Hello,
I use acrylic paint for my alters.
Unfortunately, I feel that my colors always have a hazy appearance, impossible to reproduce the brilliant appearance of the cards.
Any suggestions?
Could be the types of paints you are using. I'm not too good a painter, but better artist than I have stated that the quality of paint will have a large impact on the final product. Cheaper paints don't have the pigment loads that good paints do, which could be why the final product is hazy. Also, if you are using water or some other medium to thin your paints, that too could have an effect of your final product.
Hi, i want to black out my delver proxies so only the delver is left. Whats the best way to do this? I'd prefer a pen.
Thanks in advance guys
By proxies I can only assume you mean the DFC Checklist Cards. In any case, you could use some black acrylic paint. Put a couple of thin layers down and you should get the coverage you want. Sealing it will also go a long way to making sure the paint doesn't chip off, but shouldn't be necessary.
Just a question about a simple alter- what's the best way of covering up the other options on a checklist card?
Thanks
There are many ways to do this. You could erase/acetone the other options (masking off the part you want to keep) leaving you with a clean white canvas. You could cover the other options with paint to give you a white canvas to work from. These are just a couple of starting options. The rest is just up to your imagination.
Hey everyone, I have always been a fan of alters. I lean far more towards the cards that recreate the image as opposed to extending the borders of the card. I have some artistic talent but no experience with this kind of work. Until now I hadn't been inspired enough to actually try my hand (but at the same times I've always wanted to). I'm at the point where I have the idea, I've started a mockup that I've attached, and I'm ready to go.
I think I want to go the marker route as I have the exact opposite of steady hands so I'm terrible with a brush. I'm looking for guidance or a how to. I have only been able to find tutorials for card extensions, not image alters.
I'm working on Beastmaster Ascension - it's going into my casual squirrel deck and will be Squirrelmaster Ascension. Thank you for any guidance you have on how to go about this. I'm starting to wonder if acrylic is the only way to get it done.
You need coverage. Markers will not cover what is already printed on the card. I would suggest acrylics. If you don't want to do that, then I would suggest that you maybe try erasing the art and completely redoing it in marker (or whatever medium you want).
I am planning on making a 3D version of Derevi, Empyrial Tactician, replacing the art of Derevi with the art from Zapdos of the first set in the Pokemon card game (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81KbDi0SnSL._SL1500_.jpg). I love pokemon, and love derevi as a card, but really don't like his art. I was thinking I'd need 2 copies of Zapdos and one of Derevi. All I'm thinking I need to do is cut out the square where Derevi is and put it on top of a Zapdos. Both cards are exactly the same size so as long as I find a solid glue, it should be ok.
Does anyone know any good tips and tutorials for 3D altering magic cards? I imagine there will be trouble making sure the cards stick to each other but other than that it seems pretty straight forward.
For anyone with 3D alters, how do you sleeve these things?
I may or may not know a few things about 3d alters. Firstly, you can find a PLETHORA of info at the 3d altered tutorial thread and the 3d MtG cards and Life counter thread. Some of the info MIGHT be a bit out of date, but the overall techniques and advice held within hold up rather nicely. Using arts from different card games within a single art has been done, so you should be able to pull this off. As for sleeving, well, depending on the thickness you sometimes cannot sleeve these. If the art is VERY thin (maybe 4-6 layers), you could get away with sleeving it up. Mine tend to be no less than 20 layers so I just put them in hard plastic cases. If you can pull off what you are trying to with so few layers, go for it.
If you have any specific questions about anything, don't hesitate to PM me directly or post in either of those threads (I'll most likely answer there anyways). Sometimes, if you get me going, I won't shut up.
Any basic tutorials or videos on making white border cards black? I'd like to do it with a minimum of bleed on the borders of the card so I don't get some officious little snot calling a judge on me about my Nether Spirits.
Thanks!
I guess my tablet browsing didn't save my response here, so almost a month later I'll respond again. With ANY alters, you should always discuss them with the head judge. If you don't and someone questions them to a judge, you could get in trouble for marked cards and whatnot anyway. Always better to be safe than sorry.
