CAP 28 - Art Submissions

[KenesAllDay]

WIP

MOD EDIT: Attachment removed

This is a first for me so any suggestions on format as well as design are very welcomed. I tried to follow the instructions but internet lingo is often lost on me.

This design was inspired largely by multiheaded dragons, specifically the Ladon of Greek myth. The Ladon is a mythical thousand-headed dragon said to gaurd the Greek tree of immortality. I figured that this guarding of certain trees would combine well with a bee or wasp hive, leaning more towards wasp. Combining the many headed dragon and hive motifs, I wanted it to be unclear whether it was one creature with ten heads or several creatures all sharing a body.

Some things I'm still working on: the head is far too large, that's changing in the next draft for sure. I like the yellow jacket-road hazard colors of the body, but I'm not married to them. The legs and antenna admittedly are just trying to look equally insecty and dragonic with no special influence. I also have some clear ideas for the tail but don't think they're visible in this style. Let me know if there are any art-tips to getting the hive to look more natural/expressive.

 

[Reiga]

new take on design from earlier! gave the big guy a new focus specifically based on deep sea tubeworms - worm bros that thrive off of hydrothermal vents and the vulcanic gases emited by them. Consider this a tubewyrm!
This big guy also takes design cues from the idea of big hulking beasts in abyssal sort of landscapes, with its tail having a shape derived from real life tubeworms and meant to look like a "decoy" head for the big lad, which it uses as bait not unlike an anglerfish or the like! Leftover neutralizing gases from its diet are exhausted from vents on its back and tail.

hope to get some thoughts on this design-thanks for the read!!! have a nice day

 

[Darek]

WIP

A big ol' beetle monster with some samurai inspiration. Uh yeah that's basically all I have to say, any feedback is appreciated!

 

[SunMYSER]

WIP

Added some colours, as well as gave it some stegosaurus spines to give it more of a dragon-y appearance. Will shade later. As always, DM to give feedback!

 

[Morghulis]

WIP

Been working on this dragon queen/queen termite lady. She's gone through a bunch of iterations, but I think I'll keep her here til we get more info on stats/abilities etc. Basic inspo is a dragon queen/termite queen/Marie Antoinette/the red queen from Alice in Wonderland. The beehive hairdo not only helps give those vibes, but also represents the termite queen's body. Gave her a whiter face to invoke white makeup trends from that time period as well, and the ridiculous hoop skirt for fashion/bulk. To play along with the theme of 'off with her head/guillotine vibes (and how termites have successor queens who can't really become the main queens until the OG queen dies (reproduction is suppressed by pheromones)) gave her a headdress that is actually the head of a former queen. ~eDgY~.

Curious for feedback, especially how to better integrate dragon typing, but thinking I could incorporate some draconic wings into the dresslike form thing (and maybe ditching the tail) as I feel like that's a pretty common dragon queen trope. Also curious what peeps think of colors! Was trying out purple or black instead of the red, though black felt too bee like.

 

[Gravity Monkey]

WIP

Swarmceus. Run. Now.

EDIT: now with colors and a reasonable file size

 

[DrifblooomCF]

wip

It took a bit of my time but i eded up painting my desing (which, from now on i will call "earthworm" since... thats litterally what it is)
i painted some holes on the body of this mon with pinks, as a termite mound, the structure of this earthworm is actually hollow, so the termites inside it while using draconic magic to move the mound they have a pink/purple glow (since that colour is used for most of the dragon moves).
the earthworm is also covered with little red dots to show some of those little termites

thats actually all, but i also learned about the african cryptid/dragon called isa bere, which drains rivers and causes droughs, so idk, like a potato i just think its neat as a detail

 

[HeatEdgeSword]

WIP

I like beetles, so I decided to make it a dragon with a stag beetle and samurai design, with the Stag Beetle's pincers acting as Dragon's horns. While admittedly the process of drawing is a pain with how many changes I ended up doing, but I am satisfied with the result, especially with the "mustache". Not much else to say really, but any feedback would be appreciated!

 

[Zephyri]

WIPs

https://i.imgur.com/ccs9x5F.png

Ideas, ideas, ideas. First one's a honee slime snail with a honeycomb thingie for its and second one is a honee amphitere with a honeycomb thingie for its tail (yes ik that i like honee). I'm leaning heavily towards the second one due to the fact that the first one kinda looks like a fat snail goodra while the second one seems more bug-dragony with a better inspiration and doesn't look toooo much like any existing pokemon (plus i like it more and had more fun sketching it). If you guys want me to go forward with idea one maybe i'll switch

Feedback and suggestions are welcome!

 

[Reiga]

WIP

oh worm i finally have my tablet again lets goo

still a ventwyrm, i gave the lad more buggy eyes that are also based on deep sea creature eyes. also color palette mildly revised. thanks for the read

 

[sun_dew]

WIP

An update on Kirin bug thing. Didn’t really change the design, but digitalized and colored (with placeholder shading). Forcing myself to work on it again until abilities are decided.

