20 Breathtaking Illustrations by Johannes Voß
We will kick-off this article by saying that Magic: The Gathering is a hugely fun game to play, and that if you have not played it yet, you should definitely give it a try.
Trading card games are a fantastic way for illustrators to show off their skills, making miniature works of art that people interact with. The attachment one feels towards his card collection is strong to the point of fanaticism, so the illustrator’s drawings create a real, tangible bond with the people who buy them.
The aforementioned game is an excellent example of this, and Johannes Voß is one of the illustrator’s who recently, back in 2011, got to add his name to a list of great illustrators who created cards for it, together with his long time friend, Jana Schirmer. Even more impressive is the fact that this is his first job as an illustrator, so you can be sure that the future has great things in store for him.
Born in 1988, in Germany, Johannes is an illustrator and digital painter from from Leipzig, and his range is really rather impressive. He started with manga in his early youth, but since 2007 he has begun taking art seriously. You can actually see his early exercises in this very old post on the ConceptArt.org forum.
Since then he has gone on to make some extremely beautiful illustrations that demonstrate a real attention to detail, and excellent handle on lighting and shades. The themes of his illustrations also vary quite a lot, from fantasy scenes, to sci-fi and even realism, showing that Johannes can master just about any kind of motif.
Since his most famous works are the ones for Magic: The Gathering, we will first be showing you some of those illustrations, which he has done, as we have mentioned earlier, with Jana Schirmer. You can also read an interview that the makers of the game, Wizards of the Coast, made with them, here.
Magic: The Gathering
Since Magic: The Gathering is a fantasy card trading game, these illustrations showcase how well young master Voß does fantasy style illustrations. You can see how each one of these drawings is a little master piece all on its own, and how the players can get quite attached to them.
They really do the job of immersing you into the game’s universe, and turning what essentially is just a round of cards into an epic battle. Take illustrations 1 through 5, for example (named, in order, Phyrexian Metamorph, Leonin Skyhunter, Shimmer Myr, Chrome Steed and Sheoldred, Whispering One). They are really dynamic illustrations, and you really get the feeling that these are characters and creatures in motion, and that they really do have “life” to them.
Next we will be showing you miscellaneous drawings from Johannes’ DeviantArt profile. Here we will be seeing more fantasy illustrations, some in which you can see how his early passion for manga has inspired him, and also some more dystopian, sci-fi and realistic work, to see just how well he seamlessly switches from one genre to the other.
DeviantArt
Once again, we see the artist’s prowess for designing and drawing fantasy characters. The style here is rather raw, and has concept art written all over it.
Here we see just how terrific Johannes is with lighting. The shading is absolutely fantastic and the whole picture feels, at times, photo-realistic.
This next drawing is a gift he made to his younger sister, who is apparently a big literature buff. You can see how manga influenced the artist, and you can also see how great he is at drawing manga. We are kind of hoping for an Wuthering Heights anime, now.
There’s something quite manga/anime about this one too, we just can’t put our finger on it. But other than the style, everything else about this drawing is realistic (in the sense of contemporary). There are now dragons or swords, just a girl waiting for a train.
Time for some good ol’ fashioned post-apocalyptic dystopia. This one is a bit reminiscent of The Last of Us, and that’s fine by us because that’s one terrific game. You can see this is a huge departure from fantasy and anime, being a much more gritty drawing.
If you thought pulling off different genres is impressive, then take a look at how the artist tackles portraits as well.
Mechs are so very cool, and it’s obvious that Johannes likes them too. We can see Japanese influence here as well, with the Gundam style mechs having a showdown on a very gray, desolate landscape.
Let’s get a bit high-brow. If you are familiar with Vincent Van Gough’s paintings, than you know the painting he did of his favorite worn-out boots. This “portrait” of the artist’s tools seems really personal, and it can be seen as an homage to the things that help him create beautiful things.
Now, back to fantasy. This is a drawing commissioned for the Android and iPhone game, Legend of the Cryptids, which is also a card game. Once again you can see superb lighting, and the overall look of this illustration is really dynamic.
Some more dystopia for you. Once again you have a gray, desolate landscape, with what seems to be an abandoned factory in the background, and two small children rummaging around a broken down fighter jet.
This one is also a collaboration with Jana Schirmer, this time for the Team Chow II event on ConceptArt. What it is is a giant flying Man-o-War, saddled by your average, spear-wielding fantasy RPG hero.
And lastly, we travel into the world of sci-fi with this concept art for a fictional 2D strategy game. What we have here is a really cool looking three-footed tank, equipped with a cannon, chain gun and four rocket launchers.
It was a real pleasure checking out Johannes Voß’s works, and we hope it was just as much a pleasure for you. Be sure to check out his DeviantArt profile by clicking the above photos’ source links, and share any works of his you like in the comment section below.
Leave a Reply