#spacialsquid

[onenicebugperday]

sharing this beautiful carolina mantis (im pretty sure) that i met recently :]

Yup, looks like a female Carolina mantis! I love her :)

[azurityarts]

for the ask game!

19.What’s your favorite starter ?

22.What’s your favorite pokemon game ?

2.Is there a Pokémon you hate / dislike ?

19. What’s your favorite starter?

my beautiful round son

22. What’s your favorite pokemon game?

oh jeez assuming mainline, it's been so long since I last played an actual Pokemon game that it's hard for me to say- tossup between Black/White and US/UM? I have a lot of love for Unova as a region; the art in that game is amazing and I adore the animated sprites a ton! I also played through Ultra Sun a bit ago though and that was really nice too ^^

2. Is there a Pokémon you hate / dislike?

Answered here!

[azurityarts]

🎹 - Do they have any hobbies? and 🧊 - Is their current design the first one? for your psmd team!

🎹 - Do they have any hobbies?

Reese probably likes solving puzzles in her free time! She'd be the type to bring a Rubik's cube to the Serene Village School and fiddle with it in the downtime- she'd also probably fuck up some Sudoku boards tbh

And I think Phoebe would be a doodler! Probably sneaks off with extra sheets of paper to sketch on (maybe even drawing with charcoal?) She'd definitely draw in the ground with her twig too, and would probably drag Reese over to come see!

🧊 - Is their current design the first one?

For the most part, yes! Out of all my OCs, their designs are among the few to have never been touched (yet)! It's been a dwindling club of exclusivity, but both of them have managed to stay in it ever since I made them three years ago! OH GOD WHAT DO YOU MEAN I MADE THEM THREE YEARS AGO---

[azurityarts]

1, 5, and 6 for your cat team :]

1. What was the original thought that led to the creation of this character?

ah yes, the cat crew, the feline friends, the kitty kollective

The original premise behind these three was actually Vex; in a similar vein to Faux, she was also a TTRPG character! But long story short, after that fell apart, I liked her character and design too much to just leave her out to dry, and so I've been working (very slowly) on my own little story with her and the rest of the cats! Ion and Poppy's creation happened much later, with the latter's technically before the former's, but the intent was to give Vex a group to be in!

5. How did you choose their name and why? Was it simply based on vibes or is there any specific meaning behind the name? Are the reasons behind their name different in- and out of universe?

Out of universe, Vex's name was chosen just cause it sounded neat, but Ion and Poppy's were chosen in relation to her's: I thought it could be neat of their names could form an acronym as a team name (part of this may have been because I couldn't think of a team name whoops) like Team ACT and Team AWD (their actual name is Team MAD in Japan) from the canon games! After a bit of trial and error, we ended up with Team VIP! And as a bonus, all of the individual members' names are cohesive with their types <3

I can't quite explain the situation with their names in-universe without spoilers, but what I will say is this: Vex, Ion, and Poppy are not technically their actual names! :]

6. What was the thought process behind their appearance? Did you go mostly for the aesthetic or are there other reasons they look the way they do?

A little different for each member! Ion has a reason for looking the way he does, but in contrast, Vex and Poppy's designs are more rooted in aesthetic. For all three Pokemon, I tried to give them a little bit of uniqueness and deviation in their appearances without detracting too far from their original designs, with varying success.

Handling Purrloin was more of an additive process; it doesn't have too much going on, so adding stuff like some bangs, accessories, as well as a unique eye/ear pattern helped make a decently recognizable character I think?

Floragato was more or less changing what already existed; its most identifiable traits are arguably its poncho and yoyo, so changing the first was sort of a gamble? I thought the end result came out decent, but I'm curious to know what others think!

Zeraora's base design already has a LOT going on, so I decided to go with more of a reductive approach, which was also a bit of a risk. Fortunately, it works well narratively with Ion, so he's got some features and colors stripped back - he gets a tail as compensation though!

(Their updated designs here)

[azurityarts]

1, 12, and 31 :]

What’s your favorite Pokemon?

okay this is a cop-out answer but I can't settle on a favorite - HOWEVER

I will take this opportunity to spread propaganda talk about Rowlet:

Look at him. Look at this perfect round boy. He's so. 🟢. His little leaf bow tie. So refined. The way he's so throwable--

12. What’s your favorite Shiny Pokemon?

Shiny Umbreon's pretty neat! Yup. No bias here, none at all.

For a more rounded-out answer, I really like shiny Lunala! That velvety-crimson red is hauntingly gorgeous.

31. If you were a trainer what are the 6 Pokémon that would be on your team?

The desire to use all of my favorites is at war with the rationality of having a well-rounded team with coverage--

Might end up with another cop-out answer with this one: my current Ultra Sun team consists of Decidueye, Zoroark, Alolan Ninetales, Golisopod, Toxapex, with an open slot for what the moment calls for!

[azurityarts]

27, 75, and 76 for the ask game :]

27.) overall favorite generation of pokemon

Tossup between Generation 5 and Generation 7! I have a ton of nostalgia for Unova, while Alola has managed to earn a lot of my recent love ^^

75.) a pokemon that you feel is overrated 

The first Pokemon that comes to mind is Charizard, but I'm also not fully against it cause ngl as a kid I also thought Charizard was rad as hell

I think most of my exhaustion for them is just how much Pokemon as a franchise keeps milking the first generation 😭

76.) a pokemon that you feel is underrated

Crustle. I LIKE THIS TIRAMISU CRAB I THINK HE'S NEAT

[gold-gummi]

19, 26, and 35 for the ask game! :]

19. What’s your favorite starter?

I'd say it's Mudkip, it's almost exclusively what I chose for any Hoenn based games and my love for it and the rest of its line has grown a lot in recent times! Fish dog :)

26. What’s your favorite gen ?

I'm one of those gen 4 babies...It's the gen I played most as a kid and probably what made by love for pokemon skyrocket. Also just so many bangers in gen 4 pokemon, from the lore to the music to both the mainline and spinoff games that came out during its run...I just have so much love for that era of pokemon

35. Who was your first Starter ever?

My first starter in my first pokemon game I ever played for myself was Chimchar in Diamond! Though I never actually finished the game on that cartridge so it only ever became a Monferno. I wanna say the actual first pokemon game I played from start to finish was Y, and my starter there was Chespin!

[azurityarts]

10, 24, and 28 for the ask game :]

10. how do you deal with artblock?

That's my secret Cap; I can't B)

In all seriousness though, it's not something that I can brute force my way though; sometimes music helps to provide an emotional inspiration, but more often than not, I'll just end up putting a pin in whatever I'm trying to draw - something to come back to with (hopefully) a fresh mind!

24. whats a compliment about your art that has always stuck with you?

That it inspires people - it's one of the highest compliments I could ever receive, and I'm equal parts honored and flattered that it can do that ^^;;;

People saying they want to eat it is a close second though haha!

28. whats a piece you would like to redraw at some point?

That's a hard one! There's a lot of old doodles I've done that can warrant a redraw... but I can't say there's anything particular one I'd want to have a go at? Maybe my PMD teams' ref sheets LOL