A collection of the cards I made for the Avatar MTG set.
These were the first MTG cards I had ever worked on, and I certainly learned a lot throughout. Matching the required style and tone whilst injecting nuance and detailing that isn't possible in animation was really challenging.
It's hard to put into words what those lessons learnt really are; but broadly it's about letting go of little ideas that I would be obsessed with from the sketch stage, and embracing the broader purpose of the illustration. It was always so difficult to zoom out and remember that these will be printed onto a tiny card, so I couldn't rely on small satisfying eye candy to make the artwork shine. As with any restriction the real skill is finding the opportunities to do something special and intentional.
I wouldn't claim to have been totally successful here, but I absolutely carried those lessons forwards to my TMNT cards.
Thanks to my AD Cassie Murphy!
©2026 Viacom International Inc.
All Rights Reserved. Nickelodeon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and all related titles, logos and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.
Shared with permission from Wizards of the Coast