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I'm so excited to officially share this new Ikoria card; MYTHOS OF NETHROI! Thank you @wizards_magic for the free preview! I have a long thread here detailing the creation of this piece, but first let's look at the card!
AD Andrew Vallas sent the assignment, calling for the depiction of a myth - Nethroi making someone disappear, perhaps by eating them. Mood: "Like a ghost story around the campfire". The style guide had this gorgeous rendition of Nethroi, by Slawomir Maniak, to work from.
There was also mention of a character called Rielle (yet to be revealed), a wise storyteller who knows "everything about everything". I imagined her telling these stories in a torchlit cave with paintings on the walls, and thought, what if she made the paintings herself?
So of course, the famous Lascaux cave paintings became an inspiration and a starting point. I thought this style was quite fitting for this "beast plane".
To achieve this, I knew my best bet was to work in physical media. First, I began my playing around and sketching in photoshop, trying to find an interesting composition, and settled for this one.
Once I got the OK from Andrew, I got a large piece of birchwood panel, and started the piece in charcoal.
It was summer and I was working outside, so I had to wear a mosquito-suit to keep the flies out of my face.
I used loads and loads of different pumice gels as a base, mixed with acrylics, to mimic the texture of rock and earth.
Progress...
And here's the final painting. These were a real joy to work on, and it felt so good to switch from digital to traditional for a change, getting paint on my hands, real texture under my fingers. I missed it. These Mythos works are my first non-digital paintings for MtG.
I leave you with the special extended card version of Mythos of Nethroi. Thank you @GavinVerhey and @blakepr for getting this preview to me, thank you Andrew Vallas for this wonderful commission, and thank you all for tuning in, and supporting my work! Much love! 
