CAP 28 - Art Submissions

[Scizivire]

WIP

Based this design on the giraffe weevil, the long necks western dragons are often depicted with, and loosely a dragon skull. Giraffe weevils have massive necks that they use to fight, similar to actual giraffes. They also have hard elytra that can be used for defense, and are capable of short bursts of flight as well.

Fun fact: female giraffe weevils are masters at arts and crafts, as they fold a specific type of leaf into a safe pod for their egg.

 

[CheshireKaz]

WIP

While I'm rather new member on the forums, I am no stranger to CAP. I've been following CAP since its initial launch back in Generation 4 with Scylant. I figured it was time I'd give it a shot at actually participating.

As you can tell, much like Scizivire went with, I too had decided the giraffe weevil was a great candidate for a Bug/Dragon mon. When I was wrapping my brain around the mon, I also based the design off of the European Dragon (the more stereotypically well-known dragon design), as I had envisioned the elytra being more leathery, and when unfolding (rather than splitting open/apart), they would reveal themselves to be a pair of draconic wings.

While I've planned out how the elytra would be executed, the current work in progress is lacking the concept entirely, but I felt it adequate enough to display currently whilst I make the final touches to the wing concept itself.

Rather than go for more aggressive or intimidating features or poses, I went for a more somewhat regal, but noticably nervous look. I felt it gave the design a lot more character overall, and showcases the dragon typing's more regal splendour, while also displaying the cowardice and nervousness of the stereotypically weak bug type.

The neck is rather stiff intentionally, much to resemble the giraffe weevil's rather stiff and obtuse neck shape. It also gives it a more unique silhouette when compared to other long-necked quadrupedal designs.

The color palette I went with gave me a very draconic insectoid vibe, which is exactly what I was hoping for. However, striping on the joints makes me question whether they should be there or not, so C&C is much appreciated.

 

[StephXPM]

WIP

Working on a design based on the dragon mantis. Some mantids are mimcs, and I thought it would be fun to design one that mimics dragons (and I guess through sheer willpower? jealousy? evolved to become a dragon itself). The arms fold up and become a chestplate when in "dragon mode."

 

[Birkal]

MODERATOR POST

Hey, so there's been some confusion about critiquing and commenting on CAP art. I've fielded several questions today on PS, Discord, and the forums here, so I want to bring some rules to your attention. We're always happy to have people provide their perspective and ideas to artists, but it needs to be done in a respectful and constructive way.

Posting Rules: Commenters

• Do not comment that a design does or does not "look like a Pokemon/Digimon". There is no artistic style guide for Pokemon and therefore such comments are unable to be substantiated or refuted.

Emphasis mine. It might feel easy, even helpful, to make comments about how a design looks like a Pokemon or not. But taste is absolutely subjective, and no one will ever agree on a design that looks like a Pokemon or not. I happen to think that Vanilluxe, Lurantis, and even Gyarados do not look even remotely Pokemon-like in their design. Many would disagree with me, including GameFreak. Conversely, I think Scrafty and Abomasnow are excellent designs, and people would continue to disagree with me. The point here is that it's entirely subjective what is Pokemon-like, and what is not. This extends to any mechanisms by GameFreak, including typing, stats, abilities, movepools, and even Pokedex and name entries. No one person "holds the keys" to some magical GameFreak formula.

Therefore, it's not helpful to tell ALL artists that their design doesn't look like something GameFreak would make, particularly as a blanket statement. Let me lay out some guidelines that I think will help when making a feedback post:

• DO give specific feedback and criticism to artists, especially if they're asking for it in their post.
• DO present concerns based on typing of a specific artist's creation (Birkal, your design looks too Electric-type).
  • IN CONJUNCTION, present what could be done to alleviate that concern (Birkal, maybe try going with puke green to lean more into Bug-type. Or add like, 30 more legs, or something. Or a big, beefy tail. Or do all that).
• DO address all artists with respect and admiration, knowing that they're doing this for free and to have fun.
• DO NOT make generalizations about how the art thread has been going thus far (everyone sucks / none of these look Bug-type / only half of these could feasibly be Special Attackers).
• DO NOT judge someone's drawing ability. Remember, we're looking for a CAP design, where the art can often be ancillary to the creation.
• DO NOT try to put yourself in GameFreak's shoes. The "rules" that you think you're seeing don't exist, so stop pretending they do. Wooper learns Ice Punch, Primeape learns Iron Tail, Cryogonal learns Attract. We've done this song and dance too many times.

