Good taste is as tiring as good company.
—Francis Picabia
It’s difficult to enter into this work because of how the aura of the sexy fish endangers the devious simplicity of the eloquence of these pieces.
—The Instant Art Critique Generator
Here are my two honorable mentions and Top 5 Illustrations for Kaladesh!
Noah Bradley knows that I love color spectrums (really anything that’s not attached to a yes/no on/off, etc. binary) and I’m grateful that he had to opportunity to provide us with some more rainbowy goodness.
Anastasia Ovchinnikova did an amazing job capturing the moment before resolved deception. That hand glow.
I’m a big Ryan Yee fan. This artwork is cheesy, beautiful, and heartbreaking. When you play this card I’m certain Cutting Crew’s “Died in your arms tonight” immediately starts playing in your mind. You might even sing along.
Steve Prescott is an all-time great Magic: The Gathering illustrator. I own his book, Aggregate. I look at it all the time. It’s beautiful. His take on the gremlins of Kaladesh is by far my favorite. This humanoid aardvark lifeform suits Prescott’s style. The dynamic color was a good call.
Hands down the best representation of Nissa paired with the brilliantly perfect look of astonishment that attunement would result in. Wesley Burt nailed it.
You can hear this guy humming, too, right? So happy. Matt Stewart gets happiness and this illustration gets second place for the joy it brings.
This is better than Bitterblossom beautiful and Bitterblossom was the most beautiful. I would hang a 40x60in print of this illustration in my home if Adam Paquette sent it to me, you know, in the mail or something. He could definitely email me to get my shipping address. If there is an original painting of this, I’d be interested. Just saying. This illustration is gorgeous.
Matt Jones is an artist living and working in New York City. You can see his work at www.mattjonesrules.com. He’s interested in the various places on the spectrum of experience one can find beauty. He used to play Magic: The Gathering all time time but has traded it in for playing basketball and reading poetry.