Disney Lorcana is a striking card game. While you can heap praise on its easy-to-learn mechanics and its twists on classic TCG gameplay, it’s fair to say its biggest appeal is its good looks. On each card in this game, you’ll find a dazzling illustration, filled with lush colours, sparkles, and eye-catching gleam.
In the era of generative AI, it should also be noted there are human artists behind all of these illustrations, wielding a little thing called “imagination” to create whole new spins on classic Disney adventures. One of the artists elevating the game is Matt Chapman, a Melbourne-based illustrator who has contributed to a variety of Disney Lorcana cards since launch.
Chapman’s career actually began at Disney’s Sydney studio several decades ago, and it’s here that he developed his hand-drawn animation skills. Getting to work for Disney via Ravensburger on Lorcana is a bit of a full circle moment for him. The lessons he learned so long ago, while going under-appreciated at the time, allowed him to foster illustrative techniques that help to create eye-catching artworks worthy of collecting.
“Some of that old knowledge from 25 years ago has helped me a little bit on doing some character art, not just in Lorcana, but all art,” Chapman told GamesHub. “Some of those art principles that you learn in a studio like Disney are so valuable to someone who’s learning about art. And you know, we’re always learning … Every day I’m trying to improve some aspect of the art I make.”
Read: Disney Lorcana Gateway review – A perfect intro for newcomers
Chapman described working on Disney Lorcana as being a lot like working on fan art. There is a “style guide” that all artists creating cards must adhere to – it encourages a “modern storybook feel” with hand-touched elements – but as Chapman describes, artists are able to put in “individual nuances” to create their own spin on Disney characters.
“Lorcana is an opportunity to try things,” he said.
The process of creating cards in Disney Lorcana is quite collaborative, according to Chapman. Artists will get a brief – for example, a card featuring Ludwig von Drake of Wonderful World of Color and DuckTales, and “he’s at a party bailed up in a corner, and he’s talking your ear off.” Then, it will be up to the artist to interpret this text, and develop an array of options.
“I’ll go away and I’ll draw a bunch of sketches, you know, trying different things,” Chapman said. “It’s like a conversation. It goes back and forth, and it’s a collaboration.”
“Sometimes you might send in a series of drawings, or some tighter pencils on a particular card, and it might take a week to hear back. Then, once it goes to Disney, there’s a bit of an approval process as well … From start to finish, it might take a couple months for a card to reach from the very beginning stage to the end.”
Read: Disney Lorcana: Azurite Sea Card Preview – Madam Mim, Truly Marvelous
This back-and-forth has led to some wonderful cards for Disney Lorcana, all of which Chapman is incredibly proud of. He has a particularly soft spot for Ludwig von Drake, Self-Proclaimed Genius, which features the character covered in party decorations and about to spoon some punch, but he also told GamesHub he loved working on Ulf from Tangled, as he’s a big fan of the film.
That said, even when characters assigned are lesser-known or lesser-loved, Chapman takes this as an opportunity to discover their stories, and elevate them. “When I get a character who’s maybe a lesser character, and doesn’t have a big part, you can add a bit more lore to them, and give them another life outside of that tiny scene.”
That’s part of the joy Chapman feels in working on Disney Lorcana. It’s a chance to celebrate his favourite characters and films, while also providing light and life to a smorgasbord of Disney creations, big and small.
For Chapman, it’s also rewarding to see how the game has impacted players, and how his artwork has contributed to their joy.
“I just love to see the effect it’s having on people,” Chapman said. “People are really loving it, and that’s so lovely to work on something that people are enjoying. The most exciting thing for me to see, just generally, is people liking what you’re doing, and loving collecting it, and talking about it. It’s just really nice.”
You can view more of Matt Chapman’s work on Instagram, and look forward to seeing more Disney Lorcana cards from him in future.
The next Disney Lorcana set, Azurite Sea, will launch on 15 November 2024, and we’ll have much more on this release closer to launch.