Bloomburrow – the latest Standard-legal Magic: The Gathering expansion set in a wondrous wilderness populated by mice, snakes, and other creatures – is now available in stores everywhere. While most of the cards in this set are making their MTG debut, two well-known artists who provided art for the set, David Petersen and Mitsuhiro Arita, are doing the same.
David Petersen is the creator of Mouse Guard, the famous comic and RPG following the lives of medieval mice, snakes, and other creatures—which makes him a perfect fit for this set. Mitsuhiro Arita, meanwhile, is a tenured artist who is most famous for his work on the Pokemon Trading Card Game. That Base Set Charizard you always wanted as a kid? He drew it.
We interviewed both Petersen and Arita via email about providing art for Magic: The Gathering. Both speak about their background, how the request came from Wizards Of The Coast for the project, how previous work differs from what they were asked to do in Bloomburrow, and much more.
David Petersen
How familiar were you with Magic: The Gathering before this set? Have you played in the past, or are you playing now?
I played in the mid-nineties. I think I came in during Fourth Edition, but even had some older cards due to trades with friends—and then sometime after college, around when Exodus or Stronghold came out, I fell away from it except when old friends would be back in town, and we’d dust off our or old decks and play again. Bloomburrow has me ready to jump back in, though.
When did Wizards Of The Coast approach you about providing art for Bloomburrow? What were your first impressions about their ideas for the set?
It was early last year. The initial email essentially said they couldn’t tell me anything about the set or theme, but that I wouldn’t have to change my art style at all for what they wanted from me. After signing the NDA and I received the Bloomburrow world guide materials, I was blown away by the world-building and artwork already produced for it. The ten base animalfolk being dual color to help codify their strengths and personas I thought was really great. I was thrilled to be a part of it and would love to draw more talking animals wielding magic for them.
Did you consult with the team on worldbuilding or lore regarding Bloomburrow during the creation process as well, or was that established before you were brought on?
No, I had no hand in any of the brilliant stuff the game design and art directors did for Bloomburrow. The material was all presented wonderfully for easy reference, and my art director, Aliana Rood, was clear and descriptive in what she wanted from me for each illustration, so I just had the job of creating card illustrations.
How would Mabel—and the greater world of Bloomburrow as a whole—fit into the world of Mouse Guard? Are there any aspects of Mabel's or Camellia's artwork that came from ideas or designs that weren't used in Mouse Guard, something "from the cutting room floor”?
The two are totally separate, a key difference being that there’s no magic in Mouse Guard. My book’s mice are more akin to being a Boy Scout or one of Tolkien’s rangers. The only supernatural occurrences in my books are ghosts. So, if Mabel showed up in the Mouse Territories with a glowing magical sword I’m sure it’d really be a shake up for my mice.
After working on the universe and characters you've created for as long as you have, did you take any different creative approaches to these works for characters that aren't your original ideas, or was the art process the same?
The process was mostly the same other than to make sure I was following all of the guides for the characters and their costuming, weapons, magical visualizations, and settings that the art directors set in the world guide. I did have to fight some muscle memory when starting on Mabel because I stylize my mice (they have different ears, 2 fingers and a thumb, three toes, and tiny eyes) and I needed her to look more like a real-world mouse. But after looking at several photos for reference, I found my version of Bloomburrow’s Mousefolk.
Finally, how soon after launch do you plan to build a Commander deck with one of your cards as the commander, and which one are you leaning towards?
I hope I get a chance to try out all the different animal folk. Obviously I’m partial to mice, but I regret when I played MTG in the nineties I had a very narrow focus with color pairings and themed decks, so I’d love to explore what the other Bloomburrow animals can offer in playstyles too.
Mitsuhiro Arita
How familiar were you with Magic: The Gathering before being approached for this art? Had you been approached by Wizards Of The Coast in the past, and perhaps the opportunity simply didn't pan out?
MTG is the predecessor of all the TCGs so naturally I know of it, but I can’t claim to have great familiarity with it, having never played. This was the first request I received. The opportunity just happened to come up.
After drawing fantastical creatures with cartoony foundations -- for so long, how did you approach the Lumra art, which is based more on a realistic depiction of an animal?
Although it’s not well known, my work covers a massive variety of motifs, styles, and techniques—I’ve drawn fantasy, SF, European medieval, Japanese sengoku era, and tokusatsu superhero pictures. (You can see them here) It required roughly one month to create. The foundation for the picture was all the book illustrations I’ve done for works where animals are the main characters, such as the Japanese version of Guardians of Ga’hoole.
What was the prompt you received for Lumra upon commission, and how did the early design process build from it?
Here is part of the prompt that Wizards provided me: "A massive BEAR (see attached) is roaring. Its roar is so powerful it causes the trees around it to bend. The bear’s fur is spiky and has pinecones attached to it. We see small rabbit creatures cowering from the bear (see attached reference.)"
Having seen some of the other designs by this point, are there any other Bloomburrow characters you'd have liked to try your hand drawing?
I’m interested in drawing cute animals, too. I often draw animals as part of my original series, available for sale on my store: https://mitsuhiroarita.myshopify.com/
Branching further, are there any other characters in the whole of MTG you'd like to try someday?
Sorin Markov.
