Pokémon TCG Reveals Best Art Submissions For New Cards Contest

screenrant.com:

The Pokémon Trading Card Game Illustration Contest 2022 has published its longlist, showcasing the 300 entries which have made it past round one of the contest. The Pokémon Trading Card Game contest, which was initially announced in 2021, offers the winner and runners-up the glory of having their illustrations made into promo cards.

Illustration contests offer a rare but prestigious opportunity for artistic fans of the Pokémon TCG. The new contest, which follows in the footsteps of two 'Grand Prix' competitions in previous years, is the first in this particular series of contests to be open to both American and Japanese artists. Previous competitions have generally been restricted to Japan, the Pokémon franchise's homeland, with only a few exceptions. The very first competition was run in 1997 by Japanese publication CoroCoro, with winners receiving copies of their own illustrated cards in addition to a "Pokémon Illustrator" (or «Pikachu Illustrator») card. One of these «Pikachu Illustrator» cards was recently the focus of a record-breaking Pokémon card trade made by Logan Paul.

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For the 2022 Illustration Contest, artists have been asked to draw one of six Pokémon, including Arcanine, Charizard, and Pikachu, in a scene following the theme of "the daily life of Pokémon". According to the Pokémon Trading Card Game Illustration Contest website, a total of 10,830 entries were received. These were then whittled down to the 300 which will now go on to the next round of judging. The resulting gallery of top entries showcases an incredible variety of scenes from across the Pokémon world. The impressive visuals will, of course, be of little surprise to anyone familiar