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Illustrators

Pokémon card illustrators

For a lot of collectors a binder is less about completing a set and more like a scrapbook. Browse every artist behind the cards — and dive deep on the spotlighted greats.

Every Pokémon card credits its illustrator in the bottom margin, and following those credits is one of the best ways to collect. Some artists have painted cards since Base Set in 1996; others contribute a single unforgettable guest piece. Each artist page below lists every card they've illustrated, so you can build a by-artist binder page, browse pure card art in the art viewer, or meet the artists who make cards by hand in clay and yarn.

Spotlights

Card by Mitsuhiro Arita
Mitsuhiro Arita
727 cards
1996–present · Painterly, dramatic, realistic light

The artist behind the original Base Set Charizard and over 500 cards spanning every era of the game.

Card by Ken Sugimori
Ken Sugimori
1115 cards
1996–present · Clean, definitive, watercolor-influenced

The lead designer of the original Pokémon and the art director whose style defined how the creatures look on every card.

Card by Atsuko Nishida
Atsuko Nishida
409 cards
1996–present · Warm, rounded, character-forward

The designer behind Pikachu and many Gen 1 favorites, with a soft, friendly style collectors love for cute-themed pages.

Card by HYOGONOSUKE
HYOGONOSUKE
80 cards
2010s–present · Storybook softness, gentle palettes

Known for gentle, storybook-style full arts that defined the look of modern illustration rares.

Card by Kouki Saitou
Kouki Saitou
653 cards
2010s–present · Cinematic landscapes, Pokémon in their world

Famous for illustration rares that place Pokémon inside rich, full-scene environments — landscapes that read like concept art.

Card by Sanosuke Sakuma
Sanosuke Sakuma
164 cards
2010s–present · Dense detail, dynamic action

An illustrator behind some of the most sought-after special illustration rares, packed with motion and detail.

Card by Kagemaru Himeno
Kagemaru Himeno
657 cards
1999–present · Ethereal, soft-focus, dreamlike

A long-running illustrator adored for ethereal Neo-era cards — the Espeon and Umbreon collectors still chase decades later.

Card by Akira Komayama
Akira Komayama
243 cards
2000s–present · Bold, expressive, high-energy

One of the most prolific modern illustrators, with a huge catalog of expressive full-art Pokémon and Trainer cards.

Card by Yuka Morii
Yuka Morii
207 cards
1997–present · Sculpted clay dioramas, tactile and three-dimensional

The clay artist whose cards are photographs of real, hand-sculpted Pokémon models — unlike anything else in the binder.

Card by Naoki Saito
Naoki Saito
272 cards
2000s–present · Polished, high-contrast, dramatic lighting

A prolific modern illustrator known for bold, polished full-arts — and several of the most sought-after Charizard cards in the game.

Card by Kawayoo
Kawayoo
211 cards
2010s–present · Motion-heavy, dramatic angles, mid-action

Known for dynamic, action-packed cards that freeze Pokémon mid-move, full of motion lines and dramatic angles.

Card by Aya Kusube
Aya Kusube
128 cards
2000s–present · Delicate, pastel, soft-edged

An illustrator beloved for delicate, gentle Pokémon portraits — soft palettes and a tender mood that suits scrapbook pages.

Card by Tomokazu Komiya
Tomokazu Komiya
251 cards
2000s–present · Whimsical, comedic, full of personality

An illustrator with a gift for humour and personality, whose playful cards are collector favourites for their wit.

Card by Saya Tsuruta
Saya Tsuruta
125 cards
2010s–present · Clean, emotive, gently warm

Known for clean, emotive cards — especially affectionate takes on Eeveelutions and starter Pokémon that collectors adore.

Card by Naoyo Kimura
Naoyo Kimura
258 cards
2000s–present · Watercolor, airy, gently realistic

An illustrator with an airy, watercolor-influenced style — naturalistic Pokémon that feel grounded in real environments.

Card by 5ban Graphics
5ban Graphics
1651 cards
2011–present · 3D CG — textured, digitally composited, machine-precise

Not an artist but a studio — the in-house card-design team at Creatures Inc., and by far the most prolific credit in the whole TCG.

Card by Masakazu Fukuda
Masakazu Fukuda
473 cards
2000s–present · Bright, saturated, expressive

A prolific veteran illustrator whose cute, vividly coloured Pokémon have run through the TCG since the EX era.

Card by Ryo Ueda
Ryo Ueda
464 cards
2000s–present · 3D CG that reads like 2D illustration

One of the TCG's most dedicated 3D artists — rendering Pokémon, items, and Stadiums with a seamless CG hand.

Card by Midori Harada
Midori Harada
353 cards
2000s–present · Oil-painting-soft European scenery

Known for her 'Aire Verte' environmental style — open, European-style scenery rendered with oil-painting richness, where the background is as stunning as the Pokémon.

