Jeff A. Menges
Support Jeff
A seasoned illustrator, Jeff A. Menges’ passion for illustration led him on a course to become one of the original twenty-five Magic: The Gathering artists, one of the highlights of a career spanning over three decades.
With a deep-seated belief in illustration as a form of visual storytelling, Jeff has dedicated himself to the craft, serving as an art director, editor, biographer, and illustrator. He has authored and compiled over twenty titles on Golden Age Illustration, Late Victorian paintings, and pirates, showcasing the work of legendary illustrators such as Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac, and Howard Pyle.
Despite his prolific career, Jeff remains dedicated to his roots, drawing upon the monsters of his youth and the dreamscapes of his imagination to create captivating artwork.
Preferred Medium:
For color work, my preference is for acrylics on gessoed board. I've been working with acrylics since my high school days and learned to think a painting through with that medium in mind. It's how I trained myself. Switching to other mediums becomes a bit of a fight as to what comes naturally to me. I do really like working with Golden Open Acrylics, which increases drying time and allows me to do some blending work that would have been much more difficult without it.
Achievements:
I worked in many aspects of publishing, and two books really jump out—
The Gathering: Reuniting the Pioneering Artists of Magic: The Gathering was a book I published. At the time, just prior to MTGs 20th, there was not a lot of attention given to many of the artists who were there in the beginning (many of them had left the industry). I think this brought some appreciation to a lot of them, and that was the goal of the project.
101 Great Illustrators of the Golden Age of Illustration; 1890-1925 is a book that features many of the artists I truly look towards for inspiration, people who had long productive careers, and many who don't get a great deal of acknowledgment today. I wrote this because there were no books in print I could use to teach a History of Illustration course. This is now on the syllabus in many Illustration programs
Find more of Jeff's work @ https://www.facebook.com/MengesArt/