ArtJustArt - The Art of DougJustDoug

DougJustDoug

Knows the great enthusiasms
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Artistis a Programmeris a Forum Moderatoris a Top CAP Contributoris a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis an Administrator Alumnus
Hello! I'm Doug, and this is my art thread. If you just want to get straight to the art, here are thumbnails of my gallery and sketches of upcoming work. If you are interested in more about me and my art, read on below...

Pokemon Gallery
These are thumbnail links to posts of completed works. I'll update this section as I finish new pics. Click the thumbnails below to go to the posts in this thread that contain the full artwork.





Create-A-Pokemon Gallery and Other Miscellany
These are thumbnail links to posts of designs submitted in the Create-A-Pokemon Project and any other miscellaneous artwork. Click the thumbnails below to go to the posts in this thread that contain the full artwork.





Sketches
These are thumbnail links to sketches of pokemon that I will be inking and coloring in the future. Click to see the full sketch. I can sketch pretty fast, but I ink and color very slowly. Please be patient with me. BTW, I'm open to suggestions as to which sketches I should ink and color next.





Personal
I've been around Smogon for a few years, but did not get actively involved until the summer of 2007. Since then, I've been very interested in contributing to different parts of the Smogon community. I'm now an administrator for Smogon, which pulls me in a million directions. I spend much of my time leading the Create-A-Pokemon project and server (hence the CAP art in my gallery). I also administer the Smogon Shoddy battle server and perform other sundry programming tasks. But, art is my first love and I am proud to call myself a Smogon Artist.

I'm really impressed with the general quality of artwork here at Smogon. My favorite is Aragornbird, whose style really appeals to me. He is the premier artist here at Smogon, and I can see why. There are many other great artists in Smogon, and my compliments to them are contained in their art threads. In general, I like art threads with pokemon artwork. The other non-pokemon threads are great, but not favorites of mine.

So, this thread will mainly consist of my renditions of various pokemon. I try to put a stylistic twist on every pokemon I do. I really have no interest in duplicating an ingame sprite or anime rendition. However, I don't want to stylize them so much so as to be completely unrecognizable. My art style is definitely "cartoony" and I like it that way. But, with design, coloring and textures -- I try to put a little edge on the character to make them a little more realistic than their ingame rendering.

I won't be doing requests, because I'm just too slow to handle it. However, I am interested in suggestions for pokemon that fit my style. In general, I like fully-evolved pokemon that are "battle worthy". By that, I mean that you can actually use them decently ingame at a minimum, and preferably be OU or BL in competitive play. I don't pay much attention to crummy pokemon, so I'm not really interested in drawing them. I'm sure there will be exceptions, but don't suggest Smoochum, Farfetch'd, or anything like that. Also, I really like taking pokemon that look a little silly or unthreatening and giving them a more intimidating edge. Workable suggestions along those lines are appreciated.

If you've read this far, I appreciate it. If you look at my stuff at all, I appreciate it. Feel free to post any and all comments, even if you don't like my work. Since this is my thread, I'll be checking it regularly.

Enjoy!
Doug
 
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DougJustDoug

Knows the great enthusiasms
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Artistis a Programmeris a Forum Moderatoris a Top CAP Contributoris a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis an Administrator Alumnus
Koffing

I completed a few other pokemon artworks before this, but I really felt like I should kick off my art thread by paying due respect to Smogon's beloved mascot -- Koffing.



I also did a "smoky" version. Click the thumbnail to see the full version:


Sketch
Click the thumbnail to see the full original sketch:


Reference
Here's the game sprite and Ken Sugimori's original design:



Description
I had a hard time getting started on this one, because Koffing is NFE and never used competitively. I don't even play Weezing, so I'm not familiar with it at all. But, it is a goofy-looking pokemon that lends itself to a more serious-looking makeover. So, that's what I did.

Koffing has big eyes, so I made them large but obviously with a lot more detail. I like how they turned out. I tried several eye colors and settled on green. Eyes are always fun to do digitally, so a big-eyed pokemon like this was enjoyable.