Card by PLANETA
PLANETA
48 cards
2009–present · 3D CG, graphic and polished

A design studio rather than a single artist — skilled in 3D CG and game graphics, with its designers credited individually as PLANETA Mochizuki, Tsuji, Igarashi, and more.

Card by Anesaki Dynamic
Anesaki Dynamic
141 cards
2010s–present · Kinetic 3D CG

A CG studio whose name says it all — dynamic, motion-filled 3D renders of Pokémon caught mid-action.

Card by aky CG Works
aky CG Works
170 cards
2010s–present · Crisp 3D CG

A CG studio producing clean, 3D-rendered Pokémon cards across the modern Sword & Shield era and beyond.

Card by Keiji Kinebuchi
Keiji Kinebuchi
213 cards
1995–2002 · Early CG — LightWave 3D models, simple forms and flat light, finished in Photoshop

One of the first illustrators Creatures Inc. brought onto the TCG in 1995, and the only one working in 3D. He designed the original Basic Energy cards and most of the early Trainers, then died in 2002 — a fact that went publicly unacknowledged for years.

Card by Sumiyoshi Kizuki
Sumiyoshi Kizuki
213 cards
1997–present · Gentle, crayon-like texture

A long-running illustrator with a distinctive soft, crayon-like look, whose work first appeared back in the Team Rocket era.

Card by Shin Nagasawa
Shin Nagasawa
306 cards
2009–present · Bold outlines, heavy shadow, dynamic motion

A cartoonist and illustrator whose cards lean into motion — Pokémon caught mid-move, often with comic-book outlines and dramatic shadow.

Card by Toyste Beach
Toyste Beach
289 cards
2012–present · Clean studio 3D CG

A 3D CG production company that has worked on the TCG since 2012, alongside CGI for video games and advertising.

Card by sui
sui
195 cards
2009–present · Clean, versatile illustration

An illustrator on the TCG since 2009 who also works across other trading card games, browser games, CD jackets, and magazines.

Card by kirisAki
kirisAki
190 cards
2013–present · Contemporary, clean illustration

A freelance illustrator since her student days, on the Pokémon TCG since 2013 and also active in social card games.

Card by Mizue
Mizue
185 cards
2011–present · Polished, contemporary illustration

A cartoonist and illustrator who went freelance after working as a designer at a game company, on the Pokémon TCG since 2011.

Card by Eske Yoshinob
Eske Yoshinob
179 cards
2012–present · CG rendering

A computer-graphics artist on the TCG since 2012, who also illustrates for other trading card games and works on 3D CGI movies.

Card by Kyoko Umemoto
Kyoko Umemoto
177 cards
2001–present · Graphic, design-led illustration

An illustrator and graphic designer on the TCG since 2001, also active in promotional design, video, and illustration.

Card by Hitoshi Ariga
Hitoshi Ariga
156 cards
2011–present · Manga / picture-book linework

A cartoonist and illustrator brought to the TCG in 2011 through a referral from Ken Sugimori, with a long career in manga, picture books, and game design.

Card by Asako Ito
Asako Ito
37 cards
2018–present · Amigurumi — crochet yarn sculpture

Her cards aren't drawn at all: each Pokémon is a real amigurumi — a crocheted yarn figure she makes by hand and photographs for the card.

Card by Sachiko Adachi
Sachiko Adachi
42 cards
2004–present · Sculpted clay-like figures + papercraft backgrounds

The TCG's 'other' clay artist — her Pokémon appear as flat, sculpted clay-like models set among handmade papercraft environments.

Card by Megumi Mizutani
Megumi Mizutani
137 cards
2012–present · Clean, border-breaking Full Arts

Both a TCG illustrator and an actual Pokémon designer — she helped create Pokémon like Pancham and Hisuian Growlithe, and drew the chase Lillie Full Art.

Card by Miki Tanaka
Miki Tanaka
195 cards
1999–present · Long-running, varied illustration

A veteran illustrator who has drawn cards since the Fossil set — over 200 cards spanning the entire history of the game.

Card by Hajime Kusajima
Hajime Kusajima
207 cards
1999–present · Long-running, varied illustration

A long-serving illustrator whose work reaches back to the Tropical Mega Battle promos and runs through 200+ cards.

