<p style="text-align: right;"><em>Header Photo by Nick Wolf</em></p>
<p>Hello and welcome to the first edition of Spotlight: Community Art!</p>
<p>In this series, we'll be shining a spotlight on community artists who are inspired by <em>Magic: The Gathering </em>to create visual art of all sorts, from alters to custom prints, fan art to 3D crafts. If it's hand-crafted and related to <em>Magic, </em>we're into it!</p>
<p>Last month, members of the Space Cow Media herd gathered for their annual work retreat, and one lucky bovine — Tom, of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Warp World" href="#" target="_blank">Warp World</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> fame (iykyk) and the company's Chief Operating Officer — won a one-of-a-kind, hand-painted <a href="https://quivertime.com/">Quiver</a>, created as a raffle prize.</p>
<p>We sat down with the community artist behind it, Katie Strobel, to talk about a career that bounces between serious and silly, the D00-DL Off at MagicCon, and of course, custom Quivers.</p>
<div id="attachment_195477" style="width: 1061px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/IMG20260519181917-scaled-e1792538153376.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-195477" class=" wp-image-195477" src="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/IMG20260519181917-scaled-e1792538153376.jpg" alt="" width="1051" height="1051" srcset="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/IMG20260519181917-scaled-e1792538153376.jpg 2560w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/IMG20260519181917-scaled-e1792538153376-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/IMG20260519181917-scaled-e1792538153376-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/IMG20260519181917-scaled-e1792538153376-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/IMG20260519181917-scaled-e1792538153376-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/IMG20260519181917-scaled-e1792538153376-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/IMG20260519181917-scaled-e1792538153376-2048x2048.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1051px) 100vw, 1051px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-195477" class="wp-caption-text"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><strong>Artist Katie Strobel (photo provided)</strong></span></p></div>
<h3>Tell us about your art career. How did you first get into the industry? How many years have you been creating art?</h3>
<p>My art career has been a puddle jump between being a serious artist and being a funny one. In art I have different levels of seriousness and a variation of style that gives me a lot of room to play in. My undergraduate work centered around using water-based paints, which tend to be very unforgiving, and my personal work, which was derived from fantasy settings and aesthetics. My love for <em>Magic</em> allowed me a place to marry these visual languages.</p>
<p>So when it comes to <em>Magic: The Gathering</em> and my desire to do a bit of everything, I allow myself to follow my whims and to agonize less over how things are meant to be. With these dueling identities I started to make card alters, MTG fanart, and custom deckboxes on the internet.</p>
<p>Breaking into the industry started with a sketchbook at the last MagicCon in Chicago. Over the weekend I made a comic diary of my entire weekend at the convention, and I happened to have a few people ask about it. After showing it off I decided to post a few pages. This turned into me posting once a week, and snowballed into me regularly posting MTG illustrations and growing a following that likes to see a historical-fashion <a href="https://edhrec.com/sets/snc">New Capenna</a> drawing chased by some bizarre crossover.</p>
<p>I've been making art as far back as I can remember. When I was a kid I would grab a stack of printer paper and try to imitate other drawings. When I made a mistake I would crumple up the drawing and toss it over my shoulder to begin again.</p>
<p>I made bad art for most of the time that I've practiced, then slowly and all at once, I figured it out. I strongly think that anyone else can do the same. Art is one of the most accessible things, and a lot of my goals are about getting people to wade through the hardest part, which is being uncomfortable at not being good and just starting something.</p>
<h3>How did EDHREC get you involved in this project?</h3>
<p>Jokingly saying hello to my neighbors is what got me involved in this project. I was in line to meet an artist at a past MagicCon while the rest of my group was playing in an event elsewhere, so instead of putting my head down I started talking to my neighbor in line. I asked about what cards they were getting signed, and we ended up having a lovely conversation about fanart and community events.</p>
<p>This was before I had been a part of hosting anything, but I carry a custom Quiver that I painted imitating the Enchanting Tale version of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blind Obedience|WOT|1" href="#" target="_blank">Blind Obedience</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, by <a href="https://www.lenarichards.com/">Olena Richards</a>, so the topic of fanart came up naturally. Turns out he was a member of the Space Cow Media team, and he introduced me to someone else at a future con who put me onto this project. So I made this deckbox as a prize to be raffled off for one lucky employee.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Blind Obedience|WOT|1"></div></div>
<h3>What inspired you to get involved in the D00-DL Off panels at MagicCon? And what inspired you to start painting custom quiver boxes?</h3>
<p>For me it was less of an inspiration to join the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPXjfNNjHrN/">D00-DL panels</a> and more like a blunt hammer bonking me over the head, compelling me to participate. The first time I engaged with the D00-DL Off was the audience-participation spectacle play at my first MagicCon. In short, I hadn't realized what I was agreeing to.</p>
<p>The con hall was loud and I didn't even hear the name of the event. What I did hear was that there were free packs for each round of participation, and I falsely assumed it was some kind of short-format, free-to-play thing that you see around <em>Magic</em> conventions. I'm a sucker for sealed products. So I took a seat to join, and they started to explain and hand out printer paper.</p>
<p>The idea for aD00-DL Off is that you have sixty seconds to draw a specific MTG character from memory, and tournament-style best-of-one, you get paired off with a person seated near you and rounds of play progress until there is an overall winner. So as someone with an art degree, the initial feeling was difficult to describe. I begin eyeballing my sketchbook. I get a pit in my stomach for a moment because I've been put into a situation to pubstomp and it's too late to turn back, so I pick up my pen.</p>
<p>The first characters were ones displayed on banners or within eyesight of the hall before becoming more esoteric. Initially I held back a little, but when the people at my table saw my drawing they got really excited and started identifying our table as being like a team, and that if I did well it's the same as all of us winning. The mood was incredibly upbeat, and after a particularly good drawing of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Scorpion God" href="#" target="_blank">The Scorpion God</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> I ended up winning the round.</p>