Koffing is always smiling, so I did my own version of a smile. With the scowling eyes, this is a more wry or evil smile. I accentuated Koffing's fangs because...well, fangs are cool and Koffing has some. Pulling the bottom lip over the top lip was a way of making Koffing look more unrefined and mean.

I like doing skin textures, but this one was tough. I decided to do a raised texture, since Koffing needs to look kinda dusty, rough and dirty. He makes you cough, right? Textures are easily overdone, so I tried to keep it minimal. Since I used a 3D-ish texture, I also didn't want to lose the cartoon feel of the piece.

Overall, I'm happy with this one. A Koffing pic is kinda the table-stakes to announce yourself as an artist in the Smogon community. Even though I did it somewhat as an obligation, I ended up having a lot of fun with it! I hope you like it.
 
WOW. That koffing is evil. It is definately something I do not want to meet in a dark ally at night. honestly though, i don't like the smoke effect on the second one...

Good job. amazing.
 

KoA

Sorry, I thought anteaters were real
is an Artist
Dude, that Koffing wants to feast on my neck. :(

Good work nonetheless though.
 

CyzirVisheen

Am I poplar yet?
is a Top Artist Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnus
Smirking Koffing!

Good job. I especially like the texturing of the skin, and the way you made the skull symbol. I suggest you try drawing Rhyperior. It'll be quite interesting, I think.
 

DougJustDoug

Knows the great enthusiasms
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Artistis a Programmeris a Forum Moderatoris a Top CAP Contributoris a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis an Administrator Alumnus
I added a sketch of Swampert to the upcoming list on my first post. I'm really excited about the design. I'm tempted to drop everything and just do it now! But, I feel that way about every sketch... I'll get to it soon enough.

Thanks to everyone for the encouraging comments!

@Mantyke - Yeah, I wasn't too thrilled with the smoke on Koffing, that's why it wasn't the "main" picture. IMO, the smoke was too realistic for a cartoon. I'll probably avoid backgrounds in the future.

@Cyzir - Interesting suggestion in Rhyperior. It is kinda stupid-looking now, but could be totally fearsome if done right. I don't know if I'm the guy to do it, but I'll start looking at the sprite and see if I can get inspired.

@jenigmat - That's funny, because I was thinking "Nasty Plot" the entire time I was drawing Koffing. Even though it doesn't get Nasty Plot, it was still my motivating theme...

@darkie - I'm glad you like the Garchomp sketch. I was really worried about it. I thought, "This will either be great, or awkward-looking." I'll give a lot more back-story on this one when I do the full piece.

@Vespa - Walrein is actually finished, but I need to put together the post and all that. Also, I plan to post Jolteon first. So, give me a few days and the final Walrein will be here. Personally, I love the way it turned out, but others may disagree. We'll see...
 

KoA

Sorry, I thought anteaters were real
is an Artist
The Swampert and Garchomp sketches are probably my favorite. I wish I knew how to CG pics better though...
 

DougJustDoug

Knows the great enthusiasms
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Artistis a Programmeris a Forum Moderatoris a Top CAP Contributoris a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis an Administrator Alumnus
Jolteon

I wanted to do a version of Jolteon that looks like a badass sweeper. My first Pokemon game was Pokemon XD on the GameCube. In that game, Jolteon was my starter. I was a horrible player, but this little girl got me through all my tough battles. She would come in after all my other pokemon were fainted, ready to kick some ass and save the day. Go get 'em girl!


Reference
Here's the game sprite and Ken Sugimori's original design:


Sketch
Click the thumbnail to see the full original sketch:


Description
In that first Pokemon XD game, I accidentally discovered the potency of the BoltBeam combo. Jolteon was my starter, and Walrein was my other well-trained pokemon. Between the two of them, they wiped out everyone. I'll never forget Jolteon saving my butt all the time, with all her speed and special attacking power. I think every trainer has a soft spot in their heart for their first starter, and I'm no exception. Plus, Jolteon's basic design just looks so cool.