All illustrators · 398

★ 5ban Graphics1651★ Ken Sugimori1115★ Mitsuhiro Arita727★ Kagemaru Himeno657★ Kouki Saitou653★ Masakazu Fukuda473★ Ryo Ueda464★ Atsuko Nishida409★ Midori Harada353★ Shin Nagasawa306★ Toyste Beach289★ Naoki Saito272★ Naoyo Kimura258★ Tomokazu Komiya251★ Akira Komayama243★ Keiji Kinebuchi213★ Sumiyoshi Kizuki213★ kawayoo211★ Hajime Kusajima207★ Yuka Morii207★ Miki Tanaka195★ sui195★ kirisAki190★ Mizue185★ Eske Yoshinob179★ Kyoko Umemoto177★ aky CG Works170★ Sanosuke Sakuma164nagimiso160★ Hitoshi Ariga156Shigenori Negishi153Yukiko Baba152match144★ Anesaki Dynamic141PLANETA Mochizuki141★ Megumi Mizutani137Ayaka Yoshida129★ Aya Kusube128★ Saya Tsuruta125MAHOU123sowsow109Hideki Ishikawa105Shibuzoh.104Suwama Chiaki103Ryuta Fuse102Kanako Eo100Studio Bora Inc.95Misa Tsutsui95TOKIYA94kodama93Souichirou Gunjima89Oswaldo KATO89PLANETA Tsuji89AKIRA EGAWA87Mina Nakai82Shizurow80★ HYOGONOSUKE80Hasuno76Kent Kanetsuna75Teeziro74Sekio73N-DESIGN Inc.73Hisao Nakamura72takuyoa69Yuu Nishida67GIDORA66OKACHEKE65031364tetsuya koizumi63GOSSAN62Yoshinobu Saito62Toshinao Aoki61Yusuke Ohmura61miki kudo60SATOSHI NAKAI59Taira Akitsu58Ryota Murayama57Uta56AYUMI ODASHIMA56KEIICHIRO ITO56Shin-ichi Yoshida52Takumi Akabane52You Iribi52Satoshi Shirai51Shin-ichi Yoshikawa51Tika Matsuno50Daisuke Ito48★ PLANETA48Nakaoka47Hikaru Koike47Narumi Sato47ryoma uratsuka47sadaji46Atsushi Furusawa45Nisota Niso45otumami45PLANETA Igarashi45★ Sachiko Adachi42chibi42Saki Hayashiro41Hironobu Yoshida40Eri Yamaki40DOM40Pani Kobayashi40Shiburingaru39Yuya Oka39Jerky38saino misaki38NC Empire37★ Asako Ito37Katsura Tabata36Hideaki Hakozaki36Wataru Kawahara36kurumitsu35Scav35Hiromichi Sugiyama33hncl33yuu33hatachu32KIYOTAKA OSHIYAMA32Jiro Sasumo32kantaro32Lee HyunJung31OOYAMA30Kazuyuki Kano27CR CG gangs27Kimiya Masago25Yumi25Masako Yamashita24akagi24OKUBO24Shinji Kanda24Milky Isobe23Kurata So23Gemi22inose yukie22Noriko Hotta21satoma21Tetsu Kayama21Saboteri21PLANETA Yamashita21Keiko Fukuyama20Yoriyuki Ikegami20Dsuke20En Morikura20Nelnal20ConceptLab20take20Takashi Yamaguchi19Motofumi Fujiwara19Takeshi Nakamura19aoki19so-taro19Taiga Kasai18Kazumasa Yasukuni18Shinya Komatsu18Tonji Matsuno18Haru Akasaka18Nurikabe18Megumi Higuchi18Nagomi Nijo18"Big Mama" Tagawa17Ken Ikuji17Ligton17The Pokémon Company Art Team16Takumi Wada16REND16aspara16rika16Pokemon Rumble16MPC Film15Yusuke Ishikawa15Kyoko Koizumi15Uninori15Mousho15matazo15Susumu Maeya15PLANETA Otani15Tomoaki Imakuni14Shimaris Yukichi14Cona Nitanda14MUGENUP14Kazuma Koda14HiRON13Hiroki Fuchino13Bun Toujo13MARINA Chikazawa13Kariya13Tomomi Ozaki13nisimono13Natsumi Yoshida13SIE NANAHARA13Oku13Takao Unno12Kazuaki Aihara12Makoto Imai12MINAMINAMI Take12Ayako Ozaki12Masako Tomii12toriyufu12zig12Framestore11Ryota Saito11Taiga Kayama11osare11Krgc11mashu11mingo11Amelicart11Hiroki Asanuma10Kazuo Yazawa10Kai Ishikawa10Shinji Higuchi + Sachiko Eba10Orca10Gapao10cochi8i10Mékayu10Nobuhiro Imagawa10Jungo Suzuki9Atsuya Uki9Rianti Hidayat9LINNE9Mugi Hamada9Yano Keiji9Keisin9Hataya9Kedamahadaitai Yawarakai9K Hoshiba8danciao8Minahamu8Yuriko Akase8Whisker8GOTO minori8PLANETA Hiiragi8Hasegawa Saki8Kenkichi Toyama7Satoshi Ohta7Atsuko Ujiie7Zu-Ka7Wintr Wandr7svlt7takashi shiraishi7Julie Hang7Iori Suzuki7Narano7Fujimoto Gold7Yukihiro