GWRando's Sketchwork

Okay I sketched these and about nine others that I won't be uploading due to the fact they are not Pokémon, while I was at a restaurant today... straight from memory. Pretty sure I screwed up a bit on each of them.

They are simple in nature but I guess here goes...


Sleeping HootHoot on a comfy surface

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Magikarp on the line

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Lost Caterpie on strange mounds

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They may or may not be in original poses, I don't know, as I was trying to remember them and this is how they looked in my mind while eating at an Anime-Themed restaurant. I think you may need to click on them to see them right...

 

@GWrando

Hoothoot

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Form/Detail

I like this image, its relaxing me even as I write this curation. The usage of art forms is very apparent and while, simple, they are effective. In centering the pokemon, you added the lines that showed the bed sinking, creating a depression and drawing the focus of the viewer directly to the center. The cleanliness of the lines is an issue, always make sure to smooth out the image for a final product, and remove/erase all the sketch lines and stray sketch tails created in the process. Limited amount of detail and shading to give a sense of depth and realism hurt the image.


Pokemon

Hoothoot isn’t the hardest pokemon to draw, and you’ve drawn it exactly as its supposed to look. Its interesting that I found this pose from a standard image search, but you took it and made it unique with the story behind the image. You made him relaxing instead of excited or jumping. Lack of either color or shading to better illustrate the form of the pokemon is going to cost points though.


Environment

A nice, simple environment here. Perhaps almost too simple. I had to read your comments to see that it was a bed and not just lines drawn to focus the attention of the viewer on the pokemon. Color and detail would have helped, maybe pillows or a folded/rumpled sheet edge somewhere to better define the whitespace as a bed. I really would have loved to see some shading in this!


Improvements

1. Shading! Everything casts shadows, or has darker areas no matter what kind of lighting is around them. Adding different/darker areas or shading in spots will add depth and realism to your image.

2. Line cleanliness.


Score

20/100


Clean up the lines, add in some shading and environment detail, and I’m sure this image could pass. But right now, Hoothoot is NOT caught.

Magikarp

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Form/Detail

A very nice image you have here. Simple yet detailed, a good image for an easiest-rank pokemon. Watch your lines when you finalize the image. Adding different thicknesses/weights and smoothing/cleaning up the curves when you are finished will enhance the look of the final product. For example, the scales could have been drawn with a lighter touch to make them less obvious, to give a fair difference between the pokemon’s main outline and the details. Then go over the outlines darker and erase some of the stray tails you created when sketching.

Pokemon

Accuracy is key for an image like this, and you nailed Magikarp perfectly. You even put in the effort to add more scales than normally is shown, but it adds more of a sense of realism to the image, which is commendable. Shading also adds to the realism of the pokemon. The fact you used a more original pose shows that it wasn’t just a simple copy, you actually put some thought into the drawing.


Environment

Not much to say for this department. You have a noticeable light source up in the sky, which casts shadows that seem to be mostly correct, only place I would question is the fin closest to the viewer, it seems very bright and plain.

As for the background story, you got about halfway there. You added the fishing line, with instantly makes this an action shot of Magikarp fighting for his life against a hungry trainer. Now, you can expand on this in the future - is Magikarp jumping out of the water, is he underwater, is he flopping on the beach? Add more detail behind the pokemon to fully convey the story you are trying to tell with your image.

Improvements

1. Add to the scenery and better define where your image and story are taking place, enhance the viewer’s experience
2. Clean up lines more, add different weight and thickness to better differentiate between form and detail

Score

25/100

Plenty enough to get a magikarp, the details did it for you.

Caterpie

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Form/Detail

Another nice pencil sketch. Image is simple yet conveys movement through the placement of Caterpie’s eye, the shape of the body, and the perspective used. We can tell Caterpie is moving to whatever obstacle he has found on the right. Line cleanliness is again an issue in this image, especially near the shadows. the incompleteness of them could either mean a rushed job, or an attempt to add texture to the body part. Would like to see those more evenly colored in future works.

Pokemon

You’ve done some good work with Caterpie’s curves, the body segments flow naturally into each other and give him a smooth, unified appearance. Details, proportions, everything like that seems correct. Shading, particularly around the mid body and horns is very good and better shows the curves in the pokemon.