 

[sharpen42]

WIP
I'm posting a very early sketch:

https://i.imgur.com/nZbjIUa.jpg

It's based on a shy horned beetle that has taken the appearance of a dragon in order to scare predators. I have some doubts about it being too detailed for a Pokémon design, might need to lighten a bit the concept. I don't know if I'll be able to post if deadline happens before october, because until then I won't have my tablet.

 

[TheMintyAltoids]

I quite like the look of this, but my first thought on seeing the picture was of a Scarab, rather than a jumping spider, sorry. Winged Scarabs = Egyptian, and then there's the "Winged Dragon of Ra" which obviously nestles in. Sorry - I know that it's a jumping spider from the description, but the shape is similar to that you typically see of scarab beetles/dung beetles etc. It would fit if it was tankier statwise though?

I think you're on to something here. I personally can't draw at all and would never be able to crank out a finish product, but you or someone else who likes the idea should pursue the concept of a scarab-winged dragon of ra hybrid. Excellent idea.

 

[Quanyails]

Out of motivation to make the "hair" less fluffy like Cyclohm and my CAP 26 design, and out of motivation to make the antennae more horn-like, I ended up making the entire design less goofy and more aggressive-looking.

Same warning as before: this is totally brainstorming. :) I might change the design completely depending on where abilities/stats/moves go.

 

[Dorrdonn]

WIP

https://imgur.com/a/x7tfPBm

Early sketch of a scarab with Egyptian themes. I'll probably end up tinkering with it once the abilities and stats are finalized.

 

[Slapperfish]

WIP

So I was thinking of going with another design instead of the giant ant. This one's based on a stink bug with some hazmat suit influences. The back of the design is meant to invoke a dragon's maw, based on the pattern of a brown marmorated stink bug. The head, meanwhile, draws a bit of inspiration from Eastern dragons, with its long snout and antennae "whiskers", in addition to its obvious gas mask-like appearance. Overall, I do feel that this design is somewhat more befitting of the "Roadblock" concept, given that there's also a shield motif going on.

But what do you guys think? Should I stick with the old design, or go the new one?

 

[PiloswineSarado]

WIP

For CAP28 got some inspiration from some stick bugs (lol), especially the giant prickly stick insect, that really looks like a dragon. I put more effort in the head first, trying to figure out a body shape to it.

EDIT: I gave him a more distinct look, retain some elements from stick bugs like the neck, some little torns on his body and small wings. The tail, arms and legs were made to resemble leafs (like the real animal). Maybe I will put more leaf-like structures in the body.

 

[RojaGiess]

WIP

https://imgur.com/a/K0VY2JI

First time, long time!
Looking up "Big Bugs" on the internet, I found an image of a beetle with its wings outstretched and thought it was perfect. I decided to make the wings look sturdy enough so they might actually be used for defense and not flight (the bulky body helps with that too).
I'm not 100% sold on the colors yet but we'll get there.

 

[AliceColt]

WIP

It was based on some moths and a little bit Kirin (body style).
I will change according to the abilities and stats.
I hope if it look like a dragon/bug not a dragon/fairy and what do you guys think?

 

[DrifblooomCF]

WIP

2.1 earthwYrm patch:
*added some cracks to the desing, so it mote accurately represents atermite mound
*changed the termites on the body to crawl towards the holes in the body, also painted them purple (i think those termites crawling would look really cool in a 3d model)
*added spikes to the desing, no reason in particular
*now the base of the earthwyrm i hidden with other mounds

also now it looks quite similar to the "long horse" of Trevor Henderson, can't say it was intentional but i like it

 

[Z-nogyroP]

WIP

A lot of the designs right now are really serpentine, and while I have no problem with that I wanted to try something a bit different, so here's this. It's based on a treehopper (which, look them up if you don't know them already because those little guys get WILD) and a fairy tale castle a la Rapunzel. Real treehoppers have some insane protrusions on their shells, as well as generally really interesting shapes that I think came together to make a pretty unique design. It's both the tower that the damsel in distress is locked in and the dragon that devours would-be heroic knights, and also a bug.

I say this is a WIP but it's pretty much finished; it's only a WIP in case the abilities chosen are wildly inappropriate for it and I need to rework it, but that feels relatively unlikely since I think this design could get away with having most any ability.

edit: forgot it needed to have an outline lol

 

[Lectrys]

What worries me right now is that, at least to me, most of the art in this thread looks like it's for non-Bug/Dragon-types. The works of Birkal, flying moose, and Stitch98 are some of the most convincing Bug/Dragons so far (IMO). Most of the other designs look like pure Bug-types or Bug/Flying types, although (to give examples) DrifblooomCF's design looks like a pure Ground-type and Morghulis's looks like a Bug/Fairy-type to me (probably because of the whimsical nature of the outfit, and whimsicality is a somewhat consistent feature in Game Freak's Fairy-types).

I'd lean hard and obvious into the Dragon half of the typing if I were you. Vibrava looks like a more convincing Bug/Dragon-type than more than half of the art in this thread, IMO.

