I'm glad I remembered to come by down here this week. Wouldn't want to miss the voting of my favorite artist. In fact, I have the full collection I wouldn't even need to use the Magic Cards Info link (I'll still use it anyway, for convenience sake at the moment.)
In fact, I'm going to take time to analyze every card... and give a Top 10 order, since I'm such a fan. Note that 10) to 2) are all Honorable Mentions...
10) Arid Mesa - Watery Grave was a fine piece, but I'd say Swanland's Arid Mesa edges it out, since his style fits the "Arid" rather than "Watery". That said, lands aren't exactly his forte, as much as I would love him to do a Basic Mountain at least, so I could actually pilot a Raymond Swanland deck.
9) Demolish - Simple image, but effective. It could easily pass for some comic book cover (Swanland has done many covers, but this particular Magic art reminds me of them more than other.) Not to mention, the best Demolish art of every version printed, for sure.
8) Morgue Burst - I was slightly irritated by Into the Maw of Hell, since it could easily look like the man on his horse bursting out from the Maw of Hell, rather than falling in. Now, this depicts what felt wrong correctly.
7) Vampire Nocturnus - Hey, he did an "ancient" vampire in the age of modern-looking vampires (of Ravnica and Innistrad). I'd say that alone merits some mention.
6) Wolfir Silverheart - One of the few arts I couldn't catch on was his immediately, and started marking his departure from "glaringly-swanland-style".
5) Dragonmaster Outcast - Simply gorgeous action there of the Outcast summoning his kin to battle.
4) Gleam of Battle - Another one of his "smoother" works like the Wolfir - resulting in an even more glamorous scene.
3) Violent Ultimatum - The card along aptly describes Swanland's "Jund-Style". I think this card alone is the perfect description of his art overall.
2) Nyxathid - The card that inspired me to start collecting cards drawn by him. Words fail to describe the pure violence between Kresh and the Nyxathid. But even this loses out to the pure pandemonium of the card I decided was his best art for Magic.
No, it's not Warstorm Surge...
The award for his pure pandemonium is....
1) Immersturm - That's a literal plane of pandemonium out there, yet is detailed enough to discern the chaos ongoing in there.
I can say that any card can be picked and somehow it can end up as the winner. There are times also that I think Swanland does too much with the art and it becomes too messy. Still, I like his style and it seems unfair to compare his artwork to any other current artist. It seems like he's in a different category.
Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.
Evidently some hard choices for everyone here. No card was picked more than once, and three of the cards picked were tied with two HMs each. Those were Banefire, Marrow Shards, and Gleam of Battle.
I have chosen Gleam of Battle as the winner this time:
The next artist is one with a very different style to Swanland. Feast your eyes upon the work of Wayne Reynolds. This artist's work gets some criticism, but I find I mostly like it and you will too, especially if you're a fan of the 'arms flung back' pose. Think of it as a motif.
Thou shalt not have others of the same Legendary before me Thou shalt not frame images with the modern card face Thou shalt not change rules in vain Remember the Reserved List to keep it holy Honor thy Slivers and the symmetry of their abilities Thou shalt not kill mana burn Thou shalt not sacrifice depth for accessibility Thou shalt not steal combat damage from the stack Thou shalt tell a story through thy cards All must be one
Not a huge fan to be honest. His art has a sort of jagged style that doesn't appeal to me, and the arms thing is hard to not notice once it's been pointed out. Plus, his versions of Knight of the Reliquary and Rafiq of the Many are so bad in comparison to the originals that I refuse to hyperlink to them.
Wayne's art is fine, but it seems that if something isn't tilted sideways or bended in his art, it would lose its proportion. But he has some individual pieces that are very good. So in a sense, his arts are hit-or-miss, but neither side is particularly amazing nor bad to me, at least.
Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.
Honestly speaking, all his kithkin, elves and faerie, and majority of humans, and everything with mouth open, are getting on my nerves, so don't know if my opinion on works of this artist really counts.
