By my count, 25 artists contributed at least one illustration to the first printing of Magic: The Gathering, which would later be known as Limited
Edition Alpha. Two of those artists never made another contribution to the game; others dropped out after Ice Age block, when Wizards of the Coast
changed the payment terms for new art, or fell away in Magic’s middle years. A large part of Time Spiral’s nostalgic pull was the presence of new
illustrations from some of the game’s long-lost artists.
Other artists of Alpha, far from being long lost, have created new work for Extended-legal and even Standard-legal sets. One even has a pair of cards
in New Phyrexia (which we knew about long before the spoiler). Here is my look at the artists of Alpha, the “oldest hands” of Magic illustration, and
how their art has influenced the game from the beginning to the present.
Rob Alexander
Alpha illustrations:
Badlands, Lance, Savannah, Taiga, Twiddle, Underground Sea, Web
Most recent new art appears in:
Magic 2011. He created a new illustration for Leyline of the Void and put the “Caw” in “Caw-Blade” with his art for Squadron Hawk.
Trivia:
There aren’t any Rob Alexander illustrations in Scars of Mirrodin block, which worries me a trifle, but even if Rob Alexander stopped painting for
Magic, his many gorgeous basic lands all but ensure that his visual style will remain a presence in core sets for years to come.
Julie Baroh
Alpha illustrations:
Blessing, Clone, Magical Hack, Mind Twist
Most recent new art appears in:
Tempest. Fool’s Tome was her last appearance.
Trivia:
Julie Baroh’s first commissions for Magic came while she was still a student (at Cornish College of
the Arts—remember the name). She has since moved on to children’s book illustrations and other fantasy artwork.
Melissa Benson (also appeared as: Melissa A. Benson)
Alpha illustrations:
Fire Elemental, Holy Armor, Lord of Atlantis, Mesa Pegasus, Nightmare, Shivan Dragon, Timber Wolves
Most recent new art appears in:
Urza’s Legacy, where she contributed About Face and Yavimaya Wurm, alphabetically the first and last cards in the set.
Trivia:
Though Wizards replaced her core set staples with new artwork to get away from a sticky royalty situation, for longtime Magic players, there’s no
replacing her Nightmare or Shivan Dragon. The Time Spiral timeshifted reprint of Lord of Atlantis introduced a new generation of players to her work.
Kev Brockschmidt
Alpha illustrations:
Dwarven Demolition Team, Keldon Warlord, Personal Incarnation, Verduran Enchantress
Most recent new art appears in:
Alpha. Mr. Brockschmidt did not return for any other sets, though his art did.
Trivia:
His Verduran Enchantress artwork was the most enduring. It lasted in reprints until Classic Sixth Edition. Nowadays, Mr. Brockschmidt specializes in
humorous illustration, and I won’t say anything bad about him because he has a second-degree black belt in tae kwon do, and I don’t.
Cornelius Brudi
Alpha illustrations:
Pearled Unicorn, Wanderlust
Most recent new art appears in:
Ice Age. He made a sizable contribution to that set but never added another new illustration. His Mountain Goat did persist as a reprint to Classic
Sixth Edition, though.
Trivia:
Mr. Brudi created the artwork for Plateau used for Beta through Revised, though a printing mistake left the artist’s credit as Drew Tucker; Tucker had
made the original Alpha painting. This was the subject of an early Magic Arcana column.
Sandra Everingham
Alpha illustrations:
Circle of Protection: Green, Dark Ritual, Deathlace, Drudge Skeletons, Evil Presence, Giant Growth, Giant Spider, Ley Druid, Purelace, Raging River,
Sinkhole, The Hive
Most recent new art appears in:
Alliances. She chipped in on four cards: Gustha’s Scepter, Nature’s Blessing, Scarab of the Unseen, and Storm Crow.
Trivia:
Ms. Everingham was the second art director for Magic. Her tenure ended with the Alliances expansion. After her work for Wizards, she married and took
the surname Garavito.
Dan Frazier
Alpha illustrations:
Animate Wall, Berserk, Black Ward, Blue Ward, Cockatrice, Dingus Egg, Disrupting Scepter, Earth Elemental, Earthquake, Firebreathing, Forcefield,
Gloom, Gray Ogre, Green Ward, Healing Salve, Hill Giant, Ice Storm, Iron Star, Jade Statue, Juggernaut, Mahamoti Djinn, Mox Emerald, Mox Jet, Mox
Pearl, Mox Ruby, Mox Sapphire, Orcish Oriflamme, Red Ward, Resurrection, Sacrifice, Sedge Troll, Sunglasses of Urza, Swamp (x2), Thicket Basilisk,
Tunnel, Wall of Stone, White Ward
Most recent new art appears in:
Time Spiral. Mr. Frazier skipped the Ravnica block but added three new cards, Blazing Blade Askari, Durkwood Baloth, and Jhoira’s Timebug, to a set
that also included his timeshifted Cockatrice and Resurrection.
