For me it started with Arita, Sugimori, and Himeno.
Dragonair was my first ever pulled Rare and I loved the use of watercolors and vivid detailing that Arita did with his card art. When I finally stumbled across his Gyarados in a friend’s binder, it was like he captured the symbolic meaning of a dragon in a single pose - I was mesmerized. Even the attention to details in non-rares was dynamic and beautiful, like a painting. Dark Golduck is one of those cards that I think deserved a holo just because of the artwork. Same with Dragonair.
With Sugimori, I wasn’t a fan of most of his base set cards. I thought they were boring and uninspiring. But that changed when a friend showed me his Alakazam - it was my first favorite and what inspired me to start getting into Pokemon. It wasn’t until my adulthood did I realize I had a thing for “otherwordly” artwork - artwork that made you feel like you were viewing something not of this earth, but some of card art gave that vibe. I fell in love with his Gym series artwork and it is probably the most money I’ve spent as a kid on those sets alone. His Rocket’s Scyther is still my favorite to this day. I felt like he really focused on “cool” Pokemon and nothing was cooler as a child then pulling the card that would later inspire my entire collection - Shining Gyarados.
With Himeno, it was easy. My favorite card shop imported items from Japan so I got to see a lot of her original artwork on Japanese displays, comics, and promotional material. Her colors were so vivid and I felt like her artwork was something out of a fantasy - hitting the “otherworldly” feels that I love to this day. Even her Seaking, I Pokemon I care almost nothing about, was beautiful. Her Pidgeot and Flareon from Jungle are still some of the most beautiful cards to this day. She has a way of making the colors blend with the Pokemon she displays in a way that is complementary. Her Dark Charmeleon is still the coolest card in my opinion of the entire TCG evolution line - nothing can top it. Her Dark Hypno is absolutely gorgeous as a holo and solidified my love of Psychic Pokemon. Dark Gyarados being the first Gyarados I pulled myself reminded me of a Chinese Dragon - not knowing that was its origin at the time. I loved her artwork ever since I was a kid and has been a consistent favorite to this day - I felt incredibly privileged in getting the chance to meet her in person.
When Neo came out, my love for Komiya’s artwork was automatic. My sister and I would get excited whenever we saw his card art and would make mostly correct guesses if it was his artwork or not. We were big fans of trying to draw our own and also seeing some of the promotional cards that came out that showcased kid’s art - so knowing that this was a professional who had mastered childlike art was really interesting to us. Pokemon March and Ledyba were favorites for us because they showed so much emotion - unusual for the early ages of the TCG. Growing up, I found myself enjoying his art even more. He didn’t shy away from darker themes, crazy scenery, or absolute shenanigans. I loved his Diglett art before I learned it was his favorite Pokemon. HIs Hypno/Clefairy story became an instant hit in my eyes. And his Gyarados artwork for New Year Present was made in celebration of the Year of the Dragon itself in 2000 - making even the previously fearsome Charizard weak in the knees. I have loved how his art style has grown - with more recent artwork seeming like they are lost in what I like to call Komiya’s Universe, Pokemon lost in an alternate world full of color and chaos.
And then Kusajima. I’ve mentioned my love for Otherwordly and Psychic Pokemon and Kusajima just hits the sweet spot every time in unexpected ways. People either love or hate the rather fetal looking Mew, but I LOVE it for that reason. Kusajima’s artwork looks like something out of a dream with a sense of hyper-realism but gentle dynamic - his colors blend in so well and really make Pokemon look like creatures FIRST before anything else. His Alakazam from Expedition is still one of my favorites to this day and I can never get over how majestic his Lunatone artwork is. And even the non-rares and typically unimpressive Pokemon such as Kakuna get the otherwordly treatment. No one can deny the beauty either of Ninetales Delta. And while Gyarados Goldstar takes all of the fame, I still stand by the opinion that the Electric/Steel Gyarados Delta by Kusajima is high above it and remains one of my top 5 Gyarados artworks to this day.
Komiya, Himeno, and Kusajima are still my current favorite artists to this day but I have been loving some of the more modern artists from 2015+.
Kouki Saitou is slowing becoming a favorite with his personality in general but also how his style has improved over the years. I was a big fan of Pokemon Center Singapore artwork and he created artwork which included Gyarados as a psuedo-mascot (I could talk a lot on this subject alone but will avoid it). He did his artwork based on the well-known features of Singapore including their city garden and even making Gyarados into the national mascot - the Merlion. There’s not many folks who draw Gyarados smiling in their artwork, so it was nice to see him draw a request for me even on twitter. I wasn’t a fan of Poncho Pikachu either until I had one in hand after finally biting the bullet, and though I wasn’t a big fan of his first Gyarados, his most recent Gyarados artwork is easily one of my favorite Gyarados arts in modern day.
And finally Shinji Kanda. I mentioned a few times my love for Otherworldly Pokemon art and his by far my favorite Modern artist to date. Giratina needs no introduction - he hit the mark on this one in capturing the space-time distortion it’s known for. His Moltres was the first Pokemon that captured my attention but my love was solidified when I saw his regular art - have you seen it? I once told him in a post that his artwork is like the Universe dreaming and was able to get his Star Fish piece. After seeing his regular artwork and Giratina, I had hoped for the day he would make a Gyarados artwork. And as if the Universe heard my call - he made the origin story of the Longmen/Dragon Gate mythos - the carp that climbed the waterfall to jump over the mountain/gate to become a dragon - into a Magikarp and Gyarados card.
