For example the Squirtle from FRLG is based off the Nevermind album artwork.
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munch promos, the new stamp promos, yea I call that the nirvana squirtle XD
I’ve always felt like the Venomat from Jungle was inspired by Van Goh’s Sunflower painting. Also the Bayleaf from expedition looks to be inspired by one of Claude Monet’s paintings titled Water Lillies. Both Pokémon cards were illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita as well as the Squirtle you mentioned. I suspect he has a few more that I haven’t noticed yet.
There are a couple of Arita cards that clearly use a Hokusai-style drawing of water in the background:
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While I don’t think theres a direct Artwork he is using, Mitsuhiro Arita did an absolutely amazing Noivern V Alternate Art card that has HEAVY Batman/Manbat vibes.
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Lately he has been sketching Batman in his notepad
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I really dig that Squirtle. Nirvana isn’t an obscure group, but the reference isn’t super obvious - you’d have to be familiar with Nirvana’s discography to get it. You know of any other cards like that?
I believe Arita said in an interview that he was looking at Nirvana for that illustration
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