is magic art getting worse

>>53030153
It's the culmination of several things.

1) WotC wants a very specific set design. They want new looking, fresh feeling art with a cohesive theme and color palate for each set and block.

2) WotC is incredibly stingy when it comes to paying for art. They pay as little as possible, send payments late, or sometimes don't pay for commissions at all.

3) Because of 2, artists do the bare minimum amount of work required to fulfil the request. Why spend days on something you're barely getting paid to do? So, instead of taking the time and doing a piece right, they spend 3 or 4 hours at most to do a good enough job.

>>53030617
Where did you hear #2 from? From the artists I've heard from, WOTC pays some of the best rates for fantasy art commissions.

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>>53030153
>at least the bad art in the past was often bad in an interesting, charming way, this is just bad & soulless
tidus-laugh.rar

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>>53031206
More awful art printed before OP was born.

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No. It's probably fine. The art direction the game is going in probably doesn't appeal to you. You haven't posted what you want to see or what did appeal to you before. You're not letting me know what sort of art in the game you want, OP.

I really want to see where your taste in magic art lies.

>>53030617
>2) WotC is incredibly stingy when it comes to paying for art. They pay as little as possible, send payments late, or sometimes don't pay for commissions at all.
>3) Because of 2, artists do the bare minimum amount of work required to fulfil the request. Why spend days on something you're barely getting paid to do? So, instead of taking the time and doing a piece right, they spend 3 or 4 hours at most to do a good enough job.
Bullshit. Magic is considered the gold standard for fantasy art commissions. This is an art direction/marketing thing.

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>>53030153
Blame the art directors.

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>>53031219
More incoming

>>53031046
>>53031285
Please.

http://www.vandalhigh.com/blog/2015/7/3/the-problems-with-artist-pay-on-magic

Is the best source I can find with two minutes on Google. You can find more if you want, but it's basically all terrible. There was a lot of talk about it last year.

>>53031206
Are you implying that this isn't charming? The trees look pretty neat and the bear has a funny pose.
>>53031219
This one is legitimately great.
>>53031368
No defense for this one.
>>53031260
Post Topplegeist next time, it's one of the better pieces of recent Magic art.

It's almost like I've been hearing this exact sentiment since Kamigawa or something.

>>53032958

All the cancer this game has developed can be traced all the way back to weatherlight. It's harder to justify the abstract, inspired artwork when you're trying to tell a shitty story on the cards themselves. Nothing is left to our imagination anymore.

>>53030153
Dude the art has been shit for at least five years now, where have you been?

>>53033219
Possibly, but firing all of their good artists because they didn't fit into the boring CGI saminess mandated by Hasbro certainly didn't do the art any favours.

>>53031260
>post your opinion so I can pick it apart while the game's playerbase dwindles but I won haha!

>muh shit art has charm
No it doesn't.

Yes there is a lot of average mtg art nowadays. Lazy and uninspired, but fitting the theme or plane or whatever. Technically good, but bland. But that doesn't make it bad.

Certain stuff from the past was just straight up dogshit. If you think that flash looked good, you're objectively wrong. If your only argument is that it 'looks charming' then you need to get your nostalgia goggles off.

Modern mtg art is cohesive and on the whole decent, even if overly bland. The real problem is that they don't hire enough people like Noah Bradley who actually seem to enjoy their work.

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>>53030153
New card art is mostly boring. With their strict standards and direction a lot of the cards look completely forgettable now. Most people remember the glaringly bad examples and forget the rest. There are some exceptions. Pic related looks beautiful, but it is also foil. Also Terese Nielsen still gets to do some cards lately, and those are always refreshing.

>>53035967
>Pic related looks beautiful
It's just more of the same we always get. A completely nonsensical picture with a huge blob of a complementary color in the middle.

>>53034596

>art
>objectively wrong

Look, you can believe what you want but nobody will ever take you seriously so you're just wasting your virtual breath.

