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NicolasRGiacondino — MAGUS
Published: 2009-05-30 15:14:17 +0000 UTC; Views: 59441; Favourites: 880; Downloads: 0
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[Small edit: I haven't mispelled the name of Magnus, my friends! Magus is the latin form of Sorcerer
...] I bet some of you were expecting this...
At some point, I always wonder if I'm not doing a LOT of Warhammer 40,000 artwork and not much of anything else, which is bad for an artist's portfolio. But, when I see the level of detail and skill I achieve with each passing piece set in the Dark Millenium, I'm convinced that you can see progress and evolution, despite the theme.
Thus, I bring forth another addition to my Primarchs; and, as promised, here is Magnus the Red, leader of the Thousand Sons Legion during the Great Crusade.
There was a lot of debating when I came up with my design for Magnus some time ago, mainly because I'd made him bald and with a third eye. The baldness I've corrected, because it was a fluff inconsistency on my part, but the third eye idea I kept. Why? Because I like to add that bit of my own to these characters and because the hobby community didn't see it coming at all. Everyone pondered and imagined Magnus's single eye as being cyclopean (that is, just an eye on his forehead), or with a mutation that made one of his regular eyes not be there. None of the ideas convinced me, so I came up with a third eye design; thus, my Magnus is blind, from both his eyes and sees with his one third eye, which opens up to the Warp and much, much else (to the dismay of his Chapter!).
I particularly enjoyed doing all of the egyptian details as well as rendering the backdrop of his homeworld, Prospero, because it is beautifully described as having a marble city in which the Chapter dwelt and I hope I've done it justice. Another good detail, I think, is his expression and the energy blasts of psychic power emanating from his eye and chanelled through his hands... it shows how much raw energy stemmed from his powers.
All in all, I consider Magnus to stand a bit apart from his brothers, design-wise, but I think it does his essence justice as he was rather odd in the eyes of mankind and even his Father, the God-Emperor.
I hope you enjoy it as usual!
Nic.-
© Games Workshop Ltd. 2009
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Comments: 229
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hello, I haven't said anything till now but, I really like your art in general, and always have
I find that I prefer this version of Magnus MUCH more than the canon version. Every time I look at canon!Magnus's armor I think, "Horny nipples"
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Thank you so much, Jasmine! I'm glad you prefer my version of Magnus; I thought it was clever to add a literal third eye to make the design original and many fans have identified with it over the years 
Nic.-
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Your works are awesome but this man is not The Crimson King. There is a huge mistake with the eye.
"A golden eye, flecked with iridescent colours without name, blinked and Lemuel saw that the warrior looked out at the world through this eye alone. Where his other eye should have been was smooth and unblemished, as if no eye had ever sat there."
Graham McNeill - A Thousand Sons
He is just one eyed, not cyclop.
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thousand sons have always been my favorite legion. even more so now.
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I'm pretty sure that Magnus is supposed to have red skin
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I recall Prospero to be more glamorous than the portrayal here.
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pawn the newbie Space wolves !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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The Thousands Sons and there Primarch Magnus are the most interesting legion i believe. I don't really think they deserved to be attacked and have there homeworld obliterated by the Space Wolves.
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dude all the traitor Legions home wolds were destroyed
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I know but their's was destroyed because the Emporer thought Magnus had become a traitor and sent the space wolves to obliterate there planet when in truth Magnus was still loyal.
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Yeah, Sometimes I really wonder what would have happened if the Emperoro had Headed the warning of Magnus, and didn't have the Lapdogs kill them...
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Indeed, the sad part is the warning that Magnus sent the Emporer opened a warp gate on Mars and the vision/message seemed like a message the Magnus was joining Horus. In truth is was a big misunderstanding but the first to answer the call of purgeing magnus and his legion was of course the Space Wolves because the harbored a deep hatred for the Thousand Sons. Over all I really don't belive the Thousand Sons deserve to be labled traitors and have there planet glassed.
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sadly this was all inevitability. Arabis got the ball rolling and everything went down hill from the thank you necrons and your star gobbling deities
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by the way where't most of the traitors already evil. like Fulgrim,Konrad, and Angron
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You seem to have made an error
MAGNUS SKIN BE CRIMSON RED
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I love his expression, it makes me thing there seems to be more going through his mind at the moment than just pure psychic energy. Fav'd
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ok. eres de argentina. eso lo hace mucho mejor todo(lo digo porque asi no tengo que hablar ingles):
pues tomando en cuenta de que magnus es mi primarca favorito(aun pienso que eran los lobos los que se deberian haber ido al caos) este dibujo de magnus es sublime. diria que es incluso mejor que el arte oficial de el porque aqui tiene una armadura completa con muchos detalles.
solo una pregunta.....magnus no tenia piel roja?
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i like your third eye idea the best. way to go for thinking outside of the box...or at least going into that corner no one else will.
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superb work always!. although in thousand sons HH novel, it does say he really is cyclopean. the other remainder of his "missing" eye is just a void. this is a certified fave though.
