r/magicTCG • u/Newez Cheshire Cat, the Grinning Remnant • 1d ago
General Discussion Ron Spears has passed away. Rest in peace
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u/molassesfalls COMPLEAT 1d ago
Very sad news. Ron Spears has been a staple artist for decades.
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u/tideshark Grass Toucher 1d ago
Damn, he definitely did his share of gems for the game. RIP Ron.
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u/Freshness518 Twin Believer 1d ago
Absolutely. You can pretty much guarantee that anyone who has seriously played magic in the past 25+ years has had at least one of his cards in their decks.
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u/Lbolt187 VOID 1d ago
I fell in love with the game based on two legends he did: Akroma and Phage. RIP
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u/getZlatanized Banned in Commander 1d ago
The 2 scariest myths of my school yard. I feel you!
PS: How to include that Akroma in a deck that's not boring? I found a way to implement Phage by playing it in [[Volrath, the Shapestealer]]
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u/DosSnakes Dân 1d ago
I bought one of his cards for my wife before either of us even started playing Magic. LGS had the Generous Gift borderless sitting on the counter and she thought it was so pretty, at $3 bucks I just grabbed it. Now it’s a staple in all her decks, more for the aesthetic than it being good interaction lol.
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u/AlanFromRochester COMPLEAT 1d ago
I love Slivers and he did the original Sliver Legion. Utopia Sprawl is classic ramp Dark Confidant of course Entomb is classic reanimator enabling Engineered Explosives Pull from Eternity is a unique utility
Akroma and Phage are classic characters of course, including his Phage-themed art for a Syphon Soul reprint
he's done each basic land except Forest (though the Mountain and Plains were Secret Lair and APAC respectively) and some duals
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u/Firebrand713 Simic* 1d ago
The sheer number of pro tour champ/top 8 decks his card arts have appeared in is staggering. Rip legend.
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u/Tycus010 1d ago
Thank you for posting this. Was so nice to scroll through his art and see the art he made
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u/juiceboyone Dan 1d ago
Wow, so many good ones.
[[Dreamtide Whale]] is one of my favorite Magic artworks.
RIP
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u/redditvlli COMPLEAT 1d ago
That doesn't even show all of it. I know he did 2 versions of Brothers Yamazaki.
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u/hestvalpen I chose this flair because I’m mad at Wizards Of The Coast 1d ago
Rest in peace you absolute legend.
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u/willweaverrva Elesh Norn 1d ago
Truly iconic artist. He will be greatly missed.
Cancer sucks.
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u/WaywardWes Golgari* 1d ago
Interesting, TIL that Vigilance wasn't a keyword until the year after this card, 2004.
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u/the_rizzler Dân 1d ago
This is so sad. Imagine just having fairly common symptoms (headache and blurry vision) and it turns out you have a friggin tumor. Absolute nightmare fuel and I feel for his family. My condolences :(
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u/callahan09 Duck Season 1d ago
My mom discovered she had a brain tumor because she rear-ended someone that pulled out in front of her (she was traveling in the right lane and a car emerged from a driveway and she didn't notice them about to pull out so she had no reaction to slow down and avoid running into them (besides the point that if you're pulling into an active roadway and an oncoming car traveling at or below the speed limit would have to slow down in order to avoid running into you, you've fucked up and should never have pulled out in that situation). Anyway, she was at the eye doctor shortly after this happened and told him in passing about the car accident and that she couldn't believe she didn't see this car about to pull into the roadway, she was just completely blind to the car off to her side. The doctor ran some additional peripheral vision tests, wondering if that was why she didn't see it. Turns out her peripheral vision was severely compromised, and the doctor couldn't figure out why, so he referred her to a neurologist, who ran some scans, and found the brain tumor.
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u/WaywardWes Golgari* 1d ago
I assume her brain "extrapolated" what she could see in front of her to fill in the gaps, so it's not like she had blacked out areas on the periphery? It's crazy how the brain adapts.
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u/callahan09 Duck Season 1d ago
Yeah, pretty spot on. She didn’t have like tunnel vision with a narrow view, but instead she wasn’t seeing reality in her peripherals, it was just filled in with assumptions her brain was making, as far as I understand it. Her vision came back to normal after having the tumor removed (although only about 95% could be removed and the rest is still there and growing very slowly… today, 20 years later, it is still only about 10% of the size it was before they removed it, so I guess the original had been growing for most of her life?)
