Behind The Art: Hamlet

Hamlet emerges in Sorcery: Contested Realm's first expansion set, Arthurian Legends, as one of the more powerful Atlas Sites in the set.  An Ordinary rarity allows you to run four copies of the card in your deck.  The gameplay mechanic has a powerful 'accelerator' effect that reduces casting cost of Ordinary minions by one threshold at this site; "A Site where Ordinary families thrive".

This is a beautiful piece by Andrea Modesti as we've come to enjoy with his colorful and richly detailed watercolour portrayal of historical nature scenes.

The concept story behind Hamlet Village is one of simple beginnings which evolved through an exchange of ideas with Sorcery Creator and Art Director, Erik Olofsson.  The story begins with Andrea's initial concept sketch, 

The scene depicts a simple hillside village with three focal structures. The foreground is largely barren, allowing space for the card title and gameplay mechanic box that displays at the bottom of Sorcery TCG Atlas Site cards.

After submission of the initial sketch concept, Erik asked Andrea to add various features to further develop the character of the scene.

Per Andrea, Erik recommended the inclusion of the wagon wheel, the well, the barrels and the wooden wagon.  Andrea credits Erik with these details really making the village scene come to life.

Andrea explains the next evolution of the process:

In the photo with the intermediate color you can see the most important figures and details covered by the liquid masking fluid or by the paper tape, to preserve the white of the paper from the first basic watercolor draft.

Then, once the protections have been removed and the background is mostly dry, you can start working on the details. 

Here is where you get a full appreciation for Andrea's talents and incredible skill.  The color choices and texture that he delivers in his works are really remarkable.  They create a warm and welcoming vibe that transports the viewer to the scene in a touching way that makes you strongly resonate with the environment as if you are actually physically immersed in it.

The buildings, the terrain and rich foliage, the added elements and details to round out the scene, and the facial expressions of the characters.  The scene captures the essence of "a site where ordinary families thrive".  

My sincere thanks to Mr. Modesti for his insights, images used in this article, and the inspiring illustrations he has contributed to this game!

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