Back in April 2013, we as a community had our worst day. Two bad things happened and we lost an artist that brought his imagination into our niche little area of gaming. Artist Quinton Hoover passed away that day.

We lost a titan and began the time we’re in now, where players clamor to artist booths, knowing that their favorite artists will not be here forever. The majority of Magic: The Gathering artists are aging and the players who have been playing since the 90s are also aging.

Since 2013, Magic original art has escalated in prominence and popularity, with the floor of paintings going up nearly $100 every year. The top end has found no limit yet and with every new masterpiece original painting, multiple thousand dollar artworks are sold. This is the new normal.

What isn’t normal is an artist’s vault opening up.

Artists have been selling more works they have listed online, digging into their portfolios and storage units with weekly inquiries. Only a handful of artists still have artworks that have never been on a list, have never responded in mass to collectors about “what they have left.” Quinton Hoover is one of those artists.

While Quinton sold a few Magic works of art during his lifetime, like all artists, he had sketches, process images and paintings that he has held onto. For the next few months, his sons will be auctioning the artworks on MTG Art Market. Follow along there and I will be posting on Twitter (@VorthosMike) as sales emerge. Magic art will be offered every two weeks, ending on Sundays, with 6-8 weeks of announced auctions. As one ends, another will be added.

To find out how we got to here, I caught up with one of his sons, Patrick Hoover to hear about the process of going through their father’s estate:

Why did the family decide to sell?

It was a mutual decision really. I had brought it up to my brothers. It's been nearly four years since my father passed and not much had been done with the artwork. I wanted his legacy to be enjoyed and in all honesty, that can't be done when things are stored away, never to see the light of day.

Hopefully art shows are in the future then, noted!

Obvious questions but I have to ask, Is there anything you're keeping?

Of course! There's pieces that each one of us love and cherish!

All right, fair enough. Do you have any stories about this pile of work?

There’s tons of stories associated with his work. It's not one story in general, but each piece of work had its own story.

A lot of the time, I'd sit and watch him work. I'd ask him why he was doing certain things and why he was doing it that way — not to mention the hurdles he faced with art directors and the time it took him to actually complete a piece of work. He was never the fastest artist, but he poured his heart into his artwork. I'm excited for those who have never seen a piece up close, just how much detail is in his work. It's not so much the stories that stuck with me, that's more personal. What really resonated with me was the insane amount of pride in his work. He risked deadlines, and his reputation, solely to provide his fans with some of the most iconic work Magic: the Gathering has ever seen.

For people who cannot see the originals up close, will you be providing playmats and prints of the artwork?

Of course. We're still in the weeds a little figuring this portion out, but I would love to offer these for his fans.

Great. I can’t wait to see what you have worked out first!

In looking through the artworks, why are there so many processes for Vesuvan Shapeshifter?

An artist never shares his secrets!

Actually it was just a process thing. He was used to using a heavy line format much like he did in the early Magic days. It's easier to mirror an image with hard lines. Look at Vesuvan Doppelganger for instance. The original sketch is only one character. The final painting was mirrored to get the effect. He did the same thing with Vesuvan Shapeshifter, but struggled to get the continuity. So it took him a couple tries to get the image right. He was trying to mimic what he did with Vesuvan Doppelganger, but with a completely different medium and art style.

Some of these artworks will be incredibly expensive and like any string of auctions, if you pay attention to the ones between the titans, you might just find yourself a deal.

I wish the family luck in finding collectors to love the pieces and much luck to the bidders who will face incredible competition to receive one of Quinton Hoover’s works.

— Mike