Trivia:
Mr. Frazier’s 38 illustrations make him the most-published artist of Alpha. He is a schoolteacher turned commercial illustrator (those who find they
can, stop teaching?) who calls his home “the house that Magic built.”
Daniel Gelon
Alpha illustrations:
Craw Wurm, Demonic Attorney, Fungusaur, Library of Leng, Lich, Savannah Lions, Stone Rain, Wheel of Fortune, White Knight
Most recent new art appears in:
Time Spiral. In addition to timeshifted cards Goblin Snowman, Orgg, and Uncle Istvan, he contributed Mana Skimmer and two additional cards, Candles of
Leng and Fungus Sliver, which reference Alpha works (Library of Leng and Fungusaur).
Trivia:
A recent Daniel Gelon project is Casino R’lyeh, a Cthulhu-themed deck of poker
cards he worked on with collaborator and partner Heather Hudson (herself a Magic artist of slightly later vintage).
Quinton Hoover
Alpha illustrations:
Darkpact, Earthbind, Feedback, Nettling Imp, Regeneration, Vesuvan Doppelganger, Wrath of God
Most recent new art appears in:
Lorwyn. After a resurgence of work in nostalgia-fueled Time Spiral, he had his last two credits with Lorwyn cards Leaf Gilder and Plover Knights.
Trivia:
Hoover’s distinctive style made him one of the most instantly recognizable artists of Alpha, though his Time Spiral and Lorwyn works show the
undeniable influence of the Magic style sheet.
Fay Jones
Alpha illustrations:
Stasis
Most recent new art appears in:
Alpha. Fay Jones is a one-card wonder, but there’s a story behind that…
Trivia:
Of all the artists listed, Ms. Jones is arguably the most famous outside the Magic community. She’s a well-respected fine artist working out of the
American Northwest—and a relative of game creator Dr. Richard Garfield. There’s a great article about Fay Jones and her painting for Stasis
that is well worth reading.
Anson Maddocks
Alpha illustrations:
Animate Dead, Creature Bond, Cyclopean Tomb, Deathgrip, Disintegrate, Elvish Archers, False Orders, Flight, Guardian Angel, Holy Strength, Hurloon
Minotaur, Invisibility, Ironclaw Orcs, Ivory Cup, Jade Monolith, Lifetap, Living Artifact, Living Wall, Llanowar Elves, Lure, Orcish Artillery,
Paralyze, Plague Rats, Sengir Vampire, Shanodin Dryads, Siren’s Call, Throne of Bone, Two-Headed Giant of Foriys, Wall of Bone, Wall of Brambles
Most recent new art appears in:
Time Spiral. Foriysian Interceptor and Foriysian Totem are obvious references to the Two-Headed Giant of Foriys, while Fallen Ideal is a tip of the
(horned) cap to his iconic Fallen Angel.
Trivia:
The two most revealing parts of this great circa-1994 interview
for The Duelist that was reprinted as a Magic Arcana: first, the Cornish College of the Arts connection comes up again, this time with specific
reference to first Magic art director Jesper Myrfors; and second, the reason Mr. Maddocks had so many pieces in Alpha (30 illustrations, second-most in
the set) was because he was picking up the slack for other artists who couldn’t make their deadlines. One wonders just how tight those deadlines were,
and how much of the “edgy” aesthetic of Alpha art was simply a rush to get the job done!
Jeff A. Menges
Alpha illustrations:
Aspect of Wolf, Black Knight, Bog Wraith, Consecrate Land, Grizzly Bears, Merfolk of the Pearl Trident, Mons’s Goblin Raiders, Raise Dead, Rock Hydra,
Scavenging Ghoul, Sea Serpent, Swords to Plowshares, War Mammoth, Water Elemental, Zombie Master
Most recent new art appears in:
Tempest. Like Julie Baroh, he contributed a single illustration to Tempest, in his case Thalakos Lowlands.
Trivia:
Mr. Menges has a wide portfolio of art for games beyond Magic, as well as a long history of RPG work. Last year, he posted to his blog an illustration for Ars Magica which marked two decades
of association with that game.
Jesper Myrfors
Alpha illustrations:
Armageddon, Bad Moon, Basalt Monolith, Bayou, Camouflage, Conversion, Cursed Land, Demonic Hordes, Fog, Goblin King, Ironwood Treefolk, Living Lands,
Obsianus Golem, Pestilence, Phantom Monster, Plains (x2), Scathe Zombies, Scrubland, Smoke, Tropical Island (erroneously credited to Mark Poole in
Alpha), Tundra, Will-o’-the-Wisp, Word of Command. His Circle of Protection: Black would’ve made one more illustration, had the card not accidentally
been excluded from Alpha.
