List of card art descriptions/Kamigawa

List of card art descriptions

 

Dominaria

 

Mirrodin and New Phyrexia

 

Kamigawa

 

Ravnica

 

Lorwyn and Shadowmoor

 

Amonkhet

 

Zendikar

 

Innistrad

 

Alara

 

Card	Description
Time Stop (Champions of Kamigawa)	[Time Fracture] Color: This is a blue spell card. Location: This can be an abstract piece. Action: This spell stops and shatters time for a moment. Show a human wizard (aligned with the color of your choice) midway through casting a spell. But there's a jagged line of sorts in the illustration, and on one side of the line, the wizard is young and the background is lush. On the other side of the divide, the wizard is older (not ancient), and the background is duller. Notes: This stops a spell from being cast by "rewinding" time.
Heartbeat of Spring (Champions of Kamigawa)	Color: Green Action: Show a particularly lush part of the forest, except that each object seems to have a ghostly, slightly displaced double image, in unnaturally saturated colors. This spell is an enchantment that represents the land being supersaturated with mana (magical energy). Mood: This is a magical location, and strange things are possible
Budoka Gardener (Champions of Kamigawa)	Color: Green Location: Not important Action: This is a brand new special "flip" card. The art has to show the before and after stages of a character. The "before" stage should show a skinny human monk student who worships the earth. The "after" stage should show the same monk, much older and stronger, as a grand master monk who has the power to turn the earth into a powerful elemental. Notes: The art box has a special size: 2 1/16" wide x 1 1/4" tall.
Order of the Sacred Bell (Champions of Kamigawa)	[Pair of Monks] Color: Green Location: Forest Action: Show a pair of muscular human budoka (monk martial artists) fighting back to back. Focus: On the deadly duo. Mood: We're ready for anyone Notes: See the styleguide for monk reference.
Kodama of the North Tree (Champions of Kamigawa)	[Kami of Spring Burgeoning] Color: Green Location: Forest Action: Show a huge, aggro kami of your invention that's immune to magic. This creature has some kind of forcefield that makes it invincible. Focus: The Big Bad Green Kami Spirit Mood: Nature's Grand Power Notes: As you know there's a lot of creative freedom with what the Kami Spirit can look like but remember all Kami Spirits must have some kind of *energy objects* rotating/floating around them.
Kodama of the South Tree (Champions of Kamigawa)	[Kami of Forgotten Wars] Color: Green Location: Forest location of artist's choice Action: Show a green-aligned kami (spirit) of your design. The kami can/should be monstrous and weird, like all kami, but this one covers its "face" (or the place where its face might be) with a Noh theater mask. The idea here is that this kami hides its full form from those it attacks, as well as taunting its victims with the mask -- this links to a "bluffing" mechanic that's on the card. Focus: the kami Mood: Creepy, enigmatic, fierce like a hungry animal. Notes: Non-flying creature, should be on the ground. This is a Spirit Creature so it must be surrounded by some kind of flying *energy objects* review the "Green" spirit world creatures in your styleguide. This will help you get on the right track.
Orochi Hatchery (Champions of Kamigawa)	(Orochi Incubator) Color: (artifact) Location: Snakefolk village Action: Show a large, vaguely egg-shaped structure in which the orochi (snakefolk) incubate their young. Focus: On the egg incubator
Samurai Enforcers (Champions of Kamigawa)	Location: inside the steets of a "white-aligned" village Action: Show two or three human foot soldiers in the background being lead by a white samurai in the front. These troops serve as law enforcement and crowd control. They are marching through a crowd of peasants who reach up for help but only get pushed aside. Focus: On the lead samurai and the foot soldiers' strength and callousness.
Higure, the Still Wind (Betrayers of Kamigawa)	Color: Blue Location: Doesn't matter; should probably be a night scene Action: When you want something done quickly/cheaply, you hire a black-aligned ninja. When you want it done *right* you hire a blue-aligned ninja. This is a master blue-aligned human ninja, the height of artfulness. This character is *able* to assassinate as well as anyone, but is more suited to spying and thieving-type jobs. Focus: the human ninja (male or female) Mood: I will never leave a trace. Notes: This is a legendary creature and should look it.