>>53032620
>This one is legitimately great.
Anon confirmed for blindness

>>53037864
>A completely nonsensical picture with a huge blob of a complementary color in the middle.
Did you ever go in a foundry? Or steelworks buildings?
Since you probably didn't, and that's normal, this art is pretty close to reality, except for the fantasy elements of course

>>53030153
I'd say everything crumbled down 5 or 6 years ago.
Laziness, bad art direction and dumb design at cause.

I barely only like 3 or 5 art per edition. That's a ridiculous amount.
>>53039180
Still a pretty boring piece for something called Crucible of worlds.

>>53039221
>Still a pretty boring piece for something called Crucible of worlds.
That's another problem
Crucible of World is too abstract of an artefact, it didn't fit Kaladesh's aesthetic and flavor powerlevel
They shouldn't have chosen Crucible for the Inventions

>>53030153
Is it weird to say that I preferred it when awful art was allowed in the game? Not that I like the awful stuff but it allowed some cards to just use different styles and be interesting.

Balance is probably an extreme example, but I'm sure there are plenty of neat non-real art that doesn't take it to balance's extreme.

>>53034596
>But that doesn't make it bad.
actually that's exactly what it does
who gives a shit if it fits the plane that the amateur writers conjured up when the plane is also bland and boring, you think anyone cares more about the simplistic fantasy world some hacks cooked up in a few weeks than what they see on the cards? Wow this 2 square inch cardboard picture of a generic warrior dude really immersed me into *generic fantasy version of real-world culture*! Make it striking or you're just wasting your time.
>Certain stuff from the past was just straight up dogshit. If you think that flash looked good, you're objectively wrong.
oh look it's the flash example again, is this the only defense you fags can come up with?
>>53031368
this was due to a deadline error
>>53031206
this is generic, but more rustic than the OP example of a warcraft mage casting arcane intellect so I'll give it half a point
>>53031219
this is good, the artist just lacked technical skills, but the concept is conveyed well and the ugly little manlet is memorable

>>53030153
>worse
Not really
>boring
Yes. The cruel methodic process wotc uses, where they let a 'creative mind' (yet too untalanted to scetch or draw something by him/her-self) describe their wanted image with pretentious detail and without any sense of the final piece ending as a print on small 2" by 2" cardboard, restricts and limits the artistic creativity among the artists and evidentely results in a generic, "cheap" and many times indifferent art, that most players, casters and people in general have trouble telling a part.

The new boarder/frame also plays a role on the perspective of the art, it can easiest be seen in a comparison between the cards reprinted in the coldsnap theme decks. What the new boarder fails to do, is to correctly frame the art, an instead blends it between the darker sides of the frame and lighter top/bottom, which makes it harder for they eye to correctly fixate on the art itself and distinguish it.

The solution is rather simple, let the artist have more time and space with their pieces, but it's one of those things wotc won't care about since they're more busy with pumping in resources on the jacestice-story, hiring pc-consultants and making sure it becomes as bland as possible to appeal to the masses (which weren't appealed by the original product for a strange reason).

>>53039283
>Is it weird to say that I preferred it when awful art was allowed in the game?
No, it isn't weird. Variety is the spice of life.

>>53039180
>Did you ever go in a foundry?
I have.

>this art is pretty close to reality
Not my point at all. The art is bland and conveys nothing about the card it's on.

>>53031219
That is charming as hell. Look at that GIANT STRENGTH! He's pulling a whole train of... uh, spiky.. somethings.

The reason it all feels soulless should be obvious - it is. The old art was all hand painted, most of the newer stuff is digital. It's striking at first, but after a few it starts to all look very samey.

>>53033219
Can't really agree. Weatherlight was definitely a turning point, and I also don't think magic needed a backstory. But it also was part of a golden age for the artwork. A ton of the most memorable images produced over the game's lifetime are from that window from Ice Age up through the Rath block or the first couple Urza Whatevers.

It saw the artists getting away from just doing "traditional" stuff from myths and d&d, and really giving the game its own aesthetic. The general quality level of the art also saw a massive jump over the early sets.

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Why are seb mckinnon and nils hamm the only good current artists?

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Old Magic the Gathering art is the best part of MTG.