Most recent new art appears in:
Fallen Empires. He executed one of several illustrations for Spore Cloud, Thallid, and Thorn Thallid.
Trivia:
Mr. Myrfors was Magic’s first art director, and as a Cornish College of the Arts alumnus, he is the nexus for the several artists of Alpha who have a
Cornish connection. He was also the only “Jesper” to illustrate for the game until Lorwyn, when Danish artist Jesper Ejsing joined the fold. Four cards
illustrated by Mr. Myrfors were part of the Time Spiral timeshifted group: Bad Moon, Desert, Evil Eye of Orms-by-Gore, and Witch Hunter.
Mark Poole
Alpha illustrations:
Ancestral Recall, Balance, Birds of Paradise, Burrowing, Counterspell, Crusade, Death Ward, Farmstead, Fastbond, Fear, Howl from Beyond, Howling Mine,
Island (x2), Island Sanctuary, Jump, Kudzu, Natural Selection, Phantasmal Forces, Simulacrum, Sleight of Mind, Stream of Life, Thoughtlace, Wild Growth
Most recent new art appears in:
Morningtide. Unlike other artists who came back for Time Spiral block alone, Mark Poole also contributed to the block before (Ravnica) and the block
after. His last illustration appeared in Morningtide, and War-Spike Changeling may show the influence of the style sheet, but it’s still reflective of
Mr. Poole’s quirkiness.
Trivia:
Mr. Poole’s Web site shows off the skill and diversity embodied in his work outside Magic. His Days of Steam is a particular favorite of mine.
Christopher Rush
Alpha illustrations:
Black Lotus, Forest (x2), Gauntlet of Might, Granite Gargoyle, Kormus Bell, Lightning Bolt, Mana Flare, Manabarbs, Nether Shadow, Rod of Ruin
Most recent new art appears in:
Time Spiral. Unlike other artists who returned after a long absence for Time Spiral, Mr. Rush had contributed to Kamigawa and Ravnica blocks as well as
Coldsnap. Then came Chronatog Totem (a reference to his Chronatog art from Visions) and Opal Guardian. Then…nothing.
Trivia:
Want to assemble a complete set of Magic cards illustrated by Mr. Rush? Good luck! Compared to Shichifukujin Dragon and 1996 World Champion, obtaining
a Black Lotus should be easy; after all, there’s more than one Black Lotus in existence, which can’t be said for the others…
Andi Rusu
Alpha illustrations:
Goblin Balloon Brigade, Roc of Kher Ridges
Most recent new art appears in:
Alliances, though most of Mr. Rusu’s art was for Legends (including Vaevictis Asmadi, one of the five Elder Dragons). For Alliances, he created the art
for Kjeldoran Home Guard and both illustrations for Veteran’s Voice.
Trivia:
Mr. Rusu has a Cornish College of the Arts connection, not only past but present; he is an Adjunct Instructor for Design at the College. Though he lists a number of past clients
on his faculty page, Wizards of the Coast is not among them.
Douglas Shuler
Alpha illustrations:
Animate Artifact, Benalish Hero, Circle of Protection: White, Contract from Below, Demonic Tutor, Drain Life, Drain Power, Dwarven Warriors, Force of
Nature, Frozen Shade, Glasses of Urza, Hypnotic Specter, Icy Manipulator, Mountain (x2), Northern Paladin, Power Surge, Prodigal Sorcerer, Psionic
Blast, Righteousness, Serra Angel, Tranquility, Unholy Strength, Unsummon, Uthden Troll, Veteran Bodyguard, Volcanic Eruption, Weakness
Most recent new art appears in:
Ninth Edition. After a couple of illustrations for Kamigawa block, he contributed a single new artwork for Ninth Edition: Greater Good.
Trivia:
Alpha had mistakes in several artists’ credits, usually through mix-ups, but the worst blunder was consistently misspelling Mr. Shuler’s last name as
“Schuler.” Ouch!
Brian Snoddy
Alpha illustrations:
Psychic Venom, Spell Blast. Volcanic Island was omitted from Alpha but saw print in Beta.
Most recent new art appears in:
Morningtide. While Coldsnap contains most of Mr. Snoddy’s late work, he made two contributions to Morningtide with Countryside Crusher and Unstoppable
Ash.
Trivia:
“Brian Snoddy has been creating artwork since he was a young boy…” That’s his bio. No, seriously, that’s all he says.
Ron Spencer
Alpha illustrations:
Terror. Just one card, but it’s iconic.
Most recent new art appears in:
Magic 2011. He created the art for Crystal Ball. His last work before that was in Shadowmoor Block (Rite of Consumption, Phosphorescent Feast), which
raises the question of whether this is a one-off appearance from the abandoned-art file or if Mr. Spencer is making a comeback.
