If the Arita panel event is similar to the Saitou one, it will mostly be Q&A. If you have any gripping questions you want me to ask, post them here
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Could he share any knowledge on protype designs? Perhaps the process of the initial card art release and/or if artists have any knowledge of something like the 25th decks happening again.
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Are artists given a choice of what Pokemon to draw? How many sets in advance are they aware of? Do they have a specific turn around time to get the art done?
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Will arita ever sign cards with just a japanese signature nothing else?
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“Mr. Arita, do you have any favorite quotes you would like to share with your fans?”
Can he describe one piece he did that he was disappointed that was rejected?
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What music is he currently listening to
lol I always think it’s really interesting to hear other people’s music interest’s
I would ask what Pokemon species has given him the most challenge to illustrate. Some Pokemon have pretty intricate designs so I wonder if there are any that have given him some difficulty.
I’ve always been curious how much direction artists are given. Is it as open as “draw this pokemon however you like” or “draw this Pokémon with this mood in this kind of environment”. It probably changes depending on the artist hough.
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I’ve always wondered this too.
I’ve always wondered how they come up with the names for new Pokémon? Do the artists get to name the Pokemon or does the Pokemon company name the cards? Also, how long does it take him to do an average illustration? Another would be, does he or any other illustrator ever look back at some of their works and think “I wish I would have done that one differently?”
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Maybe ask him if the artists keep their drafts of illustrations and also if Pokémon gives them copies of the cards they illustrate for free/at all?
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I was at the panel today. Tried to ask some of the questions here plus a few I thought of.
To start he had a powerpoint showcasing some of his non-pokemon artwork. He prompted questions related to his non-pokemon work at first but after a few questions it was clear he was not going to avoid Pokemon-related questions lol. But he was still savvy enough to not answer specific questions about the process in which TPCI commissions him.
For instance, when asked how long he has to complete the art for a new card, he put his fingers into an “x” shape and said it was confidential. I asked if his art was ever rejected, he didn’t want to answer that either.
He mentioned some things about his life. Said his dad did art and he started doing like dinosaur artwork when he was young. He did a computer science degree and his dad was ok with him doing art for a living but his mom was not so much. I asked if he still knew how to program and he mentioned he made his current website. One interesting thing he mentioned is that he is not a fan of doing the anime-style cartoony type artwork, he likes the much more realistic style and he mentioned National Geographic as an early influence. I asked if he prefers drawing humans or animals and I understood the answer to be animals because they are more neutral characters and don’t carry the baggage of like a specific culture like a human does.
Some random questions were asked about his tastes. He doesn’t have a favourite color. He doesn’t have a collection. He hasn’t played scarlet/violet or know any of the new pokemon because he’s busy (my impression was that he’s basically always working). His favourite food is chicken and broccoli ??haha. He avoids junk food and alcohol for health reasons but will have beer or red wine. He said he doesn’t really listen to music.
As for the more juicy pieces… I asked if he was friends with any illustrator, he mentioned he got Fukuda his job but they don’t talk as often as they used to. He mentioned he got his job with Pokemon was mostly being at the right place at the right time. When asked if he owns the original pokemon art pieces before they went digital, he said basically they are not his to own (so maybe in some archive in a TPCI office?). Someone asked if he would ever illustrate a Growlithe and he said he doesn’t get to choose which pokemon to illustrate. Probably one of the more interesting things he said was that the amount of creative freedom he is given on a card varies. He mentioned common cards art typically give more freedom to the artist vs rarer cards. He specifically mentioned Lugia V as a card that he had total creative freedom on. Someone asked if he was ok with people flipping his auto and he basically said he doesn’t care. “Whether I’m happy or sad about it people will still be doing it and I’m a practical person so I don’t let it bother me” (paraphrased).
Overall he was pretty tight-lipped on a lot of questions. There’s no way he was going to answer a question like the one smpratte had. My impression was he treats the job as mostly just a series of commissions, he’s not really involved in the process of naming new pokemon for instance. During the saitou panel in Baltimore, he mentioned something along the lines of getting 10 copies of each card he illustrates… unless it’s rarer in which case he gets less.
