10 Tips to Draw Your Pokemon Better!
1. The Pokedex - wait, I know what you're thinking, (The Pokedex? How is that going to help me draw better?) Well it is, don't U think it's a good idea to know what it is your drawing? The Pokedex is crammed full of information about Pokemon such as they're types, species and most importantly they're appearance up to date, (okay I get your point, But Ash, I'm a experience Pokemon Fan that's been playing the games and watching the show sense gen one, I already know all this!) Do you? I'm not trying to attack your knowledge and understanding of the genre as a fan, But also like many of you I've been a fan of the pokemon genre for many years now, (if my name is any indicator) but still even now I come across something that catches me off guard or something I just didn't know. For example did you know, Chespin's have a small brown spot on the back of their heads or that Whismur have little X's on the bottom of their feet and a strange hole on their bodys,(I'm not going to say where, You can look that up yourself. XD) and there are many other such examples not to mention the differences between male and females that sometimes occurs. My point being that there's always something that slips by you. its just a good idea to check, as for the Pokedex to use to check these things I'd recommend the alpha sapphire and omega ruby pokedex since it will give you a full 3d viewing of all the Pokemon of today, Other recommendations are the X & Y pokedex (that's updated to 6th gen) and Pokédex 3D Pro, (that's updated to 5th gen).
2.References - (wait, wasn't that what the Pokedex was for? Your repeating yourself. Ash,) well yes & no, Its true it is a good idea to look at the Pokedex as its A original source from the genre But it's also a good idea to look at other art of Pokemon to get inspiration or get feel of what your drawing. It's is also a good idea if you are not familiar with drawing Pokemon to look up tutorials & videos of how to draw Pokemon or just drawing in general. But try to remember that you're using other people's artwork as reference & inspiration and that you should respect the artwork & the person who made it. (No Stealing, Copying, and other such things! you may ask if you may use a base but always ask, if they say NO Then don't do it.)
3.Nature/How it acts & moves - Each Pokemon has its own nature and personality think about how yours does things and how it reacts to situations, the world and of course you! The way your Pokemon is standing or sitting and the way carries itself as well as the faces it makes can tell a lot about your Pokemon's personality. Every Pokemon has its own personality yours is no exception!
4.Where it comes from/history - Think about where your Pokemon was raised and habitat which it lived in and those it may have left behind, think about how it got to where it is today. Its history is just as important as the present and future! (Some examples you can find are are Ash Ketchum's squirtle and The Squirtle Squads as well as his Charizard and even Misty's Gyarados)
5.Age - How old is your pokemon? how long is it been with you? since birth? since you caught it? is it old and wise? or is it young and inexperienced?
6.Height & Weight - How big or small is your Pokemon? is it painfully thin and underweight from a painful experience or is it over weight and a little slow because Its been eating berries all day.
7.Appearance /Pok'emon are not all the some,/look of the Pok'emon - Think about your pokemon's appearance! How does it look? I'm not talking about whether it's just shiny or not! I'm talking about whether it has tufts of hair extra patterns of spots and extra features such as May's Bulbasaur and Richie's Pikachu, try to make your Pokemon unique! but not too far from the original concept, (that is of course, unless you want to, this is your own work and are free to do with it what you want.) as for shiny Pokemon try not to have more than one or any at all on your team as they are specially rare Pokemon that are not meant to be common and are hard to find. (a little word of advice trying not to make the pokemon a different color from what it would normally be or what it's normal shiny color would be because this usually is not widely accepted in the community of Oc's and fan art, if you do decide to do this however try to come up with a good reason as to why your Pokemon is this color and how it became so. Not just because you like the color, Come up with a good logical reason as to why your Pokemon is such a color.) No two animals or people look the same (besides maybe twins) So I don't see why Pokemon should all look the same,
8.Items - Having your Pokemon carry hold items, berries and other such things like scarves can also improve your pokemon's appearance as well as their skills in battle since they now have a hold item. It's a way to define them amongst every other Pokemon out there besides it's a very cute, interesting & fun way to define your Pokemon from others. you can do other things such as having a cape for one of your Pokemon or a small pouch where they can keep something they treasure. The Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games are good examples of this.
9.Move set - Moves can also affect how your pokemon look, such as calluses and how they hold themselves up, or how they move in and out of battle can tall you a lot about a pokemon. a good examples of this are Pearl and his father from the pokemon adventure manga.
10.Scars -Chances are that your pokemon has a scar or two, whether it's from a battle or not, you decide. In My personal opinion i think all pokemon have a very strong healing factor, if they didn't I don't think pokemon battles would be a thing and would be seen the same way we see dog fighting today because without the healing factor, they would most likely die or would become seriously injured. with the healing factor i think a pokemon would only get a scar from serious injuries or battle wounds. but that's just my opinion.
I hope you have enjoyed these 10 Tips or have found it helpful in one way or another.
