Cretacerus Art

[Max. Optimizer]

I offer my best greetings!

It's indeed been quite a while. As a matter of fact, Fischgrat and I celebrate our 3rd Anniversary on Smogon today!
I also remember trading with you in the Wi-Fi sub-forum. We exchanged fossil Pokémon. Who would've thought, right?
Ultimately, it's always important to evaluate little milestones like this. By remembering where you come from you can figure out where to go next.

I wish you nothing but the best for all of the projects that you want to tackle next, both here on Smogon and in real life.

In hindsight, I don't think that I've ever told you what my favorite dinosaur is after all these years:

Answer

The Thesaurus

P.S. It's funny that you listed me among the Smeargle Studio people when I'm de facto a notorious hardcore Wi-Fi user.

 

[Reiga]

congratulations comrade

my favorite dinosaur is the chicken i think i should look more into that
oh utahraptor is cool too

 

[Cretacerus]

I remember your trade thread and the cool banners you had. I think we traded some fossils? I don't really remember haha.

I also remember trading with you in the Wi-Fi sub-forum. We exchanged fossil Pokémon. Who would've thought, right?

I must have traded fossil mons with everyone back then. Good times! :P
Thanks for the good wishes and sharing your favorite dinosaurs, my frens.

----------

Anyway, I've been working on a legendary trio for quite some time, and now that a chance appeared to actually insert them into a fan game it seemed like a good time to revamp their designs a bit.
The trio has a very loose theme of being ancient and mysterious apex predators in their respective habitats, though I liked the idea of having them represent ultimate attack, defense and speed, respectively. Each of the members was chosen from a major systematic clade in the animal kingdom.
The final member (a squid) will follow once I actually have the time to give it a decent design.

Augurex
Typing:

Stats: 125 / 90 / 75 / 90 / 75 / 125 (BST: 580)
Ability: Speed Boost

Sightings of this Pokémon date back centuries and have given rise to various superstitions. Any attempts to capture or study it have been foiled by its speed and intelligence.

Mantisect
Typing:

Stats: 90 / 125 / 75 / 125 / 75 / 90 (BST 580)
Ability: Tinted Lens

Spoken of in local legends, this Pokémon is said to butcher anything that moves in a vicious frenzy. Only the scattered remains of its victims are ever found.

 

[vzxt]

I must have traded fossil mons with everyone back then. Good times! :P
Thanks for the good wishes and sharing your favorite dinosaurs, my frens.

----------

Anyway, I've been working on a legendary trio for quite some time, and now that a chance appeared to actually insert them into a fan game it seemed like a good time to revamp their designs a bit.
The trio has a very loose theme of being ancient and mysterious apex predators in their respective habitats, though I liked the idea of having them represent ultimate attack, defense and speed, respectively. Each of the members was chosen from a major systematic clade in the animal kingdom.
The final member (a squid) will follow once I actually have the time to give it a decent design.

View attachment 160460
Augurex
Typing:

Stats: 125 / 90 / 75 / 90 / 75 / 125 (BST: 580)
Ability: Speed Boost

View attachment 160461
Mantisect
Typing:

Stats: 90 / 125 / 75 / 125 / 75 / 90 (BST 580)
Ability: Tinted Lens

I was about to call you out on all 3 having a shared type but then I remembered most trios share a type, the last one we got having all Psychic >:( . I imagine the people of the region that has those legendaries to be very gloomy.

 

[Hare_vs_Tortoise]

The more I look at your Gym Leader portrait, the more I keep wishing I could get that as a TCG playmat.

Congrats on the 1k post and more art please! :)

 

[Cretacerus]

After a long time break, here's some art for this week's Facebook giveaway. The giveaway is currently still ongoing, in case you want to grab your very own shiny Palkia!

The background photo of the night sky was taken from Unsplash, originally as a placeholder. But the colors and composure actually worked so well with the final product that I decided to keep it in (also because the photo turned out to be free to use).

 

[Cretacerus]

Drew this way back in November for the article about sealife! It was clear from the beginning that the art would feature a large amount of Pokemon in their natural environment, so I tried out a different approach from usual to be more time efficient: the sketch was done lineless to quickly get the general composition, shapes and colors down, and the lineart was only added as the finishing touch. Due to the large scale scenario, getting the colors right was crucial to give the image structure along with having Sharpedo in the center of attention. And having a loose lineart style that took a backseat to colors also helped a lot when doing the rock formation. In the end, it still took way longer than the average image...

 

[Cretacerus]

A while back, Amir and I have been collaborating on beta designs from the GSC games, which can be found in the community thread. Finding suitable colors for GYAOON was especially challenging, so it went through multiple variations in the process. Besides the final colors posted, here is one that I think also works rather well and could perhaps be the shiny scheme. ;)

And one more artwork for a recent article that tried to raise awareness on the issue of pink shiny colored Pokemon.

 

[h_n_g_m_n]

hot damn the shading on that garchomp

good stuff my man!

 

[Cretacerus]

Fashionable Shiftry for Fischgrat!