 

[MrDollSteak]

WIP

A lot of the designs right now are really serpentine, and while I have no problem with that I wanted to try something a bit different, so here's this. It's based on a treehopper (which, look them up if you don't know them already because those little guys get WILD) and a fairy tale castle a la Rapunzel. Real treehoppers have some insane protrusions on their shells, as well as generally really interesting shapes that I think came together to make a pretty unique design. It's both the tower that the damsel in distress is locked in and the dragon that devours would-be heroic knights, and also a bug.

I say this is a WIP but it's pretty much finished; it's only a WIP in case the abilities chosen are wildly inappropriate for it and I need to rework it, but that feels relatively unlikely since I think this design could get away with having most any ability.

edit: forgot it needed to have an outline lol

This is a really exciting design Z! Glad to see you submitting! I personally find that there is a little bit too much going on in the design though. I'd personally love to see the stone castle be a little bit less literal to make it blend more seamlessly into the design. I'm also not getting an enormous dragon vibe from it, maybe some tweaks to the face? Overall I think it has a lot of potential though !

 

[Sunfished]

What worries me right now is that, at least to me, most of the art in this thread looks like it's for non-Bug/Dragon-types. The works of Birkal, flying moose, and Stitch98 are some of the most convincing Bug/Dragons so far (IMO). Most of the other designs look like pure Bug-types or Bug/Flying types, although (to give examples) DrifblooomCF's design looks like a pure Ground-type and Morghulis's looks like a Bug/Fairy-type to me (probably because of the whimsical nature of the outfit, and whimsicality is a somewhat consistent feature in Game Freak's Fairy-types).

I'd lean hard and obvious into the Dragon half of the typing if I were you. Vibrava looks like a more convincing Bug/Dragon-type than more than half of the art in this thread, IMO.

Please refrain from making comments towards our artists that suggests that there has to be some sort of quota to meet in terms of design, especially if it makes no sense when Pokemon has had a huge amount of mons that dont even fit your quota.

I'm going to entertain your post, however, and list a bunch of Pokemon that is completely unfitting of just the Dragon-typing:

Exeggutor-Alola, Goomy, Sliggoo, Altaria, Ampharos, Vibrava, Applin

These are just the ones that are commonly seen as non-dragon typed as well. Given this list, what is the point of saying a mon doesnt look like a dragon type given we have a tree and a bird that is dragon type. its valid critique, but is it really something people are going to roll with given they can justify their design choice with a tree as an example? Why exactly does a design need to lean heavily into a dragon type to work?

Your comment regarding that some designs by our artists fails to compare to a design that doesnt even look like a dragon type is also seen as rude. if youre going that route, find a better way to word what youre saying so you dont offend other people with the way you worded your last sentence.

Edit: Changed my wording to make it reflect what I meant. I apologize if it sounded offensive. My intention was not meant to sound offensive.

 

[Orig Stall Guy]

Honestly, the part of this CAP I'm looking forward to has been the art/designs people have came up with.
And I haven't been disappointed. Seriously there are some awesome designs here. Just want to offer my opinion on a couple.
In general, a lot of designs lean more bug or dragon instead of a perfect balance (which is quite tricky).
Surprised by lack of Dragonfly designs. But then again, its kind of obvious.
Please take everything I say with a truck of salt because Im not an artist.

Shunosarus: Really cool design. Thought Rattlesnakes aren't really insects, I love the bee hive part to lure in prey. I think adding some scales on the Head and tail would be a good idea because it adds to the Dragon and rattlesnake aspects (snakes and dragons have scales).

Birkal: Im surprised you call this a WIP that needs a lot of work because I absolutely love it. Great mixture of insect and western dragon traits. Its intimidating but also kind of cute. Color scheme so far looks great. If there is anything about the Atlas Moth that could add to your design, I will let you know. My favorite so far.

Slapperfish: To me this looked more like a Red Praying Mantis than it does a Ant. Except for wings and tail, the dragon feature are downplayed a bit. Maybe add some dragon claws or fangs to sell the Dragon part of the design more?

Mova: Seems like 90% bug and 10% dragon to me. The spider idea is cool and its good to be subtle, but being subtle wth certain features can come at the expense of clearly conveying what the Pokemon is meant to be.

Flying Moose: Scares the crap out of me in a good way (its a Dragonic giant Bee). The face overall reminds me of a Chinese Dragon I saw at a Chinatown street fair and the Wings are good.

previous nightmare fuel design

SUNmyser: Oh boy, a nightmare fuel design. Yet it reminds me of Scolipede for some reason. The lack of dragon traits is the big thing about this design I don't like. Because it comes off as more mono bug than bug/dragon.

Darek851: Awesome for a Fighting/Bug Design, not super sold on it for Dragon/Bug

Z: Very different to what we have so far. Doesn't really fit even the Western Dragon mold and instead goes for a more Torterra esk design. Yet it still comes off as a very strong Bug design. But nothing screams very "dragon" to me except the dragon guarding a castle tower.