Oswaldo KATO art is simply too good
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i love himeno’s old art! each pokemon has so much personality, something i feel isn’t as common in modern tcg art unfortunately
i also love the soft airbrush-y type shading, it’s just a beautiful art style tbh
a few of my favorites:
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I agree with a lot of art shown in this thread already. I’m a fan of simple designs, playful expressions and less intrusive colours. As incredible as the newer tcg art is, I do find it overwhelming a lot of the time with too much detail in one scene. Call me beige
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My favorite style (right now, since I’m always changing my mind!) is something that I would describe as “child-like”: probably a mixture of thick borders Kizuki, Baba and Umemoto.
Early Komiya could probably fit here, but I have to admit that I find his later works “overwhelming” sometimes
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I think Shinji Kanda is the final evolution of Komiya arts. Same surreal style, but more saturated with that later overwhelming sense of detail
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I also love how these two, Komiya n Kanda have similar visions but different techniques and executions. Nice comparison. I’ve never looked at them side by side before. 
Kanda’s work sometimes looks like chalk art. Do you know if it’s digital?
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My favourite style is the softer hand drawn looking style, sowsow being my absolute favourite.
Says Tsuruta in a similar vein on what I love Pokémon to be portrayed like.
A few have mentioned these already. The other style I love, which I still think can be compared somewhat similarly to the above is the bright colour and “child-like” styles of someone like Kanako Eo or Sumiyoshi Kizuki, specifically in the ex era.
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Love this thread. I never get tired of seeing everyone’s favorite artwork. Glad to see all the Kizuki artwork here. I particularly love Kizuki’s work through the Ex-era:
And Kusajima’s earlier illustrations make me feel like I am looking through a portal to another world:
Also shoutout to this imakuni? card, which I think is a hilarious play on shiny pokemon:
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Gen 3 cards are straight fire
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I think Kusube is one of the best, and lots of people have already mentioned her.
One artist that doesn’t get as much attention is Shin-ichi Yoshida. I have very strong feelings about his cards, the main one being that when he gets a card right it’s untouchable (Vending Hitmonlee), but I’ll also be the first to admit he also has some big misses (Dark Weezing…). I wish I could find any information about his other non-Pokemon work, if it’s out there!
What draws me most to his cards is the absolute sense of place the cards have. Not only location, but also the sense of time and even weather.
This is especially true for the cards that feature pokemon in incredibly urban environments, they are very uncanny. See also Rocket’s Snorlax and Hitmonchan from darkness to light.
The other big component to his most successful cards is that the picture is taking place in media res and I’m always left wondering what was happening before this particular scene, and what will happen afterwards. It feels like you’ve stumbled upon something you weren’t supposed to see.
He also illustrated the pokemon children’s book featuring Hitmonlee.
As for his specific art style/medium, I think it looks like gouache, but I’m not 100% sure. Whatever it is, he achieves fantastic effects. It’s a shame that he does have quite a few cards where the pokemon are “off model”, because he could have had an amazing run of cards like this:
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That is my absolute favorite Hitmonlee!
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Mine too, and I have no idea what is going on in the scene. A bright day can be seen through the window but the room is dark and unlit. A photo frame on top of a dresser. What is underneath Hitmonlee’s feet? There’s only one way out of the room, and it’s behind the viewer
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And what was it up to before this stealth move ,
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A few new artists I’ve been loving are:
Shinya Komatsu captures amazing settings with sophisticated detail of pokemon in their element.
Jerky has a more whimsical style with bold colors and contrast
Haru Akasaka - not even going to pretend I can describe this style with any official vernacular but with so many intricate shapes and colors I feel like I could stare for an hour and keep finding new details.
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I just noticed the talon in the background, what is Hitmonlee standing on? Looks like a fainted fearow to me
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