On September 27, 2018, the suite of preliminary work for Chris Seaman’s version of Time Walk sold for a combined $1,725 on the MTG Art Market.
The Facts
The artist, Chris Seaman
These works were created by artist Chris Seaman as a part of his process to create his version of Time Walk. The final piece was commissioned as the grand prize of the 2018 Vintage Championship, which will take place on November 2, 2018 in Pittsburgh, PA. Each sketch is a work of graphite on paper, with the paper of the final pencils measuring 12 inches by 14 inches, and each other sheet measuring 10 inches by 12 inches.
These works were sold on the MTG Art Market by community member, collector, and now artist agent Casey Petrillo. He has recently worked with this artist to sell his Guilds of Ravnica final paintings and sketches, as well as some of his Magic, Hearthstone, and Dungeons & Dragons back-catalog of work.
The Hammer
These four pieces of art were auctioned separately yet concurrently, combined into a single post exclusively on the MTG Art Market. While this may seem overwhelming, the post remained clear and the format seemed to work efficiently. The final prices were as follows:
Time Walk Final Pencils: SOLD $900
Time Walk Final Sketch: SOLD $625
Time Walk Thumbnails “A”: SOLD $100
Time Walk Thumbnails “B”: SOLD $100
Because of the nature of this commission, this is the only opportunity to own a form of this work, short of the tournament winner selling their prize, and collectors jumped at the opportunity to own even the most preliminary of pieces. More than a dozen different bidders fought over the final pencils, and another half dozen for the final sketch. The thumbnails both sold to the same collector with more limited interest.
The final pencils are very good, and considering the unavailability of the final painting I am not surprised about the bidding activity and it’s ascent to almost four digits. The other pieces fell right in-line based on their completeness for what I think was a very successful sale of all four pieces. This is the beauty of the auction format—as where sometimes sketches and thumbnails may go unsold for quite some time, the right pieces at the right time can have unexpectedly positive results.
The Art
As mentioned earlier, this painting was commissioned for the winner of the 2018 Vintage Championship. For the last 15 years, the winner of each North American and Asian Vintage and Legacy Championship has won an oversized card, featuring a real painting as the card art.
Everything from the the Power Nine to the Dual Lands has been featured, and to see all of the previous renditions, check out the Magic Librarities. This is Seaman’s first commission for this series, and the second re-imagination of Time Walk
Left to Right: Time Walk by Amy Weber (1992), Time Walk by Chris Rahn (2011), and Time Walk by Chris Seaman (2018)
What was a simple pathway in Amy Weber’s original illustration became a futuristic clock in Chris Rahn’s interpretation in 2011. Time Walk has now become an infinite spiral staircase, and serves as a fantastic contemporary update of an age old card. I believe we will see more of Seaman’s work for these special and promotional illustrations in the future, and look forward to his art making considerable influence on the game for many years to come.
Donny Caltrider has been playing Magic since 2002 and collecting original Magic art since 2017. He has an M.A. in Museum Studies from Johns Hopkins University and enjoys telling stories about art, objects, and the intersection of fantasy with real-life. You can find him on Twitter talking about #mtgart, museums, and other #vorthos related goodness. Follow along and continue the conversation!