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nice pic but a lot of die hard fan must complain bout him not being a red skinned centaur
all is dust... ( thousand sons battle cry)
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Love this, but I feel compelled to point out that Magnus should be missing an eye!
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A Very good rendition of Magnus. Not quite how I myself imagine him to look (I take 'Mangus the Red' very litteraly, with red skin and the whole package), but it's interesting to see other peoples imagination at work.
I like the subtle Egyptian icons, it doesn't holler "THIS IS SPACE PHARAO" to your face at first glance.
Technically it's incredibly good. Don't know what else to say really. Great work.
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This rendition of Magnus isn't everyone's cup of tea, certainly, but I like the fact that even so it's managed to get some interesting reactions from the community. Especially regarding my choice of a third eye, instead of just one eye or and undeveloped one...
The egyptian icons were something I wanted to incorporate subtly, indeed. Thousands of years have gone by in the Imperium even at the point of the Great Crusade, so there couldn't be as noticeable, because no civilisation (I believe) would've survived the struggles of mankind so long...
Thanks again for the insightful review, mate!
Nic.-
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I personnaly like the idea of the third eye. I can easily believe that Magnus was mutated in that way.
I see we think alike like that. Even thought Primarch/Legions are often inspired by real-life nations it shouldn't be overpowering, and you've done a good job balancing it.
You're most welcome.
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Great job man. very impressive. The third eye is how i always imagened Magus. Also glad to see someone pays attention to the Latin based names in Warhammer 40K. It makes it more intresting and ironic i think. Keep up the great Work
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Thank you, Brandon! I was actually sure there was people out there who might've thought the same thing about Magnus' eye, and to see how this depiction has spurred some cool debates about its implications (what with the Navigator gene and all) is a great reward for me.
Of course, latin is a must when you're dealing with the Dark Millenium; even though it usually is composed of single words with no sense beyond their immediate significance, heh, heh...
Nic.-
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I love this. As a self-confessed disciple of the Red Sorcerer myself it frustrates me the sheer lack of attention the chapter gets. To the point where seeing them depicted elicits genuine surprise.
As you're probably aware from researching this piece, Magnus himself is a bit of a mystery. Nobody can really agree on whether he had a single cyclopean eye, was missing one or whatever else it might be.
That is why I'm glad for this. The wider 40k community closely follows your work these days because of your fresh style and perspective (not to mention talent!) and personally I believe this profile of Magnus will be a very strong influence on the character. It's certainly an image of him I'm not likely to forget soon.
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Thank you very much, Mykar! It's still a bit unbelievable for me sometimes to acknowledge the fact that the Warhammer 40,000 community follows my work so closely and some even take it as a bit of canon. Or certainly a good complement to the official artwork.
Magnus here is a testament to that: being such an ambiguous character, my rendition certainly brought diverse opinions but most of them favorable to the third eye idea, which ties in with the Navigator gene and sprouts some interesting theories.
I'm glad to hear that my style and vision are appreciated and I wil work as hard as I can to bring every character to life the way it deserves!
Nic.-
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How the feth did I miss THIS?! Magnus! Hooray, hooray, it's the Red! XD Yes, I'm a Maggy fan too! Hell, there's very few of the Primarchs I don't like. 
I love it! Though, I thought that he was described as having coppery skin as well as red hair? XD Either way, it looks magnificent and it's an interesting concept that you've made. I generally always envisioned him with having only one eye here, but I like this conception of him as well. Can I have his armor? I want that armor. That armor is very, very schweet. Seriously. I also want to pat his hair. It looks so awesome and silky. <3
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Thank you, Jen! I'm always happy to hear from the fans of each Primarch because it's them who know the characters and loe them dearly enough to tell me if I've f*cked it up or not 
He DID have coppery skin, but I thought I'd let that pass, mainly because I had so much red and golds going on that more hues in the same tones would've been confusing and ultimately detracting from the real 'quid' of the whole image: Magnus' face.
I don't know if you can have his armour, but if you bring some cookies to Prospero, I'm sure he'll let you pat his hair gladly
Nic.-
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The arcs of manifesting psychic energy are lovely.
The glimpse of his homeworld in the visible in the background is a nice addition.
Always enjoy your work on this series of pics.
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Thank you, Marc! I think the background and the energy bolts are what make the piece be what it is in the end. It usually isn't until I add those small details that I truly feel the work'd finished.
The next Primarch should be arriving soon enough so stay tuned!
Nic.-
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Absolutely love this
GW has screwed up their own design of Magnus
But you have prefected him
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Thank you, James! It's always humbling to hear from the fans that I have achieved something that official artwork hasn't. Certainly encourages me to keep at it!
Nic.-
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Great! Interesting interpretation of his third eye. And the scenery of Prospero on a backgroung - that's really cool because there are not so many Warhammer sceneries arts.
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Thank you, m'lady! It's great to have people that know the background compliment me on my settings, because I think it's an integral part of any good illustration!
Nic.-
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