 

[Cretacerus]

Modeling Clay has been doing custom sprites and gameplay animations for our OCs some time ago, which prompted me to come up with my own playable character. One month later and with the project probably long finished, I finally found the time to get my concept on paper. Turns out I'm quite bad at designing stuff that isn't Pokemon, but this should still work in theory. ^^

 

[Fischgrat]

Fashionable Shiftry for Fischgrat!

View attachment 169604

Holy shit, i love it so much!!!! Thank you

 

[vzxt]

Can't wait for you to make a twitter account so I can see these in low resolution

 

[HONK]

Modeling Clay has been doing custom sprites and gameplay animations for our OCs some time ago, which prompted me to come up with my own playable character. One month later and with the project probably long finished, I finally found the time to get my concept on paper. Turns out I'm quite bad at designing stuff that isn't Pokemon, but this should still work in theory. ^^


View attachment 169975

that thing is so cute, looks like a little dinosaur!

 

[Cretacerus]

Hello there! The time has finally come to pay tribute to one of the greatest franchises. The one franchise that held the power to make me venture out of my comfort zone so completely with the giveaway's featured Pokemon. Lucario just was such a perfect fit for this, from its name, fighting ability and supernatural sense to the use of elegant weapons from a more civilized age.

 

[Cretacerus]

Get ready to ROCK with this group of Pokemon! The lead singer is turning out to be quite the ROCK STAR! :D

And here are a few emoticons for the upcoming Smogon reactions contest:

 

[Ivy]

Golem losing his shit on the drums fill me with immense joy

 

[Cretacerus]

Quick update with some previous art! Now that the Gen 8 news have been around for some time, I think it's safe to post Zamazenta outside the spoiler threads, especially since it's already being used for the official box cover. Initially, I wasn't a big fan of Zamazenta's design with the general business and clashing colors in the official art, but lots of fanartists have since shown its true potential by just slighty adjusting the colors and drawing focus towards the cool hair plume and cape. My own attempt at this is seen below.

The art was done for the Studio's Gen 8 fanart thread and intended to be a quick drawing without background, but watching some landscape speedpaints at the time made me want to experiment a bit with scenery and colors. I'll try not to shy away from those as much in future!

----------

JAP Avatars

Simplified Shiftgrat

Happy Chandelure for MO

Picture Telephone Sketches

"bulbasaur, charmandar, and squirtle are jealous of all the attention grookey, scorbunny, and sobble are getting"

"It's picture day at school today so the parent pokemon made sure their offspring looks extra presentable"

 

[Max. Optimizer]

I couldn't have possibly gotten a better JAPE panelist avatar. I will proudly wear it in future articles! Thanks again!

 

[Cretacerus]

I did a team logo for the upcoming German team tournament a while back. As always, my typography skills are non-existent, but Charizard was surprisingly fun to draw. Just add some fiercer facial features for good measure. ;)

Original font with round and more detailed background as requested

And here is my entry for the first round of "You're not my type". I got Dragon type Exeggcute as prompt, so a growth in neck length was inevitable. The faces themselves were inspired by Alola Exeggutor's tail head.

 

[Cretacerus]

I've been wanting to try out the comic panel features of CSP for a while, and Mova's request for this Secret Santa actually gave me the inspiration to get started. The drawing process is still way to slow to make this a regular thing, but I definitely enjoyed working on something slightly different. Also my first artwork with well over 100 layers. ;)

PS: Apparently double-clicking on the expanded image allows it to be viewed at original size.

 

[Cretacerus]

What if the official fossil Pokemon were actually restored incompletely, and through more diverse samples and newer technology the lithification could be reversed entirely? Here are a few ideas, based on this old concept of mine.

The color schemes were inspired by the respective shiny palettes, which could be seen as a minor chance of their original colors surviving the resurrection process. Other than that, changes were kept mostly superficial to stick with the theme.
Competitively, they gain a new secondary type in place of Rock, alongside slight stat boosts (+10 HP / +10 other stat / +20 other stat ) and mostly new abilities.

Restored Kabutops
Typing:

/

Stats: 70 / 115 / 105 / 65 / 90 / 90
Ability: Tough Claws / Adaptability (HA)

With sharp claws, this ferocious, ancient Pokémon rips apart prey and sucks their body fluids. Its body had begun to adapt so it could function on land.

Restored Omastar
Typing:

/

Stats: 80 / 70 / 145 / 115 / 70 / 55
Ability: Iron Barbs / Competitive (HA)

As it evolved, the size and ornamentation of its shell increased dramatically to fend off competitors. The additional weight makes its movements slow and ponderous.

Restored Aerodactyl
Typing:

/

Stats: 90 / 115 / 65 / 60 / 75 / 150
Ability: Intimidate / Moxie (HA)

This vicious Pokémon roamed the ancient skies while shrieking high-pitched cries. It uses its sawlike fangs to shred its prey before eating them.

Restored Cradily
Typing:

/

Stats: 96 / 81 / 97 / 101 / 117 / 43
Ability: Storm Drain / Flame Body (HA)

It lives in the shallows of warm seas, ensnarling prey with its six tentacles. It then melts the prey with a burning fluid before feeding.