The CAP PRC can work to make this more clear in the future for commentators in the Art Submissions OP. But for now, please continue to follow these guidelines and be excellent to each other. Hit me up in PM or on Discord if you have further questions.

 

[Sunfished]

To build upon Birkal's post, everyone should understand the difference between "critique" and "criticism".

Critique is helpful for an artist. Simply saying that things don't look like something without supplying ways to improve it is no longer a critique. It's a criticism, and doesn't help anyone. An example of both that is the same kind of feedback:

Critique:
"It doesn't look like a Bug/Dragon type. You should try out X and Y, and it may bring out those aspects better".

Criticism:
"It doesn't look like a Bug/Dragon type. Z looks more like Bug/Dragon than that".

Which of these sounds helpful? Learning when to use both is important, especially when it's in regards on a project like this. In mostly every case, you want to strive to learn how to critique. No one is going to learn anything with criticism, and is a very negative approach to helping someone improve.

 

[Pipotchi]

here r some critiques... honestly i think it could be worth not changing any of these designs yet until ability comes out, since I think our typing will lead to a very defining ability and I dont wanna see anyones work go to waste making a final sub at this stage

CheshireKaz i like how you've started off and what ive seen on Discord. the wings folding into a beetle shell (i dont know the term) is a nice take! but remember that you can only have one final artwork, so is there a way that this can be shown without two drawings? if not, some of the cleverness will be lost in the final design. also, i think this pokemon might be more offensive and going for a more goofy/timid look might clash with that later on. not sure on that though.

Scizivire this is a nice concise design! i dont really have anything negative to say at this stage. id wait for abilities before moving forward.

Z-nogyroP this stands out immediately because of its unique shape amongst the others. you could consider removing a design element or two so it doesnt get too busy, for instance the spikes and the castle could become the same design element if it was more like a spine of spikes rather than 2 rows.

DrifblooomCF this is a unique direction also! it could use more points of interest right now- all of its features are scattered evenly down its body (a few small spikes, the pink areas, the texture) which makes there not be a major draw for the eye. this also will affect it later on because it doesnt have limbs to achieve certain attacks, and its simple body also suggests low BST. adding more features will help you solve both those issues, and it doesnt need to be limbs, for instance look at Zygarde as a snake-body pokemon that creates a lot of visual interest and cool silhouette.

PiloswineSarado this fits the typing and has some personality already. id say sit on it until the abilities become more clear for now :)

Reiga the ventwyrm is cool, is there a more buglike eye that could really sell that as the secondary typing? Maybe eyeless could even work here?

JAGFL Giving me arceus vibes a bit! The face area is a bit confusing to me, and i know a lot of ppl are doing kirins but I think it might make your life harder in the votes if you do an "abstract" dragon and then also mix it with a very loose bug influence. id definitely try and give some major bug features if ur going this route, really push the chimera aspect of separate defined parts (mandibles, wings, bug legs, whatever you wish) in order to make this route work well. but i think it can be done!

 

[ShunosaurusLii]

Back again with a very revamped design.
https://imgur.com/hpVflEU

Ditched most of the beehive mimic gimmick, as it didn't lend well to a believable animal. I instead went for the cobra in a basket trope, with a beehive being the basket. I also took inspiration from the Naga King, influencing the more regal look of the top of the hive on the head alongside the inherent influence of the king cobra. Adding in hands helped tie the design together, and the second pair helps sell the bug typing a little more. I imagine that this pokemon would be able to hide in the beehive fully, and use the hive it hides in to lure prey, similar to my original design.

Hopefully I have the image uploaded properly but who even knows anymore

 

[Slapperfish]

WIP

With a little pushing from the peeps over on Discord, I decided to bulk out my stink bug/shield bug and put the main focus on its back design. Of course, the front of the design is just as intimidating, now sporting a more menacing head and false eyes on the shield arms.

 

[HeatEdgeSword]

WIP

I've made some updates to my design, mainly its tail's sword being longer, and added some helmet detail.

 

[sharpen42]

WIP

Ok, my problem with old design was that it was too detailed and not really based on an existing bug, so I kept the concept the same, but realised it differently.

