With the Fourth of July come and gone, I want to share some thoughts I have with you. First off, I’m unsure how I feel about fireworks. Every year, for about 30 minutes, the sky over downtown Indianapolis is alight with the colorful exploding flowers. Every year, the same red, white, blue, and occasionally green lights dance in the same predictable shapes across the sky. Every so often, a bomb blows up. After seeing it two or three times, fireworks get boring. That being said, I do love the science behind it. Questions like, I wonder what element they add to get it to burn that rich shade of blue (copper), and, How high do those big ones shoot into the sky (usually around 400 ft)? I find this stuff pretty interesting. Almost as interesting as how people keep coming back every year for the same thing. I know, I’m being a bit hard on fireworks here. After all, it isn’t their fault. And I’m not trying to knock the spirit of the Fourth of July and how people want to celebrate. I’m just saying that they aren’t my thing. The reason why: I find them unoriginal and boring.
Anyone who has braved my articles for the past couple of months knows how much I value artistic expression, and the myriad of paths down which it can lead us. I love how it can transport you somewhere new and give flesh to the already rampant thoughts our imagination gives us about a place. I love how fresh it keeps Magic. While in Sendai earlier this year, I had the chance to spend some time with one of the newer Magic artists on the block, Karl Kopinski. The few days I spent with Karl were absolutely some of the most fun I’ve had, and I really enjoyed getting to talk with him about things from Napoleonic era warfare to the transition in his art from more oils to more digital. Hes a great guy, and guys like him are the reason that Magic stays so fresh and visually cool.Here’s an interview I did with him while he was tending to the massive crowd of Japanese players waiting in line to meet him.
Click the arrow to download the above video in .mp4 format.
As for the results of the contest I announced at the end of my last article, results are coming soon! If you guys enjoyed the little puzzle I made for you, just let me know. I have plenty more ideas where that came from. Who knows, maybe we can make this a regular thing!
Nate Price
Yr a charming a goblinoid, Natey. Truly, truly, truly.
I always love looking at magic card art, it’s very impressive. However, on the flip side, if a card was good, I would play with it even if it had no picture heh.
lol at slave of bolas-wife.
By the way, I think fireworks can be a fine medium for artistic expression. There are a myriad of different types, and ones that explore into some really cool images…just my two cents!
Cool interview, the guy waiting at the table must have been annoyed that he was taking so long though hah.
I never go to huge paper events so it was awesome to see an interview with the artist. I am a big fan of the Magic art since it’s what got me into magic in the first place. Oh and I loved the video I would love to see more videos like this!
Magic art is a great thing to talk about, and Karl seems like a really nice guy. Nice to meet the man behind the art, or at least a man that’s behind some art.