Magic: The Gathering Artist Spotlight: Rebecca Guay (2024)

Posted in: Card Games, Games, Magic: The Gathering, Tabletop, Wizards of the Coast | Tagged: artist, magic, MTG, Rebecca Guay, WotC

Greetings to fans, players, and collectors of Wizards of the Coast's ever-popular trading card game,Magic: The Gathering! We have gotten a few chances so far to write up articles pertaining to variousMagic artists. From new and bold artists such as Seb McKinnon to older, iconic artists like Carl Critchlow, the game has a vast number of artists, all with very distinct styles and methods of artwork. Today, we are going to look into a specific artist who has developed a cult-level following in the game's fandom: Rebecca Leveille-Guay, better known in the Magic world as Rebecca Guay.

Guay's art style can be seen as remarkably painterly. Most of her art has been done in a watercolor medium, with some touching up done digitally in later cards, one would presume. Her art subjects appear very inspired by nouveau styles, hearkening back to art done in the 1890s and beyond. Guay seems to continue this style in her works, portraying a certain fantastical romanticism. This may be because ofMagic: The Gathering's expectations as a whole, but it may simply be because it's what she likes to do most.

Sadly, her early infamy inMagic for doing these pastoral watercolor moments in the storyline had brought on a fair bit of controversy in that a large number of people did not think this to be proper for a card game focal around combat and sorcery. This was later lampooned in the Unhinged card Persecute Artist. Nowadays, it's clear that, while her art is not as often seen on new cards inMagic, Rebecca Guay's work on the game has been elevated to an iconic level of style and class.

Still, even with the support of Wizards of the Coast and a burgeoning crowd of fans, Guay has not done much forMagic: The Gatheringas of late. There are a few shortcomings to her art style, sure, but that she may have a bit of trouble getting commissions for red cards (as Guay has only done five so far out of well over 120 cards with her artist credit) shouldn't be a reason to dismiss her work as "too feminine" for the game. Her style is fantastic and evokes something that can't be said to be seen in many other card games.

If you enjoy Guay's work, you can find her artist website here. And if you have any suggestions for future artists to put under the spotlight ofBleeding Cool, let us know in the comments below!