Long-time Magic: The Gathering artist, Tony DiTerlizzi, took Twitter users on a trip down memory lane after posting a series of pictures showing the real-life inspirations behind some of his most iconic Magic illustrations from the 1990s.
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Every artist draws inspiration from their own unique places, and for DiTerlizzi, this meant having his loved ones “pose with blankets as capes and pretend they were wizards.”
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During his time as Magic artist, DiTerlizzi illustrated 86 unique pieces, his first being Coercion (seen above), which debuted in 1997’s Visions, while his most iconic — Brainstorm — was released in Mercadian Masques in October of 1999. To this day, many consider DiTerlizzi’s rendition of Brainstorm to be top-tier.
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While a majority of DiTerlizzi’s early inspiration came from friends and family, at least one of his pieces (Giant Growth from 5th Edition) featured a much smaller, furrier model, which he “referenced from a nature book.”
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Following his departure from Magic in November of 2004 after the release of Unhinged, DiTerlizzi focused on writing and illustrating children’s books, with his series, The Spiderwick Chronicles, getting a film adaptation in 2008. He also continued to work on various Dungeons & Dragons projects over the years, which lead to his return to Magic with Adventures in the Forgotten Realms in 2021.