Environment

In this image there is more environment than in Magikarp. We have again a light source off screen, looks like perhaps the sun or something close to it. One problem due to lack of more surrounding detail is what is Caterpie encountering? The viewer will have to make an assumption that the lump is a rock on the dirt slope Caterpie is climbing. Or it could be a foot under the covers of a bed. Without more detail we can’t be sure. Continue to improve on the scenery and better convey to the image viewer your purpose for this image.

Improvements

1. Line cleanliness
2. Improve the environment so the viewer knows that all they are looking at.


Score

25/100

Caterpie is yours

 

Thanks... I kind of realized that Hoothoot likely wasn't in an original while I was drawing it due to the fact that I have had a poster of Hoothoot next to my bed for almost thirteen years and I was sure that the pose I was drawing was from it while I was at the restaurant. I would've colored the images, but since I haven't drawn much since I lost the ability due to an injury to my right arm, I don't own any coloring implements and I've never attempted digital coloring.

I already believed that Hoothoot probably wouldn't get the points as it is to be caught as I had drawn it last in a line of ten sketches I did to calm myself down and by the time I was finishing up, me and my friends were getting ready to leave. I have been looking over the drawing planning to add shading since I put it up and will likely do so when I determine the direction of a light source. I have also been working on a couple of Voltorb images among a few others, including several Gen 2 Baby Pokémon, taking more time than the two hours I was at the restaurant and will likely reupload Hoothoot with them when they are finished.

 

I'm still working on several others, including redoing Hoot Hoot. In the meantime I drew this in MSPaint... It may not be that great as it was my first attempt at drawing digitally.

Rude Awakening

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I had hoped to lump this with the others I am working on, but as it is finished now... I figured why wait...

Here is the proof BTW...

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Here are a few more...

Sleeping Pichu

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and it's proof

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Hiding Roggenrolla

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and it's proof...

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I'm still working on redoing HootHoot by hand... but I drew around ten pokemon with MSPaint and thought I'd upload them.... Most of them are basic shape pokemon.

 

Wish I could figure out how to upload more than five pics a post...

But here are two more and their proof...

Ekans in a Cave

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and proof

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Azurill at the Beach

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and proof

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with all of these I was inspired by seemless art such as Samurai Jack... I will upload the last 5 after these 5 (Voltorb, Pichu, Roggenrolla, Ekans, and Azurill) have been curated... and the last one is finished...

 

Here are two pokemon I drew as part of a bet to draw pokemon digitally within a time limit...

I won...

Kricketot in a forest...

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and proof

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Lonely Weedle (I may have forgotten to draw feet...)

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And Proof

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@GWrando

Voltorb 1

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Color/Form
Very geometric image, I think that would be a good way to describe it. Very simple shapes are present and repeated throughout, namely circles and rectangles in the bricks and ball capsules. This definitely adds a sense of unity and simplicity to the image, and makes the capsule machine base stand out. It also does this through the bright orange used to set it apart from the brownish reds and grey of the background environment.

Pokemon
So first thing I’m going to stress in this section is that unless you know what is going on, and have seen the second picture that goes with this, You have no idea what pokemon you are looking for. Usually you want a pokemon to be prominent or at least noticeable as soon as you look at the image. Since I know this image is for a Voltorb, I know to look in the center of the image where the ball capsules are. But even after looking, its difficult if nigh impossible to tell which one is voltorb.

In the future, make the pokemon stand out from its surroundings to that the viewer can better understand what's going on without requiring information from other images.

Environment
Not going to lie, I got mesmerized whenever i tried to look at the bricks in the background. THe amount of detail you put into those is very nice, the only critique I could give on them would be to make them have some kind of texture, or make them slightly different shades of the same color to break the monotonous pattern that can often happen with bricks. The capsule machine is nice and has details that show some amount of effort went into drawing it.

One thing this image is missing is a lot of the shading. You have shading in among the balls, where they get darker the lower they sit, but apart from that the machine, walls, and sidewalk lack a lot of texture or shading/lighting to make the scene more realistic and dynamic. Also, the glass dome used for the capsule machine should somehow have partial transparency, to show that it is glass.

