Pokemon TCG Artwork Appreciation Thread!

[shoz999]

I searched this forum and I cannot believe that there is no artwork thread for the Pokemon TCG! The diverse array of art that goes into the Pokemon TCG is AMAAAAZING! I love how many of the Pokemon look like animals roaming peacefully in their habitats, how some cards tell stories, or how their just roaming around the city playing or peacefully cozying by the fire place! How has there never been an Artwork thread!? Well I'm starting one right now and luckily you can get all your card pics from Serebii's personal cardex!

A personal line of favorites has been the Delta Species line of cards. Many of the cards, even to an extant the trainer and support cards, tell the story of the Holon region featuring many vast geographical locations, academic buildings, haunting forests, great seas, a mysterious lake nearby and a vast surge of electrical storms scaring away the Pokemon! Seriously, a lot of these could probably pass off as paintings if the Pokemon world were real. Actually now that I think about it, it would be pretty cool to see some of the TCG art here displayed as paintings in the main series games. Seriously though, the artwork is just so freaking gorgeous!

 

[Michael Collins]

i love the artwork so much! i actually started a youtube channel sharing just that, i honesty think you would appreciate it, its called mac daddy plays

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUfzFGujQee_vepoP8oCdBQ

im pretty interactive in the community!

 

[TokoyamiTheDark]

Me too! Actually, I have a painting of Aegislash Sword Form in my bedroom. It was painted by my parents when they asked me my favorite Pokémon (boy, they said it wasn't the easiest one, but they succeeded in painting it). I also have a "lifesize" Ken Ichijouji painted on the wall of my bedroom too. Guess my family and I really are in paintings.

 

[Sceptrigon]

I can't believe I haven’t been on this thread before... the TCG art is just fantastic! Everything from the card artwork, the booster packs, the theme decks, etc. I have a collection back home that I revisit whenever I get the chance since I always enjoy looking at it. Every time new TCG cards are revealed, I get curious about what they look like. I generally love most artwork that isn't just using the Sugimori official art, but a few favorites I'll mention are:

The Zekrom from Roaring Skies, which I can't help but stare at whenever I see it... just look at the detail on its toned body! (Okay, well these images aren't the best quality). These stand out to me from a combination of their super dynamic poses and the art style that is used for them:

The Generations set was incredibly endearing in some of the art, particularly these Charmander/Charmeleon/Charizard cards that show the growth of the boy and his starter:

And these two are just so, so cute, lying down all comfortably:

Basically, every EX and full art has Pokemon that look great, but the legend cards from Heartgold and Soulsilver series are incredibly unique in their art and stand out the most to me. The one with Entei and Raikou is my favorite one, especially since it was the first of the few super rare cards (the Raikou part) that I ever got from booster packs:

 

[LusoTrainer]

I never played this, but back then I used to collect these exclusively because of the illustrations, at least of the first two sets. The ones from Ken Sugimori were always the ones I was after because they were consistently good (as far as the Pokémon themselves go), but one thing that I always appreciated on the TCG was how some of the other illustrators portrayed Pokémon on their natural habitats. The ones from Sugimori had pretty forgettable backgrounds. Anyway, here are some of my favourites:

 

[WishIhadaManafi5]

Nice pics! I'm a big fan of the older works as well.

One of my favorites:

I really like Ditto in this one. It almost looks/seems real here.

 

[Leonhart]

I like the artwork from the Gen I sets the most since that's when I played the TCG. I especially liked the Ken Sugimori artwork from the Gym Leader sets since he drew the Kanto Gym Leaders going about their various duties.

 

[BTS_fan]

I love the Lugia, Ho-Oh and Skarmory cards from Neo Revelation and how all three cards have artwork that's part of a bigger picture with all of them in it. I haven't seen the completed form, but I noticed that it's like a puzzle.

