Who is the best WOTC era artist and why is it Naoyo Kimura?

General
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I’ve outlined my persuasive essay below:

Thesis statement:

Body paragraphs:



In conclusion:

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

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Well I’m convinced. A+!!

…Just kidding–I was already convinced before I even clicked on the thread. Kimura Klub, brother :fist:t2:
Lest we forget:

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Amazing artist!

Some later ones also amaze me. Three of my favorites are Absol (Heavens’ Rulers), Mightyena (Clash), and Flareon (Golden Sky)! And the Larvitar line in the e-series :fire:

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I think you typed Mitsuhiro Arita wrong

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@thane @mtajaj32 Cool to see I’m not the only one who thinks so! :grin:

And let’s not forget:

Greetz,
Quuador

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@quuador, the only thing about this moltress artwork that has bugged me is the fact that the fire doesn’t look like its coming out of its mouth. it looks more behind it.

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Yeah, that’s the only thing that’s bugging me about the artwork as well. I usually just imagine its flames as a lava lake in the background instead, which coincidentally lines up with its beak, haha. :stuck_out_tongue: I primarily like the color contrast of the entire artwork, though. And maybe because I received it at the 2nd Movie as a kid it’s got extra emotional value on top of its amazing artwork, which is why I collect it.

Btw, its artwork in Japanese is originally holofoil, in which those flames are holofoil but Moltres itself is not, so in that case it really blends in more with the background than on the non-Holo variant:

Greetz,
Quuador

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@quuador, WoW that’s a serious collection! I’ve never seen the holo version. It does seem like it blends better!

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Maybe I’m misunderstanding you, but just to be clear: The original version of this artwork is the English movie promo release. The Japanese Web holo versions of the birds are reprints.
Kinda ironic though. The one time Western Pokemon has an exclusive release, Japanese reprints them and makes them actually look better than the original.

And yeah, Kimura is certainly one of the best. I don’t think he’s quite THE single best, but the cards that are shown in this thread are among my favorite WOTC artworks, too.
This is another classic:

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You can’t just stop after the Classics.

I’d like to present a bonus exhibit.

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Some would consider it heresy, but there’s a genuine question of comparison between that Jigglypuff and Kagemaru’s in Jungle

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Woops, I’m an idiot. You’re completely right. This was actually reprinted in Japanese in Pokémon Web in October 2001, with the English WotC promo being released first in November 2000. But you’re indeed right, the holofoil artwork does look better. Although I do like it both as Holofoil and non-Holo. :blush:

Greetz,
Quuador

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@rattledkarp that Skyridge Snorlax. Something so nostalgic about it. I love all his art, it looks like he mostly uses colored pencils?

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It does appear that he uses colored pencils, or a similar form of median. He did do a few digital pieces during the BW/XY eras.

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This thread makes me want to start a collection of just this artist. Some of these were already my favs and I didn’t realise they came from the same person.

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pretty sure theyre watercolours. amazing artwork. so clean.

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This thread has gone pretty far without mentioning this card:

This is some premier Kimura artwork IMO. The glow around Lugia is so cool, and the pencil-like quality of their art with the very light shadowing is so distinct.

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Komiya held up pretty well in an era filled with several strong tcg artists. Maybe not the best, but I appreciate that he at least kept to his own style and made some very memorable cards.


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Thank you! And you’re so right. Bewildered that we made it that far without beholding the beauty of this card.

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Does anyone else think Naoyo’s cards look more authentic in Japanese?

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