Asia-Exclusive Embellished Print: River Styx

Remember these beautiful Limited Edition of 25 - River Styx prints by Elwira Pawlikowska? They were sold out within the hour after she listed on her Etsy shop!!

River Styx is one of the Curio Cards in Alpha. Curios are the rarest cards that debuted in Sorcery Alpha, showcasing the history of Sorcery card evolution.

The same art was eventually converted to become the Death's Door token that comes only in foil in the Kickstarter Pledge Packs.

Title: Valley 谷

Price: SGD 945

Rate valid until 28th January 2025.

Payment plans may be worked out.

For serious buyers, email admin@alchemists-lair.com.

Comes with free 5 cards signing by Elwira (exclude shipping cost), and a Certificate of Authentication

Description:

The meticulously framed artwork captures a sweeping vista through the eyes of an adventurous soul, where the crimson sun gracefully ascends amidst distant billowing clouds, while a flock of birds embarks on their hunting expedition in the valley. This tableau finds its inspiration in the age-old adage 'the early bird catches the worm,' symbolizing the notion that seizing opportunities promptly can bestow a significant advantage.

Here, the journey of the adventurer begins ...

Title: Pavilion 亭

Price: SGD 945

Rate valid until 28th January 2025.

Payment plans may be worked out.

For serious buyers, email admin@alchemists-lair.com.

Comes with free 5 cards signing by Elwira (exclude shipping cost), and a Certificate of Authentication

Description：

As the adventurer descends further down the valley ...

A mystical pavilion finds its sanctuary nestled within the tender cradle of the meandering river, ensconced by the artful drapery of graceful willow trees. Here, its very aura weaves an enchanting tapestry, beckoning wanderers to draw near and listen to the hushed confidences of nature's secrets, whispered only to those who dare to venture into its embrace.

Where does the river lead? It's course, like an ancient scroll of exploration guides the adventurer ...

Title: Willow 柳

Price: SGD 945

Rate valid until 28th January 2025.

Payment plans may be worked out.

For serious buyers, email admin@alchemists-lair.com.

Comes with free 5 cards signing by Elwira (exclude shipping cost), and a Certificate of Authentication

Description：

As the adventurer descends down the valley ...

This tableau unfurls as willow trees dance in harmonious rhythm with the breeze, casting a serene canvas for adventurous wanderers to find solace within the pavilion, offering an exquisite interlude to embrace nature's allure, either preceding or succeeding their ascent to the hilltop pagodas.

And the journey continues ...

Title: Pagoda 塔

Price: SGD 945

Rate valid until 28th January 2025.

Payment plans may be worked out.

For serious buyers, email admin@alchemists-lair.com.

Comes with free 5 cards signing by Elwira (exclude shipping cost), and a Certificate of Authentication

Description：

From the peak of the valley, the adventurer discovers ...

Pagodas. Perched like ageless guardians atop the mountain's pinnacle, these pagodas command an otherworldly view, their timeless presence overseeing a landscape of tranquil and mystical respite. Here, nature's harmonious beauty merges with an aura of mysticism, inviting contemplation and solace, far removed from the mundane cares of the world.

What lies further down? The answer: Exploration.

We present to all of you the Asia-Exclusive River Styx Embellished Prints!

What are Asia-Exclusives? These pieces are special collaborations with our beloved Sorcery artists that feature their incredible artworks with a touch of Asian inspiration to demonstrate the spectacle of cross-cultural appreciation and allow more people from all over the world to discover their talented creations.

With Elwira, the crow on each piece is digitally removed before sending for ultra high quality printing. She then graciously committed several hours on each piece to completely hand paint the crow with her favourite medium, watercolor, and make this available for fans and art enthusiasts. The result is stunning!

The subtle yet beautiful Asian touch comes in the form of a black border and panoramic view envisioned by Elwira that matches River Styx. This way, the original art is preserved in its full glory, while these added frames form a series of 5 unique pieces that have been titled with individual names coupled with corresponding Han characters, that respects the specific nature of each piece. Here is a process video to showcase how she brings some of the elements to life!

Title: Lighthouse 昭

Price: SOLD

Description：

The meandering river gracefully wends its way, eventually merging with the vast expanse of the boundless sea.

The vessel voyage brings into view an offshore lighthouse gracefully illuminating the path to the enigmatic River Styx, where myth and reality converge in timeless union.

Having not merely existed, but ardently embraced life's unquenchable spirit, this intrepid adventurer welcomed Death as a familiar companion, completing life's odyssey.

In case you're wondering how rare these are going to be: Elwira will NEVER produce any more embellished prints of River Styx. The original is with Erik - the creator of Sorcery - and the next closest thing are these one of a kind embellished prints made with real care and detail by Elwira.

Did you all know? In early game development, River Styx was originally to be a Unique Site that touches both life and death.

Elwira then did the sketch version and final version in portrait that was adopted as Death's Door.

