Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: pokemon, Pokemon Trading Card Game, Sword & Shield, Yukiko Baba

Pokémon Trading Card Game Artist Spotlight: Yukiko Baba – Modern

Our Pokémon Trading Card Game Artist Spotlight on Yukiko Baba comes to its third and final part as we move into the modern era expansions.

Throughout the years, the Pokémon Trading Card Game has featured a variety of incredible art styles. Now that the hobby has been around for more than a quarter of a century, we have seen the artwork of Pokémon TCG cards elevated by daring new artist choices and illustrators who have been veteran contributors since the first releases. Let's take a journey through the eye-popping, mind-expanding history of Pokémon TCG artwork by exploring some of the hobby's most interesting and unique artists. Today, we will spotlight Yukiko Baba. This is the finale of a three-part series showing Yukiko Baba's work over the years, including their vintage, classic, and modern work. I began with Baba's vintage work in the first installment, which you can read here. Then, the series continued with a spotlight on their classic work. Today, we move to Baba's modern contributions to the hobby, beginning with the XY era.

The XY and Sun & Moon eras didn't see Yukiko Baba contribute many cards, but we did end up seeing their style grow with new ideas. Baba exhibited a focus on creating more in-depth scenes on these cards. Notice the Smeargle from XY – BREAKThrough, a late set from that era that shows Smeargle painting with its Trainer. The special set Generations that came out in the last stretch of the Kalos-themed era featured Wobbuffett on a Radiant Collection card that depicts the Pokémon in its Trainer's cutesy bedroom. Come to think; these could both easily fit into the current sets with expanded art, functioning well as, respectively, a Character Rare and an Illustration Rare. We also got Baba drawing a Persian card in Sun & Moon – Team Up.

Fast-forward to the Sword & Shield and Scarlet & Violet eras, which saw this long-term contributing artist focusing on cutesy cards with a strong theme of green and purple permeating their work. This includes cards such as Skitty from Sword & Shield – Fusion Strike, Kirlia from Sword & Shield – Silver Tempest, and Hoppip from Scarlet & Violet – Paldea Evolved. It'll be fun to continue to watch how Yukiko Baba's dynamic art continues to evolve over time.

Be sure to check Bleeding Cool every day to follow our in-depth Pokémon TCG coverage as we explore the hobby's past, present, and even future with upcoming set reveals.

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