Francis Tsai

Francis Tsai
Born	(1967-04-14)April 14, 1967
Died	April 23, 2015(2015-04-23) (aged 48)
Nationality	American
Area(s)	comic book artist, illustrator, conceptual artist, author

Francis Tsai (April 14, 1967 – April 23, 2015) was an American comic book artist, illustrator, author and conceptual artist. He was of Taiwanese and Japanese ancestry.^{[1][better source needed]}

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

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

In 2009, Tsai worked on a five-issue graphic novel miniseries called Tracker for Top Cow Productions. A preview was released at that year's ComicCon.^[6]

Tsai also contributed 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 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, Drow of the Underdark, and d20 Future Tech.^[14] Tsai created the artwork for the Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition Dungeon Masters Screen.^[15]

Tsai provided 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 film TMNT - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.^[18] Tsai worked on Tracker, a 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.

He was 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.

Tsai won numerous professional awards for his work.^{[19][20][21][22]}

In 2010, at the age of 42, Tsai was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. The disease cost him the ability to move his arms and hands; he was unable to hold a pencil after early 2011. He discovered he could digitally paint on his cellphone with his right big toe while holding the cellphone with his left foot.^[23] Once he lost the ability to move his feet, Tsai began using the PC Eye from Tobii in conjunction with a Kiosk Tablet to communicate. By early 2012, Tsai began creating art again using the eye-gaze technology with drawing programs Sketchup and Photoshop.^[24] His eye-gaze art had been featured in the media including CNN and computer art magazine ImagineFX (August 2013).^[25]

Tsai met his wife Linda when they were architecture students at the University of Texas, and they lived in Austin, Texas.^[26] He died April 23, 2015.^[27]

• Heroes for Hire #11, 14, 15 (2007, covers)
• World War Hulk Gamma Corps #4 (2007, cover)
• Exiles #1 (March 2008, cover)
• Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #35 (March 2008, cover)
• Marvel Adventures Iron Man #11 (May 2008, cover)
• Marvel Comics Presents vol. 2 #3, 6 (2008, inks only)
• Marvel Comics Presents vol. 2 #4, 7-12 (2008 pencils and inks)
• Impaler vol. 1 (2008, interiors and color)
• Mercy Thompson: Homecoming vols. 1 and 2 (2008, covers and interiors)
• Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology (2009 pencils and inks)
• Tracker (2010, Art)^[28]

• Machine Flesh
• Fantasy Art Now: The Very Best in Contemporary Fantasy Art and Illustration
• 50 Robots to Draw and Paint: Create Fantastic Robot Characters for Comic Books, Computer Games, and Graphic Novels
• How to Draw Fantasy Females
• Fantasy: Illustrated Fantasy and Sci-Fi Magazine
• Erotic Fantasy Art

• Francis Tsai official website
• Francis Tsai at IMDb
• "Pen & Paper listing for Francis Tsai". Archived from the original on April 4, 2005. Retrieved January 4, 2009.
• Francis Tsai at Find a Grave