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Magic The Gathering Illustrations

All Acting Regiment

20:33 / 13.07.03

Do the illustrations on these trading cards mean anything to anyone? I mean would you say they are "art"? at all? I just wondered because i'm looking at one now and thinking, oh, someone put effort into that

Saint Keggers

01:58 / 14.07.03

Yup, IMHO they're art. Im mean sure some of them are horrid art but some aint that bad. They're just pictures by people paid for illustrations of someones product...exactly what the roof of the Sistine Chapel was in its day. I doubt any will ever be as well known as that ceiling...but then again how many kids carry binders full of Leonardos works?

Pirate vs Ninja cards are also art.

Apo

10:36 / 17.03.04

Yeah, especially the ones by Brom.
Check them out, he's a brilliant illustrator.
(But then again, some are indeed crap)

ibis the being

13:04 / 17.03.04

I'd call them "illustration" before I'd call them art, but it was my stuffy art school that trained me to make that distinction (and I was an illustration major; o, the self-loathing they instilled).

Of course, I don't think it's the effort involved that makes them art, I mean, a lot of effort goes into collecting curbside trash.

invisible_al

12:36 / 18.03.04

www.diterlizzi.com, Tony Diterlizzi got started along with a whole load of other artists working on magic cards. His best magic work is here http://www.spacecrime.com/diterlizzi/prints.htm, I'd argue that they're art, yes they're art that's used to illustrate a game but if you're going to split hairs then you're going to have to ditch an awful lot of from the 'art' category.

Tim Bradstreet did a lot of his early work on card games (http://www.timbradstreet.com/gallery/gallery1.shtml) and the game Heresy had some gorgeous art on the cards, pity it's out of print now.

To say that this sort of thing isn't art strikes me as a tad elitist, next thing you'll be saying comics aren't art as they're produced for mass commercial publication. Does art have to be on walls in a gallery to count?

ibis the being

12:49 / 18.03.04

next thing you'll be saying comics aren't art as they're produced for mass commercial publication.

No, that's not the approach I take (commercial v non-commercial), and actually I said what I said with my tongue slightly in cheek. However, I made the distinction of "illustration" because I think Magic paintings are primarily illustrating whatever character needs to be depicted on the card - that's their primary purpose and as such they rely fairly heavily on their context I think. I think there are lots and lots of comics that are art. I suppose what I'm saying is that a comic books series is self-contained whereas the card paintings are not, they're flourishes, accessories to a game.

I'm not offended by the accusation of being "a tad elitist" about art, sure it's debatable whether that's the "right" way to be but it's certainly not a loathsome POV, it's not as though I'm being a tad elitist about civil rights or something.

ibis the being

12:51 / 18.03.04

Also, don't assume the label "illustration" is derogatory. After all, why would I say that being an illustrator myself? It's just a different thing.

Sax

13:20 / 18.03.04

Comics aren't art. They're a storytelling medium. Some of the illustrations in comics might be classed as art, but only the good or unusual stuff. Is all drawing "art"? Even the stick man with the big knob I drew on my notepad in a meeting this morning?

I haven't seen the illustrations on Magic the Gathering cards so I can't really say whether it's art. But I can imagine what it looks like, and it sounds like mass commercial illustration to me. Which while that doesn't necessarily preclude it from being "art", certainly doesn't make it "art" purely because it's a pen-and-ink representation of something.

C.Elseware

18:38 / 18.03.04

Hmm. I could see and argument for pictures out of the bible to be considered illustration.

There are plenty of fustrated fantasy artists in the world. It's nice when stuff like magic can give them a few commissions. I imagine that they are pretty broad about what the picture is too.

And crap. I just broke my personal rule about entering into conversations where someone is debating the semantic meaning of art or love. I should know better...

Perfect Tommy

05:57 / 19.03.04

...I think Magic paintings are primarily illustrating whatever character needs to be depicted on the card...

I don't know for sure if this is the way it works with Magic, but I believe that in another card game, Shadowfist, they commission the art and sometimes the art affects the mechanics of the card. I.e., they get a really great painting of a waterfall with some folks with swords behind it, and so they futz around with the card rules until it does something that seems right for a 'Waterfall Sanctuary' to do.

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