Ron Spencer

Ron Spencer
	Ron Spencer
General Information
Born	Aurora, Nebraska
Status	Active: Alpha to Secret Lair Drop Series: Secretversary
Style	Bold colors, strong lines
Education/ Training	Self taught
Scryfall Statistics
	cards

Ron Spencer is one of the original twenty-five Magic: The Gathering artists. Mark Tedin, Rob Alexander, and Spencer are the only remaining original artists still active. Spencer was inactive throughout the 2010s and returned with artwork in Double Masters.

Education and art style

Spencer is self-taught.^[1] He did attend a two-year college, but primarily credits it with teaching him to work long hours, and admits that his depiction of anatomy is "not necessarily how a formally trained artist would do it". Spencer uses mixed media throughout his work, including colored pencils, markers, ball-point pens, watercolors, and acrylics.^[2] The media are chosen to ensure a sufficient level of detail for the scale of the work. Richard Corben, Bernie Wrightson, Frank Frazetta, and H. R. Giger are among his inspirations.^[3]

In 2003, he stated that his Magic artwork typically took a day and a half to complete.^[1] By 2021, that time frame had expanded to two to three days.^[3]

Notable artwork

Spencer submitted three sketches for You Make the Card #2. The third won the vote.

In 1996, Spencer pranked the art director at Wizards of the Coast by submitting a sketch of a mouse drinking cocoa, rather than the scary monster he had been commissioned to depict. The joke was well-received, and the sketch was displayed in the Wizards' offices. That artwork was later used for Infernal Spawn of Evil, which inspired Infernal Spawn of Infernal Spawn of Evil and Infernius Spawnington III, Esq., also illustrated by Spencer.^[4]

Spencer was chosen by community vote to provide the art for the second You Make the Card, Crucible of Worlds.^[5]

Following his return to the game around 2020, Spencer sold the original painting and sketches for Double Masters Brainstorm for a total of $28,700.^[6]

Spencer is known for hiding names in his artwork.^[7]^[8] He says that the last such art was printed in Urza's Legacy, and that he also puts trilobites in his art whenever possible.^[3]

Artwork containing hidden names
Goblin Grenade: Mike. In the hooks of the spear.
Thallid: Chad. In the tendrils above the figure's shoulder.
Order of the Ebon Hand: Josh. "J" and part of the next letter in the blood on the cleaver, and "OSH" in the adjacent smoke.
Parch: Andy. "AN" in the cracks on the ground below the figure's hand, and "DY" in the dust.
Dire Wolves: Mark. In the trees on the left.

Personal life

Spencer has six children; their mother, his wife Stacie, passed away in 2009.^[9] He contributed no art to Magic for several years thereafter.

His sister is Terese Nielsen, a former Magic artist. They have collaborated on the cycle of Reflections in Shadowmoor, and on altered cards for their fans.^[10]

Other work

He has done artwork for numerous companies including Wizards of the Coast, White Wolf, FASA, Pinnacle Entertainment, AEG, Iron Crown, Dragon Gate, Holistic Design, TSR Games, Privateer Press, and Toy Vault^[11] - outside of Magic he has done extensive work for the World of Warcraft TCG.