Restored Armaldo
Typing:

/

Stats: 85 / 135 / 120 / 70 / 80 / 45
Ability: Dry Sin / Regenerator (HA)

Armaldo has adapted from living in water to living on land. Its entire body is clad in sturdy plates and shows unique regenerative abilities.

Restored Rampardos
Typing:

/

Stats: 107 / 165 / 70 / 65 / 50 / 78
Ability: Rock Head / Quick Feet (HA)

Their foot-thick skulls can withstand impacts of any magnitude. They occasionally tear down jungle trees in competitive displays of power.

Restored Bastiodon
Typing:

/

Stats: 70 / 72 / 178 / 47 / 138 / 30
Ability: Unaware / Magic Bounce (HA)

Any frontal attack is repulsed. Despite its imposing facial shield, it is a docile and easygoing Pokémon that feeds on grass and berries.

Restored Carracosta
Typing:

/

Stats: 84 / 118 / 133 / 83 / 85 / 32
Ability: Rough Skin / Stamina (HA)

It can knock out most foes with a slap from its developed front appendages. Prey is completely chewed up with shell and bones to further strengthen its sturdy shell.

Restored Archeops
Typing:

/

Stats: 85 / 140 / 65 / 92 / 65 / 120
Ability: Technician / Fluffy (HA)

They are intelligent and will cooperate to catch prey. Adapt to an arboreal environment, they mostly rely on elevated positions to take flight.

Restored Tyrantrum
Typing:

/

Stats: 92 / 131 / 119 / 69 / 79 / 71
Ability: Strong Jaw / Battle Armor (HA)

Thanks to its gargantuan jaws, it could shred thick armor plates as if they were paper. It was invincible in the ancient world it once inhabited, so it behaved like a king.

Restored Aurorus
Typing:

/

Stats: 133 / 77 / 72 / 119 / 97 / 68
Ability: Sheer Force / Magic Guard (HA)

They live in small herds communicating through displays of light and subtle electromagnetic pulses. Their ability to control magnetic fields increases with their size.

 

[lydian]

ive already said this on discord and i'll say it again but i absolutely adore these!! the creativity behind these combined with a really persuasive look of what these pokemon could have looked like in the past just makes for these flawless pieces of art!!

never have i ever wanted "fan art" to be more real than now!!

 

[Reisuke]

Just wanted to pop by and tell you these look amazing. Especially cradily and aurorus. They look so cool! Makes me wish they were actual versions of them.

 

[FellFromtheSky]

What if the official fossil Pokemon were actually restored incompletely, and through more diverse samples and newer technology the lithification could be reserved entirely? Here are a few ideas, based on this old concept of mine.

The color schemes were inspired by the respective shiny palettes, which could be seen as a minor chance of their original colors surviving the resurrection process. Other than that, changes were kept mostly superficial to stick with the theme.
Competitively, they gain a new secondary type in place of Rock, alongside slight stat boosts (+10 HP / +10 other stat / +20 other stat ) and mostly new abilities.


View attachment 220612
Restored Kabutops
Typing:

/

Stats: 70 / 115 / 105 / 65 / 90 / 90
Ability: Tough Claws / Adaptability (HA)



View attachment 220613
Restored Omastar
Typing:

/

Stats: 80 / 70 / 145 / 115 / 70 / 55
Ability: Iron Barbs / Competitive (HA)



View attachment 220605
Restored Aerodactyl
Typing:

/

Stats: 90 / 115 / 65 / 60 / 75 / 150
Ability: Intimidate / Moxie (HA)



View attachment 220611
Restored Cradily
Typing:

/

Stats: 96 / 81 / 97 / 101 / 117 / 43
Ability: Storm Drain / Flame Body (HA)



View attachment 220607
Restored Armaldo
Typing:

/

Stats: 85 / 135 / 120 / 70 / 80 / 45
Ability: Dry Sin / Regenerator (HA)



View attachment 220614
Restored Rampardos
Typing:

/

Stats: 107 / 165 / 70 / 65 / 50 / 78
Ability: Rock Head / Quick Feet (HA)



View attachment 220609
Restored Bastiodon
Typing:

/

Stats: 70 / 72 / 178 / 47 / 138 / 30
Ability: Unaware / Magic Bounce (HA)



View attachment 220610
Restored Carracosta
Typing:

/

Stats: 84 / 118 / 133 / 83 / 85 / 32
Ability: Rough Skin / Stamina (HA)



View attachment 220606
Restored Archeops
Typing:

/

Stats: 85 / 140 / 65 / 92 / 65 / 120
Ability: Technician / Fluffy (HA)



View attachment 220615
Restored Tyrantrum
Typing:

/

Stats: 92 / 131 / 119 / 69 / 79 / 71
Ability: Strong Jaw / Battle Armor (HA)



View attachment 220608
Restored Aurorus
Typing:

/

Stats: 133 / 77 / 72 / 119 / 97 / 68
Ability: Sheer Force / Magic Guard (HA)

These are gorgeous! And so clever! I especially like Aurorus, Tyrantrum, and Kabutops!!