Improvements
1. This is the main one, make the pokemon stand out! Since I couldn’t even see it on a first glance, other viewers will have the same problem.

2. Shading - this image could use more of it, even though the places you did put it were correctly done.

3. Detail and variation in the background, so that its not monotonous and sometimes hypnotizing.

Score
This image was hard to score. But in the end I’m giving it

20/100

Because there is a nice amount of detail, hut there is also a lot that needs to be improved.

Voltorb 2

Spoiler

Form/Color
This is simplicity in its purest form. Repetition of shape and color for this image are very clear, the reds and whites being used in both the background as well as the pokemon and his inanimate brethren. The circles also repeated as the only main shape in the image. Red and white contrast nicely, which makes voltorb himself pop out from the background.

Pokemon
This time Voltorb is placed pretty much smack in the center of the image, which allows the viewer to quickly see the pokemon that the image is based on. The pokemon’s color looks right, shape is correct. You gave him eyebrows and the age old anger mark to show emotion, which allows a story to be told. Story in images, no matter how simple, is always good. The attack also adds to the story.

Environment
As far as the background goes, this image definitely lacks much for it. Based on the first image, one would assume that voltorb is enclosed in a glass sphere, and glass is transparent. So I would expect to see a sidewalk, wall, road, or something through the glass that gives a larger sense of location.

As far as lighting and shading goes, you have that and it is effective enough to give a general angle and direction of the light. In future images keep improving on this, as lighting is a major component for realism.

Improvements
1. Environment - a white background won’t work for anything above an easiest mon. Add details in to tell the viewer where/what/why. This is really the only improvement i could suggest for the image, since the rest was at least decent.

Score
20/100

The lack of a background or other details apart from voltorb, the balls, and the attack really hurt the score on this one. As I’m sure you guessed, voltorb is not caught. But keep improving!

Weedle

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Form/Color
COlor for this image is very simple and bright. The grass is very vibrant green, which both blends and highlights the yellow weedle. THe sky and clouds contrast nicely and add another bright color to make the image as a whole stand out. The image is very heavy on the bottom though, the dense grass bringing the viewers attention down there.

Pokemon
You already mentioned the one problem with weedle, and thats the lack of feet. Apart from that one detail, everything seems to be in order about the small bug pokemon. THe color is good, the shapes are accurate. Not much else to say besides possibly adding some light shading on the underside where the light wouldn’t reach.

Environment
I enjoy that you put varying types of grass on the field, it adds both depth and variance to the normally flat ground. Both the sky and ground, while simple, give Weedle somewhere to crawl and enjoy lounging in the sun. The shading for this image is quite simple, but it gives us an idea of the sun being high in the sky pointing straight down. The grass is somewhat repetitive, but for an image of this rank it doesn’t hurt you too much.
Improvements
1. Vary the length/color of the tall grass, make it more unique and not so much copy/paste.

2. Pokemon accuracy - but you know that already
Score
25/100

Don’t mind giving you this one, as the one error you had was noted by you, and the rest of the scene is still nice enough.

 

@GWrando

Roggenrola

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Color/Form
First we’ll start off with some of the stuff I do like about the image. For one, the pokemon is placed central and the viewer has a pretty good idea of what they are looking at/what the focus of this piece is. It is a very clean image, having only elements important to the scene and not cluttering the image. Roggenrola sticks out due to the very simple color palette used as well.

Think you went a little too literal in terms of repetition of form on this one. All the rocks are completely identical, which really makes the image look somewhat fake. Although I can see that you used the same rock as you did for Roggenrola in order to better give the appearance of hiding, would have liked to see more variation in the rocks, and maybe some more randomness in the placement.

Pokemon
For the half of Roggenrola we can see, he seems to be fairly accurate. The color is right, eye placement and the faceted rock shapes are correct. SHading could possibly use a little more, it seems to be oddly lit for a cave. Would also have liked to be able to see more. Maybe a different angle could have been used, showing him hiding behind the rocks from a side view?