As you can see, I changed color scheme, adopting one similar to shiny Haxorus', and went for more claw-ish legs. Now its upper jaw serves also to lift the shields that cover its wings to spread them and fly, so when it is not flying the mouth looks open (I'll make a reference paper). I imagine it as a very big Pokémon, physically able to block a road and scare others away from its territory or nest. They live in forests and despite their look they are very shy and tend to avoid conflict, but when a trainer conquers their thrust, they become very friendly and attached to them. This Pokémon would do anything to protect a trainer it loves or another friend Pokémon.
I still need to put something that resembles an eye in place of the dragon head's eye.

 

[Golurkyourself]

WIP

I forgot to post here lol. It's a bombardier beetle!​

 

[Zephyri]

WIP

Decided to go with my second design, made some minor structural changes from the last post but nothing too major, think i'll keep it like this for now until we get abils

Feedback is definitely welcome!

edit: Added colors!

 

[DrifblooomCF]

WIP
changed a bit of the desing to version 3.0, now the head is super huge in relation to the body, decreased the number of spykes while increasing the size of them, overall it follows the same logic as the previous one but more menacing.
also i think it will fit well with a lot of the posible abilities that had been discused, most notably water absorb(following the same logic of ) and lightnig rod (to gain the most famous caracteristic of the ground type), and i think it could be easily moddifed to fit with N.gas and/or shield dust

im afraid of something like punk rock but i guess everyone feels the same xd

the termites up-close

https://i.imgur.com/XHY3uH7.png

 

[Pinesmoke]

WIP

I based this on the dragon headed caterpillar, which unfortunately turns into a pretty ordinary-looking butterfly in real life. All feedback is appreciated!

 

[Yokaiju]

WIP
I based this on the dragon headed caterpillar, which unfortunately turns into a pretty ordinary-looking butterfly in real life. All feedback is appreciated!

The only thing I would say you could change would be to try and simplify some of the more realistic looking details, e.g. the small spikes on its head could be bigger, or the fur could be a bit more regular. Otherwise, you're golden!

MOD EDIT: removed quoted image

 

[Glacios Ionic]

WIP

So mine previous design turned out to be not that pokemon-ish, so i make this revision.

This pokemon based on a Leech(yes, those bloodsucker are worm/bug), also it is a wyrm/dragon with, Disk-Joker design with some white smoke in stadium it bring up. Hope you love mine redesign.

The link for imgur: http://imgur.com/a/BMEjLBM

 

[Quotidian]

WIP

Completely reworked my previous design. Based on hickory horned devil caterpillar, Chinese dragons (specifically the Azure Dragon 青龙), and spike strips (road block). Nine sections because Chinese dragons are associated with the number 9. Whiskers/feelers meant to have a wispy floaty vibe. It has a fake eye: https://i.imgur.com/sp4k2bv.png Went for a pretty wild/vibrant colour scheme.

Not really happy with the legs at all; they're pretty janky. Not sure what to do about it. Tried dragon "claws" but it seemed too excessive. Also, there's meant to be two per section but the perspective is wonky right now.

Got some feedback from discord: going to switch up the pose to make it less stiff and look more dynamic in general. Planning to put two spikes on each section but much smaller. I hope to tie the design together as a unit a bit better. But would always appreciate more feedback!

Thought I'd post anyway, because I'll wait out for the Primary Ability. Some of the discussion is pointing towards potentially concerning abilities for this design, haha.

 

[Amamama]

WIP

This is based on Hallucinogenia a prehistoric Arthropod.
I will add more info on the Design later.
Older interations for those who are interested.

 

[Dorrdonn]

WIP

I think I'm close to finalizing this design and I wanted to get it out there before I have to drastically change it to accommodate for abilities and stats (but mostly abilities). This dragon-like scarab is based on the Egyptian deity Khepri, a male god with the head of a scarab who represents rebirth and the carrying of the sun. I thought it would be neat to design the body to look like a head, which you can see when the features are aligned properly, so that it's literally the head of Khepri. The color scheme is drawn from Egyptian sarcophagi.

 

[sgtxam]

WIP
https://imgur.com/a/bwhmpUF

https://i.imgur.com/MaY1LCj.png
Its a dragon and a spider. In the image above it is flying, but it can also crawl through tunnels using its eight appendages. I wanted to incorporate spider webs somehow as a way to "trap" pivots. (yes, this was made in ms paint, my apologies)

 

[Morghulis]

Been reading the abilities thread and saw stuff about stakeout -- got inspired to sketch up this little guy (even tho i dont have my tablet atm so he's pretty crusty)

He's a little trapdoor spider (lid is made from his wings) guarding his hoard (?) / his dragon wings are supposed to look like a little sniper nest with binocular eyes -- a lot of inspos going on here tbh.

