Between "Yawning Arcanine" and "Ear-Scratching Pikachu", I can't take the Grand Prize-winning entries of these TCG art contests seriously. Imagine Game Freak getting so much cool art, limiting it to just two or three of the pics actually making it onto cards while they get to own your efforts even if they never use those pictures ever again, and then the winners are the Pokemon being LAZY and/or TIRED*.
...Oh, right, there's a cash prize, too, isn't there? All the more reason to get judges with better taste than "I love it when Pokemon act like pets (and the background is cool, too)". Or at least give more than one theme to choose from?
*To be fair, wasn't the previous contest "Pokemon in their natural habitat"? I can't remember what the 2024 "theme" was...
Sorry if I'm worked up about it. It's just... as a fan, I'll never understand how these decisions are made, and as someone who draws casually, I'd be hard-pressed to think my own work would be able to hold a candle to the sky-high standards Game Freak don't even hold themselves to. More disappointed in myself for caring so much, honestly.
How about the rest of you? Did any of you try to enter? Do you think the winners earned their victories, or would you have rather seen someone else take home the prize(s)?