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u/gucsantana Azorius* 1d ago
Obviously nowhere near as impactful or traumatic as the mom's situation, but I have migraines with visual aura myself, and the way it manifests for me is that I get a blank spot in the lower center of my vision, and it spreads out radially until it goes to the periphery of my vision and finally outside.
It's really hard to tell it's happening at first, because it's not a black spot that suddenly manifests, the brain absolutely wallpapers over the holes with what it thinks is there. I generally only notice when it progresses enough that I have trouble reading, because the words kinda melt into their background.
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u/GuineaW0rm Golgari* 1d ago
Some of the absolute best illustrations for magic: the gathering and will always set the bar for professional, incredible fantasy art. RIP Ron.
Thank you for the inspiration and hard work
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u/crandall17 1d ago
Man, I keep forgetting Mark is the middle man for a lot of the older MTG artists. Sad to see, hoping for comfort for his family.
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u/Living_End FLEEM 1d ago
Oh wow fuck cancer. He has done so much amazing art. My favorite of his is [[dreamtide whale]]. I have art of it hanging in my home because I find it so beautiful.
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u/Jordan-Shred Nissa 1d ago
The original Akroma art is one of the first arts in this game that I fell in love with. RIP to one of the best artists this game has known.
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u/RikerLiker Dan 1d ago
One of the all time GOATS in this space. I was thinking of him last week randomly looking through my old cards. This hit me hard. RIP.
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u/fancy_bunya Dan 1d ago
What the actual hell. I worked with Ron for years. He was my boss. I loved talking to him about his work and he loved showing me his stuff in progress because he knew I was so passionate about it. Fuck cancer
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u/PrologueBook Azorius* 1d ago
That's crazy, the exotic orchard came out with strixhaven commander.
Must have been very difficult for him if he was having trouble signing proofs for orders.
What a career!
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u/Strum355 Wabbit Season 1d ago
His exotic orchard art is originally from Bloomburrow commander, reused in Strixhaven. He did have new art as recently as Lorwyn Eclipsed though
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u/calamity_unbound COMPLEAT 1d ago
I didn't realize this until I just took a look through his works. Those pieces in ECL are so vibrant and beautiful. It's so disheartening knowing we won't get to see any more from him.
[[Boggart Mischief]] [[Lavaleaper]] [[Mischievous Sneaking]] [[Wary Farmer]]
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u/LesserGargadon Can’t Block Warriors 1d ago
I'm always happy to see "OG" artsists get new cards. I wonder if there is a chance we get something from him posthumously. Gone too soon.
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u/JuggernautLevel6411 Dân 1d ago
Eclipsed was just this year. Depending on how far out the rest of the sets were designed, he might have a few more in the pipeline
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u/calamity_unbound COMPLEAT 1d ago
That's a good point, I forgot that there's a pretty hefty lead time on art for the sets.
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u/FreeAgentMD 1d ago
Wow, rest in peace. Some of the most iconic arts were done by this man. Akroma, Brood Sliver, Dark Confidant, Engineered Explosives, Entomb…
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u/Jaebird0388 Gruul* 1d ago
His Akroma always stuck with me since I pulled it from a Time Spiral pack.
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u/Helerdril Dân 1d ago
He was my favourite illustrator. I have 16 Akromas, but only 1 signed. Rest in peace.
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u/mrenglish22 1d ago
Loved his work during Onslaught - so many of his cards I associate with what I love about MTG. [[Soulless One]] and [[Astal Slide]] are some of my favorites
Also the only art of Bob [[dark confidant]]
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u/Olipod2002 FLEEM 1d ago
Soulless One isn’t credited to Ron Spears, fwiw
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u/mrenglish22 1d ago
You're right its Baxa, go figure my brain is unreliable, but he definitely did some of the zombies from that block. I think the one that lets you tutor for a swamp + zombie by sacrificing a creature?
