Q: All drafts go through a review* by Creatures Inc. This helps give a better idea of how the finished product will look. Personally, I like to include the background and lighting in my drafts. Once I’ve decided the pose and composition, I’ll start making a more detailed draft with some rough coloring. Depending on the illustration, it may take me a whole day, with several drafts, to get through this step. I make more rough sketches, asking myself whether the illustration would be cooler if the Pokémon’s face was oriented in a different way, if the composition was flipped, and so on, until, by trial and error, the result starts resembling what I had in mind to begin with. In order to see how it would actually look like on a card, I sketch a very rough draft with little more than outlines.Īfter looking at them on paper, the awesome ideas I had in my head often turn out to be…not very cool after all (laughs). Q: Please tell us about your process for sketching drafts.Ī: During the research process, I come up with an idea of the illustration I want to make. Step 2: Sketching and Delivering the Draft

But since I only put pen to paper after I’ve already decided how I want the illustration to look, finding research material is essential for me! I’d say I even spend more time on this than I do on sketching the actual drafts. The research step takes a considerable amount of time. Q: So, you spend a lot of time researching before you start drawing.Ī: I definitely do. After this is done, I start solidifying on what will be the composition and background for the illustration. Other than learning about the Pokémon in the games, I also check whether it has appeared in the animation series, on TV, or in the movies. I also use the Trading Card Database on the Pokémon TCG website to look at existing cards made by other Official Pokémon Trading Card Game Illustrators to check that what I plan on drawing isn’t too similar in composition or style. After that, I collect materials on the creatures that are similar to the Pokémon’s design. In a way, it’s like reading the encyclopedia of an animal. I read to find out where the Pokémon lives, what it feeds on, and what its strengths are. How do you approach this? Also, tell us more about your preliminary research on the Pokémon.Ī: The first thing I always do is read the Pokédex information from the video games.

Getting to find out which Pokémon it’s going to be feels like opening a treasure chest! Then, while checking the materials I’ve been provided for that Pokémon, I start coming up with different ideas on how to draw it, and I start familiarizing myself with it. give you when they ask you for an illustration?Ī: When the scheduled order date comes in advance, I receive the order by email, and that’s when I first know what Pokémon has been selected. Q: How does the process work from the Pokémon selection to researching and drafting the illustration’s composition? And what kind of materials does Creatures Inc. Step 1: Pokémon Selection, Researching, and Drafting the Composition

For example, I’ve always liked TV shows starring heroes and heroines, especially the scenes where they fight the bad guys! That made me fall in love with all things “cool,” and even today, that’s what I try to achieve with my illustrations. Q: You’re really particular about “coolness.”Ī: I’ve loved cool things for as long as I can remember. That is, where does a Pokémon live? How does it live? What are its strengths? What do its struggles look like? I want to address these questions-making the answers look cool. Q: First of all, please tell us what you consider important in drawing an illustration.Ī: To me, showing a Pokémon’s “life” is the most important thing. Step 5: Completion! What to Keep In Mind When Drawing an Illustration

Pokemon sketch