Legendary Pokemon TCG Artist Mitsuhiro Arita on designing his first-ever MTG card

Few artists have been as influential in the TCG space as Mitsuhiro Arita. As a key part of the original Pokemon Trading Card Game design team, Arita helped to lock in the look of the original Kanto ‘mons, creating indelible images for cards like Pikachu and Charizard.

Arita has hardly sat idle since having this original impact, being a reliable contributor to the Pokemon TCG over the years with almost 700 cards to his name. The artist has also branched out into card games based on other beloved franchises including Monster Hunter and Shin Megami Tensei.

Now, with the launch of Magic: The Gathering’s Bloomburrow set, many MTG players are being introduced to Arita’s work for the first time.

Lumra, Bellow of the Woods is one of Bloomburrow’s standout cards. This colossal Calamity Beast has a huge impact both on and off the battlefield, thanks to its powerful mechanics and gorgeous array of art variants.

Arita illustrated one of Lumra’s borderless variants, and the artist’s incredible technique is on display for all to see, with a style that may surprise those who most closely associate Arita with his original Pokemon designs.

We shared some questions with Arita about his process and experience designing for Magic for the first time. We’re happy to be able to share his translated responses – which have been lightly edited – especially now that Bloomburrow has been released to an extremely positive reception.

Discussing Bloomburrow with Mitsuhiro Arita

WotC/The Pokemon Company/Mistuhiro Arita

Dexerto: How has the experience of working with Wizards for the first time on Magic been?

Mitsuhiro Arita: I enjoyed myself since I like the feel of high fantasy. It was also great that my autonomy as an artist was valued.

When and how did Wizards reach out to you to ask about working on Bloomburrow?

The contact came via email midway through last year. It was handled via Kogado Studio​, a company thamanages art requests in Japan.

Were you specifically given the card Lumra: Bellow of the Woods to design, or did you create
the art first and then Wizards built the card design around it?

There were rough sketches of Lumura drawn by Matt Stewart, and I had his sketches along with some
extra requests. I believe that game design was the priority.

The realistic style you’ve used for Lumra: Bellow of the Woods is very distinct from the majority
of your other artwork. Was that something that Wizards encouraged or a decision you made to
differentiate the work?

For this picture, I simply asked myself, “What kind of Mitsuhiro Arita artwork would I want to see in
MTG?” This is my approach to work in general—not seeking a consistent style, simply drawing whatever
I want to see.

As it happens, I’ve worked on a large number of similar projects, including the Culdcept
games, the Berserk movie, and FINAL FANTASY. Many of the pictures can be viewed on my website
under Culdcept Artworks, so please feel free to check them out.

Would you consider working on Magic: The Gathering again after your experience on
Bloomburrow?

Some jobs aren’t as favorable in terms of the time required and other conditions. But for this project,
I was pretty happy. Of course, I would like to work with them again.

Are there any Magic: The Gathering cards that you’d like to have a shot at redesigning?

Maybe Black Lotus… Only kidding.