Too often, Eevee-lutions are depicted cutesy. I really didn't want to do that here. I looked at a lot of pictures of cougars, wildcats, and jaguars for this picture. Most of my focus was on getting the right look in the face. I'm happy with the snarling mouth. Jolteon's eyes are jet-black, which makes it tough to add expression. If you look at the sketch, I planned on doing a cats-eye thing with my rendition. After seeing the first digital draft, I decided it was just too cat-like and I went with more standard Jolteon eyes.

After a lot of consideration, I decided to flare Jolteon's ears straight out to the side. For all Eevee-lutions, ears are very important. They are very large and distinctive, and they are the signature characteristic of Eevee and it's descendants. The position I chose virtually eliminates the possibility of using the ears as a focal point of the drawing. But putting the ears in any other direction really took away from the "mean" look of the drawing. I still like my decision, but it would have been fun to do the ears in a more standard position.

I bailed out on the tail. You can see in the sketch that I really didn't know where I wanted to go with it. I tried a few things and none of them worked. The tail you see here was the result of me "giving up", in effect. It's not horrible, but it's really flat and uninteresting.

Yellow is a hard color to work with as a base color for the entire drawing. Particularly with the bright highlights I'm using. I wanted sharp contrasting highlights to make Jolteon look really bright and shiny, going with the whole electric theme. But, it made it hard to work in shades or textures. As a result, the figure is pretty "flat".

Overall, I'm not real happy with this one. Yes, I satisfied my goal of doing a "badass" Jolteon. But the coloring and the tail just don't do it for me. Regardless, Jolteon is still a favorite of mine and I like seeing her here, in full butt-kicking mode. I hope you do too!
 

KoA

Sorry, I thought anteaters were real
is an Artist
That looks cool. How do you color your work like that? I've been struggling for years and yet I could never figure out how to color digitally. :(
 
That Garchomp is awesome, nice to see it in a different pose.

I figure you already know this, but some of your art isn't really the Pokémon "style," so to speak. It is good, yes, but there's a reason why most arts look somewhat "childish".

Ah, well. I don't really like the Jolteon, though.
 
Hahaha I've always been bothered by the fact that virtually all depictions of Walrein never really convey how fucking terrifying walruses really are.

But now my heart is happy.
 

DougJustDoug

Knows the great enthusiasms
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Artistis a Programmeris a Forum Moderatoris a Top CAP Contributoris a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis an Administrator Alumnus
Thanks for the feedback everyone! I'm trying to keep this thread updated on a regular basis. The whole Smeargle's Studio forum has slowed down quite a bit lately. The sprite thread seems to be the only active thread. I'll see what I can do to help pick up the pace around here.

@X-Trader - Banners really aren't my thing. Plus, I've got a backlog of sketches I want to ink and color, so I'm planning on doing those before I do anything else. I see you got a hit on the banner request thread, so I'll leave it at that.

@CPU - You're right, I don't have the standard "pokemon style". I'm definitely going for a more serious look. I keep it cartoony, but not like the Pokemon games. My art background is from superhero comics, so that should explain my "serious cartoons" style.

@Cooper - Yeah, I must be working out some personal "aggression issues" with this series of drawings. All these pokes look pretty pissed off...

@Venom - I've noticed several Houstonians here at Smogon. There's also an unusually large number of Texans, in general. I wonder why? Maybe I just notice Texas locations, since I'm from Texas.

@Big Bayou - The inked and colored Walrein post is almost finished. I should be able to post it tomorrow. You hit the nail on the head in describing the intent of the drawing. Walruses can be very intimidating.
 
I think your Koffing is my favorite. Partially because I love purple and partially because I think koffing is awesome and you did a great job.

How did you get that texture on him? It looks nice!
 
The jolteon looks fucking pissed off. It's like someone punched it's offspring in the head and now it want to fucking kill him/her. All these pokemon shown in the sketches are mean-looking....not to say it's a bad thing.
 

DougJustDoug

Knows the great enthusiasms
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Artistis a Programmeris a Forum Moderatoris a Top CAP Contributoris a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis an Administrator Alumnus
Walrein

As I mentioned on the last piece, Walrein was one of the first pokemon I fully trained. As such, I've always been partial to it. All the game sprites show Walrein roaring, which should be somewhat intimidating. But they're not intimidating at all. In my opinion, they all look pretty goofy. Not this version. This is anything but goofy. THIS is a roar.