Trivia:
Mr. Spencer is the brother of another Magic artist, Terese Nielsen, who first illustrated for the game in Alliances. They collaborated on two
illustrations for Shadowmoor, Boon Reflection and Rage Reflection.
Mark Tedin
Alpha illustrations:
Braingeyser, Chaos Orb, Circle of Protection: Red (erroneously credited to Anson Maddocks in Alpha), Fireball, Helm of Chatzuk, Jayemdae Tome, Lord of
the Pit, Mana Vault, Nevinyrral’s Disk, Sol Ring, Time Vault, Timetwister, Wall of Swords, Wall of Wood, Winter Orb, Wooden Sphere
Most recent new art appears in:
New Phyrexia! As with Scars of Mirrodin and Mirrodin Besieged, Mr. Tedin created the art for the Forests of New Phyrexia.
Trivia:
Mr. Tedin has contributed art to every block of Magic save for Tempest block, and he has placed at least one artwork in the vast majority of Magic’s
sets. He is the only Alpha artist to have a credit in Scars of Mirrodin block.
Richard Thomas
Alpha illustrations:
Air Elemental, Black Vise, Blaze of Glory, Blue Elemental Blast, Channel, Karma, Power Sink, Red Elemental Blast, Tsunami, Wall of Air, Wall of Fire,
Wall of Ice, Wall of Water
Most recent new art appears in:
Unhinged, of all places. He rendered Gleemax, everyone’s favorite malicious brain-in-a-jar.
Trivia:
Richard Thomas is a fixture of RPG illustration, currently Creative Director at White Wolf Publishing. His gaming illustration résumé stretches back
almost before I was alive; he’ll have been at it a quarter-century by 2012, if not before.
Drew Tucker
Alpha illustrations:
Clockwork Beast, Plateau, Power Leak
Most recent new art appears in:
Eventide. After Mr. Tucker returned for Time Spiral, he stayed on to contribute to the visual style of Shadowmoor Block. He was a great match,
contributing several Shadowmoor illustrations as well as Deathbringer Liege and Grazing Kelpie in Eventide.
Trivia:
Mr. Tucker is yet another Cornish College of the Arts alumnus. He has an MFA, and when you get him and Matt Cavotta in contact, weird stuff happens.
Tom Wänerstrand
Alpha illustrations:
Pirate Ship, Royal Assassin, Samite Healer
Most recent new art appears in:
Time Spiral. In addition to his timeshifted illustration (War Barge), he contributed Thallid Germinator and Unyaro Bees.
Trivia:
Mr. Wänerstrand, though not as prolific a Magic artist as several others in this list, has arguably an even more important role in the game: he is a Senior Operations Manager for Wizards of the Coast.
Amy Weber
Alpha illustrations:
Ankh of Mishra, Celestial Prism, Conservator, Copper Tablet, Copy Artifact, Crystal Rod, Disenchant, Dragon Whelp, Fork, Illusionary Mask, Lifelace,
Scryb Sprites, Shatter, Steal Artifact, Time Walk, Warp Artifact
Most recent new art appears in:
Alliances. Ms. Weber was a heavy contributor until the moment she wasn’t. For Alliances, she added two versions of Astrolabe, Mystic Compass, Soldevi
Digger, and the ultimate expression of hippopotamus-based cuteness, Phelddagrif.
Trivia:
For proper Googling, type “Amy Weber artist.” Just typing “Amy Weber” gets yousomeone completely different. The other Amy Weber is the “Whiskey Girl” in the infamous Toby Keith music video, and that’s one of the classier media appearances…
Dameon Willich
Alpha illustrations:
Castle, Chaoslace, Circle of Protection: Blue, Control Magic, Flashfires, Gaea’s Liege, Hurricane, Instill Energy, Lifeforce, Mana Short, Phantasmal
Terrain, Regrowth, Reverse Damage, Soul Net, Stone Giant
Most recent new art appears in:
Ice Age. His last six illustrations for Magic were Glacial Wall, Hipparion, Maddening Wind, Melee, Reclamation, and War Chariot. More than half of his
work for Magic debuted in Alpha.
Trivia:
Aside from Alpha and Ice Age, the only set to contain first-printing artwork from Mr. Willich was Arabian Nights.
**
I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at the artists of Alpha. From one-and-done illustrators Kev Brockschmidt and Fay Jones to long-tenured creators Rob
Alexander, Ron Spencer, and Mark Tedin, the 25 artists captured the imaginations of thousands of gamers and contributed to Magic’s success. We are
pushing toward a future, closer than we think, when the first Magic card will be illustrated by an artist younger than the game itself. For being the
pioneers who made that future possible, the artists of Alpha deserve to be remembered and celebrated.
— JDB
@jdbeety on Twitter