So excited ^.^ I loved reviewing the artwork on the Feraligatr Prime and was waiting for the next one to come up ^.^ here we go again:
Gotta start off by saying - I love this Gengar art, this is my favourite Gengar art of all the current cards.
The colour of its body is perfect, the right shade of purple focused of the centre making its main body colour stand up perfectly. The shading and shape really give it strong body and definition, which is especially interesting when you consider that Gengar don't have much of a physical form - normally I would consider this a fault, but I think in this case the artist has still managed to pull of a floaty, "not really there" feeling with the additional yellow and blue tones on its body. The light yellow tones at its front and the dark blue tones at its back are complete and utter reflections of what it is facing and what is behind it, making it seem almost half-camouflage in the sense that it's almost like you can still see the other elements of its surroundings through it. This is even reflected in its teeth and eyes, further compounding this transparent sensation.
The backgroud (shouldn't really refer to it as a background because, technically, it is not) is especially detailed, allowing the more solid and simplistic Gengar to stand out further. However, to focus on the surroundings, everything behind the Gengar is dark and almost swirling (ie, the ripples in the water), while at the front is some sort of light. This gives an eerie sense of "crossing over" and "going into the light", emphasising the strong element of death surrounding this Ghost Pokémon. The leaves that the Gengar is running past can be taken in three ways:
1 ~ again to continue the idea of "crossing over", it is almost running past and away from nature and the life of the living.
2 ~ the Gengar is toying with nature, it can run past freely and remain untouched by nature and life, which is important for Gengar in that it is dead and yet remains in the land of the living.
3 ~ the leaves are dark, tainted by the presence of Gengar. The way it is portrayed is almost like it is running towards light and leaving darkness in its wake, corrupting the world and nature, darkening everything as it goes.
The water, more specifically the ripples, behind it give Gengar an almost God-like presence - it is running on water, looking like a stone being skipped across the waters surface, barely touching it yet leaving its mark. This even significantly ties in with the Ghostly, otherworldly nature of this Pokémon in that it can do things beyond that of normal humans and Pokémon, giving it a powerful and, as said before, God-like presence.
An interesting side-note on the water ripples and even the overall murky colours of the plants and water is that it reflects Gengar's secondary Poison nature - it is intoxicating the world, the gases contained within its touch spreading through its body and into the world. This ties in very strongly with point three above.
An interesting thing to note is that, even in light of the power this image already associates to Gengar, we are looking down on it, which essentially puts it in a vulnerable position - it is perceived as small, weak, insignificant when in-fact it is smiling, has an evil glint in its face and, adding on its God-like presence, this in its way instills a sense of fear in that, even though we looking down on it are in the proverbial "powerful" position, it is portrayed as the one who holds the most power.
The artwork can also be tied into its attacks and PokéPower:
Fainting Spell ~ as stated previously, nature appears to be coiling from it, Gengar can walk on water and freely corrupt our environment, killing nature in some respect as it goes.
Shadow Room ~ everything behind Gengar is dark, like it spreads that darkness and those shadows as it runs around in light, giving the impression that it can create patches of darkness, which could be see as shadow rooms in their own right.
Poltergeist ~ as discussed before, Gengar has been given this presence of being not really there, yet still able to touch the world in its own way, much like classic poltergeists have been known to do on some similar level.
Personally, I love the artwork on this card, it is by far one of my favourites, even more so now that I've really looked into it and saw it in such detail that I never ever considered before x
7/10 artwork although background could be better.
