New here, obviously. But I have been thinking about posting here for a while with this little think piece. What I want to do here is just unpack some of atmospheric/nostalgic qualities of the artwork from Gym Challenge/gym heroes.
One thing which I noticed a while back, is that many of these cards are Illustrated by Sugimori. To some, this aspect of the set deters it’s effectiveness, which I understand. But I also would like to state that I believe because of this consistency, the set as a whole is given one of the strongest identities (subjectively). This uniform identity of the artwork, for me, creates a strong and atmospheric dimension, which I feel I am transported to every time I leer at the art. This dimension takes place in the late 90’s however since memory is unreliable, and shaped by our imagination, I could also say that it’s a fictional dimension, that mirrors the 90’s.
Take Erika. This is a favorite of mine. I enjoy her headband so much, and for me the artwork takes me back to my childhood. Memories of having the first contextualization of fashion. I think about my older brother, who may or may not have had a female friend over, with some strange retro headband. Maybe this was my first time actually noticing fashion choice. The art also brings back strange, vague color memories, marbles, traveling, and other weird aesthetic nostalgia that I have trouble placing as well as expressing through words.
I am an artist, I am constantly trying to balance this hobby with school work, which is sometimes a losing battle. It wasn’t until this year that I realized how much of my work is inspired by these WOTC era sets such as the one mentioned above.
I have become obsessed with drawing this character, who always sports their headband. Character design is fun, and challenging.
To conclude, This set created a fictional landscape for me as a child, and into adulthood. The identity of this set, (for me), creates a dimension that exists, even outside of the realm of Pokemon’s intellectual property. I saw someone post the other day, with the caption “Memories not of my own.” This caption succeeds at what I fail to express, that there are places in which our minds go, that may have vague associations with certain things, but at the same time are not based on anything concrete or easily defined. Finally, relying on these distorted, aesthetic memories gives me the inspiration to continue making art.
This is my first post here, and I hope it wasn’t too “Woah I’m 13 and this is deep.”