Cunning Bandit (Betrayers of Kamigawa)	Color: Red Location: none/doesn't matter Action: This is a special "flip card" that shows two different points in time (before and after) on the same card art. On one side we want you to show a rough-looking mountain bandit, and on the other side of the frame, we want to see his ghost after he has died. His ghost should be a large nonflying kami that barely resembles him. The two figures should "flow into" each other, forming a kind of backward N shape in the frame. Focus: The bandit transforming into a disembodied tyrannizing spirit. Mood: He's an ambitious bandit with a great dominating spirit within him.
Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker (Betrayers of Kamigawa)	A kami with the ability to deny death to the dead.
Flames of the Blood Hand (Betrayers of Kamigawa)	Show a red-aligned ogre who knows how to use fire magic and is casting a powerful damage spell. From his hands or some magical object we see this brilliant white-hot fire attack of your design. This is supernatural fire that can't be extinguished, so maybe the flames are a strange color, or seem stylized/otherworldly somehow.
Sway of the Stars (Betrayers of Kamigawa)	Color: Blue Location: nighttime; blue-aligned location of the artist's choosing Action: Show a Japanese wizard under a big, bright crescent moon. The wizard's long robes are flowing outward in all directions as though being blown by wind. Pinpoints of light like stars drift around the wizard. Focus: the nighttime magical ritual Mood: secret, rare, reality-shifting
Clash of Realities (Betrayers of Kamigawa)	Color: Red spirit-world magic Location: red-aligned location of artist's choosing Action: Show a yamabushi and a red-aligned kami of your design locked in combat. A fissure has just begun to open beneath them, spitting droplets of magma on the surrounding ground. Focus: The impending death of both creatures Mood: "If I'm going down, so are you!"
Scour (Betrayers of Kamigawa)	This spell not only destroys an enchantment spell, but every memory of the spell, too. An abstract representation of this is probably best. For example, show an unnaturally vibrant meadow, rich colors, sunlight streaming in, but then small squares of the 'canvas' are peeling and blowing away, revealing a dull yellow-brown meadow beneath. (Think of some of Magritte's paintings, for example.)
Quash (Betrayers of Kamigawa)	This spell not only destroys an sorcery/instant spell, but every memory of the spell, too. An abstract representation of this is probably best. For example, show a ray of spell energy (fire, bright light, spiraling dark energy, your choice) heading toward a wizard, but then the ray is dissipating into two-dimensional shapes of birds or something, which are blowing away. (Think of some of Escher's paintings, for example.)
Eradicate (Betrayers of Kamigawa)	This spell not only destroys a creature, but every memory of it, too. An abstract representation of this is probably best. For example, show a samurai in light-colored robes and/or armor. As (s)he drops his/her sword, some portion of his/her body is breaking into small two-dimensional shapes of some kind. (S)he's being erased from reality.
Sowing Salt (Betrayers of Kamigawa)	This spell not only destroys a place, but every memory of the place, too. An abstract representation of this is probably best. For example, show a leveled village in the mountains. An akki goblin is walking away from the viewer, and a trail of rock salt spills from a hole in the sack he carries over his shoulder. The salt gets thicker and thicker toward one corner of the frame, until at the very corner it's just solid white, as though the canvas is blank. (Think of some of Magritte's paintings, for example.)
Splinter (Betrayers of Kamigawa)	This spell not only destroys an artifact, but every memory of the artifact, too. An abstract representation of this is probably best. For example, show a suit of lacquered-black samurai armor on a primitive wooden stand. As the wind blows from one side, the armor begins to peel away in two-dimensional leaf shapes, as though it were an illusion (Think of some of Escher's paintings, for example.)
Nourishing Shoal (Betrayers of Kamigawa)	Show a green-aligned priestess similar to art ID #82624, as a "school" of the strange spirit-fish creatures from art IDs 80620 and 82612 swim in an upward spiral around her. The fish-things are iridescent green, gold, and blue and full of life giving energy. They're magically nourishing the priestess.
Mystic Restraints (Champions of Kamigawa)	[Don't Move]
Earthshaker (Champions of Kamigawa)	[Kami of Chaos]
Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers (Champions of Kamigawa)	[Kokemushi Shrine]
Deathcurse Ogre (Champions of Kamigawa)	[O-Bakemono Ogre-Mage]
Kagemaro, First to Suffer (Saviors of Kamigawa)	Color: Black Location: black-aligned location of your choice Action: Show Kagemaro, a feared and fearsome ancestor kami. This is the powerful manifested spirit of a long-dead human (solid, not ghostly). Should look like an ultra-powerful, ancient master of death magic with supernatural aspects of your creation. Focus: Kagemaro, the powerful black-aligned ancestor kami Mood: one thousand generations of perfecting the art of suffering Notes: This is a spirit world creature, so it should have orbiting objects. And it is a legendary creature.
Meishin, the Mind Cage (Saviors of Kamigawa)	Color: Blue Location: n/a Action: This spell uses your own mental power to create an illusory maze that enemy creatures get completely lost in. Perhaps show this symbolically, with a brain whose folds come together like the passageways of a maze, with one or two tiny creatures wandering through, trying to find their way out. Focus: The illusory maze Mood: Mind over muscle
Mikokoro, Center of the Sea (Saviors of Kamigawa)	Show an island off the coast that consists of a single immense boulder of uncut crystal or diamond that juts out from the sea. The boulder is strung with shimenawa, huge ropes that designate a sacred site in Shinto. Perhaps the clouds have parted and a sunbeam hits the boulder from above, accentuating its holiness and power.
Aether Shockwave (Saviors of Kamigawa)	[Spirit War] Color: White Spell effect Location: battleground on the crater plains Action: This spell creates a shockwave in the fabric of the barrier between the material and spirit worlds. Depending on who casts the spell, either all spirit-world creatures or all material-world creatures will be bowled over by the shockwave. Show a shockwave knocking over a large group of red-aligned ronin and bandits. You can also show several white-aligned kami *not* getting blasted by the shockwave, but only if the composition can handle it. Focus: the shockwave between realities Mood: fffffFFOOM! Notes: It can be a bit abstract.
Glitterfang (Saviors of Kamigawa)	[Viashino Sand Swimmer] Color: Red Location: your choice Action: Show a small kami of lightning energy, your design what it looks like. This spirit should be about the size of a dog, and it should look very, very fast. Like lightning, it appears out of nowhere, strikes, then it's gone. It should look plenty weird, of course. Focus: the small lightning kami Mood: Zap! Notes: Remember All spirit-world creatures need to have *energy objects* orbiting them.
Kataki, War's Wage (Saviors of Kamigawa)	[Batsudo, Hand of Retribution] Action: This is a legendary kami spirit of retribution. What it looks like is up to you. This is a spirit covered in Japanese armor that has the abiltiy to grow bigger and bigger. Show it about 10 feet tall, shaped roughly like a huge samurai in full regalia, but its body should be made completely of energy and covered with weapons and armor. Focus: The great kami of retribution Mood: A sacred instrument of justice made of steel and magic.
Rending Vines (Saviors of Kamigawa)	[Creeping Column]
Evermind (Saviors of Kamigawa)	Color: Blue Location: Your choice Action: This spell represents spirit-world magical spell that enables you to learn one thing "automatically" while doing another. How to represent this is up to you. For example, you could show a blue-aligned female jushi (wizard) sleeping while a weird little blue kami of your design floats above her, as though studying her. Come up with something that you think makes the most interesting/cool image. Focus: The magical learning Mood: It pays to be observant. Notes: It could be abstact if that direction works better.
Sekki, Seasons' Guide (Saviors of Kamigawa)	Action: Show a colossal kami of your design that is made up of eight intertwined smaller kami. The smaller ones could look something like the ones in art ID 82654. This huge kami is a manifestation of nature's adaptability -- when in danger, the kami can separate into 8 smaller kami, who can then re-form the larger kami. Focus: The towering kami of all seasons Mood: Nature at its most awe-striking.
Deathknell Kami (Saviors of Kamigawa)	Action: Show a flying kami of your design that represents shrieking before death. Maybe a disembodied female head with disproportionately large open mouth, for example. Focus: The horrible kami Mood: The most terrible sound imaginable.