>>53039957
>The old art was all hand painted, most of the newer stuff is digital.
that has barely anything to do with it, digital art is ALSO all hand-painted you fucking spastic, and I bet it would take me approximately fifty minutes to find an artist who could replicate giant strength in digital

the real reason is that the artist's senses of style has just been suppressed

>>53039957
Yeah look at this new mtg artist.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zdKceNf8Oo
How dare of him painting digital art on his digital canvas using digital paints and digital thinners.

>>53033419
>claims player base is dwindling
>all records show nothing but growth

Good job you fucking retard.

>>53031796
Did you even read the thing that you linked? He acknowledges that Magic is still the highest-paying fantasy gig, but that these larger issues are still problems.

>>53030153
Amonkhet is the most disappointing set art-wise in recent memory. It feels like art director was just half-assing it. After they reached the KANGZ quota they decided that nothing can get them fired now and just signed off on everything without looking.

>>53040690
>rob alexander
>new

>>53040856
>KANGZ quota

I really wish Samut had been a Minotaur or Jackal instead of a human.

>>53040745
He clearly just googled "magic gather bad artist pay" to find information that agrees with him

>>53040946
But he paints digitally, and his digital arts is still on current boring ass mtg digital arts, so he must be new and shit because muh digital shit.

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Shadows and Eldritch Moon delivered some good shit art-wise.

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>>53030153
>hating on based Magali

>>53042270
>caricature of egyptian holds swirly glowy blue magic gizmo
wow amazing

it's not even drawn good

>>53042270
Wot Chas bro art description
>show a nignog cosplaying farao with the standard 'hold up' face. Straight in front of him is a weird lamplike egyptian keepsake that confounds him. The monkey has found a new toy.
>setting: BLM egypt
>focus: gay nignog and the gizmo
>mood: he's about to chimp out

>>53039957
To each his own, I suppose. I just think it greatly restricts an artist's freedom when he's forced to storyboard a scene from the set's story rather than do something more creative. Magic was at its best when it created a setting and characters, but gave you no clue as to how any of it played out aside from a sprinkling of flavor text. It felt like a sandbox, and I think that translated into far more creative freedom for the artists.

>>53042841
this post description:
>show a shitposter cosplaying autist with the standard 'tee hee I'm being racist' face. Straight in front of him is a weird non-/pol/-related thread that confounds him. The virus has found a new host.
>setting: the worst site on the internet
>focus: homo tool and the thread
>mood: he's about to 433 replies and 128 images omitted. Click here to view.

>>53042895
egyptians weren't black

>>53042958
that's beside the point

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>>53031206
>hating on forest bear
whoah, fuck off

there isn't a single bad bear in mtg art history

>>53040745
Did YOU read it?

>Magic is still the highest paying gig in gaming, but that’s not exactly a fair comparison. Tabletop gaming is tiny industry and most products are selling units measured in thousands as opposed to the hundreds of millions of units that Magic has sold. When most card games pay $125, they are actually paying a far larger portion of the project’s gross income back to the people who helped make it. The slice of the Magic pie that gets side aside for paying artists and writers is insignificant. This extends to the small staff of creatives that work in-house at WotC as well as the hundreds of contractors that they hire to make all the art in the game.

>The slice of the Magic pie that gets side aside for paying artists and writers is insignificant.

The top of a pile of shit is still shit.

I think they realize they only need a couple good pieces of art each set so for those they use the expensive artists like Nielsen, guay and Avon and for the rest get the generic fantasy art. On a whole, I don't think children or most of adult magic players care about or notice art quality. Past the first time you analyze a piece there isn't much appreciation either.

Kaladesh and Amonkhet have bad art overall
Shadows had a lot of great art, BFZ had some decent art

>>53042958
>*confused ignorant noises*

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Art for Indestructible Aura, a card that doesn't grant indestructible and isn't an aura

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Not all new art is bad.

>>53044711
That's Theodar the Birdman reflecting all of the damage with his metal aura

>>53042958
Look, no one gives a fuck. They could make a viking block and have the inhabitants there reflect current american society for all I care. It simply doesn't matter.

