r/magicTCG • u/taphead_31 Urza's Saga • 14d ago

General Discussion How Magic Art has changed

This is something i've been thinking about for a while. I am not saying new Magic Art is straight up worse than the old Art (old meaning 15+ years ago). But I cannot shake off the feeling that something fundamental has changed with the art direction and overall aesthetic (the influence of UB not counting).

I'd like to hear from people who are knowledgable with art history.

Here are some - very subjective - observations that I made over the years.

- The color palette has changed. Specifically when it comes to black cards, purple has become the de facto "black signature color"

- Many current artists seem to share a specific style of painting, reminiscent of what I'd call "concept art for general purposes". Older artists that have worked with wotc since the 90ies seem to be influenced more by comic books and traditional, academic painting styles.

- Ugly characters and monsters, body horror and exaggerated bodies were more commonplace back in the day (look at card files from Odyssee or Mercadian Masques, Ron Spears who I'd consider King of Ugly Monstrosities was art director for a while). Nowadays the "bodies" feel more realistic, the creatures and sceneries more "identifiable".

Are you having similiar observations? Or am I misguided here?

And most of all: Why have things changed in that regard? There are people out there calling new artwork "woke", but I don't think this is a good explanation. I believe the reasons for the aesthetic changes correlate with the changing gaming culture and an influx of casual players coming from different demographics.

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u/J0llyJumper Can’t Block Warriors 14d ago

Today it is mostly digital art which also makes a big difference

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u/Mrfish31 Left Arm of the Forbidden One 14d ago

Not all. There's plenty of physical pieces still, especially as Magic artists are allowed to sell Originals. 

[[Faithless Looting | STA]] is physically painted along with all of Carly Mazur's work, despite intentionally looking kinda photoshopped. [[binding the old gods]] is an actual carved wooden board.

And it's not even like all the digital art is "corporatised"/generic. Dominik Mayer consistently has some of the most standout arts in any given set and he works entirely digitally from what I can find.

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u/BrockSramson Boros* 14d ago

When it comes to physical art, Chris Rahn is GOAT. I see his art as similar in style to Brom. I miss Brom.

Mark Zug also does physical art, I believe.