Rebecca Guay

Rebecca Guay (pronounced "Gay" ) is a Magic: The Gathering artist that has developed a large cult following since she began in Alliances.

Style
Her artwork has a strikingly classical style that favors heavy use of watercolors.

Much of her artwork appears extremely soft and is considered feminine in form. Her palette and style makes her easily recognizable and lends itself primarily to green, blue and white cards, particularly elves, angels, and faeries. Outside of Magic she has worked for White Wolf, DC Vertigo Comics and World of Warcraft TCG amongst many others.

Early life, education, and training
She graduated from the Pratt Institute in 1992 and has since taught an Illustration Master Class at Amherst College. She currently resides in Amherst, Massachusetts with her husband Matthew Mitchell and daughter Eliette.

Career
Her cult following is anything but undeserving with work being chosen as "Best in Show" at Gen Con in 2004, and being elected "Best Artist" in 2005 by InQuest Magazine's "Fan Choice Awards". She has also received critical acclaim for her work in children's books. As a direct descendant of Emperor Charlemagne of France she seems destined for greatness. Many of her fans admire her strong feminine presence that stands out from much of the macho artwork of the modern fantasy landscape. Alongside Melissa Benson and Terese Nielsen, she brings a strong flavor to Magic from the female perspective.

Guay hasn't worked on a set since Magic 2010, but did loan her artwork to Channel for From the Vault: Exiled; additionally, a version of, painted in 1996 and previously only found in an oversized version, finally appeared at tournament size in From the Vault: Angels. She contributed her first new piece to Magic in ten years in the Mother's Day 2021 Secret Lair. Her daughter Eliette Mitchell also contributed a piece in that series.

Controversy
After her exclusion from Legions, it was incorrectly reported that Guay was fired from Wizards of the Coast due her feminine style: Sadly, the new art director, Jeremy Cranford, thinks my work is too feminine for the vision he has for the game. I would love to continue with Magic but it is not in my hands.

Art Director Jeremy Cranford responded that she wasn't fired, but simply not used due to her style conflicting with the style guide for Otaria:

In the Legions set, the creative team had to think of a way to show what happened to Otaria after Kamahl destroyed the Mirari. We decided we would show the effect of this magic by making really intense exaggerated versions of all of the creatures. We would have 'super versions' and 'hyper versions' of Soldiers, Clerics, Wizards, Zombies, Goblins, Elves, etc. Even the land would evolve over the course of Onslaught block. When selecting artists, the creative team selected artists that we felt would fit precisely within this vision of what Otaria was becoming.

The controversy persisted though and seems to repeat itself in some manner anytime she isn't included in a set. The controversy was parodied in the Un-cards Persecute Artist and Fascist Art Director.