ABSTRACT

I received a commission from Wizards of the Coast to create an illustration of Korlash, Heir to Blackblade, for the tenth Edition set of Magic: The Gathering. They were looking for a character that looked evil enough to be able to succeed Dakkon Blackblade and take his sword. Other than keeping the same look of the sword, I pretty much had free reign as to what the actual character looked like. Since there was already an original Dakkon Blackblade, I wanted to make something that would live up to the fans’ expectations and excite them about the new heir. I already had an idea of what I wanted Korlash to look like. I wanted something that looked like he could have come from Warhammer, so I knew I wanted a lot of skulls hanging from him, mementos from his previous victims. The idea behind Korlash is that he is like a dark paladin, so I wanted him to be in some dark armor with gold trim. I intended for the armor to be big, and yet feel light, almost like robes.