Cretacerus Art

[Cretacerus]

(Can I use it as my avatar?)

Of course! May the dinosaur be with you.

Oi, Creta, out of curiosity, are you back to using Paint.NET again? Or was the Falkneraptor done on Corel? Due to your improvements, it's harder to tell which medium you're using, but it's easier to recognize your style. You really know what you're doing with dino designs.

Thanks! I haven't been using Paint.NET since I got my drawing tablet in April last year, since it speeds up the drawing process so much. Right now I'm using Clip Studio Paint for all my drawings.

Do you still take art trades as well?

Yeah, sure. I'm always in need of stylish new avatars (a portrait format of Alolan Cubone would be awesome). ;)

I did a quick edit of the profile design to make the Slowbro shiny.

Haha, nice! The shiny colors do look better than expected. Might I say that ... Slowbro turned blue from all that good vodka. XP
(yeah, lame pun that only works in German...)

 

[JustoonSmitts]

First time visiting your thread. Your artwork is nothing short of great! :D

 

[Cretacerus]

Update with some new article art for The Flying Press. :D

Pokémon Paleobiology: Prehistoric Sea-Life
Behold the once most fearsome predator of the prehistoric seas, Anorith, on the hunt for its next tasty snack!

I experimented with a few underwater effects for this one, such as the light refractions by the surface waves and the fading of colors and blueish tint with increasing distance. The impulse effect around Anorith was created randomly while fiddling around with the program, but it worked well enough for drawing attention to the right place and adding some dynamic.

-----

Judge A Pokémon Express: Q Up, Panelists!
Wingull with shades as a quick interview icon. B)

 

[Cretacerus]

So, I've been trying out 3D modelling on Blender recently and started out with the classic donuts tutorial by Blender Guru. Went with a simple chocolate coating for the donut, and a limestone texture from the internet for the table.

Donuts

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Since my snow variant of Azumarill won the art room contest for Alolan forms some time back, I decided to do a simple 3D model for it as well. The wool on the body was done by sculpting, while I used a preexisting displacement map for the rope effect on the tail and hair particles for the bobble.

Back view

If you want to view the model in 3D, feel free to check out the simplified version on Sketchfab.
Rigging and animation may be added at a later point. :)

 

[Hare_vs_Tortoise]

Wow, I love seeing what new art you post and you keep getting better and better. (More Alolan makeovers please!)

Sorry, know zip about 3D modelling but with the A-Azumarill model though it looks like there needs to be something more on the arms and ears as my eyes are being very much drawn to the body. With the earlier drawing the half grey/white effect on the arms looked really good and seemed to add some more movement to them plus integrated them more into the overall design.

In addition with the ears on the 3D model it also looks like they've been placed rather than are an integrated part of the model. I'm kind of wondering if it's the lack of movement impression which the arms have, whether they need a lighting or depth effect to them or if some texture needs adding like you would get on real life rabbit ears.

 

[Cretacerus]

Thanks for the feedback! I must admit that I somehow missed out on the arm stripes, but they could easily be inserted by adding one more grey texture to the material. And yeah, I might have given the ears a bit too much of a chocolate glossing to fit the rest of the design. ^^'

Speaking of chocolate texture, it's a feature I've been specializing over time and fully embraced in my most recent gastronomical creation: Chocomodo! All credit for the base model goes to Clawed Nyasu from the CAP modelling team. The candles were added to celebrate the CAP anniversary, I guess.



____________________

This time, I can also provide some new 2D art! The article Steeling the Spotlight gave me the opportunity to explore some pretty crazy Mega evolution designs from Mix and Mega, and coming up with creative fusions was lots of fun. I proudly present to you: Sablenite-Magearna and Aggronite-Buzzwole!

Stats for reference:

Magearna-Mega (@ Sablenite)
Typing:

/

Stats: 80 / 105 / 165 / 135 / 180 / 35
Ability: Magic Bounce

Buzzwole-Mega (@ Aggronite)
Typing:

/

Stats: 107 / 169 / 189 / 53 / 73 / 79
Ability: Filter

Since the article was all about Steel types, I thought I'd experiment with some extra metallic and reflective shading, starting from grey-scale values alone. Unfortunately, that made the final image look a bit too desaturated and realistic for my taste, so I ended up redoing it all with a more striking and colorful look. Here's a combined version anyway for those interested:

Hide

In the end, I got some good shading practice at least. ^^

 

[Mova]

Chocomodo?

