Three Works: Art Highlights from Bloomburrow

One of the strongest artistic sets in Magic's history looks both forward and back, telling stories along the way.

Magic: The Gathering’s 101st expansion, Bloomburrow, introduced folks to a brand new world of anthropomorphic animals on a quest to restore peace to their plane. Since its announcement last summer at Gen Con 2023, it’s been one of the most anticipated releases in the game’s history, whether Wizard, artist, player, or collector.

For the last several weeks I’ve been firmly in ‘big wizard business’ agent mode, working with my artists that were a part of this set. With previews for the upcoming Duskmourn: House of Horror set beginning to bleed through the walls, I wanted to make sure I did not miss an opportunity showcase some of the artworks that really made this set special, and why they had that power. 

Dawn’s Truce by Mariah Tekulve

Dawn’s Truce by Mariah Tekulve, watercolor & gouache on cotton board paper, 11.5" x 20"

Bloomburrow welcomed more than a dozen new artists to Magic across all its releases and products, and a half dozen of those appeared in the set’s Woodland Showcase. Artist Mariah Tekulve joined the roster with seven cards, but Dawn’s Truce, her very first, is something special. 

Tekulve is depicting the Story Spotlight moment of the mouse heroine Mabel returning the calamity beast Maha’s stolen egg, saving Bloomburrow and restoring peace. It’s painted almost as a historical recounting the way the critters of Bloomburrow would have done it. There is care in Mabel’s action, and emotion in Maha’s eye’s as the stars of her egg are reflected back. The great owl is a magnificent calamity, but her outstretched, enveloping wings show peace: an embrace for a dastardly deed done right, and a mutual respect between the most unlikely of parties. 

This painting really hits the feels, and I love when a set Showcase is able to elicit that in-world feeling of makership and history. It creates a story much richer and longer lasting, and a point of departure for folks to remember and retell what happened during our short time on Bloomburrow. And welcome to Magic, Mariah; we’re glad you’re finally here. 

Sword of Fire and Ice by Volkan Baga

Sword of Fire and Ice by Volkan Baga. Traditional. 

Normally for a Three Works article I steer clear of the Special Guests subset. They are a series of high-level reprints with art and flavor based on the plane in which they now appear, but it always feels like it’s algorithmically disingenuous to include a hyper-popular card when only writing about a fractional amount of a set as it is. But for Bloomburrow I’m making an exception for Sword of Fire and Ice by Volkan Baga. This is the fifth new artwork for the card that first appeared in 2004’s Darksteel, and outside of its Kaladesh Inventions version (ironically enough, also by Baga), the only other ‘flavored’ artwork of the five.

This new card and artwork has been crafted in such a way that you don’t need to know a single thing about the card’s history or importance to feel like it belongs, and to be excited about its new iteration. It’s neither flashy nor technologically advanced, but truly inspired. It is classical MTG, but reimagined beautifully as if it’s the Sword’s debut. There’s an Excalibur-esque feeling as your eye moves from pommel to blade tip and the otterfolk realizes his newfound power, but look even closer. The hilt is a herringbone, and the whole apparatus is powered by captured Calamity-Beast lightning in that glowing ball seen embedded in the weapon and in the sack on the otter’s back. Even losing some of the full painting to the crop and card text box, it still reads perfectly at card size. (And as an aside, I always encourage folks to seek out their favorite set for reason’s like this, just in case there is more to see.)

The design is next-level inspired and the composition equally so; it’s very hard to make a reprinted artwork a highlight for both brand new and enfranchised players alike, but that’s exactly what we have here. I think it will be remembered just as reverently as the original.

Warren Warleader by Zack Stella

Warren Warleader by Zack Stella, acrylic on board, 18” x 24”

Zack Stella was the lead art director for this set, and this is a portrait of his late rabbit, Edward. His bun has been immortalized as a mighty rabbitfolk, and there is a noticeable care and compassion that goes into a work when it’s so personally touching and important. He in an immense talent as both artist and art director, and the impressiveness of this set, in many ways, was generated from his direction, inspiration, and mindfulness.

Stella mentioned on X: “I wanted Bloomburrow’s aesthetic to feel like older Magic sets with a stress on texture and tangible mark making.” It’s why cards like these grab pre-Modern players like me by the collar. It’s new, but has an artistic reverence for where the game began.

He was not the only artist to take constructivist inspiration from past pets and animal family members, and if you wander through social media you’ll see countless examples of immortalization by way of Bloomburrow. Artists truly took utmost care in the crafting of this set, and that began at the very top. 

End Step

Bloomburrow is one of the most visually inspired sets I’ve had the pleasure to experience since writing about Magic. Free from the confines of historical or location-based top-down designs, it welcomed in that feeling of ‘old’ Magic and along with it pure fantasy, creativity, and nostalgia. Choosing these paintings was a true challenge, not because there weren’t standouts, but because the oeuvre was just that good.

As a whole, it's hard to point to a stronger release in terms of artistic quality, and that's largely in part to these things I mentioned: a solid, fantasy-filled story, the right blend of old and new, and the leadership to encourage classic mark making with contemporary illustration, looking back with respect, but forward at the same time. 

This one really came together folks. It’s a bright spot in 2024 for Magic, and will stay that way for quite some time.