EXTRACTS: Illustrators issue 10 © 2015 Book Palace Books (96 PAGES in Full edition)

58 also experienced her share of financial struggles, since freelancing isn’t always stable. She had to have a concurrent full-time job for years. Her first real breakthrough was in 2009, when she completed a painting called 'Half Her Heart’s Duet.' She had just been rejected from two annuals in the same week, and decided that she would use her anger over that as fuel to do better work. She poured about two weeks into the piece, and it got a lot of attention on sites like Deviant Art and CGSociety, directly leading to getting some bigger jobs and professional respect in the industry. She went on until she could attract the attention of more stable indie companies, and then eventually Wizards of the Coast, her current employer. For them, she creates the illustrations of the famous Magic cards, giving a body to the game’s creatures and inspiration for its players. The cards company gives her enough degree of freedom to experiment. For example, Cynthia’s recent work is marked by the influence of late 19th century painting. She seeks to find some kind of a balance between the academic accuracy of Bouguereau and the Image © 2014 Wizards of the Coast Image © 2013 Wizards of the Coast ABOVE TOP: 'Reviving Melody' a 2014 painting for Magic: The Gathering. ABOVE BELOW: 'Wake the Reflections', a haunting image from Magic: The Gathering from 2013.