CGC Artist Showcase: satoma

When it comes to trading cards, the artwork featured is — to put it mildly — significant. Some collectors focus their collections on a particular artist (or artists) due to a preference in art style, proving just how impactful an artist’s work is to a product’s success.

The CGC Artist Showcase series is a celebration of these artists’ accomplishments and contributions to our favorite TCGs. In this installment, we showcase satoma, who signed cards as part of a CGC Signature Series signing event last year.

About satoma

Satoma is a Tokyo-based illustrator and animator who creates book jacket illustrations, CD jackets, music videos, card illustrations and more. They graduated from the Department of Design at Tokyo University of the Arts and serve as a part-time lecturer at the Kyoto University of the Arts.

In 2022, satoma submitted an illustration of Cramorant to the Pokémon Trading Card Game Illustration Contest, which was being held by The Pokémon Company in October 2021 through January 2022. Each submission was judged by a panel of at least four judges that included directors and executives from The Pokémon Company, The Pokémon Company International and Creatures, Inc. Out of the 10,830 entries submitted for the contest, satoma’s Cramorant design was chosen as one of the 300 quarter-finalists.

Contributions to the Pokémon TCG

After placing in the 2022 Pokémon Trading Card Game Illustration Contest, satoma was contacted by The Pokémon Company and commissioned for several TCG designs. Their first official card was a Dratini which was featured in Obsidian Flames.

Satoma then went on to illustrate several more cards within the Scarlet & Violet Pokémon TCG era, including hits such as Keldeo from Temporal Forces, Eevee from Twilight Masquerade, Celebi from Stellar Crown and, most recently, Lillie’s Determination from the Japanese Mega Brave set. One of satoma’s best-known cards is the Cresselia Illustration Rare variant from Shrouded Fable. The beautiful artwork features Cresselia front and center in the card’s frame, surrounded by northern lights over a shrouded landscape.

Other Notable Contributions

In addition to providing illustrations for the Pokémon TCG, satoma has contributed to other popular franchises over the years. Recently, satoma created an animated background for Square Enix’s NieR Re[in]carnation OST album compilation video, which you can find on their YouTube channel. Additionally, satoma animated a music video for “Hikari” by J-Pop group DUSTCELL.

If you liked these cards and other illustrations featuring satoma’s artwork, be sure to check out their Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr for more illustrations. Satoma also offers online art courses, so be sure to check them out on Coloso. Also, keep an eye out for more CGC Artist Showcase columns in the future.

About CGC

Since revolutionizing comic book grading in 2000, CGC has grown to include certification services for a vast variety of pop culture collectibles. These divisions include CGC Cards, CGC Video Games and CGC Home Video. CGC Cards provides expert card grading for sports cards, TCGs and non-sports cards. CGC Video Games is dedicated to video game grading for the most popular consoles, including Nintendo, Sega, Atari, PlayStation and more. CGC Home Video provides expert VHS grading in addition to other types of videocassettes, DVD, Blu-ray and more. CGC also offers seamless solutions for autograph collectors with CGC Signature Series and JSA Authentic Autograph services.