Top 10: Art of Lost Caverns of Ixalan

About the Top 10 series:
In a world where we mindlessly scroll past inexhaustible quantities of "content", consuming works of art that took days to create in mere seconds, this series is an invitation to investigate, appreciate, and celebrate standout works from my favorite card game, Magic the Gathering. It is a meditation on my own tastes and fancies, an opportunity for me to analyze what "works" at a gut level. This usually involves readability at card size, creative storytelling, technical prowess, and the intangible X factor of true greatness!

-Vic 

10.

What captures me most about Campbell White's pieces is the conceptual over the execution (not that there's anything wrong with the latter). Here, we see Aclazotz eclipsing Chimil, the Core's sun, and casting his shadow over the entire landscape, the entire world. A great storytelling piece to sell the scale and fantasy of this spherical cavern empire, and impeccable superposition of figure and ground to show this bat god's outsized impact & power. Just brilliant!

9.

This painting by Christina Kraus caught my eye and refused to let go. As gorgeous in the card frame as it is on its own, it is a testament to the power of bold simplicity. The harmonious palette + color pop, grouped values, elegant gesture, and unmistakable Mesoamerican/merfolk design elements positively sing together. My only gripe is with the background characters which I find a bit derpy compared to the majesty of the main figure, but otherwise I feel so blessed to have this image seared into my brain.

8.

Maybe I'm biased because I opened this card in foil, but damn does it pack a visual punch! The spectral ancestral Malamet is exactly the graphic element my brain craves in a Magic illustration. I will also never tire of Steve Prescott's mastery of shape and silhouette which do the heavy lifting in communicating the strength of this particular warrior instead of relying on detail and rendering (which Steve is more than capable of flexing as well). The tertiary details of the slain insectile monster and its eggs in the background are a wonderful touch of worldbuilding!

7.

This set really made me take notice of Aldo Dominguez's work. Helping Hand, Might of the Ancestors, and Sage of Days all had me staring up close to understand how he achieves almost watercolor-like values and the feeling of translucent color. Captivating! 

6.

With every set, Ryan Pancoast solidifies his legacy as one of the oil-wielding gods of Magic. The things he pulls off seem increasingly ambitious and technically impressive, sophisticated and resolved all while remaining playful and loose. How Ryan, HOW???

5.

I love pirates. I love giants. I love Kai Carpenter's work. No further questions, your honor.

4.

No stranger to popping off on Magic illustrations recently, Jason Rainville serves up a tasty treat of an action scene in Evacuation. Something of an expert on Admiral Beckett Brass's travels (having painted both of her cards, with his mother as model), it is only fitting that he chronicle her escape from this sea monster attack. Beyond the impressive composition, I am utterly addicted to the colors in this piece, the saturated blue-greens are intoxicating. The tangent of her boot with the edge of the frame amusingly creates the illusion that she is walking on water, but it does nothing to lessen my appreciation for this gem.

3.

I am a huge Nicholas Gregory fan, and I desperately wish he would post more of his work online for me to oggle up close. He brings a flavor to his illustrations that I dearly miss from the likes of Jon Foster, Rick Berry, early Scott Fischer etc, but his is a work all its own. The result is an always-memorable image no matter the card's rarity or "importance". I am reminded of two other innocuous white uncommons that marked me to this day: Gustcloak Sentinel by the inimitable Mark Zug and Taj-Nar Swordsmith by Todd Lockwood.

These are the real heroes of Magic, the so-called regular creatures that capture my imagination and teleport me to new worlds. 

2.

I have no evidence that this piece is as amazing up close as it is on a card, but if Syd Mills's other works are any indication, I have a fairly strong hunch that it would be spectacular to behold. Here's hoping they post it someday.

1.

 

 Victor Adame Minguez is just on another level. Whether it's legibility, values, color, light, effects, form, atmosphere...these are to me simply god-tier works of art. My eye loves to wander about them, and is rewarded at every turn. They are the kind of illustrations that inspire me to make entire decks with these characters at the helm (and I did!), proud of how beautiful my commanders are. This intersection of gameplay and great art brings me indescribable bliss.

That's all, thanks for reading~!

This was a rich set for art, here are some other pieces that caught my eye: