Cards by Kimiya Masago: TCG Illustrator Guide

Kimiya Masago (Japanese: 正子公也), born 1960, Okayama, is a freelance illustrator and emaki artist whose works primarily depict characters from Chinese and Japanese history, particularly those from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Water Margin (Suikoden), and various military leaders from the Sengoku period. Masago earned a bachelor's degree majoring in physics at Chuo University in 1983, and became a freelance artist in 1989. His first work, a manga series entitled Clown with Blue Nose, was first published in 1990. He has since gone on to produce many illustrations for numerous publications, even branching into the film industry in 2005, where he became a costume designer for the Chinese film The Promise. Masago provided illustrations for the Pokémon Trading Card Game between 2000 and 2005, depicting a number of Pokémon in a similar fashion to his traditional work, focusing on tone, areas of extreme color, and atmospheric environments. For a list of all cards he has illustrated, go here.