Tada7Kuroimori7K. Hoshiba, CR CG gangs7Makura Tami72017 Pikachu Project7Yuri Umemura6Masahiko Ishii6K. Utsunomiya6tono6Nakamura Ippan6Yoshimi Miyoshi6Ounishi6IKEDA Saki6Po-Suzuki6Rond6Yoshioka6ORBITALLINK Inc.6Emi Ando6Katsunori Sato6Shinya Mizuno6BERUBURI5GAME FREAK inc.5DemizuPosuka5Kinu Nishimura5kamonabe5Felicia Chen5Eri Kamei5Tomowaka5buchi5YASHIRO Nanaco5Keisuke Azuma5toi85YOSHIROTTEN5Hiroaki Ito4Hideyuki Nakajima4Emi Yoshida4Yuichi Sawayama4Hizuki Misono4T. Honda4Emi Miwa4kanahei4Shinji Higuchi4Shinji Higuchi + Noriko Takaya4imoniii4Terada Tera4USGMEN4Izucch4Yoko Hishida4Yoshimoto Yoshimon4Apios4CHORISO4Natsumi Miyanose4Iwamoto054Masa4"Big Mama" Tagawa, CR CG gangs4Mana Ibe4mele4Hiroyuki Yamamoto4Tomomi Kaneko4okayamatakatoshi4Hideki Kazama3James Turner3Maiko Fujiwara3M. Akiyama3Yosuke Da Silva3Tomoko Wakai3Raita Kazama3Aliya Chen3Kazuhisa Uragami3Mori Yuu3Heisuke Kitazawa3Akino Fukuji3Tsuyoshi Nagano3HICO KIM3Kanami Ogata3Shin-ichi Yoshikawa, CR CG gangs3Yousuke Hirata, CR CG gangs3Yusuke Kozaki3Misaki Hashimoto3Fumie Kittaka32019 Pikachu Project3KYUPIYAMA3Souchirou Gunjima3Christopher Rush2Benimaru Itoh2Kunihiko Yuyama2Daisuke Iwamoto2Reiko Tanoue2Kouji Tajima2Takabon2Mikiko Takeda2Asuka Iwashita2Sachi Matoba2Aimi Tomita2Mikio Menjo2Mt. TBT2Minato2Nobusawa/Mochipuyo2Koji Nakata2Kazuki Minami2Kamome Shirahama2Noriko Takaya, Shinji Higuchi2Ryuta Kusumi, CR CG gangs2Hiromichi Sugiyama, CR CG gangs2Imakuni?2Nobuyuki Fujimoto2Arai Kiriko2Mika Pikazo2D.A.G Inc.2Gakuji Nomoto1Craig Turvey1Tomohiro Kitakaze1Yasuki Watanabe1Yusuke Shimada1Kent Kanetsuna/Direc. Shinji Higuchi1Wataru Kawahara/Direc. Shinji Higuchi1Ultimateinudog1booota1HACCAN1Mori You1Tomoki Sone1UKUMO viti1Satoshi Ito1Kazumasa Yasukunio1aky GG Works1NG Empire1Katsura Tabata, CR CG gangs1"Big Mama" Tagawa & Benimaru Itoh1Keita Komatsuya, CR CG gangs1Jungo Suzuki, CR CG gangs1Etsuya Hattori1Keiko Moritsugu1Ken Sugimori/Yusuke Ohmura1Sakiko Maeda1Junsei Kuninobu1Noriko Uono1Nabana Kensaku1Huang Tzu En1Avec Yoko1Q-rais1KG-20001hanabushi1Miranda Branley1Natsuko Shoji été1Jumpei Akasaka1Haruko Ichikawa1nagano1akyCG Works1Dr.Ooyama1Yuka Tanaka1Hoshino KURO1Nabatame Kazutaka1

Pokémon card artist FAQ

How many artists have illustrated Pokémon cards?

Our database credits 398 illustrators across every English-language Pokémon TCG set — from the game's original designers to modern CG studios and guest artists. New names appear with almost every set release.

Who illustrated the original Charizard card?

Mitsuhiro Arita painted the Base Set Charizard (released 1996 in Japan, 1999 in English), along with the original Base Set Pikachu. He is still illustrating cards today, nearly three decades later.

Which artist has illustrated the most Pokémon cards?

5ban Graphics — Creatures Inc.'s in-house CG studio — holds the most credits, with over 1600 cards. Among individual artists, Ken Sugimori (designer of the original 151 Pokémon) and Mitsuhiro Arita lead, each credited on hundreds of cards spanning every era.

Are any Pokémon cards made by hand instead of drawn?

Yes — a small group of artists build card art physically and photograph it: Asako Ito crochets Pokémon in yarn, and Sachiko Adachi sculpts scenes in clay and paper. Their cards are some of the most distinctive in the game.