These jewel-like shadow-box Yugioh cards are the work of Canada-based alter artist Waylon Lange. He took the time to tell Wargamer how he transforms multiple copies of the same card into these bespoke display pieces.
Lange has an artistic background: “I mostly did black and white graphite sketches and drawings” he says. His first venture into Yugioh TCG alteration was “with the much more common painted extended art alterations”.
As he became more familiar with the card alteration community he discovered 3D alterations. “I really wanted to give it a try”, he says, adding “the more I improved the more I found it satisfying to see a 2D image turn into a 3D image”. You can see photos demonstrating just how talented Lange has become over on his Instagram.
3D ‘shadow-box’ alters like this are rarer and usually more expensive than paint overs because they “take multiple copies of a card, on average seven to nine copies”: that’s going to be particularly pricey for the most expensive Yugioh cards. There’s also no way to play with them once they’re finished, so they’re very much a collector’s piece.
“The most challenging part is the initial planning stage”, Lange says, “as you figure out what would be the best way to translate the art into 3D” – how deep into the shadow box each aspect of the card image should be placed, which elements should be freestanding or attached to the card frame, and more. Special treatments, such as resin lacquers, can enhance the foiling effect on elements of the card to really make them pop.
It’s important that the base cards used to make a shadowbox have perfectly aligned frames, Lange says. “Nothing is worse than not noticing a card was printed slightly off center” after spending hours painstakingly slicing out a specific component, he explains.
Lange’s favorite part of the process is “hearing people’s reaction to seeing their favorite card artwork in 3D, in person, as the camera doesn’t do them justice”.
Fancy a card alter commission and want some inspiration? Check out what’s coming up on the Yugioh release schedule!
Source: Wargamer
