CAP 32 - Art Submissions

Status
Not open for further replies.
Final Submission

hbq3hMF.png


Settled on a design for my babs. Embers were throwing it off so back to the flame, made the dumplings themselves more angular to look a bit more like Gyoza, and simplified the rendering because that last one was just a lot of testing details out to see what stuck. Best of luck everyone, I love all these designs so much <3

EDIT: Addressed a concern about the detached flames and made them directly connected to the body, and gave the bowl a bit thicker of an outline as the contrast between the outline and the bowl made it barely noticeable.
 
Last edited:
Final Submission
MAIN DESIGN

Sun-Faerie-41-Cropped-2.jpg

SUPPORTING MATERIAL

Concept Art
Links to concept artworks showing design elements and action poses:



(Click the thumbnails for the full-size artworks)

Design Progression
Link to an animation of my progress from sketch to finished artwork:

(Click the thumbnail for the full-size animation 2.5Mb)

Description
This design is based on the greek mythology personifications of the Sun and Sunrise, Helios and his daughter Eos. I've been a huge fan of mythology my whole life and I really wanted to use mythology as a reference for CAP 32, as I think it fits well with Fairy typing. Clearly, the Fire typing connection to the sun is pretty obvious.

The general feel of this design supports special attacking, but it was designed to be very capable at physical attacking as well. The sun-shaped objects encircling its hands are made of solid light and heat and can be used as physical weapons. When used in this way, I like to call them "Sun Sai", and think they fit nicely with Bitter Blade in particular and many other physical attacks.

I've enjoyed making this design and trying out a few new rendering techniques. After doing art submissions for so many CAP projects over the years, it's always great to try new things!
 
Final Submission

CAP 32 DESIGN "FIRST TIME'S THE CHARM!"

firefairyfinalsubmission.png



SUPPORTING MATERIAL


  • Огневушка-поскакушка - “The Fire Fairy”, a Russian fairy tale about a doll-like girl made of fire whom dances while holding a handkerchief and brings fortune to those who see her.
  • Ballerinas - The art of ballet is tailor-made to fit the design of a Pokémon. My main source of inspiration was the ballerina portrayed in the orchestral ballet The Firebird composed by Igor Stravinsky.
  • The Little Match Girl- Another fairy tale, written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, picturing a poor girl lighting matches to keep herself alive.
    • The design is a play on words "match girl", it's a girl with matches for hands!
  • Ribbon dancing (Rhythmic gymnastics) - The flame that it holds can extend and flow like a gymnastics ribbon, adding more depth to its dance.
Other inspirations:
  • Trickster Fairy trope - A common depiction of fairies.
  • Meloetta, Whimsicott, Gardevoir, Hatterene, etc. - Already-existing Pokemon with design and personality traits similar to my design.
  • Nui Harime (Kill la Kill) - Same ‘adorable exterior but messed-up character’ personality.
  • Typing - Coincides with the inspiration of fire girls depicted in fairy tales as well as the ballerina/ribbon dancer portrayal.
  • Ability - Pixilate can work with any Fairy-type, so I didn’t need to stress too much over it thankfully. Still, a magical girl can create fairy magic so it checks out!
  • Stats- “Bang Average” is something I always kept in mind. Didn’t want to make it look too threatening appearance-wise but also still wanted to make it look like it could still have high offensive stats, and I think I struck a good balance.
    • Speed - it could go either way. Ballerinas are performers that start out slow and elegant and then ramp up in speed as they dance. I can picture my design being able to use fast moves in a pinch but has a naturally low speed stat. Same can be said for the other way around though.
    • Physical Attack - Its kicking and dancing abilities give this design a high physical prowess.
    • Special Attack - Its flame, talents as a songstress, and overall "fairy-ness" lends it to be able to potentially wield a variety of special attacks.
    • Bulk/HP - Based on appearance, leans on the frailer side. But it could also be sturdier than it looks thanks to its clothing-like covering.
  • Moves- The image provided below portrays as many important moves as I could fit in. Bitter Blade is more of a reach but I could still see it used either by its sharp feet or its flame potentially becoming sharp. Either works! This design can also mend its own flame into a fiery bird (in reference to the Firebird) so that Torch Song is a possibility.
    • I wanted to make a design that could fit the mold of an offensive pivot, which often uses a switch move like U-Turn. Rapid Spin also immediately came to mind when first sketching up the concept.
Full resolution + Transparent backgroundSupporting art + Move sketchesDesign progression
(March 26 - April 26 2023)
firefairyfinalfinal.png
firefairymoves.png
firefairyallprogress.png

To conclude I just want to thank everyone on the CAP server and beyond for being so incredibly supportive, critical, and friendly to me for my first time ever working on this project. I've looked up to the Create-a-Pokémon community for about a decade, so being a part of it and seeing all the warm welcomes and receptions to my first go-around is beyond gratifying. Special thank you to Quanyails for helping me figure out how to properly make one of these posts, I owe ya one!
It's been an amazing ride, and I can't wait to be a part of this for many more iterations to come!
~ Chillie
 
Last edited:
Final Submission

CyclopeFinal.png


It's over!

