Best artwork?
General forum
Posted on March 21, 2015, 7:42 p.m. by DERPLINGSUPREME
What is the best artwork in mtg? to clarify, I'm not talking about technical stuff, how good the card is, or if it looks cool. I'm talking about the BEST. around. no one's gonna ever keep me down. cuz I'm the best. arooou-ound.....
Serendipitous_Hummingbird says... #4
oh boy. Man. Well, I can do some of my favorite, though best is far too difficult.
Baleful StrixGrindclockImpaler ShrikeBriarhornThragtuskBattle HymnDeranged Assistant
Actually it might just be easier to google images of "Nils Hamm mtg"
honorable mention to greg staples for Orzhov Guildmage
March 21, 2015 8:16 p.m.
DERPLINGSUPREME says... #5
I'm surprised about all of those but briar. why? personally, most of them look kind of gross to me. but then again, thats me.
March 21, 2015 8:22 p.m.
Serendipitous_Hummingbird says... #7
They are chilling. Nils Hamm uses color better than any other artist. Look at the way that he takes colors like yellow and red and make them seem frightening with colors like green and blue.
Let's look at Deranged Assistant. It's my favorite card, and here is why. First, macabre yet funny flavor text is the best kind, at least for me. Second, the art is beautiful. The colors meld seamlessly into one another. It's absolutely chilling the way that you have a vague idea what is going on, but only enough to let your mind think of the most horrifying thing you can image. The long metal tool that Garl is holding is a scalding red at the tip; in sharp contrast with the murky depths of the rune-covered insidious machine he is operating. Look above his head. While yellow might usually be sun or hope, Hamm conveys the vile flavor of the card by making that yellow more like jaundice than anything else. You as the viewer do not know exactly what is going on; only that whatever it is is horrific, inhuman, and eerily beautiful.
If I had to describe Hamm's style with one word, it would be Lovecraftian. Like HP, he creates eerie and haunting worlds what have a disconcerting beauty to them, filled with madness and terror, yet infused with something that makes them beautiful, and therefore all the more horrifying.
March 21, 2015 8:40 p.m.
Serendipitous_Hummingbird says... #9
I'm sorry, in that case I'm not sure what you are asking. If style and technique are not involved in evaluating art, I'm not sure how to do it. No matter what you do, both style and technique are the primary tools an artist uses to convey a scene.
March 21, 2015 8:47 p.m.
Personally I am a fan of most of Terese Nielsen. Most notably her work on Sydri, Galvanic Genius and Basandra, Battle Seraph. Favorite art is Deathpact Angel though
March 21, 2015 9:21 p.m.
Serendipitous_Hummingbird says... #11
Also Rob Alexander and John Avon basic lands. And Nils Hamm's mountain. Fingers crossed that this links it: Mountain
EDIT: Okay so it shows off the lovely rob alexander mountain. Though to be fair his Odyssey mountain better.
EDIT: Another lovely alexander. I'll find the Hamm yet.
EDIT: Can't find it on preview. Oh well. It's in core sets from M10-I think present.
Also the alexander art of Blood Crypt is breathtaking.
March 21, 2015 9:32 p.m.
Unforgivn_II says... #12
Pretty sure Stasis is the best. Always has and always will be
March 21, 2015 9:49 p.m.
That Vindicate is probably my overall favorite card, but Terese Nielsen and Cynthia Sheppard are my favorite artists.
March 21, 2015 9:59 p.m.
foil Omniscience stands out to me the most. And that flavor text... almost brings a tear to my eye.
March 21, 2015 10:24 p.m.
Cobthecobbler says... #15
I enjoy the works of Raymond Swanland, Tyrese Nielson, Rebecca Guay, Jason Chan, Daarken, Chase Stone and Adam Paquette the most. Really any art by those artists tend to be amazing.
March 21, 2015 10:40 p.m.
Personally I like Harold McNeil's and Drew Tucker's art. McNeil's NAZI history aside, his art is very abstract and always ghastly, evoking from me a mixture of sadness; gloom; and enigma. Invoke Prejudice may be the most flavorful art in Magic (honestly it is unsettling), Enduring Renewal depicts the sorrow of eternal life quite well, and the art on his Circle of Protection cycle (Tempest) represents the colors well in an abstract way. I hear the song Don't Look Down by Tindersticks playing when I analyze his art.
Drew Tucker's art is scary. It almost makes me anxious when I look at it. Cards like Mind Whip, Psychotic Episode, and Gravebind excellently depict dementia and the chaotic, schizophrenic nature of black. High Tide, Night Soil, Plateau, and Light of Day are all calm and are good examples of his versatility.
March 22, 2015 1:35 a.m.
My favorite card art is Enter the Infinite. The flavor text on it is also my favorite. Terese Nielsen is my favorite artist by far.
Forkbeard says... #2
That is a really difficult (albeit fun) question to answer, art opinion is so subjective. There just may very well be someone that thinks this is the finest piece of MTG art ever conceived:
That person may or may not be me.
March 21, 2015 7:51 p.m.