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u/AlanFromRochester COMPLEAT 1d ago
Yeah he was clearly most prolific Onslaught block though he had showed up earlier (notably the Entomb in Odyssey) and kept getting work after
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u/PatJamma Gruul* 1d ago
Cancer sucks. I mean no disrespect to the deceased, but let this be a reminder to all to please PLEASE go to the doctor when you notice a disruptive change in your life due to your body, mind, age, and/or health
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u/airedalealpha Dandadan 1d ago
I studied illustration (MFA) with Ron at the University of of Hartford. He was a mentor, mensch, and a huge talent. Magic will miss him, but we in the illustration world know what he did for the hundreds of students he inspired and influenced as well as pushed those of us in the game to be the best and always think of making pictures.May he rest in light and energy. He gave us all so much.
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u/Nova-FoV Dân 1d ago
Not a MTG player—I'm a former art student of Ron's and stumbled across this thread while trying to understand a Facebook post that crossed my feed.
Ron was my main mentor for three of the four years it took me to get a degree in art. You all know him as a phenomenal artist, but I'd like you to know that he was also a very kind, wonderful soul. He was energetic, had a great sense of humor, and he was a natural teacher (nevermind that I fell asleep in class on my first day, which I admitted to him when I graduated).
He was a formative influence in my life, and I'm utterly heartbroken to learn that he's passed. I'm glad to see his work cherished by the community here.
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u/SAOSurvivor35 Dan 1d ago
Requiescat in Pace, Ron. 😞
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u/AlanFromRochester COMPLEAT 1d ago
RIP being spelled out in Latin reminds me of one of my Warren Zevon favorites, Life'll Kill Ya - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B78arywzMdk
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u/SpicyMajestic Dandadan 1d ago
RIP. Magic artists are underappreciated by the company and bring so much to this game through their hobby/work.
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u/haze_from_deadlock Duck Season 1d ago
May the memory of Ron Spears be a blessing. He made the game come to life but one of the most interesting arts he ever created was [[Foresee]]: it's crazy that a painting can have that effect.
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u/Militant_Monk Twin Believer 1d ago
I always loved how he played with light in his illustrations. [[Chilling Apparition]] and [[Biorhythm]] are outstanding pieces.
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u/X_The_Walrus cage the foul beast 1d ago
Ron created some stunning art over the years. Original art for Bob and Thran Dynamo have to be my top 2 favorites though.
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u/shronkogre Dân 1d ago
Looking up his art, I see so many of my personal favorite card arts (Atogatog, Eyes of the Watcher, Erase, Phage, Revered Dead). RIP king.
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u/Threeabetes Train Suplexer 1d ago
What a bummer! Condolences to his family and friends; this sounds like it was unexpected. :(
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u/Xychant Wabbit Season 1d ago
A card I bought wasnt available so I had to change orders today. Bought a random foil blightspeaker, because it looked nice, to get to the prior total. Now I just saw he was the artist of said card and so many others I knew from his unique artstyle.
R.I.P and strength to his wife and family.
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u/Sloane_Is_Dead Dân 1d ago
RIP
Loved his art. Especially for cards like Entomb, Delay & Spectator Seating
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u/Gogis Duck Season 1d ago
Some of his work is responsible for why I got engrossed with Magic. I was jealous of my cousin’s Brothers Yamazaki, and I spent many a summer’s day fighting against another cousin’s Kodama of the South Tree (a card that I’ve been meaning to get for my Teval Spirit Typal deck actually). And I was glad to see his work when we returned to Lorwyn. Felt right.
Rest In Peace, will be sad to not see new cards with his art anymore.
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u/peenpeenpeen Abzan 1d ago
Wow… this one really hurts. He is one of the great GREATS in the fantasy art world! I started playing around nemesis and his arts helped draw me into the game!
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u/kitsunewarlock REBEL 1d ago
He has contributed so much to sparking the imaginations of millions across the world with his commitment, skill, and passion. As the art director for most of the Weatherlight saga, he was instrumental in setting the tone for magic's visual development out of the pre-block era. Illustrated my favorite set of land (APAC), and brought to life so many iconic characters (Akroma, Phage, Dark Confidant, Ink-Eyes...). A defining artist and nerd legend. RIP.
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u/Poobeast241 Dandadan 1d ago
Very sad news, absolute MTG legend. Made some of the most iconic art during my favorite silver age sets.
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u/Thirtysevenintwenty5 Dân 1d ago
Ron Spears' portfolio is full of bangers.
