We are of a like mind. I usually group creators by the franchises I like and want to see represented, but obviously my tastes don't align much with what's in demand. Some of the ones I like are Neighzorr for Persona cards, Kyonko, Higashi and Makise for Genshin/Hoyo stuff, SolityL, Higashi and XiShuiFang for Azur Lane, and in a general sense I really like Xion (excellent, if stylized, Pokemon trainer cards), Darwin_P (beautiful Umamusume work), and Newbie for being a competent all-purpose, no frills character creator.
Out of the paywallers, my favorites are Kyonko, Xion, SolityL, DarwinP, Keiyuu, Istia (mostly for VRChat stuff), Mikale, qlonemu (kinda, wish they didn't chicken out on vspo stuff) and kinda-sorta Ameki. Honorable mentions to Graf, Juedge, Makise, and Zhezhicheny for their asset rips.
Out of free makers, Makisu (I will count early access as free), Rinu, Toshi,
たこからあげ,
Lee,
ㅇ0ㅇ (kind of, I just appreciate having Closers and Elsword cards),
冰鮮肺仁,
梦天冰,
reb_orange,
Haku (as well as Hakuyu),
mashu037 (probably the most prolific Touhou cardmaker),
Solace,
TeslaThunder,
Warblade,
ひつまぶし, and ににぎ (who closed their Pixiv account and disappeared

) Special mention to
Rohss and
Rhino Also fuck Yata, Earthship, and Ltsuki. If I ever met any of them in real life I'm taking off their shoes and making them walk through a hallway of lego bricks.