I have a question about sealing alters. I was wondering what kind of sealant to use I have a spray acrylic sealer and I absolutely hate it, I spray on a few thin coats and it give the cards a spotty texture and rough feel. Am I just using the wrong product should I be using a brush on varnish and If so does anyone have any suggestions? I am trying to get my work to a professional quality but I have been having a lot of trouble finding out which products the pros actually use. I am currently using golden fluid acrylic and a faber castell pitt xs pen for my paintings and acetone and prismacolor markers for my drawn alters
I actually use this when sealing my painted alters. I do a few light coats to seal it. I've never had issues with it leaving a texture. If the painting is done well enough, a clear coat is not really needed anyways. I'm not a good painter so I have to hide my less than awesome skills. You also want to minimize the amount of layers you are putting on a card because it can begin to feel thicker.
Ebonclaw is pretty much right. This is up the head judge, but I can't really see them say you can't use these. But always make sure and have a spare playset of Bolts on you just in case. The use of altered cards in competitive play is a slippery one to nail down, as you may get different answers from different judges. Overall, it is best/safest to just use non-altered cards if you are worried about this issue.
I've seen my alters at SCG events and the last ones I saw had the old art completely replaced. I've also seen playsets of my extended art that had the borders painted over. I'd think that if you can play altered cards at Starcity Modern and Legacy events there is room out there for smoothly finished alters.
I see people citing the page above once in a while as a reason why they don't want to paint their cards, but I've seen so many painted cards make it high level tournaments that I don't think that it's really an authority.
I'm with you on this one, especially since there was some Snoopy altered somethings at a PT/GP/Somewhere make it on one of the Camera tables. But I like to err on the side of caution and have a back up plan.
This was my first attempt at an art nouveau alter it took me about an hour and a half to two hours to do I'm happy with the results but not thrilled I started a second one it's not even half done and I'm 3 hours in. But it is looking like it will not turn out much better than my first does anyone have any suggestions for acquiring the smooth solid opaque yet thin colors needed for these alters? I already know my pen is too thick for my lining and I'm getting a new set of Sakura pens soon but also I seem to be having trouble finding thin enough brushes for the detail work? Any feedback would be great thanks
Use a gray tone for your primer. That will help cover the the cardface. When I primer my cards I use a sponge with tight pockets. A bit more loose than a makeup sponge to give my primer something for my paints/pencils to stick to. If you want to stick with white primer, then maybe erase the cardface, but that does take a bit of physical effort.
There are two contradictory lines the way I read it. The conditions say it must have either a black or white border. However changing the color of my border is an artistic alteration.
This is a pretty big point for me as I really love altering the card borders with fun designs.
Can anyone tell me if the below alters are legal?
Ebonclaw is pretty much right. This is up the head judge, but I can't really see them say you can't use these. But always make sure and have a spare playset of Bolts on you just in case. The use of altered cards in competitive play is a slippery one to nail down, as you may get different answers from different judges. Overall, it is best/safest to just use non-altered cards if you are worried about this issue.
Aggressive is an understatement. It is best to mask off what you want to keep and then taking an eraser and rubbing with lots of force to remove the ink. It takes A LONG time to complete. Once you get a small part going, it still takes forever. I've chewed through almost a full magic rub eraser clearing out the artbox of a card.
I want to start altering. What would you recommend besides acetone to remove card art
Depending on what medium you will be using I'd advise against using acetone. Though, I do use it a LOT to Clear off foils for artists to art all over. It can seep into the cardstock and if you are unlucky it will cause your art to peel off (paints) or smear (inks/markers) at a later time. If for some reason you NEED to remove the art from the cardstock, I'd suggest the old eraser trick. It takes a lot of physical work but it leaves a nice smooth surface for inking.
I'm new to altering but after experimenting i think it's best you leave the original image intact, a thin priming coat works perfectly fine!
