Also, I've seen plenty of artists in mtg forums, it's not such a rare thing.

But it isn't common at at all in the Fantasy flight LCG forums.

So thank you Very much Mr Nash for taking the time to talk to us and explain some of the things. I am glad that the movie is not influencing the art because I like to see new interpretations (and I've already seen the movie interpretations).

When you refer to the three trolls do you mean those form the Carrock? If so I always imagined them (being based on the three from the Hobbit) to be a bit more sophisticated than the Cave trolls of the Lord of the rings and I felt the Carrock cards captured that well.

I believe it is the Hobbit ones, seeing that they are illustrated by him. And yeah, I don't mean no offense at all to Mike, but those aren't among my favorite pieces, I'm sorry to say.

I believe it is the Hobbit ones, seeing that they are illustrated by him. And yeah, I don't mean no offense at all to Mike, but those aren't among my favorite pieces, I'm sorry to say.

Well the Hobbit ones also capture it well

Yes indeed, the Trolls I illustrated were the Stone Trolls, William, Bert and Tom from the Hobbit. So they were a different breed (?) from the Cave Troll in LOTR, but nevertheless it was still hard not to be inspired by it. I had to go in a different direction, to avoid the movie license. For some reason the artwork I created never sat well with me. I was so excited to illustrate them, yet when it came to it I couldn't find a design I was happy with. Perhaps I was being too pernickety. I shall illustrate them again some day, in my own time, and do proper justice to them. I try to illustrate anything from Middle-Earth with proper research and care. Unfortunately short deadlines, can sometimes interfere with the style and success of the result (as far as the artist is concerned). But that's the way it goes sometimes!

What's your favorite pierce of art work you've done for this card game? (OR at least, favorite out of the ones you're allowed to tell us about).

I'm pleased with the majority of cards I've created, but I do have a couple of favourites. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I really like Leaflock, I feel I managed to capture Tolkien in the way that I imagine it in my head i.e a sense of age, mythology and romantic legend. I also like Goblin Taskmaster, as I had fun designing what I think Goblins should look like. The head is actually based on a cat's skull. I later developed the idea with Eagle Hunter and tried adding bone piercings and dreadlocks as well as armour.

I also really like how The One Ring and the Arkenstone worked out. I choose simplicity for those designs. I felt the Arkenstone looked particularly effective once it was placed on the card with it's gold frame, that was a nice surprise! Finally, Smaug's eye turned out well, it was quite a quick card to paint actually, and I felt the mood and texture I managed to capture felt right.

All the cards I mentioned are on my website.

There are a few other cards due out soon that I had fun with too, but I can't talk about those!

It's awesome to have you on here Mike Nash!! Do you actually play this game?

I don't actually play the game no, but I always get a complimentary copy of all the FFG games I work on. I enjoy taking a look through the rulebooks and cards, checking out the artwork created by all the different artists! Pleasure aside, I'm also checking that my art still suits the product as a whole and is doing it justice. With that knowledge, I then move on to painting the next batch of cards!