Click the thumbnail below for a high-res version:


Sketch
Click the thumbnail to see the full original sketch:


Reference
Here's the game sprite and Ken Sugimori's original design:



Description
Walrein is just so versatile, you have to like it. Both STAB's rock. Its stats are great and its movepool is awesome. What's not to like? I remember being offended when the 3rd gen Smogon analysis summed up Walrein with, "It's basically a bad Lapras." I was crushed. How could they diss the big fella like that?

Well, thanks to an awesome new ability and the popularity of the Stallrein moveset, Walrein has been resurrected in the competitive OU ranks. And I, for one, couldn't be happier. This pic is my tribute to a pokemon that was good to me when I first learned the game, and it's gotten better over time.

As for the drawing, almost all the work went into the face and head. The fang-tusks were the most important element for me. In all the game sprites, the face just looks stupid. The long, goofy tusks... the big blue pig-nose... ugh. I decided to start with a serious set of sabretooth-like fang-tusks. Then I reffed some pictures of roaring lions and gave it a big, gaping roar. I added some pissed-off eyes and that completed the facial makeover. The mouth was harder than I expected. Only because the coloring tended to make it look like it was sticking out its tongue. A little extra time on shading, coloring, and level adjustment minimized that. Zoom in on the mouth in the high-res version, to see the details I'm talking about.

The biggest pain in the ass on this drawing was those damn ice-whisker things. As you can see in the original sketch above, I didn't know exactly how I would handle those. My first attempt during inking, looked like this:


That was a disaster. And since I ink with vectors, those fuzzy things took an incredibly long time to ink! So, I went back to the drawing board. After bailing out on Jolteon's tail, I was committed to making these whisker-things work. Some other painted pictures of Walrein used a more "textured snow" approach to the whiskers. Here's two examples (artists unknown):


After some experimentation, I decided on the snow-cubes you see in the picture at the top of this post. Those took a lot longer than I ever imagined. Each freaking cube had to be individually sized, rotated, shaded, faded and placed. What a nightmare. In the end, it was worth it, because it doesn't look like boring filler. But, some people might ask, "What the hell are those bags of ice cubes on its face?" Well, that's my interpretation of those weird scraggly whisker-things in the original game sprite. I think the cubes look pretty cool... no pun intended.

The skin texture was fun, and I enjoyed shading and highlighting Walrein's body. I wanted it to look big and strong, not just fat. I imagined it like a power-lifter -- bulky and strong. Those big, bulbous forelegs came out pretty good.

I'm very happy with this one, even though it took way too long to complete. I hope you think the extra effort was worth it!
 

KoA

Sorry, I thought anteaters were real
is an Artist
This is awesome. If they had one of these things at Sea World, that'd be one hell of a show! :)

How do you CG like that and what are vectors? :(
 

DougJustDoug

Knows the great enthusiasms
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Artistis a Programmeris a Forum Moderatoris a Top CAP Contributoris a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis an Administrator Alumnus
This is awesome. If they had one of these things at Sea World, that'd be one hell of a show! :)

How do you CG like that and what are vectors? :(
Thanks for the compliment.

My digital art process is fairly long, but it's not much different than the processes used by most other digital artists who post tuts on the web. When I first started doing things digital, I scoured the internet for info -- and there's tons of it. Here at Smogon, if you look in Eiffel's art thread, he has some great tips and tuts.

Basically, I sketch with a pencil. Scan it. Ink and color with a Wacom tablet, CorelPainter and/or Photoshop. Then I tweak it almost endlessly, until I like it or get sick of it.

I use vectors for certain detailed curves (like the original whiskers I mentioned in the Walrein piece). Vectors are drawing objects created in programs like Adobe Illustrator or by the PS Pen Tool. Vectors are not required to ink digitally. Most people hate using them, because they take a long time.

If there's other interest in this subject, I may put together a detailed tutorial on how I digitize my stuff. That could take a while to put together though.
 

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