INKLING PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS
QUINTON HOOVER
1964–2013
Artist. Storyteller. Father. An Original.
Quinton Hoover was a self-taught fantasy illustrator whose unmistakable combination of flowing linework, vivid color, Art Nouveau influence and classic fantasy helped shape the visual identity of a new generation of games.
To millions of players and collectors, he became known as one of the original artists of Magic: The Gathering. But the cards tell only part of his story.
Behind the artwork was a husband, a father, a remarkably humble man, and an artist whose imagination was simply part of everyday life for the family growing up around him.
THE ARTIST EMERGES
A style entirely his own.
Born in Fruita, Colorado in 1964, Quinton developed his craft largely as a self-taught artist. His influences crossed artistic worlds: the elegant forms of Alphonse Mucha, the fantastic imagery of Frank Frazetta, and the extraordinary linework of Bernie Wrightson.
The result was difficult to categorize. Art Nouveau elegance could sit beside comic-book linework and traditional fantasy. Beautiful figures existed alongside monsters. Heavy black lines surrounded delicate color. His illustrations could be dark, whimsical, romantic or unsettling—sometimes all at once.
THE BEGINNING OF MAGIC
Eight paintings. A new world.
In 1993, Magic: The Gathering introduced players to an entirely new kind of game. Quinton Hoover was among the original artists who helped give that world its first visual identity.
Presented outside their familiar card frames, these works reveal something easily forgotten after more than three decades: before they became pieces of Magic history, they were paintings.
BUILDING WORLDS
Beyond the card frame.
Quinton's career expanded through fantasy gaming, comics and illustration. His work evolved with him.
Figures and fantastic creatures remained, but landscapes, forests, architecture and increasingly elaborate environments demonstrated just how broad his visual vocabulary had become.
Quinton wasn't simply illustrating characters. He was building worlds.
THE ARTIST AT HOME
For his children, those worlds were real.
Some of the Hoover family's strongest memories of Quinton's artwork didn't come from a published card, comic or commission. They came from growing up around the drawing table.
“Everybody as a kid dreams of dragons and having their own little adventures… getting to see it drawn on paper growing up was amazing.”
Quinton worked from home and jokingly referred to himself as “Mr. Mom.” Artwork was simply part of everyday family life.
The field of dandelions shown here holds a detail no viewer would know simply by looking at the finished artwork:
Quinton let his children help paint the dandelions.
They didn't simply grow up surrounded by their father's artwork. Sometimes, they helped create it.
THE MAN BEHIND THE ART
Humility behind the imagination.
Success never seemed to change Quinton's understanding of himself.
His son Justin remembers his father spending considerable time responding to fans, talking with people in the community and remaining remarkably humble about the reach of his work.
“He was a very humble guy.”
Watching Quinton interact with that community became a lesson of its own—an example of humility, generosity and understanding that there was always a larger world beyond oneself.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF MAGIC
The worlds he wanted to create next.
Later in his career, Dad wanted to move away from the darker monsters and imagery that had defined much of his fantasy work. He wanted to create something different—whimsical, magical creatures and worlds that children could fall in love with.
That direction found a home in projects such as Bella Sara, where his imagination could take on a lighter, more playful form.
For me, these pieces represent another side of Dad's art. They weren't about darkness or monsters. They were about wonder.
AN ARTIST'S ARTIST
Respected by the people creating beside him.
“Magic would not have been Magic without Quinton Hoover.” — Jesper Myrfors
Fellow original Magic artist Melissa Benson later named Quinton when asked which colleague's work she particularly admired.
INKLING PRODUCTIONS
His name. His creation. His legacy.
Inkling Productions did not begin with this website.
It began with Quinton.
The Inkling Fairy was his company mascot, and today that name has returned—not to reinvent Quinton Hoover or reinterpret his artwork, but to give his work a home.
A SECOND BIRTH
Allowing the work to live again.
Decades after some of these pieces were first created, Quinton's work continues to find new audiences.
Justin has described his goal as giving his father's name “a second birth.”
That mission is now at the heart of Inkling Productions: preserve the artwork, bring forgotten and unseen pieces back into view, reconnect longtime fans, and introduce Quinton Hoover to people who weren't there the first time.
Preserving an artist's legacy shouldn't mean locking the work away. It should mean allowing it to live.
INKLING PRODUCTIONS
The story continues.
Inkling Productions was a name my Dad created for himself—a home for his imagination, his artwork, and the worlds he wanted to bring to life.
Today, I have brought that name back.
Not to recreate his work. Not to reinterpret it. But to preserve it, share it, and give people an opportunity to experience Quinton Hoover's art as he created it.
From the paintings that helped define the earliest days of Magic: The Gathering to the whimsical creatures and worlds he imagined later in his life, this is his work, his journey, and his legacy.
Inkling Productions is his name. His art. His story.
I'm simply making sure it continues to be told.