For these Asia Exclusive River Styx Embellished Prints, they pay homage to the original idea of "touches both life and death" through a journey from East to West.

Asia-Exclusive Embellished Print: Lightning Bolt

Brian Smith created 4 incredible Asia-Exclusive Embellished Prints of his Team Covenant Beta Promo - Lightning Bolt

These one-off special creations had their bolt digitally removed and Brian then painted onto the canvas. Every bolt is unique! Each piece comes with a beautifully hand-painted frame that is inspired from Transient Luminous Events (TLE) that naturally occur "outside/above" the lightning bolt. It doesn't get in the way of the original art so you get to take in it's full glory!

Title: Elves

Price: SGD 1260
For serious buyers, email admin@alchemists-lair.com.

Rate valid until 28th January 2025.
Payment plans may be worked out.

Comes with matching sketch, a note of authentication by Brian, and each canvas back labelled and signed.

Description:

Altitude 100km - Ionosphere

Elves are huge red halos resulting when an energetic electromagnetic pulse extends up into the ionosphere. This can also produce beams of relativistic electrons.

TLEs are sometimes called upper atmospheric lightning or ionospheric lightning. They are short-lived electrical-breakdown phenomena/electrically induced forms of luminous plasma that occur well above the altitudes of normal lightning and Cumulonimbus (Cb) clouds. Reports of strange flashes of lights date hundreds of years back but it wasn't until 1989 that first such events were captured on camera. Scientists dubbed these elusive events “sprites,” a reference to mythical fairy-like creatures from European folklore. As other kinds of TLEs were discovered, the playful naming convention stuck. Today, scientists study ELVES, Halos, Blue Jets, Gigantic Jets, and more.

Each piece rises up in altitude and appears in different regions of the atmosphere. Totally cool right!! These are probably the closest you can get to the original which was sold to a lucky collector and fan of Brian's work.

These pieces are already perfectly pulled on canvas stretcher bars and each of them come with a matching Sketch in Brian's vision.

Read Brian's perosnal account on the process how he worked through them

"The first step in the process was to remove the lightning bolt from the original high res image. I did this using the Photoshop "clone-stamp" tool. Then came color proofing with small test prints from a fine art publishing house here in Los Angeles. The original painting was 20x26 inches, so the image had to be sized-down to about 14x17.5 inches, which allowed for a 1-inch border around the image, where the framing elements would be added later.

The prints / "giclees", are printed with archival inks and on acid-free, archival, fine-art canvas, and are "gallery wrapped" with 1.5" sides. The lightning bolts, framing designs, and embellishments are painted with oils, and the surface has been gloss varnished.

The bolts were painted with a series of small lines, weaving in-and-out and overlapping each other. This gives the effect of movement and energy, and can make the bolt appear more dynamic. To do this, I had to wait for each line to dry completely, in order to paint the subsequent line over it. After enough layers, the bolt begins to fill-out and take-shape as the lines intersect. All four lightning bolts follow the same, general path, but no two are alike."

"Other areas of the print are embellished, such as the trees, the light blue sky, the arc of electricity between the figures hands, and the reflecting light on the edges of the sky in the upper corners. The printed signature was also covered with black paint, and re-signed.

Next came the Oriental framing designs. There were a lot of possibilities for these, but I wanted to go with thin-lined patterns, and bold colors. All four have straight lines, which meant having to use masking tape to create them. That was a first for me. There was also a great deal of overlapping in the patterns, which meant having to wait for a line to dry, before painting a connecting or overlapping line."

Title: Red Sprites

Price: SGD 1260
For serious buyers, email admin@alchemists-lair.com.

Rate valid until 28th January 2025.
Payment plans may be worked out.

Comes with matching sketch, a note of authentication by Brian, and each canvas back labelled and signed.

Description:

Altitude 70km - Mesosphere

Red Sprites are often triggered by the discharges of positive lightning between an underlying thundercloud and the ground. They’re thought to be a balancing mechanism that the atmosphere uses to dispense charges vertically.

Title: Spider Lightning

Price: SGD 1260
For serious buyers, email admin@alchemists-lair.com.

Rate valid until 28th January 2025.
Payment plans may be worked out.

Comes with matching sketch, a note of authentication by Brian, and each canvas back labelled and signed.

Description:

Altitude 10km - Troposphere

A type of heat lightning with a sunset glow, Spider Lightning refers to long, horizontally traveling flashes often seen on the underside of stratiform clouds.

Title: Blue Jet

Price: SGD 1260
For serious buyers, email admin@alchemists-lair.com.

Rate valid until 28th January 2025.
Payment plans may be worked out.

Comes with matching sketch, a note of authentication by Brian, and each canvas back labelled and signed.

Description:

Altitude 40km - Stratosphere

Blue Jets extend up in narrow cones fanning out and disappearing at heights of 25-35 miles. They last a fraction of a second and have been witnessed by pilots.