It began, as many good bad ideas do, at Dragon Con. Ross, a longtime fan who comes to see me every year showed me these "Unknown Event Playtest" cards, which have no art on them. After fixing that unfortunatity, a scheme began fermenting in my brainmeats.
Jason Engle and I have been friends since the very first Gen Con I went to. Long enough ago we traveled on pterodactyls, which did not have food service, but unlucky passengers became food service for the pterodactyl. Jason and I have gleefully collaborated a few times over the years, and I'm always looking for excuses to do more of that.
So as I was perusing this new world of weird playtest cards, I saw “Emrakul and Chatterfang.” And Jason is the artist for the original Chatterfang! So I shook him by his damned handsome shoulders and shrieked my vision at his damned handsome face. There was moderate spittle.
The clanging gears of inspiration were set in motion. Jason had a drawing done almost before I finished my insane ramblings. (He is very fast, but I also can ramble for quite a spell.)
Armed with extremely tiny paintbrushes, and an incredibly goofy looking head-apparatus of magnifying glasses for eyes old enough to have seen and effectively operated a rotary phone, I set to my lest-fast work of coloring inside Jason’s lines. (Yes, I operate phones with my eyeballs. It’s easier now with touchscreens.)
I probably talk about Brandon Sanderson too much. He's just one of those people that makes you angry with yourself for how awesome he is. And as much as I'd like to be able to contribute something meaningful in appreciation for the tremendous effort he puts into making the world a better place, I'm kind of a one-trick pony. I make B+ish art, and that's the alpha and omega of Steve. So that's what I do for people. Brandon is a notorious Magic fan, and has a handful of delightful custom cubes he shares with us other Magic geeks. Some of them contain silly things, some contain incredibly powerful cards. Emrakul and Chatterfang is ridiculous on both counts, and I secretly (or I guess not so secretly now, damn my candor) hope that the card makes the cut.
So, cheers to Jason and Brandon for being amazing people who put up with me hanging around. You guys are the best.
Channel Emrakul and Chatterfang!
I just wanted to let you know that Ross Shared this with a group of friends and didn't even notice you name dropped him