Nice job on the Mix-and-Megas and the Smokomodo model, though.

 

[LifeisDANK]

hes lookin like a snack

 

[Cretacerus]

Guess I'll update this thread after some longer time of inactivity. There's more art on schedule, including my most ambitious drawing yet which I completed last weekend after many many hours (feels good). ^^

In the meantime, here is some more casual art:

Grovyle vs. Stoutland: unconventional clash in the battle thread following the recent surge in activity.

Tangela on vacation in the Netherlands: quick sketch for reigatober 1st (prompt: grass), meant to be the first in a series of daily drawings. Overdid the hatching part, and never looked back.

Rare none-Pokemon art for a birthday card:

Hide

 

[Kaiju Bunny]

Just thought I'd say I absolutely love your work! The blending, the shading, the detail, the list could go on, lol. Keep up the amazing work!

 

[HONK]

I love how stoutland lost all of its hair due to that attack LOL.

 

[GlassVeins]

"Hi everyone, Ash here. Does your Stoutland have too much hair? Well come on down to Ash's pokemon barbershop, where we'll give him a nice trim up! We employ only the most skilled grass-types with razor leaf for precision cuts. And now, for a limited time only, buy one haircut and get the second absolutely free!"
Seriously, beautiful artwork with great textures!

 

[Cretacerus]

Thanks for the comments, everyone! ^^
For my last update this year, I'd like to share some random art that was done over the Smeargle discord channel not too long ago.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

First off, we have lava fanart as part of an art trade with internet. The prompt was a crossover between one of his robot OCs and a Pokemon of my choice, and what would be more appropriate than a lava lamp girl and a living disco ball having a surreal face-off on the dance floor. Oh, and is it just me, or is one of the pink lava blobs weirdly reminiscent of a Luvdisc in certain angles?

In exchange I got some rigged and animated snow bunnies from internet! Hurray :D

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

​

An here's fanart of Kyrads grass starter enjoying adventure time in the nature with his trusty friend Chesnaught.
(Just like all good RPG characters, he's ambidexterous just in case he has to run towards the left side.)

 

[Cretacerus]

So, the long awaited article about the Smogon translation projects is finally here! Of course it got a multilingual release covering all the active projects, but man, was it a journey for the German team.. You may have noticed that the German version has unusually many people credited for the translation, and that's because the article somehow ended up being translated multiple times, and then GPed more often than planned. Just due to a series of bad timing and misunderstandings. x_X
We still finished before the Italians, though.

With the article art released, I can now also officially post my art summary for the year 2018. It was a good year on Smogon, and to my surprise also had a very decent variation of Cretacerus art. ^^

2018 art

And here is my Secret Santa art from last month, featuring two lost water starters in a very hostile environment. With empty water bottles and on the verge of collapse, they finally spot a lifesaving oasis.. but... why is it looking so weird? :O

 

[Cretacerus]

I've been looking through some "draw a character in different styles" challenges recently, and it seemed like something that could be fun to do for the artists here on Smeargle's. In the social media thread alone, there were multiple very unique styles to choose from. For the start, I decided to go with three very distinctive and recognizable ones. The subject would of course be my favorite Pokemon, the trusty and versatile Cranidos!

So without further ado...


Style #1

Style #2

Style #3

​

It was very interesting to work on these, since drawing them required a process and tools I have barely experimented with before. The next wave should be coming soon (though the styles may not be as recognizable as here). ;)

 

[Mova]

I'm guessing the styles are Reiga, Bummer, and Dank?

 

[Cretacerus]

Here's some quick art for the article about the Zygarde ban. I've always been a fan of Zygarde's design, and naturally had to take the (probably) last chance to illustrate it for a competitive article in forseeable future. The mirror function of CSP certainly came in handy for this. ^^

 

[AmirAlexander]

Here's some quick art for the article about the Zygarde ban. I've always been a fan of Zygarde's design, and naturally had to take the (probably) last chance to illustrate it for a competitive article in forseeable future. The mirror function of CSP certainly came in handy for this. ^^

View attachment 156638

simply perfect! great job.

