Art Appreciation #01

Latias got caught in the laundry, a modern bright Sorolla afternoon light on stucco, I think about this card all the time, this one is so good, such a must-have. Mid-flight down some narrow alley, wide-eyed and tangled in the clotheslines with a red shopping bag caught in her claw, the whole card painted like a slice of life. Reminds me of a modern Matisse.

One of the most unique cards Pokemon has ever produced, modern Ernst Haeckel with Gustav Klimt framing, the layout alone is unlike anything else in the TCG, I genuinely have no words, must-have. Lumineon floats in a halo of bright blue light against deep black, with an ornate frame of fluorescent coral fanning out from every corner in pink, teal, red, and orange.

One of the rarest, most beautiful full-art cards in the set, no other card like it, pure Amelicart, nobody else makes a card feel this warm and lived-in, my favorite in the post, must-have. An entire Bibarel family at home in their dam, a Bibarel splashing in the corner and a relative paddling in the distance, every part of the card filled with something, painted like a page from a kids' book.

One of the only isometric-perspective cards in modern Pokemon, like a less bizarre Escher with Léger machinery, I didn't know how much I needed this until I saw it, it's definitely a must-have. Komatsu paints a factory mid-shift in angled cutaway view, with Magnezones, Magnetons, and Magnemites hiding throughout the machinery.

Honestly, this card is something else, late-period Matisse Jazz cutouts with Kandinsky color energy, I have no words, must-have. Pa'u Style Oricorio mid-dance in hot pink with the feathered hula skirt rendered in painted strokes, set against a chaotic Jazz-cutout background of jagged red, blue, yellow, and white shapes, the brushwork visible on every inch of the card and the whole composition reading like a 1960s concert poster.

Perfect environmental background, very Kawase Hasui shin-hanga, scene setting on another level, blue and orange blended flawlessly, the scene setting on this one really gets me, must-have. Hisuian Samurott standing in teal water at the edge of a still lake, with autumn maples with orange and red on the shoreline, Mount Fuji rising in the distance, and the warm color of the trees reflecting in the water below.