Gathering Inspiration Magic : The Artists Behind Magic the Gathering

Once upon a time, back before we lost our Arbenting database, we had an inspiration post that was centered around the artwork of one of our all time favorite fantasy based card games, Magic the Gathering. Since that post was lost, we continuously see search results in our analytics showing that post is being missed. So in another attempt to make up for that slight, we have amassed another fantastic showcase of artwork from some of the artists who have made this game so great.

If you are not familiar with this groundbreaking game, then you must have been skating through life in some remote regions of the popular culture fringes far from the expansive reaches of the fantasy gaming geekdom it dominates. Magic not only defined this genre of gaming, but it also built a foundation on which so many more could follow. In the years since, the artwork that’s made the gameplay so magical has also proven an inspirational wellspring for creatives everywhere.

Volkan Baga

Volkan Baga is a contemporary painter born in 1977 in Würzburg, Germany with a preference for the traditional techniques of oil painting. His style leans towards academic realism, which in turn is orientated on the art of the antique.

Celebrant of Peace or Stoic Angel

Steve Argyle

Steve Argyle…grew up in suburban Utah, so from an early age I was desperatly trying to escape reality. Comics, cartoons, RPGs and video games, whatever it took to make me forget the collosal drollery of the Mormon capital. Just teasing.

Liliana’s Caress (Mindwrack)

Daarken

Daarken attended the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Most of his days were spent huddled over a sketchbook at a figure drawing workshop or in a cafe, where he was affectionately known as “the guy that likes to draw deltoids.”

Ethersworn Shieldmage

Mark Zug

Mark Zug was introduced to worlds of flowstone, mogg warrens, colored mana, and a creepy nine-level world of nested spheres called Phyrexia, ruled in its tiny center by something called Yawgmoth. And since then, to so many other worlds…

…By the late 90′s, Wizards of the Coast had assembled for itself an amazing brain trust which helped launch the fantasy card game phenomenon into the stratosphere.