With three votes Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni is the winner!
I think Wayne Reynolds' strength is drawing 'adventurer' type characters, which is probably why we see his work so often on Pathfinder and D&D product covers.
(apologies for the earlier miscount and thanks to Immersa for picking that up!)
We're heading into spoiler season so over the next few weeks I will pick artists that I don't think we are about to see new cards for, starting with Justin Sweet. His art has an ethereal quality that has always appealed to me.
Thou shalt not have others of the same Legendary before me Thou shalt not frame images with the modern card face Thou shalt not change rules in vain Remember the Reserved List to keep it holy Honor thy Slivers and the symmetry of their abilities Thou shalt not kill mana burn Thou shalt not sacrifice depth for accessibility Thou shalt not steal combat damage from the stack Thou shalt tell a story through thy cards All must be one
Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.
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In fact, I'm going to take time to analyze every card... and give a Top 10 order, since I'm such a fan. Note that 10) to 2) are all Honorable Mentions...
10) Arid Mesa - Watery Grave was a fine piece, but I'd say Swanland's Arid Mesa edges it out, since his style fits the "Arid" rather than "Watery". That said, lands aren't exactly his forte, as much as I would love him to do a Basic Mountain at least, so I could actually pilot a Raymond Swanland deck.
9) Demolish - Simple image, but effective. It could easily pass for some comic book cover (Swanland has done many covers, but this particular Magic art reminds me of them more than other.) Not to mention, the best Demolish art of every version printed, for sure.
8) Morgue Burst - I was slightly irritated by Into the Maw of Hell, since it could easily look like the man on his horse bursting out from the Maw of Hell, rather than falling in. Now, this depicts what felt wrong correctly.
7) Vampire Nocturnus - Hey, he did an "ancient" vampire in the age of modern-looking vampires (of Ravnica and Innistrad). I'd say that alone merits some mention.
6) Wolfir Silverheart - One of the few arts I couldn't catch on was his immediately, and started marking his departure from "glaringly-swanland-style".
5) Dragonmaster Outcast - Simply gorgeous action there of the Outcast summoning his kin to battle.
4) Gleam of Battle - Another one of his "smoother" works like the Wolfir - resulting in an even more glamorous scene.
3) Violent Ultimatum - The card along aptly describes Swanland's "Jund-Style". I think this card alone is the perfect description of his art overall.
2) Nyxathid - The card that inspired me to start collecting cards drawn by him. Words fail to describe the pure violence between Kresh and the Nyxathid. But even this loses out to the pure pandemonium of the card I decided was his best art for Magic.
No, it's not Warstorm Surge...
The award for his pure pandemonium is....
1) Immersturm - That's a literal plane of pandemonium out there, yet is detailed enough to discern the chaos ongoing in there.
And his artwork reminds me of Stephen Platt also.
My vote goes to
Savageborn Hydra
HMs to
Uncanny Speed - I think I voted this card for best art in Avacyn Restored Red
Marrow Shards
Wurmcoil Engine
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.
HMs to Dragonmaster Outcast and Marrow Shards
I don't always post about Rafiq of the Many, but when I do, I cardlink to the original artwork, and not the supplementary product version.
"I trust myself to do my duty, even unto death. It's what comes after that I'm afraid of."
"Just fight without fear. Your soul is protected by the hand of Avacyn and will never submit to evil."
I have chosen Gleam of Battle as the winner this time:
MagicCards.info link
Voting will remain open for one week. Please choose one card only as your favourite by this artist, with as many honourable mentions as you like.
When voting you may also nominate an artist for us to cover in a future vote. Artists already covered are listed in the first post.
Ib Halfheart, Goblin Tactician is my pick here, with HMs to Ashling the Pilgrim, Ajani Vengeant, and Frontier Guide.
HM to Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker.
Wild Nacatl is certainly memorable.
