Also, threads like these are proof of how much rose-coloring nostalgia adds to observation. Magic art has almost always been mostly mediocre, with some standout pieces both for how great they are and for how bad they are. But, whenever you ask someone who longs for the "good old days," they'll wax nostalgic about how every single piece of art back in the day was unique and had character and made the game feel alive.
No, you just only remember the good ones because confirmation bias is a thing, and for several arts that people defend, if they came out on a new card people would be using them as an example of how much art quality has gone downhill.
Art is really subjective. What one sees as ugly, another will see as beautiful. I have really never been a fan of Magic art at any part of the game. I think it is all muddled and dark, two things I really dont like in art. But it doesnt effect my feelings toward the game.
I really don't enjoy the current art in magic. Cards like Ankle Shanker and Jeskai Ascendancy are just so bland there's nothing to like about them. There's no flavor or feeling, it's instantly forgettable. Then you have something like Delraich or Phantom Centaur and they ooze fantasy sensibilities. I didn't even get to play those old old cards but I'm very fond of the art.
Big reason I play Force of Will now, the art is actually enjoyable instead of serviceable, you get the feeling magic stopped caring how good the art was when return to ravnica arrived.
I'm not a fan (to put it mildly) of art that looks like it's a computer-game screenshot (Kolaghan's Command, for instance). Ankle Shanker is also atrocious, and so is Jeskai Ascendancy. In particular "magic effects" look horrible sometimes. The most vile example that I can think of that falls in this category is the DtK-Version of Duress, one of the ugliest Magic-cards I've ever seen.
Really just want to chime in here, but I was looking through BFZ spoiler and found the art for Emeria Shepherd incredibly well done. I continued down the page and got to Gideon's Reproach. Really, Wizards?? For a card that is supposed to show off one of your main characters, you sure give him such comically bad art.
Anyways for those complaining about the old art having a disjointed look, one of my favourite card art could be classified under that exact category, Minion of the Wastes. The art just has such a brutal look to it that visually pops-out, and fits the very nature of the card I think.
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I agree that there seems to be a lot of bad artists, but I personally don't think it's a painting vs program thing, more a stylistic and skill thing, or in some cases, time scheduling.
Why do people not understand that art is subjective? and that there is no such thing as bad art... just art you don't like or art of outdated styles or art by a 3 yr old.
Just because you don't like it doesn't mean its bad.
Ok, so I've been playing Magic since Unlimited and have seen the progression from hand-drawn artwork through to today's digital stuff. You can guess that I think the hand-drawn stuff is largely better, but I'll accept most of the digital stuff today. And, yeah, I miss the unique likes of the Foglios or Drew Tucker (and mostly Pete Venters...Pete, where are you?). I've been reading these thread for years, never with a need to post as I'm not one to generally bemoan the new set as most do or complain. But, the art of Igor Kieryluk has got me so miffed I had to post. It's so awful.
Have you looked closely at some of his stuff? It mostly looks like it was rendered by a video game. All straight lines, no shadowing or texture. Cheap computer generated looking fog obscuring the need for real detail. No depth. It's all so flat and lifeless and without and feeling of "real-ness." Infinite Reflection? Gather the Pack? Grasp of the Hieromancer? Eyeblight Massacre? Murder Investigation? Ravenous Demon? Selhoff Occultist? Whatever, it's all total crap that looks like it was generated during a game of Unreal Tournament.
I know I have to live with digital art, but c'mon Wizards some of this stuff is freaking third rate.
Why do not you ask Igor directly why "his stuff is so bad"?
Personally, I don't like a lot of the original art, or much of the original art. I think magic art was the best (best being balancing realism with the fantasy feel) around odyssey/scourge. Some more recent sets have really immersed me though, such as New Phyrexia and Innistrad. Theros was also quite a beautiful set IMO (ordeal of heliod in foil, my god). I will say that we have had two blocks of pretty..... bland artwork. I like a few pieces from KTK (rattleclaw mystic, a bunch of the sultai artwork). BFZ though has been really, really awful. There's a couple pieces where I think the colour scheme makes up for some blandness in the composition (the full art lands, retreat to coralhelm) but most of the non land cards look like a bad videogame.
I don't think the art has been getting objectively worse, I just think that sometimes, when wizards tries to cater to kids (who, lets be real, are buying craptons of booster packs) they make art decisions that most of us (who I assume are no longer minors) find cringe worthy.The Slivers in m14 are a prominent example in my mind. Top down sets (innistrad, theros) are pretty much spared of this because wizards is pushing an aesthetic right off the bat.
I completely disagree. Today's art on magic cards is much more professional then past cards that look like they belong in a comic book. It does have more "character", but it just wasn't good for a tcg.
Jeskai Acendency happens to be one of my favourite arts for a long time. It reminds me of Salvador Dalí-style drawing.
I think most people are upset by the art-style, than the quality of the artists themself.
You can say you don't like Van Gogh's artstyle, you can't say his craftmanship is bad imho.
I like a lot of Igor's pieces. They're moody and appropriately atmospheric. There are some I don't like, and I think the biggest criticism I would level at him is that he quite literally doesn't do eyes. Having looked through all his card art he hides it really well, but there isn't a single pupil among them. I'm on to you, Igor!
Why do people not understand that art is subjective? and that there is no such thing as bad art... just art you don't like or art of outdated styles or art by a 3 yr old.
Just because you don't like it doesn't mean its bad.
Well, let's be real. There IS bad art, if an art piece doesn't convey to the viewer what it is meant to convey. Magic has had some truly atrocious art in the past from that perspective, but I honestly don't understand why people are harping about how 'bad' some well done pieces are. Not liking a medium or a style doesn't make art bad, especially when the artist clearly has some serious talent.
