollin'. Goooood.

Tamiyo emblem

Here's the PDF so that you can print your own Tamiyo emblems.

April 20, 2012

What happens in the Helvault stays in the Helvault





I like to fill in blanks. When Avacyn and Griselbrand got sucked into the Helvault they mellowed out and grew to appreciate each other. They happily passed time in an endless dance party until outside meddlers blew up the party rock and the music stopped. They reluctantly parted ways. Later, Liliana Vess dispatched Griselbrand by popping his giant forehead zit with a claw-hammer.

Previous Helvault comic here.

April 01, 2012

The only mechanic that matters

Faithless Looting

You won't see me doing many pop culture IP mash-ups but in this case it couldn't be helped. Lootie can't fail!

(uh, just in case: this + this)

I have to say, as a Looter, I love everything about this card. My favorite mechanic + red + meathead quote. I love that there is a guy with a spiked club raised over his head. "Take that, you BOOK!" I love looting cards away in my mono-red deck to get extra Lavamancer fuel. Just <3, OK?

March 06, 2012

Beast-Go at Grand Prix Seattle

Will you be my friend?
I administered Hollowhenge beats with Hollowhenge Beasts this past weekend at Grand Prix Seattle and if that says something about the quality of my sealed pools, well, so be it. I still love that lumpy, green meathead.

Here are some nuggets from the action-packed GP weekend:

In the main event I wrangled an unspectacular pool into an R/G deck that consistently lurched across the battlefield with zero sex appeal. "Beast, go." I showed the deck to Channel Fireball's Tristan Shaun Gregson and his appraisal was, "That's going to be ... rough." I picked up my crucial third loss in round 7 (no byes due to hardly ever playing paper sanctioned events) so no day 2 for me but I still enjoyed some sealed matches and, hey, I'm 160 planeswalker points closer to Magus Maximus status.

Other sanctioned events I played: a sealed grinder, a two-headed giant draft and a regular draft. It was my first crack at 2HG draft, in which each team looks at the packs together and then takes 2 cards before passing. Good fun, though my teammate and I could have been better about gesturing and crossing our arms in unison. I won packs in each draft to power up the late-night Winchester sessions (photo of me playing out a draft in a lonely corner of the room snapped by Chad Havas).

I served up Filth Casserole between rounds and was delighted to play the format against R&D's Ethan Fleischer at the spellslinging table. Ethan had a "make it harder for you to cast stuff" thing going on that I totally dug. I also dusted off and tweaked my cheapo Standard goblin-ish deck to take on Ryan Spain (ugly loss at the pointy end of Sword of War and Peace) and Ryan Miller (a lightning match with goblins triumphant).

The GP was chock full of Wizards folks on hand to witness the popularity of their many-tentacled creation. Mark Rosewater showed up on Sunday just to peep the scene and interact with fans. I had a nice chat with MaRo and then, to my shame, I immediately tweeted that he’d told me Innistrad’s Hel Vault is full of delicious creme filling. Please, people! It was a joke! Stop blowing up MaRo’s inbox! What he actually said is that it’s full of nacho cheese.

I also chatted with Pete Venters which is the first time I’ve spoken to a real, live Magic artist. When I talk to artists I admire I imagine it sounds like, “I like yer purty drawrings durrrrr,” but this was OK, Pete was patient, and he even signed the foil Kiki-Jiki I’ve had since forever.

There’s probably a legitimate reason why the GP is in Tacoma rather than Seattle but there was palpable downside. The Seattle locals down at the GP for the day fled north before nightfall like they knew the streets of Tacoma belonged to wild dogs after dark. Us chumps stuck in Tacoma cursed at their joyful tweets from the magical Card Kingdom. And the smattering of restaurants around the event site mainly specialized in “Sorry guys, we’re closing in five,” though this was mitigated by the fact that any food you can get after playing Magic in a convention center all day is the BEST FOOD EVER. I had what I thought was some pretty good fettucine alfredo that I later realized was actually a free cookie from the front desk of the Marriott. I don’t know, Tacoma is probably cool or whatever but next time we have a GP Seattle can we pretty please have it closer to Seattle?

Enough griping though -- it was a blast. When I got home I made a list of all the cool people I'd met, either for the first time or who I’d internet-met previously, and let me tell ya, long list! I would have liked to have more time to hang out with 'em. I look forward to more of this action.

at GP SeaTac

February 26, 2012

Have a spirit on me

Some spirits, of the distilled variety. If you want to use these as tokens I'm gonna have to see some ID.

rum
vodka
whiskey

Here's a high-res PDF if you're inclined to get printy.

the pour tokens

drinkwell boozer

Cast Lingering Souls responsibly, everyone.