Written by Liam Bosecke
I spotted an artist meticulously working on some painted alters at a table over the weekend of the Sydney Uprising Premiere event. The quality was amazing and something I hadn't ever seen in person before. So I decided to have a chat with the artist. Meet Justin Leniham aka Foundry Alters.
How long have you been into Flesh and Blood TCG?
So I used to play Magic The Gathering (MTG) Modern a long time ago. I haven’t touched a TCG in about five years sicne then. I went to a friends birthday party a couple of weeks ago and there was a card game going on in the back corner, it was Kano vs Dash. I had a go and I crushed the Kano. Fromt hat point on I was hooked, it was absolutely unreal.
What was it that made you decide to come to the Sydney Uprising premiere?
So, I’m a little obsessive compulsive. I went and played that game I mentioned before, then from that point on, decided that this is amazing. I’m a very competitive person. As soon as I put together a deck I started going to armoury events, which was only four weeks ago. At the first armouries I went to I was just meeting people, having a some really good conversations with friendly faces.
Harmonized Kodachi alter by Justin Leniham.
So I’m guessing you started working on MTG alters, given your background?
A long time ago I used to do MTG alters, but I stopped doing that because if you do a Magic alter, then you need to do the full deck because it increases the thickness of the cards in the deck. So it’s not tournament legal.
With flesh and blood, it’s all equipment, they don’t go in your deck and you can do whatever you want with them. You can make them 3D, it’s so much fun.
So today is the turning point from hobby to like, oh wow, people like this stuff.
So is your card altering project a business?
So at the moment, it’s a hobby. I got a lot of positive feedback when I started doing it again. I put a photo of my first FAB alters online and received about twenty messages the next day. I did raise an ABN after getting that expression of interest. On the side, I just love doing this and people love seeing them and playing with them.
Anothos alter by Justin Leniham.
Are you going to sell them or keep them for yourself?
I probably won’t have a lot of time to paint cards for myself, I’ve already committed to a couple of orders, even this morning. So today is the turning point from hobby to like, oh wow, people like this stuff.
Where can people find your artwork?
I have a Facebook page now live.
You can find my work here: https://www.facebook.com/Foundry.Alters
An alter Justin was working on.
