Wylie Beckert

The Idea Map

Posted by Wylie Beckert | Wednesday, August 13th, 2025

The prevailing wisdom is that a painting starts with a sketch. My own methods are a little less...

On Series

Posted by Wylie Beckert | Monday, December 26th, 2022

Creating artwork for a series is inherently more fraught than creating a one-off...

Creating a Targeted Illustration Sample

Posted by Wylie Beckert | Monday, November 28th, 2022

This piece was motivated by a recent Q&A question that I felt needed to be illustrated with a...

Prayer of Binding

Posted by Wylie Beckert | Monday, October 31st, 2022

As a Magic artist (but not a Magic player), I’m sometimes unsure of how the images I’m...

Castle Full of Blackbirds #2

Posted by Wylie Beckert | Monday, October 3rd, 2022

Continuing my work on the Hellboy-universe Castle Full of Blackbirds series, here’s my cover...

HATE YOUR ART

Posted by Wylie Beckert | Monday, September 5th, 2022

I’m here today to tell you that it’s okay if you don’t like your own art....

Castle Full of Blackbirds #1

Posted by Wylie Beckert | Monday, August 8th, 2022

I’m super excited to finally share one of the projects I’ve been working on behind the...

Harnessing Chaos

Posted by Wylie Beckert | Monday, July 11th, 2022

Here’s an experiment in marbling that evolved into a depiction of the Spotted Lava Marmot...

From the Archives: Pan

Posted by Wylie Beckert | Monday, June 13th, 2022

Since most of what I’ve been busy with lately is either under NDA (awesome secrets!) or...

The Best Pencils Ever (Are Going Away)

Posted by Wylie Beckert | Monday, May 16th, 2022

Let me tell you about my favorite pencil… now that it’s almost too late for you to get...

Tiny Art Intermission

Posted by Wylie Beckert | Monday, April 18th, 2022

Attempts to collect the latest Muddy Colors post from Wylie Beckert — or indeed, locate her person...

Own It

Posted by Wylie Beckert | Monday, March 21st, 2022

Regular Muddy Colors readers may recall that, a few months ago, I did an illustration for a major...

The Power of Hindsight

Posted by Wylie Beckert | Monday, February 21st, 2022

If you’ve been following my art for any length of time, you’ve probably noticed that...

A quick trick for scanning textured surfaces

Posted by Wylie Beckert | Monday, January 24th, 2022

One of the things I love about traditional media is its built-in texture. While digital artists...

Fill your eyes with beauty

Posted by Wylie Beckert | Monday, December 27th, 2021

I’m a believer in stepping away from the flat world of screens and easels as...

Author: Wylie Beckert

The Idea Map

On Series

Creating a Targeted Illustration Sample

Prayer of Binding

Castle Full of Blackbirds #2

HATE YOUR ART

Castle Full of Blackbirds #1

Harnessing Chaos

From the Archives: Pan

The Best Pencils Ever (Are Going Away)

Tiny Art Intermission

Own It

The Power of Hindsight

A quick trick for scanning textured surfaces

Fill your eyes with beauty

New Video

Materials and Methods

Featured Posts

Art for Exposure

Harmonious Color

Art Director AMA: THE ANSWERS

Type 101 for Illustrators

References Please

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