These artists make magic happen—literally.
Their handiwork is essential to Magic: The Gathering, a tabletop (or digital) trading card game. On each card is an intricate artwork of a character or artifact, all individually painted and rigorously detailed.
“There’s a ton of information that has to be included in each painting,” says author and illustrator Winona Nelson, who has been creating Magic cards since 2011.
That information tells players, upwards of two, how to play the game: What’s the mood or action? What are the new rules? Is there now a spell or new armor? Is this a hero, or the opposite?
“Every single magic card changes the rules of the game,” Nelson says. “It’s a lot more complicated than a 10 of hearts or something.”
Magic: The Gathering’s parent company, Wizards of the Coast, commissions hundreds of artists for each card. With each assignment comes specific criteria from the art director and what’s called a world guide. Artists typically have around six weeks to sketch, send back for approval, refine, paint, and send off.
“It’s not easy, and it’s quite a challenging task,” says illustrator Aaron Miller, who has painted 130 Magic cards. “It’s far removed from the serenity that can come from plein air painting.”
The Chicago native has been painting Magic cards since 2012. Though often stressful, he says the process does offer boundless creativity.
“I always come back to fantasy as a form of expression because that specific imagery keeps the fires of imagination lit,” Miller says.
For Nelson, it’s about community. Magic players sit around a (sometimes virtual) table together, often face-to-face at a local card shop. People connect through it—to each other and themselves.
“It’s a really big, shared universe,” Nelson says. “It’s something that I feel has a big impact on people’s lives. Pop culture is where people spend their free time when they’re not working, and they want to feel reflected in the things that they consume and the entertainment that they engage with.”
Nelson, who belongs to the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in Minnesota, identifies as Two-Spirit and queer. She paints her reality—in a fantasy world—so others can see theirs.
“One of my big attractions to fantasy art in particular, and narrative art, is that I always wanted to see more depictions of characters who looked like me or who looked like they felt like I did,” Nelson says. “Something that showed heroes, that showed characters who had agency over their lives and who had the power to choose their own destinies.”