The only part that does matter me is that WotC likely feel pressured into showing people of color where they don't have to because ten angry people on tumblr will make blog posts about it if they don't.

The thing is, unsystematic normal internet business. And while WotC is one of the most ibeternet sawy companies in the net right now they're still mostly compoaed of middle aged men who have no idea what it means when someone requests sauce. Or you known. They probably know what it means what it means when someone requests sauce, because they're fucking nerds, but when we're talking about gamer gate or whatever they probably think it's a neonazi shitstorm because that's what the media tells them it is. Personally I have no strong opinion in the matter, but I have enough facts to know that most people who support it aren't neonazis.

Also, I am totally phineposting this because I'm on the toilet and I didn't feel like bringing my laptop.

>>53031368
Always liked this art

>>53044713
I hate seeing art this good on non-legendary cards, I know wizards isn't going to make the game worth playing anymore but at least do the artists justice.

>>53045229
>only legendaries can have good art
what

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>>53045229
>people only remember legendaries
No, perople only remember cards that are actually played

>>53044713
>>53045229
>>53046446
>every example of good recent art has been seb or nils

Wow, just like I said before, they have the only remaining unique styles, everyone else has converted to shitty cg. We can only hope wizards realizes that literally EVERBODY prefers the seb/nils style to the generic ps2 garbage that everyone else shits out

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>>53035967
The new art for Crucible of Worlds is generic and forgettable compared to the very memorable original art.

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>>53044144
I think the art style was fitting for Kaladesh. Yes, it's CG-y, but it does a good job at illustrating a memorable world.

>>53048594
>but it does a good job at illustrating a memorable world.
Kaladesh was memorable? All I can remember was everything revolving around a fair and DUDE LET'S PUT FILIGREE ON EVERYTHING LMAO

>>53042958
Also the gods don't wear golden masks, didn't walk among the people, didn't create trials that ended with getting slaughtered for glory those were the Aztecs, and weren't all secretly ruled by a giant dragon.

The simple answer is: It's fantasy. No one cares.

>>53048594
>memorable world
you're not supposed to say that. rrrreeeeeee, cg, digital, boring, wijjardssssssssssssss

>>53032620

Here we find a nostalgiaboo in his natural habitat, a "bitching about things these days" thread.

>>53048594
I gotta say, Kaladesh did have really incredible art.

Some were completely overdone but others were just lovely. I really appreciated the art of the lands and Wildest Dreams.

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Some art does look like shit, but that happened on every god damn block.

>>53042852
Fair enough. I can see both sides of that coin. I 100% agree that the game didn't need a real backstory beyond "two wizards summoning monsters and throwing fireballs at each other". In that sense we agree, and the "storyboard" cards (the first Rath set had a ton of those) are mostly pretty lame.

The other side is that those same sets were the stage for a huge transition in the art, from the hand drawn / cartoony (like the giant strength above, but also including much better examples like Shivan Dragon or Uncle Istvan) and toward a more uniform painted style. Those years also saw the addition and/or expansion of a lot of original creature types like the hellions, slivers, phyrexians, etc, which are (mostly) pretty memorable and helped pull the game away from its D&D roots and toward its own identity.

>>53040661
>>53040690
Both missing the point. Of course it's POSSIBLE to replicate the exact process of painting by hand. I've seen some fantastic work that was produced or modified digitally. The computer is a tool, and just like any other tool in your bag, it's a huge help when used correctly. Software allows you to create as many custom brushes as you like and you could never use the same one twice in a piece, if that's what you wanted to do.

But the software also makes it easier than ever to take shortcuts. Now if you're painting for yourself, that doesn't change anything. But when you're working for a paycheck and under a deadline? And the client doesn't actually care as long as the product matches the spec? Hell yeah, you're going to take those shortcuts. You're going to re-use those same brushes and components and filters over and over. You're going to churn out work fast, assembly line style, whatever gets the job done.

THAT'S how the soul goes out of it. A lot of people look at the art lately and they just don't FEEL it. It's feels dull and overproduced... because it is. They know it sucks even when they can't say exactly why.

>>53030153
They're making it more like Yugioh art.