Continuing artist month, today I look at Greg & Tim Hildebrandt.
Having risen to fame through their Lord of the Rings and Star Wars illustrations in the 1970s, their fantasy focus and style fit in well to Magic. Their style reminds me of 'classic' fantasy in the '80s and '90s: illustrations that adorned book covers from the era. Work from that time had a 'whimsical' quality to it (for lack of a better word): it dealt with heavy themes and 'scary' creatures in a simplistic and light-hearted way. While that approach seems dated today, I enjoy the nostalgia it evokes: it encourages us to remember that this is fantasy.
I use Scryfall for searching for Hildebrandt illustrations. The following syntaxes in scryfall
artist:"Hildebrandt" not:digital not:artseries
artist:"Hildebrandt" not:digital not:artseries unique:prints
yield the following results, respectively:
191 cards
artist:"Hildebrandt" not:digital not:artseries unique:prints
yield the following results, respectively:
191 cards
407 cards
So they have collectively illustrated 191 Magic cards that have appeared 407 times (some show up in multiple sets or special releases). Aside: They did 85 or 86 jointly, but Greg is credited with 161 total and Tim 116. Those totals include their solo work; Tim did 30 on his own and Greg 76 (both of the preceding queries erroneously include Cabal Ritual as a solo card, so I decremented each by one).
So they have collectively illustrated 191 Magic cards that have appeared 407 times (some show up in multiple sets or special releases). Aside: They did 85 or 86 jointly, but Greg is credited with 161 total and Tim 116. Those totals include their solo work; Tim did 30 on his own and Greg 76 (both of the preceding queries erroneously include Cabal Ritual as a solo card, so I decremented each by one).
Here are some of my favorites:
Of special note are the 20 classic Hildebrandt prints that showed up in the Tales of Middle Earth Commander set. Four are below, but check out all of them.
Apparently their work on Lord of the Rings inspired John Howe to follow suit. So cements an honorable legacy; well done, brothers. Rest in peace.
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