Environment
There is very little in the environment department for this image. Our main background consists of a simple two-tone cavelike location, with a reddish stone floor and a black abyss behind. No real shading or so on the ground to denote any irregularities, which is always a useful trick. The stones, as mentioned earlier, are all perfectly identical and can be odd looking without something else in the scene to show where they came from. Maybe the rock color should have matched the floor color more closely, to show that they came from the same cave walls, or something else to tie them into the scene more realistically. Lighting in general needs more definition. If this is a cave, which seems to be the intent, where does the light come from?

Improvements
1. Environment - make things more natural, and have all the objects in the scene make sense together.

2. Detail - randomness, variations in the texture or objects, etc. Make the scene feel like the viewer is standing in the image itself.

Score
20/100

The background and repeated rocks cut the score on this one, Roggenrola NOT caught.

Azurill

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Color/Form
This image has both good points and some not so good points. For the good points, its a very pleasing image, very calming and relaxing. Azurill is taking a break on the beach, seeming happy with his blanket and beach ball. The bright and sunny atmosphere matches the mood of the image nicely, and the light sand and blanket contrast decently with Azurill. Only problem is that Azurill was pushed down to the lower half of the image, and really doesn’t set itself apart as the focus of the image. Some of the edges, particularly where the water meets land and sky, are vry rough, and should be smoothed out. This also appears on the blanket.

Something that really needs to be addressed in this image is perspective. With Azurill’s seated position, the ground and water should take up less of the image, and the sky more. THe blanket would also need to be far more angled to match with the rest. Look up images of people sitting on the beach and you’ll see what I mean, right now it looks like Azurill should be rolling down the hill that has a lake at the top.

Pokemon
I can see that you put a lot of detail into Azurill here. The spiky tail is very well done, and the ears have that thinner ribbon of darker pink that shows depth and a recess, very nicely done. THe face is simple yet effective at conveying what Azumarill is feeling. THe cartoon shading is simple but acceptable for pokemon.

Something I found a bit odd about Azurill was the very selective use of black lines the set apart the ears and feet. Doing this adds a lot of weight and focus towards those two areas. If you want to highlight or separate something but not draw too much attention, using a mildly darker shade of blue would have worked instead of pure black.

Environment
I like how you attempted to either place footprints in the sand, or give the sand a texture. I think if you had done a lot more of the spraycan it would have looked really cool as a nice sandy texture. As for the water, the black lines you used to show waves doesn’t look right, white would have been better to show the whitecaps, or a lighter blue to show light streaming through. The beach ball is a very nice touch, but it should have some shading in the lower right to show its roundness, and not that it is flat as it currently sits.

Improvements
1. Perspective needs to be adjusted to better suit the position of everything. It is really the main detriment in this image.

Score
25/100

Azurill managed to sneak past being caught

 

@GWrando

Kricketot

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Color/Form
Good choice of location to place Kricketot, the greens of the forest are good for contrasting against the bright red bug. Kricketot has been shown as the main focus of this image, so its centered sue to a lack of other important elements. I’d like to see more storytelling in your images. Kricketot is just standing there, looking off into the distance. Maybe give him something to be looking at, or another Kricketot to play with, something.

Pokemon
Kricketot looks fairly accurate, especially for the limited timeframe you had. Color, shading, and form are all right. The antennae could possibly use a bit more rounding. My only big question: How tall is this bug if he is standing right under the leaves of these trees? Seems a bit disproportionate at first glance, unless these are small saplings, then the scale of the trunk looks off.

Environment
I’m going to start by pointing out right now the one only problem I really have with your environment - the trees. Below the leaves you actually did a really nice job, giving the trunks some light detail to show imperfections and the vague appearance of bark, but the leaves kinda detract from that. The one thing that you need to do is either remove the leaves, as they really make Kricketot look really tall, or make them more natural than the rectangles they currently are.

As I said for the rest, in general I like the composition and simple environment you have here. the small tufts of grass, while fairly repeated, still make the grass more than a flat green plane for the pokemon to stand on. I see the Roggenrola rocks have made a comeback. The beach ball look is still there, but I do like that you cut some off to make them different, and used the darker part for another, just to make them unique in some way. The shading on your rocks and Kricketot are contrasting, but you did add shading. The rocks or pokemon would just need to be flipped for it all to be the same. Also, the trees would probably be creating shadows if the rocks and pokemon have sunlight hitting them.