I have to say that I've used many methods for "priming" a card, and this is the best method for all non-inking jobs. I also suggest using not white. Some offwhite/grey color seems to work wonders for me, I like that in many cases it seems that a grey priming makes the colors seem bolder. Though it could just be my broken eyes.
I have been having problems with my drawn cartoon alters. I use prismacolor markers for my coloring and sharpie for my lining. The prismacolors tend to make the black ink smear and bleed muddying the picture does any one have any suggestions to get a clean crisp look on drawn cards? Also any suggestions for more reliable lining markers? Fine rip sharpies prismacolors and Sakura pens tend to plug up and get streaky and spotty.
I've no experience with sharpie/marker alters. But when I do a painted alter, I tend to do the fine line details AFTER all my colors have been done. That way the linework is the uppermost layer. I Essentially Layer as so:
Card Face
Base coat or De-Inking
pencil work with quick inking
Color (paint and prismacolor)
Final ink work with details added
If i'm not mistaken, Prismacolor markers are alcohol based which is good for breaking down the sharpie ink. Which might be why you get smearing.
Painting and drawing are two very different creatures in my opinion. painting is more about color and shape while drawing is more line work and fine detail. Both are skills that must be used and honed to be good at dont get discouraged and dont give up you will never get good if you dont try and please for the love of god dont jump right into ur pile of rares! start small lands are great practice u got loads and they are easy to show off. Watch alot of youtube videos. and if you are just painting dont acetone or erease your cards its pointless and just ruins them. Good Luck!
All of this. Though, depending on the type of alter you are doing, drawing and painting could go hand in hand. Extensions and such don't really require you to have drawing skills, only that you have painting skills (color matching). When you start getting into anime/cartoon alters you don't need the painting skills as much (though they help) as these types tend to use flat colors with not much blending. The drawing/tracing skill comes into play there. Original art alters are the ones that require a bit of both skill sets. Mind you this is an over generalization of the types of alters and skills needed. As with anything, learn from others as much as you can and practice, practice, practice. Sharing with the community (we have an alter thread here) will help with getting critiques from those who do this.
I currently have 20+/- 2oz bottles of cheap paint from hobby lobby (97c). While they aren't very good in the pigment loads, I am able to layer lots of thin layers of color to get some interesting effects. The other upside is that I can cheat by using Prismacolor pencils to do a lot of the "final touches" on my work since the paints dry with a bit of tooth. If I knew how to paint properly, I would probably get some Golden Fluids. Since I'm still learning and like what my paints/pencils combo can do, I'll keep it cheap. I may get a black/white/grey Golden as my biggest issue is the priming of a piece without having to use more than 2 layers.
But I agree with Gals on that you get what you pay for. Since I do Simple alters as compared to some of the other artists here, my paints will suffice for me. For now at least. One place I do lack in is brushes. I have maybe 1 or 2 that are decent, but I should get some better brushes. Firstly, what types of brushes (brand and size) are recommended? I apologize if this has been previously answered as I have yet to read all 12 pages. Secondly, how to best clean/maintain them? I've been painting junk for years, but I've never really learned any of the proper techniques for, well anything.
For clearing the art via eraser I use one of the MANY Magic Rub Erasers I have. They leave a really smooth surface behind tho, so paint might have some issues with sticking to the raw cardboard. When I have a straight box to remove, I just use acetone since it QUICKLY removes any and all ink. Problem when using it with non-foils is that sometimes the paint acts funny on the raw acetoned cardboard.
By proxies I can only assume you mean the DFC Checklist Cards. In any case, you could use some black acrylic paint. Put a couple of thin layers down and you should get the coverage you want. Sealing it will also go a long way to making sure the paint doesn't chip off, but shouldn't be necessary.
URGEDH Biovisionary.dec BShirei WBSelenia
The brain is the muscle that pumps stupid through the body
There are many ways to do this. You could erase/acetone the other options (masking off the part you want to keep) leaving you with a clean white canvas. You could cover the other options with paint to give you a white canvas to work from. These are just a couple of starting options. The rest is just up to your imagination.
