Wizards of the Coast
Back in November, a group of Magic: The Gathering artists have come tother to boycott all MagicFests in 2019 due to "the continued changes made by the Channel Fireball organization". A full letter was shared explaining why the artists are boycotting the premium Magic event this year. Now, another Magic artist has joined the cause: Karla Ortiz.
Over on Twitter, Ortiz announced his decision to join the Magic artists' MagicFest boycott and released a full statement about the issue.
"I've been asked if I'll be joining any MagicFests coming up, and I want to let everyone know that unfortunately, I will not," Ortiz wrote. "This is a painful decision, and one that sadly took me a bit of time to make."
She went on to point out what ChannelFireball Events said on Reddit back in November "fully ignores the concern that artist's conditions have deteriorated throughout the years".
Ortiz's statement echoes what the boycott letter addressed back in November: "On top of the additional financial burden, we are often asked to host art classes, seminars and workshops without compensation," the letter wrote. "This may seem like a small inconvenience, but in reality, these events take a great deal of planning and time. It is worth noting that all other workshops, both public-facing and within the entertainment industry, will happily pay for professional artists to attend in exchange for their time, paying for flights and accommodation as well as tickets to the event. It is an industry standard."
You can read the full statement in the tweet above.
Image: Wizards of the Coast/ Illustrated by Karla Ortiz
Here's a full list of Magic artists who signed this boycott, according to CoolStuffInc:
Steven Belledin
Johann Bodin
Paul Scott Canavan
Jonas De Ro
Nils Hamm
Suzanne Helmigh
Lake Hurwitz
Izzy
Tomasz Jedruszek
Titus Lunter
Ben Maier
Mitch Malloy
Slawomir Maniak
Winona Nelson
Jason Rainville
Shreya Shetty
Chase Stone
Randy Vargas
Svetlin Velinov
Lars Grant-West
Jim Nelson*
Chris Seaman*
Ryan Pancoast*
Jim Pavalec*
Bastien Lecouffe Deharme*
Dave Kendall*
Daarken*
Joe Slucher*
Doug Alexander Gregory*
David Palumbo*
Anthony Palumbo*
Drew Baker*
Steve Prescott*
Jenn Ravenna*
Michael C. Hayes*
Karla Ortiz*
*s added after initial posting
That's a lot of artists who already signed to boycott MagicFests. Hopefully, the conditions of Magic artists will improve for these events.
Check out Karla Ortiz's website here.
Related: MTG Core Set 2020 & Commander 2019 Edition Announced