Francis Tsai

Francis Tsai

Francis Tsai
Born Francis Tsai
Nationality American
Area(s) comic book artist, illustrator, conceptual artist, author

Francis Tsai is an American comic book artist, illustrator, author and conceptual artist. He is of Taiwanese and Japanese ancestry.[1]

Contents

Early life

Tsai was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and raised in Lubbock, Texas. He was initially trained in chemistry, before receiving a graduate degree in architecture.[2]

Career

In 1998, Francis Tsai joined Presto Studios as Conceptual Designer where he provided visual development and game design for the video games Myst 3[3] and Star Trek: Hidden Evil.[4] In 2003, Tsai joined High Moon Studios where he was principal concept artist for the video games The Bourne Conspiracy and Darkwatch.[5]

Tsai has illustrated cards for the Magic: The Gathering collectible card game.

Tsai is currently working on a five-issue graphic novel miniseries called Tracker for Top Cow Productions.[6] Tsai also contributes covers and interior art for Marvel Comics.[7][8]

Tsai provided interior artwork for Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology[9] as well as covers and interior artwork for the serialized graphic novel Mercy Thompson: Homecoming,[10] which reached number eight on the Comics Bestsellers list in October 2009.[11] In a generally favorable review of the novel, Martha Cornog wrote, "Francis Tsai's and Amelia Woo's painted art, especially their beautiful wolf depictions, make this all visually believable."[12] Tsai also created interiors for trade paperback Impaler.[13]

Tsai has also provided interior artwork for a number of Dungeons & Dragons manuals for Wizards of the Coast, including Sharn: City of Towers, Monster Manual III, d20 Future, Races of Eberron, Lost Empires of Faerûn, Explorer's Handbook, Tome of Magic: Pact, Shadow, and Truename Magic, Power of Faerûn, and d20 Future Tech.[14] Tsai created the artwork for the Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition Dungeon Masters Screen.[15]

Tsai has also provide visual development in the TV and film industries contributing concept artwork for Motion Theory's Gatorade "Inside Crosby" and Lenovo Thinkpad "Rollcage" commercials[16][17] as well as the movies Sucker Punch and TMNT - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.[18]

He is also a regular contributor to ImagineFX magazine, where he has created a series of workshops including topics such as using 3-D in 2-D, effective character design and game concept art.[2]

Francis Tsai wrote and illustrated the book Fantasy Art Academy: 100 Ways to Paint the Coolest Fantasy Figures for F&W Publications and recently released another book Extreme Worlds in November 2009. He is currently working on his third how-to book. Tsai is also currently working on Tracker, an upcoming miniseries from Top Cow Productions and Heroes and Villains Entertainment about an FBI agent who has contracted a virus that turns him into a werewolf. Issue 1 of 5 was released November 2009. Tsai has won numerous professional awards for his work.[19][20][21][22]

Comics bibliography

Bibliography of contributions

External links

References

  1. ^ http://www.facebook.com/pages/Francis-Tsai-Illustration-and-Concept-Design/367692304491?v=info
  2. ^ a b Parker, Charley (2007-04-11). "Francis Tsai". Linesandcolors.com. http://www.linesandcolors.com/2007/04/11/francis-tsai/. Retrieved 2008-10-06. 
  3. ^ Kauffman, Jeremiah; Philip Jong (October 2000). "Francis Tsai: Interview". Adventure Classic Gaming. http://www.adventureclassicgaming.com/index.php/site/interviews/165/. Retrieved 2008-10-06. 
  4. ^ Crawford, Rowan (1999-11-22). "Under Cover: Francis Tsai". Loony Games 2 (3). http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.3/uc/. Retrieved 2008-10-06. 
  5. ^ http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,39959/
  6. ^ http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=21781
  7. ^ Francis Tsai at the Grand Comics Database
  8. ^ Phegley, Kiel (2008-06-23). "Marvel Artists on the Cutting Edge". Marvel.com. http://www.marvel.com/news/comicstories.4028.Marvel_Artists_on_the_Cutting_Edge. Retrieved 2008-10-06. 
  9. ^ "Secret Identities Available April 15 Press Release". 2009-03-18. http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=20475. Retrieved 2009-05-05. 
  10. ^ Schwartz, Neil (2008-09-29). "Mercy Thompson: Homecoming Preview". Dabel Brothers Publishing. http://www.dabelbrothers.com/index.php?categoryid=16&p2_articleid=21. Retrieved 2009-05-05. 
  11. ^ Reid, Calvin (2009-10-12). "Comics Bestsellers", Publishers Weekly 256 (41): 14.
  12. ^ Cornog, Martha (2010-01-15). "Graphic Novels", Library Journal 135 (1): 80.
  13. ^ "Top Cow releases "Impaler" TPB". 2008-08-26. http://www.comicbookresources.com/?id=17845&page=article. Retrieved 2009-05-06. 
  14. ^ http://www.pen-paper.net/rpgdb.php?op=showcreator&creatorid=1502
  15. ^ http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/13/13967.phtml
  16. ^ http://www.motiontheory.com/work/gatorade_inside-crosby
  17. ^ http://www.motiontheory.com/work/lenovo_thinkpad
  18. ^ "IMDB". http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0972267/. Retrieved 2009-05-05. 
  19. ^ Published & Gold Award – “The Train Station” by Francis Tsai
  20. ^ Published & Bronze Award – “Devils Alley” by Francis Tsai
  21. ^ Published & Certificate of Merit – “Sunlight” by Francis Tsai
  22. ^ Published & Certificate of Merit - "Bourne Shootout" by Francis Tsai
  23. ^ Top Cow Releasing Tracker on November 11th