Some information about the inspirations:
- I was inspired by Polyphemus, a shepherd cyclops who Odysseus pokes out his eye with a burning stake during his Odyssey.
- I was also inspired by the cases of cyclopia observed in goats.
- Its horns are actually lamb skewers. It can use them in battle.
- It looks like a satyr. Its loincloth allows him to hide one of the main characteristics of this creature.
- All its Greek inspirations made me choose green flames to remind the Greek fire. The spirals of its flames recall the patterns of Greek columns and it wears the fire like a shepherd's jacket.

I think its design allows him to use a wide range of moves, except Extreme Speed. That said, maybe it could have access to it via its pre-evolution, like Breloom who has access to Spore through Shroomish :blobshrug:
 
Last edited:
Final Submission

0s5dPHq.png


Supporting Material

Well... It only took me about a week or two to get this one done, but I still think I did at least a half-decent job. Time really flew by for this CAP, but I'm excited to see who wins this time around, having seen all the amazing entries already submitted. Best of luck to all!

When I think of Fire and Fairy together, the first thing that pops into my head is a fantastical, divine, almost godly creature that wields fire in a protective, nurturing, and constructive way, like a guardian angel crossed with a guiding beacon. A lot of entries already went with a straight angel as the basis for this design, so to set mine apart I decided to work with something more animalistic in nature, and of all the mythical creatures at my disposal, to me there were none that seemed more overdue to make a Fairy-type out of than a gryphon. The lion is the king of beasts and the eagle the king of birds, so as a hybrid of the two, the gryphon could certainly seem like a ruler of a whole different league - and indeed, gryphons were even considered holy symbols of Christianity in medieval Europe. I originally considered basing it off a keythong - a type of wingless gryphon with solar rays coming out of its back - with a look derived from heraldic charges and some of the weaker Legendary Pokémon. There's still some influence from those ideas here and there, but since this CAP is about creating something with decidedly mediocre stats, I decided to give it a feel more like a demigod instead, and from there it ended up becoming the equivalent of one in modern fiction: a superhero!

Earlier drafts of this design ended up giving it a look and feel too much like a Fighting-type, especially once I decided to make it more explicitly akin to the obligatory "furbait" designs like Lucario or Zeraora that have popped up here and there in more recent generations, as well as the classic "flying brick" look to go with the hero theme. To better fit the Fairy typing and especially Pixilate, which I interpreted as having every action it takes be infused with divine, magical power, I first attempted to style it as more explicitly focused on magic use, more like Dr. Strange than Superman, but when it was pointed out in the Discord chats that sorcerer 'mons like Delphox tend to be part Psychic, I decided to instead make its angelic nature more explicit by turning the fire around its neck, originally styled more like Dr. Strange's magical cloak, into the shape of two pairs of flowing flames shaped like wings as a nod to the four-winged cherubim from the book of Ezekiel, which have lion and eagle features. These angels also have bull and human characteristics as well, which are more subtly referenced in the humanoid body shape and the decoration at the base of the neck, an Egyptian bronze mirror with bull-like horns on either side. The humanoid body with an avian head also fits the Egyptian aesthetic, subtly alluding to Ra, the falcon-headed sun god, not to mention that gryphons themselves also originated in Egyptian mythology (though they tended to lack wings altogether in portrayals in that context). The upper pair of wing flames is also able to curl upward so they form the shape of a halo around its head, while also invoking a stylized sun. As a final touch, the red feather colors and the crest on the head are inspired by both the cardinals of the Catholic Church and the male of the Northern cardinal bird that takes its name from them (whose black mask-like markings around the eyes also translated quite nicely into a domino mask with nifty Eye-Of-Horus-inspired eyeliner!).
Given the stat spread we got, and the overall concept of this entire CAP, the intent of this design is a Pokémon that looks imposing with quite solid stats for the early game, but which would eventually struggle to keep up in the later stages of the playthrough, much like how Onix was in Red/Blue. Like any good hero, you can expect a lot of failures with this 'mon at first, but once you figure out how to play to its strengths, then it just might be able to save the day after all!
  • 90 HP: When the possibility of this CAP being a frail but speedy attacker was floated around, I decided to give it a rather lanky and tall-bodied design. It might look mighty, but the bulk of its silhouette comes from the flaming cape it usually has on it. Still, 90 HP isn't unexpected for something that could potentially be as tall as an average trainer.
  • 99 Atk and SpA: With huge, razor-sharp claws and a hooked beak alongside a cape of fire that can be controlled by its will, this design certainly looks the part of a fearsome mixed attacker, able to fight at both close and long range.
  • 89 Def and 97 SpD: My own mental image for this design making use of its special defense was manipulating its flame cape so at least one of its faux wings could be used to block or screen incoming energy attacks. Physical defense being about average checks out as well, since I read somewhere that the total average for that stat is 83. No special armor required!
  • 55 Spe: While I designed this 'mon to be agile and light on its paws, with a high Speed stat in mind, I don't believe it's as adversely affected by the choice for lower Speed as some other subs might be. I could simply chalk that up to the top-heaviness of the body, with smaller legs than would be suited for fast running. Big cats like lions are not long-distance runners at any rate - they need to sneak up on prey and get in close enough to catch it with a short-lived sprint, which is definitely in line with what this guy could do. But, on the other talon, we have...
  • ...Extreme Speed: The entire purpose of the fire cape was to take either this move or a potentially high Speed stat into account. The way this would work was by this design rushing forward, directing its fire forcefully behind it, and rushing at its target like a living rocket. With the low Speed we got, this works even better as a way of getting around that, as boosting its pounce with a backwards fire jet is absolutely something a pyrokinetic big cat would do.
  • Boomburst and Parting Shot: Both of these are sound-based moves, and given that both lions and eagles are famous for their loud sounds (at least in fiction - not all eagles scream like hawks in real life!), it's all too easy to imagine this thing simply screeching so loudly that it actually sends its opponents airborne. It helps that "angel" originally meant "divine messenger" in Hebrew, so having a voice that could carry was no doubt essential!
  • Knock Off (and possibly Bitter Blade): Gryphons in media tend to attack with the sharp talons on their front feet. Combining this with the classic feline habit of knocking stuff over, it's easy to imagine this guy both dealing heavy damage and batting away a target's held item at the same time with a single swipe of its claws.
  • Spikes: This one was mercifully easier to imagine than Stealth Rock, which was floated around as a potential move. Spikes doesn't have to be restricted by type though, so what this design could do is heat up the ground around it and cause any sand or soil to quickly melt and then solidify itself, crystallizing into deadly shards of glass. It even fits this move only affecting grounded Pokémon - in other words, the ground itself is being turned into a hazard.
  • 50% Recovery: This one is trickier than most, but one idea I had in mind came from reading the classic -Ology books back in the day, which describes how phoenixes use a bath of flames to clean their feathers so well that they appear to resurrect themselves. With a cape of flames already present, this design could easily do the same by simply letting its own magical fire engulf it completely, revitalizing and energizing it so it's ready for more!
A big thanks to everyone who commented on the Discord chat for their help with this design, and the following in particular: Integer Mova, Iron, Sunfished, StephenXPM, Quanyails, and Malarkey!
 
