Artist: John Avon

His inspiration for this card was his wife

Continuing artist month, today I look at John Avon.

Avon started illustrating Magic cards in 1997 (for Fifth Edition) and is still going strong in 2023. His art shows up in lots of reprints, too.

As always, Scryfall is our source for searching cards. The following commands in Scryfall
artist:"John Avon" not:digital not:artseries
artist:"John Avon" not:digital not:artseries unique:prints
show that he has illustrated 232 cards that have appeared an astonishing 1,231 times (some show up in multiple sets or special releases). Why? Because John is known for lands.

Land cards make up ~40% of most Magic decks. Avon has done a ton of them; 882 of the 1231 printings mentioned above are of land cards. Here are some of his basic lands that I particularly enjoy:

Here are some of my non-basic land favorites (plus an 'explore' thrown in for good measure):

I lack the vocabulary and talent to articulate John's style. Light is often a big part of it, though I'm sure it wouldn't qualify as luminism. His style can be varied enough that I cannot always identify a John Avon card on sight; nevertheless, I generally enjoy his material and make sure my basic lands have a healthy dose of John Avon printings.