Francis Tsai

Early life

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

Career

In 1998, Francis Tsai joined Presto Studios as Conceptual Designer where he provided visual development and game design for the video games Myst 3, and Star Trek: Hidden Evil. In 2003, Tsai joined High Moon Studios where he was principal concept artist for the video games The Bourne Conspiracy and Darkwatch.

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.

Marvel Comics

Tsai also contributed covers and interior art for Marvel Comics.

Tsai provided interior artwork for Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology as well as covers and interior artwork for the serialized graphic novel Mercy Thompson: Homecoming, which reached number eight on the Comics Bestsellers list in October 2009. 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." Tsai also created interiors for trade paperback Impaler.

Dungeons & Dragons

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, and d20 Future Tech. Tsai created the artwork for the Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition Dungeon Masters Screen.

TV/film

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 as well as the film TMNT - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 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.

Books and magazines

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.

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.

Recognition

Tsai had won numerous professional awards for his work.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

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 had not held a pencil since early 2011. He discovered he could digitally paint on his iPhone with his right big toe while holding the iPhone with his left foot. 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. His eye-gaze art had been featured in the media including CNN and computer art magazine ImagineFX (August 2013).

Personal life

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