I wish I could do some card art. I don't play much nowadays and would love to flex my skills. I'd do all the bird cards.
Theoretically you could enter the illustration contest, but there are many reasons why that may not be possible.
You might also enjoy making art for fans to use on their custom Pokémon cards. Pokébeach has a vibrant community of fans who enjoy designing Pokémon cards as much as many artists enjoy drawing fan art. The community even has a Discord (Which I have not been on in some time… Sorry, PMJ). Many artists, especially on DeviantArt, have given these fans permission to use their artwork on their creations. Some of these artists, including Xous54, Ishmam (Steven “Ski” Nosov, and perhaps aquabluu (I recognized Heeyun Chung’s Cramorant’s art style) were recognized for their art during the 2022 illustration contests. In fact, all three artists named made top 100, Xous54 and Heeyun Chung received judges awards, and Ishmam had a second illustration in the top 300. So not only could working with hobbyists be good practice for illustrating for this contest, but it also poses no danger to being accepted into these contests.
Pokémon has established a legacy of using these contests as a source for illustrators, and they don’t seem to stop with the top entrants either. REND becoming an illustrator in Shiny Treasure ex was no surprise, given that all three of REND’s illustrations made top 100 on top of Arcanine getting the grand prize. However, Amelicart merely received the Slowpoke award during the 1st Pokémon Card Game Illustration Grand Prix, and Okacheke only made top 50–without receiving any special recognition. Both of them are now illustrators, and if you don’t already know how beloved Okacheke is, just ask R o s s Gilbert, or “The W o s s y.”*
- R o s s Gilbert
As for being restricted to certain countries, Pokémon seems to be introducing new nations to the fold of contestants year by year, so I’m guessing we will at least see the remaining countries from the 2015 contest get added before they stop adding them.
* The forum kept changing his name to “Google” for some reason.