Interested in what you all think!
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My favorite artists are Atsuko Nishida, Kagemaru Himeno, Ken Sugimori, Midori Harada, Mitsuhiro Arita, Kimiya Masago, Naoyo Kimura, and Hajime Kusajima, and my favorite mediums are watercolor and gouache. These artists are more prominent in vintage sets, so I have a particular fondness for that era, but artists featured in modern sets are just as talented (e.g., sowsow, Mori Yuu, Nakamura Ippan, Masa, Katsunori Sato, Narano, Jerky, Tetsu Kayama, Ryota Murayama, Saino Misaki, Atsushi Furusawa, Gemi, etc.).
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Welcome!
GHard to put them in an order after the first, but
- Mitsuhiro Arita (shading and lighting is typically really consistent, and the scenes have a great depth of field. They typically feel expansive and epic. I’m also kinda committed to complete it, at this point.
- Tomokazu Komiya Acid trip in cardboard. “Hello, Alice!”
- Hajime Kusajima (all styles: comic, illustrative, and surreal) A nice nostalgic feel to his work, even tho he doesn’t do new stuff anymore. (I might put Midori Harada here, as well.)
- Akira Egawa Amazing textures and lighting, and it really just gives you so much to see and look at. Also often feels epic and expansive.
- Teeziro Great compositions and an interesting style that’s almost like paper-diorama. Feels kinda cell-shaded and a bit like the old Kawayoo illus.
- Runners up: Kawayoo, and a rising fave Metazo (Not impressionistic, but with a bit of edge. It feels subdued and a little sad. Surreal, but somehow more real. A nice contrast to say, Komiya.)
In my art binders, I like to let each card vibe with its theme, but I also want to create contrast to allow each to stand out for it’s uniqueness.
P.S. I LOVE that one of your first posts is about artists. It’s refreshing and great to see people focusing on that part of the hobby, and not just the cool art rares, and chase cards. Not that that is wrong, but it’s limiting, I think, in a hobby with 30 years of deep elements.
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Uninori, kawayoo, Shinji Kanda, Hyougonosuke and Saya Tsurata are some that come to mind for me.
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Komiya
Kizuki
Ooyama
Kanda
Kinebuchi
There are plenty of others i like, like Imakuni, early Kimura, Mori, and Tanaka
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aya kusube, yukiko baba, miki tanaka 
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Kusajima
Chiaki
Kimura
TOKIYA
Kizuki
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Aya Kusube
Uninori
Kanako Eo
OOYAMA
Sumiyoshi Kizuki (but mostly pre-BW era cards)
Kagemaru Himeno (also mostly pre-BW era)
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My favorite illustrators are definitely Naoyo Kimura and Mizue. After that, probably Mitsuhiro Arita.
As for the last two for a top-5, I’d likely go with Sanosuke Sakuma and hasuno, although this might change in the future.
If I were to expand it to a top-10, I’d probably add Kanako Eo; Hitoshi Ariga; kirisAki; sowsow; and Kagemaru Himeno. 
Honestly, apart from my top 3, the others shift around fairly often.
Greetz,
Quuador
2 Likes
Himeno
Egawa
Komiya
Kimura
Sowsow
TanakaTanaka
Arita
Morii
Kanda
Hataya
no wrong answers here.
The art is great and abundant here.
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Komiya, Kato, Kanda, Egwa, Himeno
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Incredibly hard to narrow down to five! If I had to pick, these would definitely be up there:
Komiya
Himeno
Kusube
Sowsow
Ooyama
Other honorable mentions for me:
Fukuyama
Kimura
Sugimori
Saitou
And an up and coming honorable mention…Mugi Hamada. Her Cubone illustration from Journey Together is gorgeous and has fully sucked me in!
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Ueda, Saitou, Kusube, Himeno, Fukuda, Umemoto, Baba, Komiya, Sugimori, Morii are some that notably come to mind for me. With Sowsow and EGAWA being banger newer additions
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Kamonabe
Kuroimori
Jiro Sasumo
Tokiya
Atsushi Furusawa
Keiko Fukuyama
Sekio
Hajime Kusajima
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Ooyama! There’s another nostalgic one for me! 
So much good stuff.
Masago
Kusajima
Komiya
Kizuki
Kanda
And ALWAYS the God tier:
Sugimori
Arita
Himeno
Nishida
if money is not concerned then himeno
if money is concerned then sugi