There’s still two more panels so if I missed something here, someone at another one can try again. He spent a good like 2 hours doing a live drawing while answering the questions:
Spoiler alert for if you’re going to the Sat/Sun panel:
It’s basically a grassy frog… so expect a firey lizard and a watery turtle over the next two days
He mentioned there’s a good chance he will auction all three after the event
PS. sorry for the wall of text, just had to get it all out while it was fresh in memory
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I enjoyed this a lot
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Thank you for drafting this up, @pfm! Many of us are vicariously living through you and others right now.
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Thanks for posting this!!
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This was great thanks! Its not too often we get these direct bits of information from people associated with Pokemon TCG. Its interesting that he mentioned getting fewer of the more rare cards he illustrates. I wonder why thats the case? Perhaps Pokemon is worried about reselling 
I attended the panel tonight, writing this out before I crash to sleep after an 18-hour day and forget it all! I won’t repeat what pfm said as some similar questions were asked at our panel but I’ll pick out some of the most interesting things.
Many questions were along the lines of “what’s your favorite x (pokemon, card to illustrate, project to work on)” and he didn’t answer any of them substantively, just to say that he didn’t have a favorite, didn’t have a preference, etc. However towards the end he got into it more and basically said he doesn’t have favorites because he doesn’t want his personal opinion to influence his work. He said that if he picks favorites, he feels like he’d spend more time on his favorites and less on the ones he didn’t like. So he tries to keep everything neutral to avoid any bias.
We did ask about which cards he thought were the most influential/important and the ones he was proud of. He said the original Base Set Charizard and Pikachu. He also mentioned the first Pokemon card he remembers being commissioned for and making was Nidoran male from Base Set, but we think he means Nidorino.
We asked about the most challenging project he worked on, and he said it was the work he did for Bandai because he had to combine 3D CG art and 2D art in an advertisement setting.
If he ever feels like he made a mistake on an artwork, he either tries to work it into the rest of the piece, or scraps it entirely and starts over.
He does not like AI art, will not put any art on the blockchain, and prefers hand-drawn art to digital art.
Someone asked what the first thing he’ll do when he gets back to Japan, he says he’ll go do a climbing exercise. His favorite food to cook is steamed chicken and veggies. When he’s not working he either cooks or exercises, he enjoys bouldering as well.
I am probably missing stuff, but it was a very interesting 2 hours!
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Here are some answers that I remember he said from tonights panel.
His favorite fruits are Oranges and Cranberries. In School he participated in swimming and Kendo I think. He said he never takes breaks or pauses from art, as it’s his source of income. He prefers coffee rather then tea but tries to cut back on coffee because of the caffeine. His favorite types of Pokémon to draw are easy ones (which is understandable).
If he had to choose to be a pokemon or an animal he would choose to be an animal because he doesn’t want to fight or battle. The animal he would want to be is a Cat because he likes how they are laid back and can relax. If he were to ever own an animal, he would choose a Cat or Dog. I believe he even said if he had an animal, it would give him more ideas on what to draw.
He doesn’t have a specific pokemon illustrator whose illustrations he likes more than others. When choosing colors for Pokemon cards such as the background, the pokemon company describes what they would want, such as warm colors for example. I believe he also is a fan of the Alien movies (if some one was there that remembers this please confirm). His favorite type of music to listen to is instrumental music.
Overall his drawings were both amazing. Seeing it up-close and in-person was special and a moment I won’t forget.
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Others have already shared their memories of tonight’s Arita panel so I’ll just add what I remember from the questions I asked, which were meant to be more personal so I could learn about Arita as a person and his creative influences.
When I asked Arita what his favourite film was, he mentioned Ridley Scott’s stuff. Perhaps the Xenomorph from the Alien movies influenced some of his ideas about monsters?
Arita mentioned that Hideo Kojima’s video games were his favourites and if given the opportunity, he would like to work with Kojima.
He cites famous Japanese artist Hokusai as the artist he respects the most.
Arita overall seems like a very professional person when it comes to his work. When asked questions about whether he liked or disliked drawing certain Pokemon or projects he stated that he’d prefer not to let bias cloud his judgement; he wants to give equal care and respect to everything he does. He also didn’t seem to care at all when somebody asked him how he felt about his Base set Charizard becoming so iconic and popular.
In continuing the trend of last night’s illustration being tangentially related to a Kanto starter (Bulbasaur), tonight’s live drawing was inspired by the Charmander line. It was mesmerizing seeing him start from scratch and effortlessly bring this mystical creature to life, all while answering the audience’s questions. Truly a master of his craft and I’m so fortunate to have been able to sit in on this.
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