Greg Hildebrandt, influential artist for Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Magic: The Gathering, has died

As “the Brothers Hildebrandt”, Greg Hildebrandt and his twin Tim were legends of fantasy and science-fiction art. They became famous with their work on the official 1976 J.R.R. Tolkien Calendar, at the time the best-selling calendar ever released, and the warm light of their vision of Middle-earth accompanied many subsequent Tolkien calendars and books. That vision influenced other artists, and their depiction of hobbits having extra-large feet—something not mentioned in the books—became the default even in Peter Jackson’s movies decades later.

The Brothers Hildebrandt were chosen to illustrate Star Wars based on the popularity of their calendar work, hired at the last minute to replace a pre-release poster for the movie’s 1977 release the studio were unhappy with. Given only 36 hours and reference images that did not include stills of Mark Hamill or Carrie Fisher, they nonetheless managed to create an image that continues being used to promote Star Wars today.

Beginning with the Urza’s Destiny expansion in 1999, the Brothers Hildebrandt illustrated over 100 Magic: The Gathering cards, either together or separately, and many of their early Lord of the Rings illustrations were brought back for the Tales of Middle-earth set. On his own Greg was responsible for cards like Aether Vial and Tooth and Nail, and new art of his was still appearing as recently as Ravnica: Clue Edition, released in February of this year.