Infamous Comic #32, Sketch and Ink

Here's the sketch and ink to the 32nd installment of my webcomic The Infamous Five!

Pokémon Fusion: Shellchop vs Mudra

Looks like I wasn't done with the Pokémon thing. Not sure what you're looking at? Maybe I need to explain "Pokémon Fusion". Meanwhile those who already know can head on down to the cool club and I'll catch up with you later.

A web developer called Alex Onsager developed a website where you can 'fuse' two different Pokémon together and make completely new ones. The images used on the website are the little pixelated spirtes from the games, so a trend developed amongst geeky artists where they'd fully illustrated the results. This is mine.

I read people were making fusions before that particular website was around, but this is the point where I got on board. I don't know if there are rules, if we were supposed to draw the first fusion we got. I just kept clicking "random" until I found something I like. And even then, I kept on clicking 'cos you just get some damn nice (or laugh-out-loud ridiculous) results. "Shellchop" and "Mudra" are the ones that stuck for me.

I was a little wary of taking part in what is essentially a meme, so I decided to go a bit different and have them battling. That's why we like the game in the first place, right?

Infamous Comic #31, Sketch and Inks

Here are the sketch and inks to the 31st installment of my webcomic The Infamous Five! Today's discussion is the 'N' word.

Sketch and inks to the 30th strip of my webcomic The Infamous Five!

Pokémon Week, Day 3; Braviary vs Staraptor

Looks like I did set the third drawing someplace else; two fierce birds fighting in the sky. Or maybe they're just going in for a hug, who knows? I should know really.

Braviary is another Pokémon from the latest games that makes me think the 5th generation is the best. I love the shape of him, the colours, and the way those feathers sprout from his head. He seems to be based on a Bald Eagle which, along with the red white and blue colours, is associated with modern America, but the headdress is the style of native America. That's just a cool idea to me.

Staraptor, well, I mainly picked him because I hadn't drawn one from the 4th generation yet. I'd previously regarded it as just being fat and grey. But I wanted another bird to draw here, and it's bulky size and blade-shaped hair made it seem a worthy opponent. And after drawing it... yeah, I suppose it's not too bad really.

I usually like my skies to be bright blue, but for each drawing this week I wanted the background "plate" at a different colour and angle. The grass was flat 'cos the characters were fighting on top. The water was diagonal 'cos the characters can fight both on and beneath it. It made sense for the sky to be straight on. The dusk colours are pretty dramatic for the fight, but it also a good symbol of ending... because that's it! The end of Pokémon week.

Maybe I'll draw more at some point in the future. The 6th generation games come out soon, right? Pokémon X and Y. Maybe I'll draw some of those. Or maybe I just mentioned that to make this blog show up on search engines, who knows. I should know really (yes, that is why I mentioned that). Anyway, what are there, another 100+ new ones? I think they'll always introduce more monsters then I'll have time to draw...

Pokémon Week, Day 2; Carracost vs Carvanha

Gamers often complain about the newer generation of Pokémon. "Nothing can beat the 1st generation" they say, as if Diglett and Bellsprout were design masterpieces. Although I have to admit, they were right about some of them. Eventually, even my tolerance gave out by 4th installment when, halfway through, every monster I came across seemed little more than smiley faces on shapes. Chingling? Bronzor? Come on.

But the latest series... am I imagining this, or did they throw more oomph into the 5th generation? Overall, I prefer them to the originals. Man, in gamer terms, that's probably as controversial as saying I prefer North to South Korea. Pokémon Black/White just feels so fresh. All the monsters were new, the graphics were given a big kick... Okay, so there are still some stinkers littering the species. But there are far more knockouts.

Carracosta, for example.

I was worried his armoured shell, which really makes the design for me, would be really frustrating to draw. But it was pretty painless. That said, I think I was so concerned with getting it right I didn't drift too far from Ken Sugimori's original drawing. I usually like to put more of my own spin on things. I was at least able to do that with the Carvanha swarming beneath him, who I also thought were pretty cool from 3rd gen.

So. The previous drawing took place on grass. This one in water. I suppose I should set the 3rd somewhere else too? I'll think about it and get back to you on Friday.

Pokémon Week, Day 1: Scyther vs Heracross

Battles like this is what comes to mind when guys talk about the Pokémon franchise; big bugs and sword arms. There's also the dragons, giant metal snakes, dark shape-shifting wolves... we really don't give a shit about singing pink circles like Jigglypuff. Except some guys do. Including me.

Scyther is one of my favourites though. Its design was one of the reasons I started playing the game in the first place.

It's gonna be a Pokémon themed week here, updating Monday, Wednesday and Friday. See you in a coupla days!