John Avon halts painting for a year, possibly retiring due to health concerns

John Avon, the Welsh illustrator known for his landscapes in Magic: The Gathering, has announced a one-year hiatus and possible retirement due to health concerns. The news was shared through his social media, where Avon expressed gratitude for the support of fans.

You can read the full statement below:

Dear Friends

I had intended to do a video, however felt too hard. But, I need to retire from all commercial work, for at least 12 months, maybe indefinitely. And see if I can get well again. This decision has been forced upon me largely on health grounds. So I felt, as I am somewhat in public, it was right to say what’s going on, be honest and communicate, best I can.

Literally, I have been illustrating for Magic The Gathering for 29+ years, that’s nearly half my life. And began as an illustrator, right back in 1983, when Thatcher ran Britain and the world was a very different place. In those days, I never thought I would ever become well known and just needed to make a living, working, pay my way and afford a life. That I did, and after I illustrated for some well known authors ‘made a name for myself’ and the rest just took off. I then did Mirage for Magic in 1996, and I have had such a blast painting for the game ever since. Not only did it give me a steady income, but I travelled all over the world and met many many great players, artists and staff. As a freelancer, Ive never actually been employed by anyone, however I feel part of the furniture at Wizards Of The Coast, and I have seen many art directors come and go. MTG has pushed my creative brain and imagination to the limits and I gave every painting 100%. This was my success and in the end why I need to really stop.

Basically my body, especially my neck and back, just cannot take the strain of working anymore. I am visiting the osteopath every week to get fixed. It’s not just physical but emotional. I find ‘hitting my standard’ now so stressful, I can paint, I know what to do, but it’s just so hard to do my technique and after just 2 hours, I’m in bad pain. Including headaches, I have now developed Fibromyalgia, this is on top of CFS/ME, IBS, and a host of other yuk nasty conditions. No one can endlessly take pain killers and just plough on, as your stomach and gut goes ping and my insides need a huge reboot. So it is time to put my health before work. Even if it’s been a wonderful ride, we need to listen to our bodies. Emotionally it’s about expectation, I assumed as I got older, painting would get easier, no, not for me, the performance gets harder. Maybe that’s just the way I function. And I don’t want to start handing in a lower standard of work, it’s not ego, it’s self esteem, if that makes sense?

But if next year I can get well, then maybe I can try again… However, there is a second reason. I still have not done what I am here to do. I have multiple projects on the go, and I really need to do them. The death of my friend Steve last year and before that, members of the family, really hit home the reality that we don’t have forever. And I need to do my other creations that are dear to me, yes, whilst I still can. We only have X amounts of days on this crazy world and it’s ok to have a ‘reset’ in a second part of life.

Huge gratitude to anyone who has supported me over the years. God I have shaken the hands of so many great folk! So our website is still up and running, I have 2 more Lotus Lands to come out. My dear friend Guy Coulson is still at the helm of John Avon Art, and all ‘business as usual’ …If health does return, I ‘maybe’ able to do more events in 2026, maybe…

Thanks for reading this

Big Love

John.

John Avon has been illustrating Magic: The Gathering since the Mirage set in 1996, and is world-renowned for his illustrations on the Unhinged lands and on cards such as Castle Vantress and Azorius Chancery. Avon has also worked on the games Legend of the Five Rings and Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, and his unique illustration style was also recorded in the book The Art of John Avon - Journeys to Somewhere Else.

Source: John Avon, Facebook