(also here is a version with sniper scope/more dragon-y/watchog vibe eyes but honestly a lil creepy): https://i.imgur.com/Et6mWd1.png

he should probs be hoarding gold or something idk maybe I should give him an eyepatch

 

[Tknowledge]

WIP
https://imgur.com/a/gDFsxI2

The main concept behind this is a stick insect + stick incense with a lot of dragon mixed in. This design is recycling some ideas that I've had in the past - the idea for a stick insect + incense is because, on top of the obvious stick in common, stick bugs can spray nasty smelling things out from their bodies similar to stink bugs. Along the same lines I had an idea of a dragon that instead of fire only breathed smoke and wasn't a true fire type (reverse charizard if you will) that got shelved. I saw that Neutralizing Gas was floating around as far as ability suggestions and realized that I had some stuff that could capitalize on that, not too helpful if it isn't selected though. The stick bug inspiration would also work well with Stake Out if that got selected. The purple smoke is supposed to be that gas/smoke from the incense/spray, and I would argue is a part of its core design, similar to Weezing and Hippowdon's sand. The growths are supposed to be knots in the wood and/or the spikes that some stick bugs have.
Obviously not shaded and not entirely finished, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to put this here now.

This is my first time actually saying something on the forum instead of lurking, so please say something if I need to fix this post/reply or whatever. Also, would it be rude for someone new (me) to join the CAP discord channel?

 

[Orig Stall Guy]

This is my first time actually saying something on the forum instead of lurking, so please say something if I need to fix this post/reply or whatever. Also, would it be rude for someone new (me) to join the CAP discord channel?

So I clicked on your link, and there was no image I could see. Also, its not rude at all for you to join the CAP Discord Channel. If your interested to learn more about CAP and chat with other members of the community, I highly recommend you join the Discord channel!
Looking forward to see you around more.

 

[HeatEdgeSword]

Final Submission

Supporting art on how it activates Neutralizing Gas

I changed the tail's sword again and then I added some detail to its wings because I forgot about that. Finally, I gave it some shiny detail as a part of being part-beetle. I don't think I have anything else to say but overall, I'm satisfied with how it turned out and I'm looking forward to what others have to offer.

EDIT 10/9: Corrected some minor errors as well as adding artwork detailing on how it uses its ability since I don't want to alter its design as I like the idea of a beetle dragon and dragons usually have the ability to breath stuff (usually fire).

 

[Deck Knight]

I have thoughts. This is a really cool typing to work with and there's a lot of great concepts, I think some are just lacking a little in execution.

Birkal I love the execution of the design (I am so inconsistent), just think the arms in front are so short that they're just there to show it has six limbs. I think it would be better if you extended the top two arms with a single joint like in Kabutop's Gen 3 Front/Back and Sycther's Gen 3 Back Sprite, morphologically speaking. Then either keep or remove the second set of arms, they're fairly vestigial looking otherwise.

DrifblooomCF I love the idea of this design, but I think with the current execution the termite mound looks too immobile. If instead you had a more serpentine design with mounds coming out of the ground like Diglett's little dirt patches it would not look tethered to the ground as much.
Ex:

-

-

Z-nogyroP I think the base of the design is excellent, but the castle element seems overdone and throws the design way off balance. If this were Bug/Fairy, some of that fairy tale theming would make sense, but I feel like it detracts too much from the Dragon element. I think you can keep the stone road pattern you've got going on the back, it already looks like dragon scales.
Mechanically, how is a treehopper with a tall castle on it's back supposed to jump? Sometimes less is more. If you want to keep the castle, you could actually cut it off parallel or slightly beneath the top of the front spikes and give it a rook tower design.

JAGFL My only real critique is that it's difficult to tell what's going on with all the spikes on its head. It has a jagged mouth, but then one purple spike trailing off in front, a purple spike I assume is coming from the back of its head, a long gray horn, and then a purple horn on top of that which attaches about the eyebrows like a visor. I just can't make out what this head shape is supposed to be. Is it supposed to be a wide shovel with psuedo mandibles (if so, why only one? The purple mouth horn is long enough for a symetrical horn on the other side to be seen) or is it more like a unicorn?
On the back, why does its backside also seem to fan out to have a purple tail protruding from it? Maybe simplify the design on the back end, it's tough to make sense of why these features are changing color so starkly and where they are on the creature in the given pose.

Great work, all.