This time, I'm voting for:
Xathrid Demon
HMs:
Ajani Vengeant
Ashling the Pilgrim
Auramancer
Aven Fleetwing
Blood Reckoning
Call to Glory
Nema Siltlurker
Ohran Yeti
Spirit Loop
Vow of Duty
Warren Pilferers
Thou shalt not frame images with the modern card face
Thou shalt not change rules in vain
Remember the Reserved List to keep it holy
Honor thy Slivers and the symmetry of their abilities
Thou shalt not kill mana burn
Thou shalt not sacrifice depth for accessibility
Thou shalt not steal combat damage from the stack
Thou shalt tell a story through thy cards
All must be one
Still, he has some good stuff. I vote for Phantasmal Dragon. HMs to Conclave Phalanx, Frontier Guide, Nihilistic Glee and Silence.
I don't always post about Rafiq of the Many, but when I do, I cardlink to the original artwork, and not the supplementary product version.
"I trust myself to do my duty, even unto death. It's what comes after that I'm afraid of."
"Just fight without fear. Your soul is protected by the hand of Avacyn and will never submit to evil."
Mentions to a very close second of Knight of the Reliquary . . . also Facevaulter, Arms Dealer, Goblin Bangchuckers, Kor Hookmaster, I wish that 'Dillo Cloak could be foil, and Ashling, the Extinguisher
My vote goes to Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni.
Honorable Mentions:
Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker
Guardian of Vitu-Ghazi
Phantasmal Dragon
Nivix Cyclops
His best art was during the Lorwyn period and suits a slightly comedic and lighter tone.
HMs to
Fiend Hunter
Jungle Shrine
Wooly Thoctar
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.
B Lover Since '09 ~
Standard:
meh.
Modern:
Urzatron GR
Vintage:
Contol-Slaver UBR
EDH:
Drana B
Jhoira UR
Savra BG
Turned into:
Adun Oakenshield BGR
Sharuum BUW
Turned into:
Memnarch U
KiKi-Jiki R
Turned into:
Godo R
Turned into:
Aurelia RW
The Mimeoplasm UBG
Rasputin Dreamweaver UW
Turned into:
Geist of Saint Traft -French 1v1 UW
Nekusar UBR
Really? Because I hate that one. Vote for Fiend Hunter.
Ah, found one normal piece with jumping. So HM to Ashling the Pilgrim; also Auntie's Hovel and Return to Dust, while we're at it.
Honestly speaking, all his kithkin, elves and faerie, and majority of humans, and everything with mouth open, are getting on my nerves, so don't know if my opinion on works of this artist really counts.
I think Wayne Reynolds' strength is drawing 'adventurer' type characters, which is probably why we see his work so often on Pathfinder and D&D product covers.
(apologies for the earlier miscount and thanks to Immersa for picking that up!)
MagicCards.info link
Voting will remain open for one week. Please choose one card only as your favourite by this artist, with as many honourable mentions as you like.
When voting you may also nominate an artist for us to cover in a future vote. Artists already covered are listed in the first post.
My votes goes to Rip-Clan Crasher for being an epic piece of fantasy art. HMs to Embalmed Brawler and Eternal Dragon
HMs:
Arcanis the Omnipotent
Doubtless One
Explosive Revelation
Eternal Dragon
Hellspark Elemental
Morgue Theft
Pestilence Demon
Slagwurm Armor
Snake Cult Initiation
Tel-Jilad Exile
Thou shalt not frame images with the modern card face
Thou shalt not change rules in vain
Remember the Reserved List to keep it holy
Honor thy Slivers and the symmetry of their abilities
Thou shalt not kill mana burn
Thou shalt not sacrifice depth for accessibility
Thou shalt not steal combat damage from the stack
Thou shalt tell a story through thy cards
All must be one
Anyhow, my vote goes to Chandra's Phoenix this time.
Nod to the Elves of Deep Shadow.
HMs to
Hellkite Overlord
Plumes of Peace
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.