Today I bring you the thrilling finale of our first alter. If you missed Part 1, be sure to check that out before reading on.

When we last left our card (hopefully now dried and in a safe place), it was only mostly finished. We still have yet to paint the ground and all of those ridiculously tedious looking cracks. Your progress should look like this.

Today we are going to focus on the intimidating part of the card and discover that this might be the easiest part of the card to paint. It's very easy to be discouraged by what looks like a formidable job ahead, but you must remember one very important rule: it is not our job to show the viewer every detail. As long as we hint at detail here and there, the viewers' mind will fill in the gaps. This will save us a ton of time and energy. I'll show you how.

Laying the Groundwork

We will be using the same three colors as last week, in the same fashion. If you can remember exactly how you mixed your white, yellow, and black in order to achieve a hue that nearly matches the art on your card then you are all set. If not, then take a little time to experiment again before you start. Remember that color mixing is only mastered through practice.

You'll need to lay a base coat of matching colors from the horizon on downward. That is a very slightly yellowed black for the pyramid, and those lovely sand colors for everything else. Ignore the cracks in the stone for now.

I chose to black out everything under the type plate and mana symbol. To the viewer, this will represent a drop-off or a cliff, but to us it represents a lot of time not filling in details and rocks or plants.

Remember that your time is money here. If I can save fifteen minutes on a commission then my wage per hour goes up. You should never sacrifice quality to do this, so pick your spots wisely.

After that first base coat, I laid another more exact layer of color on. I tried to match the varying color of the sandstone and the result is a subtle color shift on either side. When putting these colors in, make sure to overlap with the original art by pushing color in over the rocks. Try to avoid doing so in a straight line. If you look closely at the picture you'll see what I mean.

Filling in the cracks

Now for those tedious looking cracks. This part is actually quite simple. Take some black paint (lightened up slightly by your sand colored mixture) and with your flat brush, lightly paint in some cracks.

The paint should be on the very tip of the bristles and you should barely be touching them to the card. Create your cracks as logical continuations of the original art. You can follow my example or do as you see fit.

Don't worry too much if one comes out looking a little fatter or weirder than you intended, we will fix that in the next step. All you need to worry about is that there is paint were the cracks need to be.

Bring It All Together

As with the clouds above, our finishing touches are going to be the highlights. The front most edges of

the rocks in the foreground should be highlighted with a lighter color. You create these with the same fragile brush strokes used to create the cracks. This is also where you get to paint over any misshapen crevices and create the vision that you had for it.

Colors will almost always appear lighter and duller in the distance than they do in the foregound so you may wish to lighten some of the cracks in the distance. Creating this color effect in your art will convey the depth and distance that helps to bring everything in this piece together.

From this point on you are just playing with the finicky details. Is that highlight bright enough? Does that rock look jagged enough? It is important at this stage to make sure everything is the way you want it. Now sit back and take notice of how with just a couple of colors and some very basic lines we've created the landscape of a foreign plane.

If you are happy, grab a toothpick and smooth out the borders of the type box. You have now completed your alter. Now sign it. Your signature should be simple, meaningful and easy to create. It is an important part of your brand. I always sign with a number three.

I'd like to thank Warriors 3 Comics and Games in Wayne, Michigan (@Warriors3MI) for supplying me with this week's card.

Be sure to share your work with me on Twitter @PaintersServant. I'm always happy to give tips and helpful critiques, and starting this very week I'll be sharing some of my favorites.

This week comes from @BazKahuna, who after reading my very first article decided to give a Spearpoint Oread his best. I think this is an amazing first alter and a great example of somebody trying something for the first time and finding they are actually quite good! See you next time!