Jiwari, the Earth Aflame (Saviors of Kamigawa)	Action: This is a huge kami that lives under the surface of the earth. From a point of view high above the ground looking down, show this bizarre earthquake kami pressing upward on the surface of the earth. Where its features can be seen, lines of deep red-orange fire erupt from the surface. (The fire is important and must be included.) If possible, show some indication of humanoids running from this fiery manifestation on the surface of the earth. Focus: The vast earthquake kami trying to push through the earth's surface Mood: An angry awakening.
Shinen of Flight's Wings (Saviors of Kamigawa)	Action: Show a blue-aligned "energy-ghost." This is a spirit-world "entity" that can manifest as a creature or a spell. Its shape is up to you, but it should be 6 feet across or so and its body consists of a mass of blue fire. The creature's eyes should be visible in the fire. It should be shown flying. Focus: the blue-aligned "energy-ghost" Mood: Fast, bright, not of this world.
Raving Oni-Slave (Saviors of Kamigawa)	Color: Black Location: Artist's choice Action: Show a homicidal ogre of your design (see p. 67 of styleguide for basis). This ogre is completely mad. He has a brand on his forehead in the shape of a vertical third eye to show his devotion to his demon masters. Focus: The psycho ogre Mood: He'll do whatever his demon masters tell him to do. Until then, he'll kill whatever crosses his path.
Moss Kami (Champions of Kamigawa)	[A big nonflying kami of fungus and natural decay.] Color: Green Location: Somewhere in the forest on a tree or ground. Action: Show a big nonflying kami of fungus and natural decay based upon the concept on Page 36 of the styleguide. Focus: On the Magical Kami Spirit Mood: Nature's Power Notes: This is a Spirit Creature so it must be surrounded by some kind of flying *energy objects*
Naomi, Pillar of Order (Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty)	Setting: KAMIGAWA Color: Legendary White & Black creature Location: An open plaza in Towashi city (see p33-49) Appearance: create a design for HARUKO, a Japanese woman in her late 60s. She is a bureaucrat and fixer. Her outfit combines imperial fashion with upscale street-wear practicality. (See p53 for streetwear inspiration and p94, 98-99 for imperial motifs) Action: Haruko is BALANCING DRAMATICALLY on top of a tall object (lamp post, sign, etc) arms spread wide. One hand is holding a RECKONER MULTI-TOOL-LIKE ARTIFACT crackling with power, the other is conjuring a white spell that looks like a translucent GLOWING GOLDEN SCROLL. Perhaps we see one or more non-focal samurai in the background somewhere. Focus: Haruko Mood: Effortlessly competent, confident, and respected Notes: Intent is to convey the media trope of someone appearing in a scene standing dramatically on top of a light pole in order to instantly convey that they are cool/badass.
Kami of Celebration (Neon Dynasty Commander)	Show a larger version of the Kami of Wishes. Golden orbs float around it, maybe dripping molten gold. It is important that this guy looks capable of hurting someone--maybe its rope-limbs are braided extra-thick, maybe the gold claws on its hands are particularly sharp. Some people in the crowded street might be reaching out towards the golden orbs. Focus: The Kami Mood: Celebratory, generous
Flame Discharge (Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty)	Setting: KAMIGAWA Color: Red spell Location: A street scene in Towashi (see p. 33-43) Action: Show a high-action shot of a BLAST OF FLAME emitted from a female samurai's cyber-enhanced arm. (See p. 148 C for inspiration on the samurai's look.) Maybe the samurai is doing a badass sideways leap attack, using her cyber-arm as a flamethrower to create a blast of fire. Focus: The fire Mood: No-holds-barred violence and action. "RAAAHHHH!! TAKE THIS, YOU MF'ERS!!!!"
Keimi (Token)	Give us a portrait of a magic giant TOAD. He is large enough that people ride on him. He is bonded to a reckless Reckoner ninja named Shuma. Feel free to give him some fantasy elements like horns. Focus: The toad. Mood: Intimidating but fun!
Gifts Ungiven (Champions of Kamigawa)	Color: Blue Location: Inside the moonfolk cloud palace Action: In a fancy chamber, the female moonfolk prophet Uyo, in a beautiful kimono, kneels behind a short table covered with a silk cloth. On the table sit four different netsuke (small figurines), different colors and shapes—they can be almost anything. Uyo looks placidly at the viewer, awaiting a choice. Notes: LINK to 80913. A Google image search for "netsuke" will point you in the right direction.