John Avon

John Avon
General Information
Born	Wales 1961
Status	Active: Mirage to present
Style	Landscapes, realism
Education/ Training	University of Brighton
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John Avon is an artist who has worked for Wizards of the Coast on Magic: The Gathering artworks. He is especially known for his art on basic lands.^[1]

Life and career

Avon is an illustrator with literally 40 years of work behind him. He began his career mostly painting book covers, and made a name for myself by doing the art for Stephen King’s ‘The Dark Tower’ Vol 2 & 3. After that, he did covers for Arthur C. Clarke, Terry Pratchett, and many other authors. He did a short period in advertising, but his longest clients are Wizards of the Coast. His Magic: The Gathering debut was in the 1996 set Mirage.

He was born in Cardiff, South Wales, in 1961 but has lived near Brighton in England since 1980. He married to Patricia (Pat MacCarthy, the illustrator) and they have two grown up sons, Laurie and James. Both are practicing artists in their own right. His main passion is music, and though he originally played in bands since the late ‘70s as a guitarist, in the last decade he has been quietly recording musical soundscapes while simultaneously working on a self-healing project relating to his physical and mental health.

All his life, Avon has suffered from fatigue. He was diagnosed with CFS/ME, and this led to much physical pain, anxiety, and other psychological trauma.^[1]

Some well-known illustrations

Artist Series

In 2023, Avon's work was highlighted in the October Superdrop 2023 Artist Series: John Avon. He picked the cards, created the art, and wrote the flavor text.