Improvements
1. Please, fix up those leaves. Even in paint you might be able to remove/repair them to be more natural or organic.

2. Perspective/scale - Kricketot and the trees seem to contrast in terms of the size of everything

3. Give images more story/content, instead of static poses with no action

Score
30/100

I liked this one, it had some decent design choices for an easiest mon apart from those leaves, and its good for a time-limited image. Its yours.

Ekans

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Color/Form
I think a lot of the browns and subdued colors you used in this image allow the viewer to very clearly see Ekans. However, the image is very unbalanced, all the action being mainly in the lower right hand quarter. Consider adding more components to the image to give it a better balance.

Pokemon
As far as shape and detail of the pokemon go, you nailed it quite accurately. The shape of the head is good, and the face has decent details and shading. The colors are also good, including what you used for shading. but the shading is off, which I will talk about in the environment section of the curation. The other thing is that Ekan’s tail looks to be cut off. I can see where you were trying to create the look of it being hidden in shadow, but the transition is so abrupt that it somewhat just looks like Ekans is missing its tail. It also has the look that it is floating in the air instead of slithering on the ground.

Environment
You made an attempt at an environment with this one. You gave Ekans a home to peek out of, and you made it somewhat hidden and placed a ground plane. But its all very flat, everything needs textures/shading to give it more depth. The sky is completely absent as well. Shading is decent on the pokemon, but seems to be a bit off on poor Ekans. the light is hitting his head from what appears to be the upper right corner, which is matched somewhat by the lowest streak. But somehow the back of his body is getting some light? Try to be consistent with lighting, its very important to a scene’s realism. The rocks suffer the same fate, when you flipped and copied them.

The return of the beach ball rocks! As has been stated before, make a few different rocks that you can use for scenes if you plan to use them often, it could be very helpful. It adds more variation and adds to the flavor of the scene.

Improvements
This image needs a lot of shading and texturing corrections to make it hit the reqs, which includes the ground, the rocks, Ekans itself, and the sky.

Score
20/100

Pichu

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Color/Form
You picked two colors which tend to both contrast and compliment each other well, it really sets Pichu apart from the background in this image. While you gave a very mnor story, you gave Pichu a setting, and something to do that is related to it. THats always a good start when making images. The thing I’m going to hit on here would be how sharp the edges of your shapes are. Its always odd to see the jagged edges of the pencil tools, sometimes pens with a very small soft edge work out better for shapes like this so it doesn’t end up with pixel edges.

Pokemon
Pichu is a fairly basic pokemon, to which you’ve captured the essence of. As far as color, you got it fairly well correct. The cheeks are slightly mismatched, and head might be a bit wider than necessary, but its hardly noticable. Just watch stuff like that in future art.

Environment
Based on the shading of the image, you seemed to place the light source directly overhead as a ceiling light. You kept this nice and consistent throughout the piece, adding a sense of unity to the different objects in the image. There really isn’t too much else to comment on here, since the bed you made is the entirety of the image.SImplicity at its best and for this image it works.

I’d like to see a tad more shading after looking at the head. somewhere around the neck I would expect to see a darker crevice where the light cannot penetrate as far.

Improvements
Edges and shading are the only two complaints I have here.

Score
40/100

Since there’s really nothing wrong with the image, and you gave it shading, a story, and some decent choices in general, I’ll give you Pichu.

 

Here is a new one... alongside three reworked images...

Voltorb Remastered...

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Azurill Remastered

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Togepi Hatches (With Proof)

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Still can't find my red charcoal to finish Hoot Hoot...
probably will head to Aaron Brothers for the first time in about a decade, I think, to pick some up...
Anyways... will be uploading Swinub and remastered Roggenrolla later...

 

@GWrando

Voltorb 1

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Color/Form
In this category not much was changed overall, the image’s basic elements are the same. THe cartoon-comic ooming in ortion of the image doesn’t really enhance the overall composition, I would almost say it detracts and is a desparate method to show where the pokemon should be. Perhaps the image should focus more on that area from the start.

