The Color Out of Space
Brian Smith

Brian Smith's "The Color Out of Space" sets up to be one of the more iconic cards from Sorcery: Contested Realm's Alpha debut set.​

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On September 4th, 2022, Erik's Curiosa released a Table Top Simulator update which revealed a few more cards that are expected to be included in the Alpha debut.  The Color Out of Space was one of those, and received with very high enthusiasm in the Sorcery: Contested Realm Fan Page & Marketplace Group on Facebook.

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The card is the highest "Unique" level rarity, and an Atlas / Site card that provides one of each resource if adjacent to the void.  This is a super powerful effect that could provide a large resource advantage for the controlling player.

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The artwork itself dates back roughly a decade, and is one of a few artworks that we have seen from the Alpha set that were previously created and licensed by Erik's Curiosa for use in Sorcery TCG.  These include the Frank Frazetta cards, and also a card by Ian Miller and potentially others yet to be discovered.

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Here is the story of The Color Out of Space in artist Brian Smith's own words:

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This is kind of a long story. That was a piece I did over ten years ago. The idea was to paint something abstract, but with depth and dimension. To me it looks like a kind of cosmic form that's trying to take shape and become something. I called it “Somehow Nothing”.  It was so different than anything else I was painting at that time, that it didn’t get much of a response when I posted pics of it online, and there was never any interest in it, at all. I tried doing more pieces like that but they never worked, so this was kind of a one shot deal. That happens sometimes.

 

Years later and out of the blue, Erik sends me a pic of the mock-up of the card and asks about using the painting for Sorcery. That was the first time he'd asked to use an existing piece, but I thought it was great that after so many years, someone found this obscure painting and connected with it. The card name nails it, too,……"somehow nothing" became "the color out of space”. I didn’t know that was the name of a Lovecraft story, so that makes it even more of a perfect fit. Cosmic horror. And now that I know a little bit more about TCGs, it’s great to see that it’s a “unique site” and a rare card. Sorcery has really given this painting new life.

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In fact there were a few additional paintings that Brian created around the same timeframe, roughly a decade ago, that share similar characteristics as "Somehow nothing".  One of these I discovered on social media, and I would strongly encourage everyone to follow Brian on Instagram and Facebook.  He is constantly creating and offering new paintings for sale.  He also does his own framing.  His creativity and talent are incredible.

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The first piece is called "Aftermath"; and the second is another that Brian shared with me that he had done for a 'Glacier and Sun' commission.