The Artistic Diversity Challenge - Come and join!
In light of current events occurring all across the United States, Canada, and other countries around the world, I came to the realization that almost all of my artistic connections are whiter than Gavin Verhey's pasty derriere. Were you to ask me who my favorite black artist was, I wouldn't have even been able to list one. As an artist myself, this is both embarrassing and sickening. The fact that Wizards of the Coast has only employed black artists four times during Magic's lifespan, amidst thousands of commissions each year, certainly doesn't help.
Everyone is welcome to start anytime and share their cards/artist discoveries. You're welcome to use a previously mentioned artist's work, but it's way cooler if you find one that hasn't been mentioned yet. If you need any other reason to participate in this challenge, I guess I can shower your cards with internet points too. And please spread the word and invite your friends! (cough cough @Faiths_Guide @sorinjace @murkletins @Gelectrode @MemoryHead)
I understand that I will always have racist biases whether I want them or not. I also understand that the best way to fight these racist biases is to become aware of them and make a conscious effort to reject them. To recognize black and colored artists, every day for 30 days I will discover a new black or colored artist and design a card based around their artwork. I invite you to join this challenge with me so we can fight our ignorance together. Just because this challenge is only a month long does not mean support for black and colored artists ends then. We all need to support black and colored artists now and forever.
Everyone is welcome to start anytime and share their cards/artist discoveries. You're welcome to use a previously mentioned artist's work, but it's way cooler if you find one that hasn't been mentioned yet. If you need any other reason to participate in this challenge, I guess I can shower your cards with internet points too. And please spread the word and invite your friends! (cough cough @Faiths_Guide @sorinjace @murkletins @Gelectrode @MemoryHead)
Good luck everyone and stay safe. Let's all meet someone new today.
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https://www.deviantart.com/krhart/gallery
creature you control that shares a color with it. If
you do, this spell becomes ordained.)
By @Rayne_Lord, check out his set!
Art by https://www.artstation.com/coreytrineulwhite
The art is done by Odera Igbokwe!
Link to the contest:
https://forums.mtgcardsmith.com/discussion/comment/185791/#Comment_185791
Featuring the artwork of: Manasseh Johnson, Sr. (His caricatures of celebrities are awesome btw.)
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/tchalla-king-of-wakanda-8
Featuring the artwork of Walter Lobyn Hamilton
This piece is actually comprised of broken vinyl records. I actually thought it was really cool, and it got me thinking of tutors for some reason, so this is what I came up with.
Day 2: Featuring the artwork of Olajide Ajayi!https://www.artstation.com/therealola
With Life Mind Tutor I went with flavor for the drawback since the artist is 'revealing' his love for music, so I thought he would want to reveal his library, get it? Hehe. Plus it makes for a wacky but possibly useful (or dangerous) drawback. Such is the price of playing at instant tutor speed.
Sure thing! I faved these five cards below! Thank you for joining the contest, I loved the song you picked and the card you designed from it!
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/orsolla-abyssal-witch
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/doctors-transformation
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/honorable-dreams
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/tchalla-king-of-wakanda-8
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/speaker-of-the-skyrazers
https://www.hasaniclaxton.com
https://www.deviantart.com/gdbee
And speaking of which (Day 5), let's feature the artwork of Odera Igbokwe!
https://www.odera.net/illus...
http://komiolaf.com
That's just like forcing a black person to change the role of the famous non-black person such as Jesus Christ to be black just because of the 'diversity'.
Speaking of which, by purposefully hiring minority applicants, WotC can end toxic precedents and start new ones. Having only four black artists in the history of MTG is pretty intimidating for up-and-coming artists for good reason. It may seem forced at first, but by adding more minority artists to MTG, it can allow the hiring process to be more organic over time once the precedent of there-are-only-four-black-artists is done for.
Also, you're right about a lot of artists working at WotC just because they're white. When an art director is looking for artists to illustrate the new set, they often pick people they know, which is reasonable. The problem is that all MTG art directors are white, so the people that first come to mind are also white. Think of how many black artists would illustrate for MTG if WotC only would hire a black art director. And considering how well WotC pays their artists, as well as the status of illustrating for such a prestigious game, I think many black artists would love to illustrate for the game given the change. It's not an issue about race, it's an issue about ignorance, and I don't think anyone can use ignorance as an excuse anymore considering what's happening in the states.
And I hate to say this, but Jesus Christ was most likely black. Research on ancient skeletons in Israel suggests that Judeans of the time were biologically closer to Iraqi Jews than any other contemporary population, which means that Jesus Christ would have dark olive skin. Sorry.
Also, yeah, but Jesus wasn't an african descent (a.k.a. like the afro-american people who feel to be 'oppressed') because the history between the Middle-East and American people is different from the enslavement of the black people that happened in the past.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Highwaymen_(artists)
here's my entry (expect more)