As far as the composition of the image goes, I’d first say that the repetitive pattern of the brick needs to be changed. Needs something to break it up, as over half the image is of the brick texture. Another point is the zoomed in portion is very blocky, which loses the detail and makes it look like a rush job.

Pokemon
So as witht the last image, its hard if not impossible to discern the difference between the pokemon and the regular poke balls in this image. You did make an attempt to focus in on the intended location of your pokemon, albeit in a comic-style manner. A mouth or even closed eyes would have made more clear the location of your pokemon. As it stands at the moment, I can’t tell where the pokemon is and still can’t really critique except that coloring and shading would be good. I do somewhat question the scale of the image, but I can see a very young voltorb perhaps being poke ball sized.

Environment
I do like some of the improvements you made on the background. The cracks in the concrete, while perhaps a bit too obvious/dark, break up the monotony of the scene. Would have liked to see some of that on the wall. Really anything on the wall would be good to break up the pattern, as the dark brick separated by white lines can begin to hurt the eye after a minute or so of looking.

The reflection on the top and side of the glass sphere was good, but the lighting around the scene doesn’t quite seem to match. Would like to see more shadows and varying light levels throughout the piece, would enhance the overall scene.
Improvements
1. Breaking up the patterns/repetition that shows very obviously in the background.

2. Lighting and shadows/depth needs to be increased. Stuff will cast some form of shadow unless completely blocked off from light.

3. Make the pokemon obvious in some way, right now its an image of poke balls in a dispenser.

Score
25/100

Its still not at the level it needs to be at for a voltorb, sorry.

Voltorb 2

Spoiler

Color/Form
This image isn’t half bad compared to the first version. One thing I’d offer as a point to improve upon for future images is adding more color. Right now the majority of your image is dominated by varying shades of red and grey. THe yellow you added to signify the electrical energy is good, it allows for a breakup of the geometric red shapes that dominate the image. Now continue with this and make it even better.

Pokemon
The pokemon in this one is good. It’s centralized, has shading and the right colors, everything pretty much works for it. The only improvement I could offer would be to improve the level of shading and depth to make it look truly round through making the shading follow the curves of the ball more accurately.

Environment
Removing the pure white background was a definite good move for this image, we now have something to compare voltorb to in both size and location. At first I thought the lighting was really off, looking like a flashlight aimed at the pokemon, then I remembered the attack. So I eventually did like the lighting more, but I feel like it could be further improved, like the dark spots where your energy rings are close to the body, hose would create more light at the points closest.

Improvements
1. Improving the shading and depth. Theres a lot of spheres here that could be shaded more accurately.

2. Again, breaking up the patterns.

Score
30/100

This image improved a lot, but its still lacking some of the stuff needed to qualify it for a medium pokemon.

Azurill

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Color/Form
I think between this image and the previous incarnation something was lost; THe changes took away some of the cleanliness and detail that were present in version one. The the lower half of the image is good, there were some improvements to shading, color, and textures which enhanced the detail. But the top portion became a mixture of blue and white, so not sure how to grade it.

Pokemon
THe pokemon has remained virtually untouched between the images, so not much to comment on here. Color, shading, shapes, expression, all normal and within acceptable parameters.

Environment
I think in the environment department you took a step backward from your previous image. Gone are the waves and sun/sky, and now there's some kind of blue and whitish mass in its place. Its hard to see the detail in it, or what it actually is in general without more information. At least your sand is starting to look more realistic, the different colors give it a far more grainy appearance and give it some amount of shading.

Something that still needs to be improved is the perspective, which hasn’t changed. Azurill is sitting on a hill at the angle of the blanket, so it should be rolling down and not comfy on the angled slope of the dune. Shading on the ball is still decent, though it could be improved by following the sphere’s curvature.

Improvements
1. The perspective and upper portion of the image need to be redone, thats the main critique here.

Score
25/100

The grade for Azumarill stays the same because the improvements and downfalls balanced each other out.

Before I can curate togepi you need another image to qualify for a hard ranked mon.