 

[Cretacerus]

The next set of Cranidos has arrived! These styles may be harder to recognize, arguably since the first two are seen mostly on discord but mostly because my imitation skills are far from perfect. Nonetheless, the referenced artists all convey a very special and wholesome feel with their art and I tried to capture at least part of that in the images below. Hope you enjoy!

Style #4

Style #5

Style #6

​

 

[Cretacerus]

The time has come...
After almost seven years on Smogon, I have finally achieved what once seemed impossible: here is my 1000th post!
​

For this special occasion, I decided to revisit an old team portrait of my generic Gym Leader OC, which was made for a past Smeargle's Studio project. He is, of course, a Rock type specialist with a certain affinity for Jurassic limestone. Believe it or not, but that team lineup did a half-decent job on the lower OU ladder. Too bad that the intended Smeargle's Studio Gym Leader tournament never took place.

Anyway... I've had a very memorable and varied time on this website, from the beginnings as a hopeful participant in the CAP project, to my first attempts at digital art and becoming a Smogon Artist, a short stint in the Wi-Fi trade market in the golden days of XY, and becoming involved in the German translation project. Doing art for the website has always been fun, and over time it gets apparent that the primary reward is in fact the improvement in your own skills (same can be said about translations, too). And after enjoying the activities in the Smeargle's Studio for all this time, I'm glad to have recently been given the chance to get more involved as a staff member. ^^
Naturally, I'd like to thank all the people I've met along the way who made this website and its Discord channels something special to me.

• Smeargle people: Mova, Max. Optimizer, AmirAlexander, vzxt, HONK
• Fakemon guys: QxC4eva, Reiga, Kyrads, Sgt.Moose, Sunfished, Pipotchi
• Translation guys: Fischgrat, Most, Lyd, Marcell
• Old friends from Wi-Fi (who might not be as active anymore): Nelson Tangela, Reisuke, Hulavuta, Hare_vs_Tortoise

Appreciate all the discussions we had, projects we worked on, and feedback we exchanged, and hopefully will continue to in future!

 

[HONK]

The time has come...
After almost seven years on Smogon, I have finally achieved what once seemed impossible: here is my 1000th post!
​

For this special occasion, I decided to revisit an old team portrait of my generic Gym Leader OC, which was made for a past Smeargle's Studio project. He is, of course, a Rock type specialist with a certain affinity for Jurassic limestone. Believe it or not, but that team lineup did a half-decent job on the lower OU ladder. Too bad that the intended Smeargle's Studio Gym Leader tournament never took place.

Anyway... I've had a very memorable and varied time on this website, from the beginnings as a hopeful participant in the CAP project, to my first attempts at digital art and becoming a Smogon Artist, a short stint in the Wi-Fi trade market in the golden days of XY, and becoming involved in the German translation project. Doing art for the website has always been fun, and over time it gets apparent that the primary reward is in fact the improvement in your own skills (same can be said about translations, too). And after enjoying the activities in the Smeargle's Studio for all this time, I'm glad to have recently been given the chance to get more involved as a staff member. ^^
Naturally, I'd like to thank all the people I've met along the way who made this website and its Discord channels something special to me.

• Smeargle people: Mova, Max. Optimizer, AmirAlexander, vzxt, HONK
• Fakemon guys: QxC4eva, Reiga, Kyrads, Sgt.Moose, Sunfished, Pipotchi
• Translation guys: Fischgrat, Most, Lyd, Marcell
• Old friends from Wi-Fi (who might not be as active anymore): Nelson Tangela, Reisuke, Hulavuta, Hare_vs_Tortoise

Appreciate all the discussions we had, projects we worked on, and feedback we exchanged, and hopefully will continue to in future!

Congrats! HONK HONK

 

[vzxt]

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

I'm not sure whose art style the second batch of Cranidos are in.

Baraboy, Shay and Tiki?

 

[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.

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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.