Cards inspired by famous works of art

[alyo]

I love the Palkia alt art design. It fits so well with the Pokemon!

And once I saw it, I (and others) noticed it likely drew inspiration from the art of MC Escher. You know, the staircase pictures you’ve probably seen.

I drew my own version based off the card as well as some elements from other famous works by Escher.

The Starlys are a call to the many awesome bird illustrations he has done.

The trainer from Legends Arceus (and the pokeballs) draw from another work.

And the hands are also iconic.

I really enjoyed myself building off the original card idea and art. The other cards based on real art that I love a ton are the Scream promos! Definitely hope to own one someday in the future I’m wondering if there’s other cards that maybe pull from stuff like this? These are what come to my mind but they’ve very much appreciated by me and by many. ^^

[knotchi]

[SeasidePokemon]

Could be a stretch but I’ve always thought this Mitsuhiro Arita Bayleef looked like Claude Monet’s Water Lillies

A few years ago I tweeted the comparison asking him if there was any relation. He simply liked the tweet without leaving a response so take that how you will

[Tapp]

I thought the same of the unused Lotad artwork in that calendar that was passed around last year

[Caith_Sith]

Golurk alternate art is clearly a reference to a masterpiece from Studio Ghibli called Castle in the Sky. When I see it, a pick a few copies just because I could believe it was real, still to this day for me it’s in my top 5 (maybe top 3) alternate art cards. And I dont even like Golurk that much

Also, of course there are the scream promos based on Edvard Munch famous painting

[xileets]

FRLG Squirtle
For some this album is great work of art, so I’m posting it! (Nirvana, 1991 - Nevermind)

[xileets]

Knew I’d seen it somewhere before!

[alyo]

Consider this

[Caith_Sith]

Not a card, but I think this Kanagawa Wave inspired Pokemon official art (they at least printed this in a playmat) it’s pretty cool

This also inspired a lot of fan art, this shining Gyarados looks amazing, imagine this as a full art alternative art card…

[Coop13]

The recent 25h Anniversary Charizard in Celebrations is based on a famous piece of artwork from 1996

The art it’s based on!

[c0ll3ct0r]

I think Arita must have been heavily influenced by revised depictions of Tyrannosaurus Rex after the discovery of Sue in 1990, perhaps specifically the one from Jurassic Park:

[Caith_Sith]

Surely the most overrated piece of art ever, even more than the Mona Lisa

(original Da Vinci’s drawing added as reference)

[beggles]

I believe the Moltres here is inspired by depictions of Garuda, a mythical bird-like creature in Hinduism and Buddhism. In particular it’s used as the National Emblem of Thailand.

[zorloth]

I could be wrong, but I always assumed Skyridge Gyarados was inspired by Gene Simmon’s iconic tongue pose:

[xileets]

There we go!

[A.P.Speeze]

Or every card with Obstagoon.