URGEDH Biovisionary.dec BShirei WBSelenia
The brain is the muscle that pumps stupid through the body
I may or may not know a few things about 3d alters. Firstly, you can find a PLETHORA of info at the 3d altered tutorial thread and the 3d MtG cards and Life counter thread. Some of the info MIGHT be a bit out of date, but the overall techniques and advice held within hold up rather nicely. Using arts from different card games within a single art has been done, so you should be able to pull this off. As for sleeving, well, depending on the thickness you sometimes cannot sleeve these. If the art is VERY thin (maybe 4-6 layers), you could get away with sleeving it up. Mine tend to be no less than 20 layers so I just put them in hard plastic cases. If you can pull off what you are trying to with so few layers, go for it.
If you have any specific questions about anything, don't hesitate to PM me directly or post in either of those threads (I'll most likely answer there anyways). Sometimes, if you get me going, I won't shut up.
URGEDH Biovisionary.dec BShirei WBSelenia
The brain is the muscle that pumps stupid through the body
I actually use this when sealing my painted alters. I do a few light coats to seal it. I've never had issues with it leaving a texture. If the painting is done well enough, a clear coat is not really needed anyways. I'm not a good painter so I have to hide my less than awesome skills. You also want to minimize the amount of layers you are putting on a card because it can begin to feel thicker.
URGEDH Biovisionary.dec BShirei WBSelenia
The brain is the muscle that pumps stupid through the body
URGEDH Biovisionary.dec BShirei WBSelenia
The brain is the muscle that pumps stupid through the body
Ebonclaw is pretty much right. This is up the head judge, but I can't really see them say you can't use these. But always make sure and have a spare playset of Bolts on you just in case. The use of altered cards in competitive play is a slippery one to nail down, as you may get different answers from different judges. Overall, it is best/safest to just use non-altered cards if you are worried about this issue.
URGEDH Biovisionary.dec BShirei WBSelenia
The brain is the muscle that pumps stupid through the body
URGEDH Biovisionary.dec BShirei WBSelenia
The brain is the muscle that pumps stupid through the body
I have to say that I've used many methods for "priming" a card, and this is the best method for all non-inking jobs. I also suggest using not white. Some offwhite/grey color seems to work wonders for me, I like that in many cases it seems that a grey priming makes the colors seem bolder. Though it could just be my broken eyes.
URGEDH Biovisionary.dec BShirei WBSelenia
The brain is the muscle that pumps stupid through the body
Card Face
Base coat or De-Inking
pencil work with quick inking
Color (paint and prismacolor)
Final ink work with details added
If i'm not mistaken, Prismacolor markers are alcohol based which is good for breaking down the sharpie ink. Which might be why you get smearing.
URGEDH Biovisionary.dec BShirei WBSelenia
The brain is the muscle that pumps stupid through the body
URGEDH Biovisionary.dec BShirei WBSelenia
The brain is the muscle that pumps stupid through the body
But I agree with Gals on that you get what you pay for. Since I do Simple alters as compared to some of the other artists here, my paints will suffice for me. For now at least. One place I do lack in is brushes. I have maybe 1 or 2 that are decent, but I should get some better brushes. Firstly, what types of brushes (brand and size) are recommended? I apologize if this has been previously answered as I have yet to read all 12 pages. Secondly, how to best clean/maintain them? I've been painting junk for years, but I've never really learned any of the proper techniques for, well anything.
For clearing the art via eraser I use one of the MANY Magic Rub Erasers I have. They leave a really smooth surface behind tho, so paint might have some issues with sticking to the raw cardboard. When I have a straight box to remove, I just use acetone since it QUICKLY removes any and all ink. Problem when using it with non-foils is that sometimes the paint acts funny on the raw acetoned cardboard.
URGEDH Biovisionary.dec BShirei WBSelenia
The brain is the muscle that pumps stupid through the body