I second Shinji Kanda’s Magikarp. Kanda’s artwork is what started my collection journey. Magikarp jumping through waterfalls with Gyarados waiting at the top in the background is a very nice touch.
Cheers,
Adhi
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Love that one as well. A very underrated artwork too. I guess a lot of people wanted to see more holo, but I think this makes the bird more majestic.
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Doing this objectively requires a bit more depth and explanation for each person’s suggestion. The cards which are contenders should have no weaknesses in any artistic element. Composition, colour, detail, perspective, anatomical accuracy, texture, motion, space, imagination, capturing the essense/personality of a Pokemon, background/environment are all things which should be considered.
People will value different elements more highly of course, and their choice will still be subjective. But if choices are presented simply as ‘this is my favourite, it’s beautiful/epic’, then we’re not really answering the question at all.
Some great contenders already posted, I enjoy looking at nice cards either way 
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Agreed. I also like to see peoples favourite cards, but the idea was to see some of the ´objectively´ best cards.
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My point is that writing out the logical and technical argument needed to make it at all objective is pretty time consuming and takes effort. Sadly I don’t think I have the bandwidth to make an entry right now, and now that I think about it, I’m not sure I have actually considered this question in my own mind before. I have my favourites and can point out what artistic elements I love within them of course, but I tend to stop there and not think about in what ways other cards I don’t like as much may be objectively better.
This question has certainly got me thinking. Feels like doing a survey of all Pokemon cards and narrowing it down to a top 10 best objective artworks might be a year long process haha
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I just think there are way way too many sensational artworks to be able to objectively compare them all against each other. Threads like this will invariably just become “this is my favorite”
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I agree that is the destiny for these threads. Was thinking to myself about the level of effort and organisation needed to actually answer the question in a systematic way. Not realistic unless someone dedicates themselves to it
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Yeah, agreed. It´s not about writing an essay, but a little explaining why it´s not just your favourite, but a contender for best art would suffice.
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I’ve been looking at thousands of cards, specifically with an eye for minor artistic errors that would make the illustration less than objectively perfect in my opinion. I have come to the conclusion that no card is perfect and that this was a fool’s errand.
I don’t know how one objectively ranks 10 cards with different minor artistic errors. It’s just not possible, as excellence is in the eye of the beholder.
So seeing this, I’ll give you an example. I think this Pikachu is phenomenal. But if you look very closely, you’ll notice that Pikachu’s pigmentation on its right cheek is ever so slightly pointed toward the onlooker whereas the left cheek is accurately rounded with the curvature of its face. Some blades of grass lack appropriate shading. Some may suggest that the yellow shading in the clouds on the right portion of the image is unnatural, even if in morning daylight. etc. etc. etc.
Here’s another of my favorite illustrations. But once again, if you look closely, you’ll notice that Flareon’s ear tips are not anatomically correct, the front right leg looks unusually placed given its center of mass, the lighting is unnaturally affecting its tail, etc. etc. etc.
Is one better than the other? I don’t know. I haven’t been able to answer this question effectively, but I think that’s the point.
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What subjectively is objectively the best artwork in the TCG?
This is a question that I must ponder the orb on to decipher. It will take much time to decipher.
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I think Pokémon card art peaked starting from Neo 4 through the eSeries sets up until the end of the ex era. Especially the Nishida, Kimura, Arita and Himeno artworks during that time are to me the quintessence of what makes Pokémon card art so great.
The best one for me is this masterpiece by Naoyo Kimura:
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Dark Chameleon is my favourite artwork and from my favourite Pokemon artist Himeno.
Interestingly, the artwork for the non-japanese variants were given additional shading. I assume to make them look more sinister to fit with the dark theme of the set.
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I have to agree, in my opinion the ferligatr is an amazing artwork and makes me feel like he is actually swimming in water
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Finally someone who understands
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All expedition set holos
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