Thought it would be fun to make a thread to show off what you think is an an artists best work compared to their worst.
I’ll start with the Artist who holds the title for the most stadium card artworks, Ryo Ueda. This man is anything but consistent, he’s done some S tier work, as well as some absolute shockers.
For Udea’s best I’d give it to Indigo Plateau, a beautiful artwork full of intrigue. Great use of Depth, texture and colour; an all round winner.
For his worst i’d say Scorched Earth. Probably my least favourite stadium, this thing shows a super generic space and does little to hold your attention. The texture on the lava feels really weird; it makes its boundaries unclear and the perspective confusing. Doesn’t have much about it in general.
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What are some other highs and lows from some of the many talented artists in the hobby?
It was pretty hard to determine my favorite artwork of my favorite arist…
Spoiler
But it was rather easy to pick my least favorite.
Spoiler
You know… it’s not BAD bad, but it lacks most of what makes his other cards so breathtaking. Was the last the set he illustrated cards for, too. Maybe it’s good that it stopped there so that his legacy remains (alsmost) immaculate.
Sumiyoshi Kizuki
Probably best known for his crayon-esk drawings with strong black outlines.
Best: I had a hard time picking a best, but decided on the beautiful butterfree. Simple shapes, bright pastel colors, dynamic pose, active background, multiple pokemon. It has it all.
Worst: Turtonator. I guess it doesn’t help that i don’t care for turtonator at all. I had to look at the card to remember the name. Art-wise, I appreciate Kizuki trying out a different style in some of his newer cards, but this is just bland. Generic pose, generic background, realistic colors. If you covered up the artist’s name on the card and asked me to guess who it was, I would have no idea.
Yes yes!! I would absolutely love to share some gorgeous art from my favorite illustrator
Who is my favorite artist? Mizue. The way she uses soft pallets and gradients and incorporates full scenery into the arts really make beautiful pieces
Best: It’s almost impossible to pick the best Mizue art… so many gorgeous cards. I picked Jirachi just because I think it’s safely one of the best and it’s also still viable in the TCG. I have about a billion other arts I could have also picked and they’re all equally worthy. I’m including some of them at the bottom of this post in the spoilers cause I want to share
Worst: Not that this is super bad per se, but I think it’s definitely missing signature Mizue feel. It’s just a very very average looking card BEST VS WORST
Best artist of all time of course is Mitsuhiro Arita. I really struggled to find bad art from him but I’d say his weakest are trainer cards since he can’t do his scenic artworks he usually does for pokemon.
Seems Arita started doing 3d model art during the ex series as well as his usual drawn art style. Many of the 3d modeled ex’s from the era are Arita which work well with the up close style and colorful background holo but not as well with the trainers. Not bad by any means just not amazing art like most of his card.
Absolutely. I have a lot of nostalgia for old trainers because they have a unique look that I love. I just knew the issue with this thread was I’d have to find what I thought was Arita’s ‘worst’ art which I knew would be difficult.
This is an awesome thread, and I am also a huge fan of Gen 3/EX Era art. It did come with several repercussions like lower print quantities and qualities, however, EX Era art is unmatched in how colorful, interesting, and at some times outlandish card arts can be. Since the OA used my favorite artist, Ryo Ueda, as an example, I’m going with my second favorite; Hajime Kusajima
Best Art: (There are SOOOO Many)
Worst Art: (Just seems on the lazier side compared to the others)
Here is a long list of beautiful Hajime Kusajima arts to ponder through
He has so many strong illustrations! From the championship arenas and palace belt to burned tower to mew play promo and the mysterious pearl/miraclediamond/wonderplatinum. His worst art might be this though:
Kimiya Masago is one of my favorite illustrators. He has illustrated a total of 17 cards (not including holo/reverse variants) and they are all really great.
I couldn’t decide between these two for his best so I included both:
Both of these are so great and really do a great job of having the background enhance the Pokémon’s design in some way or another (Umbreon - mystery, cunning, darkness; Mewtwo - mystery, power). Two fantastic cards!
As for his worst?
I’m gonna agree with @muk on this one. I think that the face of Armaldo looks pretty derpy, and there is not much to look at in the background other than the holo pattern. Not a bad card in a vaccuum, but compared to Masago’s other masterpieces? It does stand out.
- The Best & Worst of an Artist - 
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BEST VS WORST 
