Gossamer Ghost, pictured here on the right, is an Ordinary rarity card in the Gothic set by artist Elvira Shakirova. This Curio version, pictured on the left, is an alternate-art illustration by another Sorcery veteran Drew Tucker.
Drew Tucker was gracious enough to share the complete story of the Curio's artistic concept development with Collector Arthouse... From Drew: "So every year I make a halloween piece to show at Illuxcon. The ghost ultimately is a personal piece. The window comes from one of the houses on my daily walks...
...I love the architecture up here on the older New England houses; the corbels, the windows, etc. Many of the houses here in Bangor are kept up, especially on this particular block. But this house, its yard is cut back but really kept up. The trees and vines mismanaged and growing freely. The paint chipped and worn away. This particular house is always dark so when you walk by your reflection will flash in the glass between the vines. Enough where you'd think someone was watching. Plus...as many folk know...I love coffee..."
An understated wonderful design twist in the Curio version of the card is the flavor text change detail. Rather than "The candle trembled", we see "The cup trembled". This underscores the incredible design detail that we get from the Erik's Curiosa team; and a beautiful tribute to Drew's love for coffee!
Drew went on to explain that he painted directly into the sketch. The piece was partially a plein air "except for all the time it spent in the studio".
Drew was excited to add that this had been shown only online and at the IX Art Show, and Erik had come across it and found a fun use for it for Sorcery!
Thank you so much for the insights, Drew Tucker!