Ron Spencer is an American

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

whose most famous work has been for the

collectible card game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in ...

Magic: The Gathering ''Magic: The Gathering'' (colloquially known as ''Magic'' or ''MTG'') is a Tabletop game, tabletop and Digital collectible card game, digital Collectible card game, collectable card game created by Richard Garfield. Released in 1993 by Wizards ...

''.Felt, Kevin (December 17, 2007). "Painter of 'Magic' cards inspiring random acts of kindness", ''

San Gabriel Valley Tribune The ''San Gabriel Valley Tribune'' is a paid daily newspaper located in Monrovia, California, that serves the central and eastern San Gabriel Valley. It operated at the West Covina location from 1955 to 2015. The ''Tribune'' is a member of Souther ...

''
Convenience link

Early life

Ron Spencer grew up on a farm in

Aurora, Nebraska Aurora is a city in Hamilton County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 4,479 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Hamilton County. History In 1861, David Millspaw became the first permanent settler in the area of what was to ...

. As a child, his reading material included such

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

as ''

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...

''.

Artwork

Spencer is primarily self-taught though he did attend a two-year college in Idaho. He uses various elements of

mixed media In visual art, mixed media describes artwork in which more than one medium or material has been employed. Assemblages, collages, and sculpture are three common examples of art using different media. Materials used to create mixed media art incl ...

, including colored

pencil A pencil () is a writing or drawing implement with a solid pigment core in a protective casing that reduces the risk of core breakage, and keeps it from marking the user's hand. Pencils create marks by physical abrasion, leaving a trail ...

ballpoint pen A ballpoint pen, also known as a biro (British English), ball pen (Hong Kong, Indian and Philippine English), or dot pen ( Nepali) is a pen that dispenses ink (usually in paste form) over a metal ball at its point, i.e. over a "ball point". ...

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

s, and

acrylic paint Acrylic paint is a fast-drying paint made of pigment suspended in acrylic polymer emulsion and plasticizers, silicone oils, defoamers, stabilizers, or metal soaps. Most acrylic paints are water-based, but become water-resistant when dry. Depe ...

. His trademark on a vast majority of his earlier trading cards is a hidden name somewhere in the artwork. For example, the name DALE can be clearly seen in the Alliance expansion card Misfortune. He lists his inspirations as

Richard Corben Richard Corben (October 1, 1940December 2, 2020) was an American illustrator and comic book artist best known for his comics featured in '' Heavy Metal'' magazine, especially the ''Den'' series which was featured in the magazine's first film ad ...

and ''

Swamp Thing The Swamp Thing is a superhero in American comic books published by DC Comics. A humanoid/plant elemental List of swamp monsters, creature, created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson, the Swamp Thing has had several humanoid or mo ...

'' illustrator

Bernie Wrightson Bernard Albert Wrightson (October 27, 1948 – March 18, 2017), sometimes credited as Bernie Wrightson, was an American artist, known for co-creating the Swamp Thing, his adaptation of the novel ''Frankenstein'' illustration work, and for his o ...

. He has also created artwork for several books of the

World of Darkness ''World of Darkness'' is a series of tabletop role-playing games, originally created by Mark Rein-Hagen for White Wolf Publishing. It began as an annual line of five games in 1991–1995, with '' Vampire: The Masquerade'', '' Werewolf: The Apoca ...

series from

White Wolf, Inc White Wolf Publishing was an American roleplaying game and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant (game publisher), Lion Rampant

, as well as the

Talislanta ''Talislanta'' is a fantasy role-playing game written by Stephen Michael Sechi and published by Bard Games in 1987. There have been six different English-language editions and several foreign language editions published. All English-language pr ...

line of role-playing games. Ron Spencer lives in

. He has six children with his late wife Stacie who died in 2009. He is also brother to fellow artist

Terese Nielsen Terese Nielsen (born March 11, 1966) is an American freelance fantasy artist and illustrator. Early life, education, and family Nielsen was born in Aurora, Nebraska, in 1966. Nielsen's brother, Ron Spencer, is also an artist. In 1984 Nielsen f ...