As someone who took nearly a twenty year break in Magic (left at Legends, came back around RtR block) I can say that while I don't necessarily prefer the old style or the new style as a whole, I certainly do notice that there aren't embarrassingly bad cards now like then, i.e. every single piece by Phil Foglio. Some of that stuff made me embarrassed to be playing a game that based on the art felt clearly designed for six-year-olds.
I just feel the art is super forgettable, the old Odyssey/Mercadian Masque art is so stylized, like you look at horrors from then and they were true horrors, they were nightmarish, then you look at something like brain maggot which is basically a sea shell earring in the picture. In the original art anyway.
The art is too uniform, a lot, LOT of the cards look they were all done by the same artist in the same style which I'm sure is intentional but it's boring, feels like we've had the same art style for years now.
The current art is too homogenous. Back in Urza block, you had more diversity with regards to style: you had the photorealism, but it was broken up by artists like Ron Spencer and Rebecca Guay.
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Oh boy, another thread where you have people hating on older Magic art because it's not in-your-face-obvious. It's like some of you guys are scared of anything that doesn't explain itself for you in the most basic way possible.
I like both the old mish-mash of styles and the current more consistent high-fantasy look, but I don't think Wizards treats their artists terrifically well, and that can naturally lead to less care being put into the work -- especially as the artists are reportedly given very micro-managing directions for what the cards should look like.
At least one of their prominent artists has recently stopped working with Wizards because he felt badly treated, and while his work is good, the last several cards he painted have a pretty obvious "f--- it, just get the job done" feeling.
Many artists won't be in a financial position to give up a major client, so they may very well just continue churning out pieces to order, growing less and less inspired the more they feel trapped.
Jeskai Acendency happens to be one of my favourite arts for a long time. It reminds me of Salvador Dalí-style drawing.
I think most people are upset by the art-style, than the quality of the artists themself.
You can say you don't like Van Gogh's artstyle, you can't say his craftmanship is bad imho.
Looks like toy story 1. Play Pokémon if you like art for children
I had collected as many cards as I could from Rebecca Guay. Even tho for a long time I didn't like the style of every one of them. I was oddly drawn to her work, and even a decade later since even seeing a card, I looked at the last few sets hoping my favorite artist was still doing mtg.
Art is highly subjective. I see a van Gogh and think that's garbage lol.
You know what? You guys are right. Digital art is terrible. All art should live up to the standard set by the hand-drawn masterpiece that is Look at me, I'm the DCI.
Kidding. Don't hurt me.
I think we'll be fine as long as they keep from hiring Rob Liefeld.
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Edit: And his BFZ contributions... Encircling Fissure, Ondu Rising, Clutch of Currents, Roil Spout. What happened Igor?
Uhhhh, that's kind of the point? The card has the word reflection in the freaking name.
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No, you just only remember the good ones because confirmation bias is a thing, and for several arts that people defend, if they came out on a new card people would be using them as an example of how much art quality has gone downhill.
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The range of possible compositions has shrunk like crazy since the older days of magic art. ***** like Jeskai ascendency just break my heart.
Nowadays you could probably make 5 or 6 piles, 1 per composition and fit the whole set evenly into the group of them.
Big reason I play Force of Will now, the art is actually enjoyable instead of serviceable, you get the feeling magic stopped caring how good the art was when return to ravnica arrived.
On the other hand, digital art like Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite or Griselbrand doesn't bother me at all.
Anyways for those complaining about the old art having a disjointed look, one of my favourite card art could be classified under that exact category, Minion of the Wastes. The art just has such a brutal look to it that visually pops-out, and fits the very nature of the card I think.
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Just because you don't like it doesn't mean its bad.
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Why do not you ask Igor directly why "his stuff is so bad"?
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I don't think the art has been getting objectively worse, I just think that sometimes, when wizards tries to cater to kids (who, lets be real, are buying craptons of booster packs) they make art decisions that most of us (who I assume are no longer minors) find cringe worthy.The Slivers in m14 are a prominent example in my mind. Top down sets (innistrad, theros) are pretty much spared of this because wizards is pushing an aesthetic right off the bat.
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I think most people are upset by the art-style, than the quality of the artists themself.
You can say you don't like Van Gogh's artstyle, you can't say his craftmanship is bad imho.
Well, let's be real. There IS bad art, if an art piece doesn't convey to the viewer what it is meant to convey. Magic has had some truly atrocious art in the past from that perspective, but I honestly don't understand why people are harping about how 'bad' some well done pieces are. Not liking a medium or a style doesn't make art bad, especially when the artist clearly has some serious talent.
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The art is too uniform, a lot, LOT of the cards look they were all done by the same artist in the same style which I'm sure is intentional but it's boring, feels like we've had the same art style for years now.
Horror cards now are Abomination of Gudul or Nighthowler which does not bring the "Horror" and Nightmarish feeling.
as well, i miss cards like Blistering Firecat, Ancient Ooze and Silvos, Rogue Elemental. Cars that showed some realism, however they does not look like plastic.
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P.S. I'd take Word of Command every time over the horrible video-game quality art of Richard Wright like Kraken of the Straits
At least one of their prominent artists has recently stopped working with Wizards because he felt badly treated, and while his work is good, the last several cards he painted have a pretty obvious "f--- it, just get the job done" feeling.
Many artists won't be in a financial position to give up a major client, so they may very well just continue churning out pieces to order, growing less and less inspired the more they feel trapped.
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Looks like toy story 1. Play Pokémon if you like art for children
Art is highly subjective. I see a van Gogh and think that's garbage lol.
Kidding. Don't hurt me.
I think we'll be fine as long as they keep from hiring Rob Liefeld.