weasyl.com · 2560309:9785297

Further Confusion was last week, and I had a wonderful time! This year I did something unusual, attending the con's first day on Thursday. Normally I skip Thursday since the dealer den doesn't open until Friday, but I wanted to meet with some friends who were arriving at the con early. There's not a lot of activities on Thursday asides from a few panels and the opening ceremonies. One of the panels on Thursday was a watercolor painting panel, and out of curiosity I decided to check it out. The panel room provided paper, colored pencils, and paint, and I tried to brainstorm what I would do. I don't normally work with watercolors, but the one artist I thought of was Pokémon illustrator Ken Sugimori and his illustrations for Gen 1 of Pokémon. I then thought what if I drew one of my characters in Sugimori style as if they were a trainer or being encountered like a wild Pokémon battle? I thought my platypus Shank, with his short temper and venomous spurs, would be fitting candidate for an action themed watercolor painting.

I first sketched Shank with a normal pencil and then went over my sketch lines with the colored pencils provided. I started to paint parts of Shank's body, however I was running out of time for the panel and I was only able to do his purple tail and orange bill and flippers. The paints provided were glittery too, so if you were to look at my painting irl, Shank's flippers and tails would sparkle! Maybe this is his shiny form, lol. I took the painting home and added the brown paint to Shank's body, finishing him. I left some spots unpainted to look like highlights, and to better blend them, I dipped a paper towel into my water, and then very gently dabbed the edges of the paint to blend them and make the paint look softer around the highlights. Finally, I went over my color pencil outlines with colored micron pens to help make the outlines stand out more. The red "impact" effect around Shank's right spur is colored pencil rather than paint. I'm happy with how this came out, and I might do more of my characters in Sugimori style in action poses that make them look like either trainers or they're in wild battles.

Over on Deviant Art, you can see cell phone photos of my WIP sketches. Please check those out too! https://www.deviantart.com/guineapigdan/art/1290157644