Plush Toys

Ron Spencer has also actively worked with Toy Vault, Inc. in creating plush toys and slippers, with various designs under their horror and fantasy brands such as

Cthulhu Cthulhu is a fictional cosmic entity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was first introduced in his short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published by the American pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' in 1928. Considered a Great Old One within the pan ...

, "Here Be Monsters", and dragons. Among these designs is the rare

Necronomicon The ', also referred to as the ''Book of the Dead'', or under a purported original Arabic title of ', is a fictional grimoire (textbook of magic) appearing in stories by the horror writer H. P. Lovecraft and his followers. It was first menti ...

plush book.

Altered Cards

Ron Spencer releases periodically altered Magic cards also commonly known as Extreme Alteration. The cards are painted over with different artwork incorporating the original picture. Other Magic: The Gathering artists such as

and

Mark Poole Mark Poole (born August 31, 1963) is an American fantasy artist, best known for working on the Limited Edition (Magic: The Gathering), first set of Magic: the Gathering collectible card game, cards. Biography Poole was born on August 31, 1963, i ...

also provide this service for their fans.

Bibliography

Magic: The Gathering Sets

Some cards listed are reprinted from set to set. *

Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , whic ...

(1993) - 1 card *

Beta Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; grc, βῆτα, bē̂ta or ell, βήτα, víta) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Modern Greek, it represents the voiced labiod ...

(1993) - 1 card * Unlimited (1993) - 1 card * Revised (1994) - 1 card * The Dark (1994) - 10 cards * Fallen Empires - (1994) - 8 cards * 4th Edition (1995) - 4 cards *

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

(1995) - 5 cards * Alliances (1996) - 2 cards *

Mirage A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend via refraction to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French ''(se) mirer'', from the Latin ''mirari'', meanin ...

(1996) - 7 cards *

Visions Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain un ...

(1997) - 3 cards * Fifth Edition (1997) - 10 cards * Weatherlight (1997) - 6 cards *

Tempest Tempest is a synonym for a storm. '' The Tempest'' is a play by William Shakespeare. Tempest or The Tempest may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Films * ''The Tempest'' (1908 film), a British silent film * ''The Tempest'' (1911 film), a ...

(1997) - 10 cards *

Stronghold A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

(1998) - 9 cards *

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

(1998) - 7 cards *

Urza's Saga The Artifacts Cycle is a tetralogy of ''Magic: The Gathering'' expansion sets centered on the exploits of Urza Planeswalker. It consists of the expansions ''Antiquities'' (March 1993, anvil), ''Urza's Saga'' (October 1998, pair of gears), ''Urza ...

(1998) - 17 cards * Urza's Legacy (1999) - 5 cards *

Urza's Destiny The Artifacts Cycle is a tetralogy of ''Magic: The Gathering'' expansion sets centered on the exploits of Urza Planeswalker. It consists of the expansions ''Antiquities'' (March 1993, anvil), ''Urza's Saga'' (October 1998, pair of gears), ''Urza ...

(1999) - 3 cards * Classic (Sixth Edition) (1999) - 4 cards * Mercadian Masques (1999) - 5 cards *

Nemesis In ancient Greek religion, Nemesis, also called Rhamnousia or Rhamnusia ( grc, Ῥαμνουσία, Rhamnousía, the goddess of Rhamnous), was the goddess who personifies retribution, a central concept in the Greek world view. Etymology The n ...

(2000) - 3 cards *

Prophecy In religion, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or prete ...

(2000) - 3 cards *

Invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

(2000) - 9 cards * Seventh Edition (2001) - 7 cards * Planeshift (2001) - 3 cards *

Apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre in which a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a human intermediary. The means of mediation include dreams, visions and heavenly journeys, and they typically feature symbolic imager ...

(2001) - 5 cards *

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by moder ...

(2001) - 9 cards *

Torment Torment may refer to: * The feeling of pain or suffering * Causing to suffer, torture Films * ''Torment'' (1924 film), a silent crime-drama * ''Torment'' (1944 film) (''Hets''), a Swedish film * ''Torment'' (1950 British film), a British thr ...

