Welcome to the Concept Art Spotlight for Madness at the Darkmoon Faire. Now, why did it take so long to get this up compared to previous expansions? The answer to that question is simply that the process in what concept art was posted was extremely slow compared to those expansions.

Every image in this article is courtesy of ArtStation, and links to every artist's ArtStation page is provided. With that said, let's get started.

Dunk Tank by Jim Nelson

Our first piece (or rather, pieces) of concept art in this article comes from Jim Nelson, who sketched out the art for one of the first cards to show the new Corrupt mechanic that was revealed, Dunk Tank in both its base and Corrupted form.

Day at the Faire by Rafael Zanchetin

Day at the Faire (another one of the first Corrupt cards revealed) notably went through a significant art design change, as the Corrupted version of the original art takes place at an entirely different perspective than its base form. In the final design of the set, all Corrupted versions of card have the same exact perspective as their base forms, meaning that this design choice came later in production.

Both arts are quite good however and you have Rafael Zanchetin to thank for that.

Tenwu of the Red Smoke by Juyoung Oh

Concept art for Tenwu of the Red Smoke by be Senior UI artist, Juyoung Oh. While the perspective changed slightly, the stance pretty much stayed the same through its entire development.

Claw Machine by Jim Nelson

Jim Nelson provided the concept art for Claw Machine, and all I can think of is THE CLAW!!!

Stormstrike by Jim Nelson

Jim Nelson provided the concept artwork for one of the new cards pushing the new Weapon Shaman archetype, Stormstrike. Maybe they'll actually commit to pushing the archetype this time unlike Freeze Shaman.

Darkmoon Strider by Mike Mishkin

Preliminary sketches of Darkmoon Strider (from Petting Zoo) by Mike Mishkin, where there was notably a balloon originally in the artwork that does not appear on the finished card.

Knife Vendor by Angelica Alieva

Angelica Alieva provided this concept art for Knife Vendor, part of the "Vendor" cycle of Neutral Commons that all have symmetrical effects. Of note is the fact that the knife in the elf's hand as well as the way the rack is designed differs from all versions of the artwork. The attire is also noticeably different than the finished artwork, which uses the pose in A as the basis.

Idol of Y'Shaarj by Agatha Zhou

Agatha Zhou provided this gif detailing the artwork progress of Idol of Y'Shaarj.

Banana Vendor by Jim Nelson

Concept art for another one of the "Vendor" cards, Banana Vendor. YOU get a banana, and YOU get a banana. EVERYONE gets a banana!

Shadow Clone by Maria Trepalina

Shadow Clone noticeably saw some changes done to the Rogue's eyes before settling on the finished art (the left-most one). This artwork was done by Maria Trepalina, whom is noticeably responsible for many female character art across the WoW universe and in the expansions she's done art for.

Minefield by Jim Nelson

Concept art of Minefield featuring only the finest Darkmoon Tonk.

Sayge, Seer of Darkmoon by Ivan Fomin

Ivan Fomin provided these preliminary sketches of Sayge, Seer of Darkmoon. Remember when everyone thought he'd be a Priest card?

Redscale Dragontamer by Arthur Bozonnet

Some early conceptual designs for Redscale Dragontamer were provided by Azora Studio, although the name of the person responsible for the art is Arthur Bozonnet. The card went through some clothing design changes on the murloc, as the hat that appears in the final artwork is notably not one of the hats here. The final pose for the murloc appears to be based on picture D, although the whip was originally not present in that version.

Safety Inspector by Arthur Bozonnet

Azora Studio also provided these early designs of Safety Inspector, also made by Arthur Bozonnet. The character originally had a mustache, which is not present on the final artwork. Elements of both designs are actually present on the final artwork.

Dancing Cobra by Patrik Björkström

Patrik Björkström provided these preliminary compositions of Dancing Cobra in both base form and Corrupted form. Turns out that when you cover a snake in weird pink slime, it gets angry. Who would've guessed?

Umbral Owl by Patrik Björkström

Patrik also provided these compositions of Umbral Owl, whom would later gain an eye on top of its head. And an eye necklace. So many eyes!