<p>Afterward I met Jacob and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/myhandsareblank/">Myhandsareblank</a>, who had been hosting, and from there we ended up becoming fast friends. I helped out with something tangentially related to the D00-DL Off, and not long after they asked me if I'd be at all interested in helping to run the event, and the rest has sort of been history.</p>
<p>I think that trying to have more custom gear is what really inspired me to start painting on Quivers. In <em>Magic</em> there are many different archetypes to identify with, and yet there are only a few choices to distinguish that, which feels like a tragedy — but it's one that can be amended with quick thinking or a good idea.</p>
<div id="attachment_195485" style="width: 1036px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Vegas26-25.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-195485" class=" wp-image-195485" src="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Vegas26-25.jpg" alt="" width="1026" height="669" srcset="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Vegas26-25.jpg 2048w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Vegas26-25-300x196.jpg 300w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Vegas26-25-1024x668.jpg 1024w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Vegas26-25-768x501.jpg 768w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Vegas26-25-1536x1001.jpg 1536w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1026px) 100vw, 1026px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-195485" class="wp-caption-text"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><strong>Attendees at MagicCon Vegas earlier this year participate in a D00-DL Off. (Photo by Nick Wolf)</strong></span></p></div>
<h3>What techniques did you use to create this piece? How long did it take you?</h3>
<p>This piece took me around ten hours across two weeks. As an optional starting step you can prime a deckbox using a fine-grit sandpaper so the paint can better adhere to the plastic surface of the deckbox, or you can use a matte medium to similar effect. I like using size 1 and 3/0 brushes (typically sizes you'd find for D&amp;D miniature painting).</p>
<p>For this project I purchased a black deckbox and created a sketch with a dry brush of paint, so it would be enough of a mark to reference for placement of elements but it wouldn't leave a residue or texture the way that using a pencil or a full layer of paint might. When sketching I used the lid of a coffee container for the circle, to ease the burden of drawing a perfect shape.</p>
<p>For my choice of paint I like to use acrylic gouache. It has a nice chalky texture and an immediacy to its mark that I prefer to standard acrylic paint, which can be a little more transparent. I freehand a lot of my sketching, but I focus on the math and space of relative objects — for some areas I would use the letters in the quiver logo to reference how far apart certain forms were meant to be.</p>
<p>After building up the image and the deckbox is evenly painted, I let it dry for a full day to make sure everything is properly ready to be sealed. For sealing the paint I recently learned a really effective method: brush-on decoupage sealant instead of a spray-on. It's water-based, so not only is it safer for use, it also sticks better. Who would have thought that a sealant used to destroy vintage furniture would be able to perfectly secure my deckboxes?</p>
<p>It's been a learning curve full of experimenting, but customizing accessories means accepting a possibility of failure — or, more optimistically, a possibility of fixing as you go.</p>
<div id="attachment_195480" style="width: 1128px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/FU4A7057-scaled.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-195480" class=" wp-image-195480" src="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/FU4A7057-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="1118" height="745" srcset="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/FU4A7057-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/FU4A7057-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/FU4A7057-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/FU4A7057-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/FU4A7057-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/FU4A7057-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1118px) 100vw, 1118px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-195480" class="wp-caption-text"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><strong>Katie's custom-made Space Cow Media Quiver (photo by Nick Wolf)</strong></span></p></div>
<h3>What is your next upcoming project, and where can we find it?</h3>
<p>I'm going to be hosting the D00dle-off at MagicCon Atlanta with my co-hosts Myhandsareblank and Jacob Paris. We have our spectacle play event running on Saturday from 4 until 6, so if anyone is bad at drawing, good, or net neutral and able to attend, I hope to be able to see you there. We'll have some event-exclusive prizes made with the help of the art community, as well as participation packs for prize support.</p>
<h3>Anything else you want our readers to know, or that you'd like to share about art in the MTG community?</h3>
<p>If you have a question about how anyone does anything when it comes to altering, painting, or customizing, there is no such thing as a secret ingredient. If questions are raised to pretty much anyone in this circle on how they get a particular look, what you'll get is a swift answer, or at least a few tips.</p>
<p>At Shoebox this past winter there was a big gathering of community artists, and the amount of conversations that led to linked products to help with process or simple pro-tips was incredible. It's a close-knit community that accepts anyone willing to try, regardless of starting skill level.</p>
<div id="attachment_195478" style="width: 1140px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/FU4A7054-scaled.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-195478" class=" wp-image-195478" src="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/FU4A7054-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="1130" height="753" srcset="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/FU4A7054-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/FU4A7054-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/FU4A7054-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/FU4A7054-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/FU4A7054-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/FU4A7054-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1130px) 100vw, 1130px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-195478" class="wp-caption-text"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><strong>The final product. (Photo by Nick Wolf)</strong></span></p></div>
<h2>Wrapping Up</h2>
<p>Our thanks to Katie Strobel for walking us through the whole process: inspiration, brushes, sealant, and all. If you're headed to MagicCon Atlanta, swing by the D00-DL Off on Saturday afternoon and try your luck at drawing increasingly obscure <em>Magic </em>characters. And let us know in the comments what community art has caught your eye lately.</p>


custom art

An Interview with Katie Strobel | Spotlight: Community Art