Welcome to the first ever Meet the Artist segment! Here we will bring in the many talented artists of Element Wars, and learn about their process. For our first guest meet Victoria Crego! Let's start off with...
Meet the Artist: Victoria Crego
So Tell Us A Bit About Yourself
Hello, I’m Victoria Crego and I have been helping out with Element Wars for over a year now. I am in my last semester at George Mason University, and getting a degree in computer game design. While my focus is 3D art, I’ve enjoyed drawing since I was a kid, and have had lots of fun creating cards for Element Wars.
What Are Some of Your Favorite Pieces?
I like a lot of the cards I have made for Element Wars, but I would say Qliphoth Beast and Galaxy Sprites are my two favorites. Qliphoth Beast was fun because I’ve always enjoyed making up creatures, and of all the cards I made so far it probably took the most time to finish. It was a challenge trying to figure out what color I wanted it to be, and then to get everything to look right. Since it has a lot of parts I separated the parts of the body with different colors, to try and help me figure out how the lighting and shadows would work. Qliphoth beast was originally a brown and tan color, but changed to a dark blue to try and match with something that would hunt in the dark. I really did not want to give it a boring black and grey color scheme, which is usually given to creatures that hunt in the dark.
What Artwork Do You Enjoy Drawing The Most?
In comparison, Galaxy Sprites was way easier to do. I kind of just experimented with different brushes, and tools, until I got what I thought looked good. The color scheme of Galaxy Sprites is my favorite, and I just enjoy looking back at it. I even had it as my desktop background for a long time, and now it is my lock screen.
I really enjoy drawing creatures, and I usually just sketch them out. A lot of the time just doodling can help lead to new ideas of monsters to make. Although I have been doing less of that now, as I learn how to create 3D models for video games. I hope to create a nice 3D model of one of the animals I made up in the future.
Is There Pieces Fans Can Look Forward To In The Future?
Barrier Winter is in progress at the moment, Eric posted an in progress picture of it a while ago. It has another cool monster on it, and is matching Qliphoth Beast for card that has taken me the longest to do. Just all the details that making an animal requires makes the process so much longer, and then you still have the background to fill in after it is done. Especially since it is an icey animal, and ice is a real challenge with how reflective it can be, and how unique it is. Mixed with my busy schedule, the process of trying to get it done has been slow, but I’m trying to finish it as soon as possible, so look forward to that!
Any Final Comments?
I have really enjoyed working on the Element Wars team, it has been a great experience and has helped me improve my skills as an artist. I plan to continue making cards for Element Wars as long as I can, and am excited for the future of Element Wars as it gets more popular.
That's all for this week. Look forward to more excited interviews with Element Wars Artist's and until then keep rolling those die!