Who is Karl Kopinski?

Karl Kopinski is an English professional artist, perhaps most well-known for his time spent with Games Workshop (of Warhammer fame), and his pieces for various Magic: The Gathering cards.

Karl’s artwork has been a favorite of mine since I started taking art seriously.
His style, which incorporates elements from sketchy pencil work, paired with painterly rendering techniques, allows him to create beautifully realized, verisimilitudinous artworks, that still maintain Karl’s distinct style.

some of Karl Kopinski’s artworks. (this is obviously NOT MY WORK).
from Left to Right: Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag promotional material, a sketch of a woman in a mechanical suit, and the “Infest” card artwork for MTG.

“How to Be Popular – Karl Kopinski Interview” (Proko)

This is a fairly lengthy interview (clocking in at around 51 minutes long), so I’ll be breaking down a few key moments that I find especially noteworthy and/or relatable.

Discipline from Laziness

“Really, I wasted a lot of years [at college]. Uh.. and kind of – because I got so disillusioned. I stopped drawing almost completely. Just hanging out, growing dreadlocks, and.. you know. Not doing the things I should’ve been doing . . . It started to dawn on me quite quickly that I needed to put some hard work in” (Proko).

In describing his experience(s) at college, Karl reminisces regretfully upon his schedule and behavior at that time, mentioning how he feels as though he wasted a great deal of his college years.

To some degree, I’ve a similar experience – except my regret comes from my high school years, where I spent time polishing my ego, rather than polishing my drawing skills.
I was very sure of myself. Confident of my abilities to a delusional fault. Eventually, I came to realize how much I had yet to learn, and have adopted a more disciplined schedule and mindset as a result.
Unfortunately, I tend to operate in extremes, so the overblown confidence from my high school years has since been replaced by an often overwhelming lack of confidence in my work.

I find this point by Karl to be extremely relatable on a personal and artistic level, and it leads directly into his next point.

Learning the Fundamentals, Falling Behind

“And I’m still frustrated, you know, talking with Ji Su, and Hyun Jin, and Jung Gi just the other night, and um.. You know, they’ve got a really rigid teaching system, and it’s very much not unlike what you’re doing. You know, there’s a lot of stuff where people are learning the real bones of it, and the real basics of anatomy, and fundamentals of perspective, and things like that” (Proko).

Learning the fundamentals is perhaps one of, if not the most important things to do when it comes to art.
Building a solid foundation for yourself will allow you to more intuitively build upon your knowledge, and develop a stronger understanding of various subject matters.

I can certainly relate to Karl’s feelings of frustration having not properly learned these fundamentals earlier. I only started learning about fundamental artistic techniques after high school, which, to me, feels a tad late.
I tend to feel very behind the curve, and as though I’m trailing behind other artists my age.
Like Karl says,

“I always feel like I’m playing catch-up” (Proko).

This also relates to Karl’s experience with impostor syndrome, something which is extremely common among artists (to the point of practically being an epidemic), and something I struggle with as well.

A Lighter Note

This has been a fairly serious blog post, dealing with feelings of artistic frustration and doubt – but Karl is also an extremely personable guy with a lighthearted sense of humor.
It feels right to end on a lighter note from this interview.

A common practice in the world of Magic: The Gathering cards is the concept of ‘alternates.’
Essentially, people will ask the original artist of a card to doodle on their copy. Some of these requests can get pretty outrageous.

Karl: “I also had a guy who just wanted me to draw spurting [cocks].”
Stan: “What?”
Karl: “Spurting [cocks]. Y-you know, it’s like.. The stuff that comes from the end.”
Stan: “Yeah, I know..”
Karl: “He wanted that on there . . . He was there just shouting ‘Draw me a [dick]! Draw me a [dick]!’ Alright, I’ll draw you a [dick]! . . . And I did it, because I’m such a whore.”
Stan: “God damnit – are you sure you want this recorded?” (Proko).

Conclusion

There isn’t much to say beyond what’s already been said.
I encourage you to all watch the Karl Kopinski interview – especially if you’re an artist.
Just throw it on in the background while you work. Karl is an entertaining guy with a likeable personality, and his experience in the professional art scene is invaluable to artists.

ALSO, it’s very difficult to cite Karl’s artwork properly, because it’s been spread across the internet so much.
So please, follow Karl Kopinski on Instagram, and show him some support. He’s truly an excellent artist, and a wonderful member of the art community.

Sources

  1. Proko. (2020, July 16). How to be Popular – Karl Kopinski Interview [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=281&v=f7KpK17Rk8s&feature=youtu.be


Disclaimer

All information in these posts is my own words, unless explicitly stated otherwise. None of this information is quoted, nor paraphrased, unless explicitly stated otherwise. Any similarities between my own words, and the informative sources/hyperlinks provided is purely coincidental, unless explicitly stated otherwise.
In any case where I am using someone else’s words (or imagery), the source will be cited internally, with a link to that source provided either within the internal citation, at the end of the post under “Sources,” or both.