Critique my First Alter
General forum
Posted on Feb. 15, 2016, 11:10 p.m. by Arvail
Hey people. Recently got into altering. This is my first piece.
DERPLINGSUPREME says... #3
@TheDevicerwell, tbh I would barely call it an alter.
most of what you did was just extend the borders, but its just black. its boring and barely worth the time, since really the only thing you would have worked on is the very top part. the part that isn't just solid black.
February 16, 2016 midnight
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #4
On the top right side, you can visibly see some strokes of paint, not sure if that's intentional or not. The rest of it looks fine, it doesn't seem to overlap on the card frame.
I am however curious about why you chose Fade into Antiquity as a card to alter. It hardly seems worth it, it's not played in a single format.
February 16, 2016 12:17 a.m.
My guess is for practice. Don't wanna test your first alter on that Thoughtseize
February 16, 2016 12:19 a.m.
My decision to alter Fade was based on the following reason:
- I had lots of them and they're dirt cheap. I wanted to begin with a card I could chuck away without a moments thought If I fucked up hard and start from scratch.
- The card's boarders are relatively simple. I knew I'd have a hard time mixing paint and creating good looking gradients with no prior express. I wanted to start simple.
- I think the art is rather neat.
- A larger version of the art is available online so I can see details in the cards art I couldn't otherwise spot.
I'm thinking of Pearl Lake Ancient next. Extending it will be significantly harder and the clouds will force me to start stepping up my game.
February 16, 2016 12:39 a.m.
Are these tournement legal? I'm thinking of running Terramorphic Expanse alters the next time I'm at a modern tournement?
February 16, 2016 1:28 a.m.
"Artistic modifications are acceptable in sanctioned tournaments, provided that the modifications do not make the card art unrecognizable, contain substantial strategic advice, or contain offensive images. Artistic modifications also may not obstruct or change the mana cost or name of the card."
Basically, as long as you don't mess with the text boxes and keep the card recognizable, you're fine. Your opponent may call a judge on you for alters but whether or not you're allowed to keep using them is up to the discretion of the judge. Extensions of boarders should never cause you any problems.
February 16, 2016 1:38 a.m.
The tops of the trees aren't even above and below the name box and the top right corner has some light strokes, but otherwise it looks good.
February 16, 2016 9:26 a.m.
TheAnnihilator says... #10
This looks really nice -- your color matching for the yellowish sky in the background is spot on, which is an achievement by itself.
The spot over the word "Into" needed another few coats of paint. Painting such a light color onto a very dark color is always going to be a pain, so be careful not to overpaint an edge line when the contrasting color is so different.
I can tell that your paint is a little too watered down, which will cause some of the unevenness on the card.
When the paint scratches off of the surface of the card, as I suspect it did in that spot at the top right, the best remedy is to put raw paint (no water mixed in) over the spot to give a surface for future layers to stick to. You may have to do that multiple times, as well.
Also, for those criticizing your choice of card, I will defend you in saying that this is actually the perfect card to do a first alter on. It doesn't have to be super colorful because actually getting paint to stick onto the glossy surface and then matching the colors that are present is one of the largest hurdles. Best practiced on a cheap and simple card.
February 16, 2016 12:03 p.m.
TheAnnihilator says... #11
Oh, and a last thing: when taking a picture of an alter, do it in a sleeve. The card will be played in a sleeve (and mine are sent out to people in a KMC perfect fit too), which hides the paint lines on the card and smooths some of the colors over.
February 16, 2016 12:06 p.m.
Troy242621 says... #13
I actually didn't know art mods were tourny legal,...Huh. How much does it usually cost to get someone to mod your cards for you?
February 21, 2016 8:45 p.m.
It really depends on the complexity of the artwork and how well known the person doing the alter is. The demand for alters is quite high and the most complex pieces can take a long ass time to finish. Generally, people will alter stuff for $30-$60. Oh, and I finished my second alter yesterday:
February 21, 2016 9:18 p.m.
TheAnnihilator says... #15
I have only one criticism -- the bottom 2 white lines on the rock on the left side should be darker. Otherwise, this looks very good. =D
julianjmoss says... #2
I would make sure your thickness is consistent, the middle right looks thicker than other areas and some spots seem very thin. It looks nice though!
February 15, 2016 11:17 p.m.