Last edited:
Final Submission

inajfgz.jpg


Well, here he is. After jumping between multiple ideas more so than I've ever done for a CAP, plus probably too much waiting for moves and stat confirmation, I decided on circus festival elephant as the final go-to. Inspirations include both elements of carnivals and circuses, elephants balancing on things, plus the infamous pink elephant sequence in the original 1941 Dumbo movie. He'll play you a tune and put on a fireworks show! No circus balls? No problem, he'll make them on his own with rocket feet! Because... at some point every other design I come up with gets rocket feet. I wish I could say I had more thought given to this than it seems, but waiting, a lack of involvement this round compared to others, plus getting COVID-19 literally a couple days before final 48 hour warning will do that to you. If nothing else, finishing this guy reminded me of what I like about the process. Good luck!

Supporting Material
Using moves
He can do this!
 
Last edited:
Final Submission
D42F6A7E-3E04-4BD5-97EB-670E31F89101.png


Here is my final submission! Thank you to everyone on the Discord for feedback, this was very fun to participate in as this was my first CAP process. For a quick explanation, the idea behind this design was that the star pixie controlling the rocket represents the stats, while the rocket represents all of the moves it can use!
 
Final Submission

7Oy0ZaS.png



Supporting Material

In the end I went with this dynamite red panda! Its inspired by the red panda's famous battle pose, which also looks like its mimicking a kaboom. I wanted something that fitted the mixed, slow, potentially heavy stats, with a little bit of bulk.
His explosive nature makes him very liable to BOOMburst on the special side, meanwhile he's tough enough as a bear to do some physical hits. When he attacks, he fires explosive bursts from the furless midsection.

Thanks to everyone who gave feedback for all the designs leading up to this one, and good luck to all!
 
Last edited:
Final Submission
LvWKiAC.png

Something's hurrying down the chimney tonight.
My design is a mix of Christmas iconography. Primarily inspired by the Krampus of Alpine folklore, a goat-like demon who punishes naughty children during Christmas time. The body of this design is made of gingerbread, peppermint candy and frosting as if built like a gingerbread house. A handful of pastry-based Pokemon such as Slurpuff and Dachsbun are Fairy-type, with this design being in a similar vein. Lumps of coal decorate its back which also comprise its claws and tail, not only referencing the belief that naughty children will receive coal during Christmas but also helps justify Fire-typing.
Supporting Material
Neutral BG
04-29-23n.png
Ignited
04-29-23b.png
Size Comparizon
04-29-23size.png
Sketch
04-29-23.png
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top