 

[Leonhart]

I love the Lugia, Ho-Oh and Skarmory cards from Neo Revelation and how all three cards have artwork that's part of a bigger picture with all of them in it. I haven't seen the completed form, but I noticed that it's like a puzzle.

Admittedly, I somewhat dislike Neo Revelation's Lugia compared to the artwork on the Neo Genesis card, but there was another puzzle-like trio of cards in that set that all went together. I believe it included Celebi, Usokkie (Sudowoodo), and Nyula (Sneasel).

 

[shoz999]

I never played this, but back then I used to collect these exclusively because of the illustrations, at least of the first two sets. The ones from Ken Sugimori were always the ones I was after because they were consistently good (as far as the Pokémon themselves go), but one thing that I always appreciated on the TCG was how some of the other illustrators portrayed Pokémon on their natural habitats. The ones from Sugimori had pretty forgettable backgrounds. Anyway, here are some of my favourites:

So much life in those Pokemon, even the simple 3D ones. Have ever looked at those pictures and wondered what stories they told, what those Pokemon are thinking of. Like what's that Grimer doing in a construction site or what that Oddish is thinking of looking up to the sky.

 

[Leonhart]

While I generally didn't have a problem with some of the CGI-like artwork in the earlier TCG sets, I have to admit that some of them clash with the hand-drawn artwork styles of Mitsuhiro Arita and Kagemaru Himeno. And I also just noticed that Metamon's (Ditto's) Fossil set illustration has an incorrect color scheme.

 

[shoz999]

Thought I post this here. Art looks awesome! Can't wait to see what 400 HP Wailord looks like lol.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

I should totally get into this gam-

Um...

 

[Pokemon_dad16]

The artwork for the hidden fates set it amazing! I’ve pulled some super cool cards so far
I’ll drop the links for my openings Incase anyone wants to check it .

 

[shoz999]

I love the classic hand-drawn style you see in the Neo series.

 

[Leonhart]

I love the classic hand-drawn style you see in the Neo series.

I find some of those artworks disturbing though, like the Kabutops artwork and even the Redian (Ledian) artwork. The Beedle (Weedle) looks so harmless and adorable, though. Who illustrated that one?

 

[shoz999]

I find some of those artworks disturbing though, like the Kabutops artwork and even the Redian (Ledian) artwork. The Beedle (Weedle) looks so harmless and adorable, though. Who illustrated that one?

The TCG artist is named Miki Tanaka who noticeably has a consistently simple artstyle compared to other artists but I think what's most interesting is how the artstyle has manage to evolve over the years. The top two TCG pics are Miki's artwork in the Gen 1 years. The bottom two pics Miki's artwork in the Gen 7 years which as noticeably more detail.

 

[Leonhart]

The TCG artist is named Miki Tanaka who noticeably has a consistently simple artstyle compared to other artists but I think what's most interesting is how the artstyle has manage to evolve over the years. The top two TCG pics are Miki's artwork in the Gen 1 years. The bottom two pics Miki's artwork in the Gen 7 years which as noticeably more detail.

I prefer the simpler style of the Coil (Magnemite) and Yadon (Slowpoke) artworks compared to the bigger and bolder style of those Gen VI Pokemon at the bottom. The style of the Gen I Pokemon is minimalist and neater, while the style of the Gen VI Pokemon doesn't have the same distinction from my viewpoint.

 

[Ubermuk]

Mitsuhiro Arita is my favorite tcg card artist. I remember his work from way back in the Base set and the other early sets and Charizard's Base set artwork is my favorite card he's worked on.

 

[Alexander Dusk Lycanroc]

I got a mewtwo acedemy deck for christmas. Started off strong with a mewtwo GX, Then I got 2 Mew's, 2 Cresselia's and 1 Mespirit. I also have a shiny(Alt color) emboar, 2 Mega shiny(alt color) steelix's, full kalos trio, Plus 2 shiny(Alt color + dual type) bisharps, and 1 shiny(alt color + dual type) azumarill. Plus, Full tinfoil jonto starters.