(2002) - 2 cards *

Judgment Judgement (or US spelling judgment) is also known as ''adjudication'', which means the evaluation of evidence to decision-making, make a decision. Judgement is also the ability to make considered decisions. The term has at least five distinct u ...

(2002) - 3 cards *

Onslaught Onslaught may refer to: Characters * Onslaught (Marvel Comics), a Marvel Comics supervillain * Onslaught (DC Comics), a DC Comics team of Quraci terrorists * Onslaught (Transformers), the leader of the Combaticons in the ''Transformers'' series G ...

(2002) - 10 cards * Legions (2003) - 3 cards *

Scourge A scourge is a whip or lash, especially a multi-thong type, used to inflict severe corporal punishment or self-mortification. It is usually made of leather. Etymology The word is most commonly considered to be derived from Old French ''escorgi ...

(2003) - 4 cards * Eighth Edition (2003) - 8 cards * Ninth Edition (2005) - 3 cards * Tenth Edition (2007) - 5 cards *

Magic 2010 Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

(2009) - 1 card *

Magic 2011 Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

(2010) - 1 card

Dungeons & Dragons

* ''

Ghostwalk ''Ghostwalk'' is a book that introduced a campaign setting for the 3rd edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' game, similar to Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance. Unlike most other ''D&D'' settings, ''Ghostwalk'' was designed to be released as a ...

'' (2003) * ''

Draconomicon The ''Draconomicon'' is the title for several optional sourcebooks for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game, providing supplementary game mechanics for dragons specifically. Different ''Draconomicon'' books have been issued for the 2nd, ...

'' (2003) * '' Complete Warrior'' (2003) * ''

Book of Exalted Deeds The ''Book of Exalted Deeds'' is an optional sourcebook for the 3.5 edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game published by Wizards of the Coast (WotC) in 2003. It provides supplementary game material for campaigns involving ch ...

'' (2003) * ''

Unearthed Arcana ''Unearthed Arcana'' (abbreviated UA) is the title shared by two hardback books published for different editions of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. Both were designed as supplements to the core rulebooks, containing materi ...

'' (2004) * ''

Races of Stone ''Races of Stone'' (sometimes abbreviated to RoS) is an optional sourcebook for the 3.5 edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. Contents ''Races of Stone'' focuses on gnomes, dwarves, and a new race, called goliaths, p ...

'' (2004) * ''

Complete Divine ''Complete Divine'' is a supplemental rulebook for the 3.5 edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game published by Wizards of the Coast. It replaces and expands upon earlier rulebooks entitled '' Masters of the Wild'' and ...

'' (2004) * ''

Complete Arcane ''Complete Arcane'' is a supplemental rulebook for the 3.5 edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. It expands upon and replaces an earlier soft-cover rulebook entitled ''Tome and Blood''. Contents ''Complete Arcane'' presents ad ...

'' (2004) * ''

Sandstorm A dust storm, also called a sandstorm, is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Fine particles are transporte ...

'' (2005) * ''

Lords of Madness ''Lords of Madness'' is an official supplement for the 3.5 edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game. Contents The book includes new content for aberrations including new aberration monsters and monsters related to them, ...

'' (2005) * ''

Complete Adventurer ''Complete Adventurer'' is a supplemental hard-cover rulebook for the 3.5 edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' game system published by Wizards of the Coast. Contents It focuses on the skill based character classes of D&D, replacing and expandi ...

'' (2005) * ''

Player's Handbook II ''Player's Handbook II'' is the title of a third edition ''Dungeons & Dragons'' supplement. It is a handbook of rules and guidelines for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. As the name implies, the book is a supplement to the edition's ...

'' (2006)

Hearthstone

*''Master of Disguise (Classic Set)''

References

Notes

:1.Includes 2 versions of Swamp.

External links

*
An Interview With Ron Spencer
*
Magic: the Gathering - Cards illustrated by Ron Spencer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Ron American illustrators Ballpoint pen art Fantasy artists Game artists Living people People from Aurora, Nebraska Role-playing game artists Year of birth missing (living people)