Adam Burke is a largely self-taught illustrator based in Oregon who has worked professionally since 2010, painting primarily in oils and acrylics. Online he works under the name Nightjar Illustration. His practice centers on the natural world — and specifically, by his own framing, "the often unnoticed and stigmatized aspects of nature" — but the bulk of his public reputation comes from the heavy metal underground, where his detailed, atmospheric work has appeared on album covers and gig posters. That dual background, naturalist observation plus metal-poster mood, is what he brings to Sorcery.
Style
Burke works in traditional paint, oils and acrylics, and it reads on the cards: layered, tactile, with the kind of tonal control you get from a painter who actually mixes pigment rather than a digital colorist. His metal-art lineage shows in the darker, atmospheric pieces — there is a comfort with gloom, decay, and the uncanny that suits Sorcery's grimoire register. But the naturalist side is just as present. His landscapes and creature work carry close observation of light, texture, and the way an environment sits under weather. Across the table his cards tend toward mood and place rather than splashy action, depth over spectacle.
Cards on Sorcery
Per Collector Arthouse, Burke appears in the Alpha, Beta, and Gothic sets. The documented card credits are:
- Balor of the Evil Eye
- Black Mass
- City of Glass
- Edge of the World
- Ether Core
- Kingdom of Agartha
- Orpheus' Crossing
- Peregrine Apparition
- Skeleton Mage
His City of Glass also got an exclusive alternate-art treatment as an SCG CON playmat, tied to Sorcery's organized-play presence at SCG CON Houston. That is the documented footprint; if there are additional credits in later print runs, they are not catalogued in the sources below, and I would rather say so than pad the list.
Where to see more Adam
- His shop and portfolio: nightjarillustration.bigcartel.com — prints and originals under the Nightjar Illustration name.
- Instagram: @nightjarillustration — his most active feed, including non-Sorcery metal and nature work.
- His Sorcery cards in the deckbuilders and on curiosa.io, searchable by card name.
- The Collector Arthouse gallery: collectorarthouse.com/sorcery-artists/adam-burke — his per-artist page with the full card grid.
Sources
- Collector Arthouse — Adam Burke — bio (Oregon, self-taught, oils/acrylics, metal album/poster work, "Nightjar Illustration"), set list (Alpha, Beta, Gothic), and the full card credits used above.
- sorcerytcg.com — Adam Burke — official artist profile confirming the Oregon-based, professional-since-2010 nature/wildlife framing.
- Sorcery Takes the Stage at SCG CON Houston — backs the exclusive alt-art City of Glass playmat.
- Nightjar Illustration — the artist's own shop, confirming the Nightjar name and traditional-painting practice.