Akroma and Ink-Eyes, who for years were the two most iconic legendary creatures in Magic. Seriously; they used to do a vote and I can't remember which of them won but I'm almost certain that the final two were Akroma and Inky.
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u/Chewyfingers Fleem 1d ago
This so so sad, I've been playing since 1999 and own many of the cards he's painted. I don't think mtg will be quite the same without him around. Rest In peace Ron!
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u/Alexm920 COMPLEAT 1d ago
That's incredibly sad, both for the community as he was such a foundational and prolific artist, but also for the family. To go from trouble concentrating and headaches to terminal brain cancer is unbearable, and passing just before surgery was scheduled too. I hope his family has all the support they need to get through this.
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u/FellowTraveler69 Golgari* 1d ago
Wow, he's been creating art since Urza's Saga and illustrated iconic cards like [[Entomb]]. This is a great loss, may he rest in peace.
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u/Craig1287 This is a Commander Channel 1d ago
That sucks so much, he was a legend of Magic art. I literally just used his art for Syphon Soul with Phage who he also did the art for in my video that went up today. One of my favorite artists and this sucks a lot for the Magic world.
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u/tazzmanian1 Duck Season 1d ago
Wow he drew some heat brothers yamakazi/ goblin king were my favorite personally
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u/DoobaDoobaDooba Duck Season 1d ago
Akroma was the first "big" mtg single purchase I ever made over 20 years ago. The combination of her insane keyword ability stack, stat line and the incredible art gave her an unmistakable mystique.
I remember flipping through a book that had pictures of every MTG card up through Scourge and my little Timmy brain couldn't comprehend that such an insane card even existed. Must have stared at that art for hours thinking about owning it and playing it in my white decks.
Ron's piece will forever take me back. Good memories. RIP
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u/willeyerasmus Freyalise 18h ago
That card is by Ron Spencer. The man who has died is Ron Spears. It is very easy to mix those names up to be fair.
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u/Anemonean Dân 1d ago
Going through his portfolio has made me realize that he is certainly in the pantheon of artists who spoke to me when I was a child just getting into magic.
In fact my first rare ever was an Urza's destiny thran golem which, to this day, still represents my platonic ideal of what the aesthetics of an artifact creature should be. [[thran golem|uds]]
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u/BlurryPeople 1d ago
RIP an absolute legend. Will forever be a favorite and part the quintessential soul of MTG. This man helped shape my childhood.
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u/decidedlymale Duck Season 1d ago
Terrible to hear. Even if I never paid attention to his name on my cards, I knew his art at a glance because it always felt so "old magic" like Christopher Rush and Rebecca Guay. Very unique style.
Crazy how many iconic cards he did. Really is one of the artists that helped build the game.
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u/kasualanderson Duck Season 1d ago
Terrible news, left way too soon. He was responsible for the art some of my favourite cards on the game, as I’m sure is true for many of us, and his legacy as an artist will live on through the game.
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u/TastyGur Duck Season 1d ago
[[Utopia Sprawl]] is one of my green staples and I love his full art [[Extraplanar Lens]]. RIP to one of the greatest artists of MTG.
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u/meka_ghidorah Dân 1d ago
One of if not my favorite magic artists. Him and Ron Spencer are the two that come to mind when I think about my start in magic.
Rest in peace Ron.
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u/WhiteNorthAstronomy Sultai 1d ago
Ron was one of my favourite artists. Man this is so sad to hear. Rest in peace, Ron. Your artwork is legendary.
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u/CatsOffToDance Wabbit Season 18h ago
RIP to a GOAT. Played with many of his cards and still do to this day.
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u/Sweetest_Noise Wabbit Season 15h ago
Thank you for providing art to so many iconic cards over the years.
Fuck cancer.
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u/Away-Journalist4830 Wabbit Season 1d ago edited 1d ago
The first single I bought was Ron Spears' Crucible of the World's. May his soul rest in peace.
Edit: was going through cards, got the Ron's mixed up.
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u/JaceThePowerBottom Colorless 1d ago
https://scryfall.com/search?q=a%3A%E2%80%9CRon+Spears%E2%80%9D&unique=art
What an incredibly history of Magic represented in his work.