The Concept Art of Wilds of EldraiNe

Set on the plane of Eldraine.

CONCEPTING THE WILDS OF ELDRAINE

Art Directors: Deborah García & Zack Stella

Concept Artists: Jehan Choo, Jesper Ejsing, Jose Vega , Magali Villeneuve, Evyn Fong & Steve Prescott

The follow-up to the incredibly popular Throne of Eldraine from 2019, Wilds of Eldraine sought to expand the plane by switching the audience view from the Realm of the five courts to the dark and mysterious forests beyond. Each two-color pair (such as white-blue, blue-black, etc) in Magic was assigned a different real-world faerie tale as the core of its identity, and in turn artists took inspiration from those to shape their concepts.

In regards to the visual design of the set itself, art director Deborah García had this to say during an interview on Mach Speed:

“We first took a look at what happened during the events of March of the Machines and worked to include them at a concept level. For example showing Castle Ardenvale in ruin or knights that have lost their kingdom and now roam the realm. The Wicked Slumber was a huge event that started during MOM and continued throughout as well. So making sure to design the visuals during a concept push and place them strategically helps connect it to the Phyrexian Invasion. At a card level we tried to carve out a space for illustrations that had that darker tone that was made to look more unsettling than what we explored in Throne of Eldraine. Also returning to the sources of fairy tales was pretty fruitful as those original fairy tales are much darker than our current cultural perception.”
“To keep it fresh and exciting we wanted to work with artists and art directors that are especially great at creating magical effects in an enchanting way. As well as being able to paint physical and facial expressions as well as lots of momentum and movement.”

To see the concept art of the original Throne of Eldraine (2019), click here.

*Will Kenrith,* *the heir to the throne of Eldraine’s human kingdoms and ex-planeswalker, goes to war for the sake of his people against the witches of the wilds and his twin sister,* *Rowan. -* *Concept art by* ***Magali Villeneuve.***
“A few weeks after the end of the Eldraine 3 week session, I'm receiving another email from Andrew, asking me to work on Will Kenrith's new appearance for the coming set. The whole point was to design his king outfit. Also, the character lost his right leg facing the Blood Avatar, and that was a big part of the challenge in this design.
We don't go and work on such concepts "just like that". For Will, we received some help from a disability consultant regarding the prosthetics. There was a subtle balance to be found between making the prosthetic look believable, while still from a Fantasy world, but not thoughtlessly "cool" or "cyborg-like". We wanted Will to look strong, and still make his disability clear. So some realism was very necessary. For example, that's why you can see some bandage around his knee, to protect his stump. I imagined he would go and accept it as fully part of himself by doing the same on his other knee, as if his prosthetic was another type of leg armour for him.
As you can see, the general structure of the prosthetic is very real-life like. The fantasy element comes from the ice that Will build around it for extra protection during a fight. I added some delicate engraving, but didn't go too crazy. Again, it is a practical element, not an ornament.
The intent for the rest of the costume is pretty obvious : the "cold" motif was to be everywhere. You can see it as icicles on his shoulder, crown and forearms of course, but also as snowflakes patterns on the fabric parts. I had a lot of fun trying to find the good mix between the King and the Fighter. I grew very attached to Will through this visual development. It happens all the time! ^^I strongly believe a good design also comes from a good connexion with a character's personality and life.”

Edgewall & Human Characters

With humans being driven out of the five kingdoms of the realms in droves by the Phyrexian invasion, humanity finds itself face-to-face with the mysterious and unknown wilds on the edge of their civilization. Simple towns on the outskirts of the Realm already housed adventurous and hardy humans who welcomed the refugees, and some, like the rat-charmer Totentanz, took advantage of the chaos.

The Town of SweetTooth

An abandoned village overrun with carnivorous Food-Horrors animated by witches in the wilds.

*Sweet-Tooth Village, an entire town made of candy cottages and gingerbread, concept art by* ***Jehan Choo***

The Kingdom of Storms

An enormous kingdom of storm giants in the skies high above Eldraine’s Wilds, built upon islands of magical clouds. Only reachable by climbing enormous beanstalks known as “Everstalks.” Populated by other giant creatures, such as tempest harts, beanstalk wurms, and the Goose Mother. The capital, Stormkeld, is ruled by the storm giant Beluna.

Tuinvale, Court of the Fae

Home to Eldraine’s High Fae within the wilds, Tuinvale is a city of shimmering, translucent architecture made of gossomar glamors mixed with hewed stone and the forest itself. The lord of Tuinvale, Talion, presides from a perfumed throne-room in the center of the court, surrounded by twisted trees.

*High Fae Concept - Art by* ***Jesper Ejsing***
“When we were working on the concept art team for the Wilds of Eldraine I had a fantastic and very inspiring experience. The imaginative Evyn Fong came up with an idea for the Elder almost God like faerie Nobles: she made a little sketch of one having the hair turn into a globe of twigs harnessing a flock of luminous butterflies. When i saw that I was hit by an irresistible urge to turn that idea into a painting. And I had to do it fast before anyone else beat me to it. I chose a low angle to show how otherworldly and eternal they would appear and a stoic expressionless face. I didn't have time to color it properly but threw in some contrasty colours to sell it and a bit of rim light...I quickly posted it to our group...
And five minutes later got a message from Evyn kind of approving that I "stole" her design: "WTF? Ejsing 20 minutes? I love her!". There is nothing better than bouncing ideas and it makes my art so much better working with Evyn. She is a machine gun of ideas and the only other artist that I have worked with that spits out more drawings than me in a day. “

*The Fae Court of Tuinvale, concept by* ***Jose Vega***

*Studies of how different basic land types could be depicted in Tuinvale.* *Concept by* ***Jose Vega***

Dunbarrow & the Witches of the wilds

A misty land near to edgewall, and home to the powerful witch Agatha as well as other spellcasters and giant spiders, Dunbarrow and the surrounding area is home to all manner of wicked things. It was said the wildlife around Dunbarrow was twisted by Agatha’s magic and even friendly herbivores gained a taste for human flesh due to her influence. Agatha’s sister, the powerful witch Eriette, has left her home in Dunbarrow and now sits on the throne of Ardenvale Castle,

*The witch Eriette casting the Wicked Slumber with her enchanted apple as she sits upon the throne of the overrun Ardenvale -* *Concept art by* ***Magali Villeneuve.***

Loch Larent

The great lake known as Loch Larent is home to many of Eldraine’s merfolk. It was frozen over by the ice-witch Hylda, and after Hylda relinquished her crown, Loch Larent began to thaw once more.

Hylda’s Castle, Winter’s Home

The domain of the powerful ice-witch Hylda, her palace of ice known as Winter’s Home. Winter’s Home’s main tower stands on a rocky cliff that overlooks the loch, and glittering ice-towers stand guard around her domain.

*“Winter’s Seat”, Hyldra’s Ice Castle. Concept art by* ***Jehan Choo***

The Rest of the Wilds

With Redtooth elves and were-foxes running around, the depths of Eldraine’s Wilds have an immense amount of lore and depth to discover.