A Breath of Winter: Truitt Parrish’s Frost Breath

With Frost Mage vs. Lavamancer on its way, we’re taking a closer look at Frost Breath by Truitt Parrish, from its early creature concepts to the icy spell that brought the painting together.

“I was excited about this one,” he says. “I always enjoy figures in action more than a static composition.”

The brief called for a person or beast breathing ice and frost as a spell. The possibilities were wide open and Truitt considered everything from antlered forest spirits and frost dragons to a great white bison whose breath could freeze the earth. One early favorite showed a more animalistic creature casting the spell at a man on the ground, shielding himself.

Finding the Figure

Truitt began with rough thumbnail sketches, choosing a few to develop into paintings roughly the size of a card. For Frost Breath, Erik Olfosson, Founder and Creative Director at Erik’s Curiosa, chose a composition but asked for a more human-looking creature. Drawing on Pan from Greek mythology, Truitt developed a figure with a blend of human, animal, and elven qualities. To get the pose right, Truitt turned to an unlikely source of reference, his own backyard.

“I took pictures of myself and my girlfriend running across our backyard pretending to cast spells,” Truitt says. The gesture was particularly important. He wanted the magic to feel connected to a familiar physical action. “I wanted the figure to look as though they were blowing magic out of their hands,” he explains. “As if you might blow fresh snow into your friend’s face off your palms.”

If you’re one of Truitt’s neighbors, we hope this clears a few things up.

From Snow to Ice

An earlier version of the spell resembled a flurry of snow. Erik’s feedback pushed it toward something more intense: a “cone of ice,” as Truitt recalls it. That meant incorporating not just snow, but ice specifically. “I actually really enjoyed painting the icicles,” Truitt says, “as it presented a unique challenge and ended up looking pretty good.”

Truitt particularly likes the character’s skin tone and subtle anatomical changes that make the figure feel just beyond human. The brushwork of Frost Breath is another point of pride.

“I always strive to use brushwork to tell a story and get an image to look good without being overworked.”

Truitt has been part of Sorcery since Alpha, and his enthusiasm for the project hasn’t faded.

“Oh man! I love painting for Sorcery,” Truitt says. “I enjoy every minute of it, each assignment is a new opportunity to come up with something creative and build a little world.”

That sense of creativity and world-building comes through in Frost Breath, where an early idea evolved through sketches, experimentation, and even a few unexpected backyard performances. Curious to see more? Explore Sorcery's full roster of artists here.