Sunday, December 7, 2014

Lanturn Night - process

If you know me at all, you know I like Pokemon. After playing Omega Ruby to the point where I could raise a Pokemon called Lanturn, I decided to draw a scene that kept popping up in my head while swimming with this oceanic creature.

Here's what it looks like in the game, on the calm waters of Route 120. In the daytime it reflects clouds or a sunny sky. At night, however, you float through a field of stars.


It's my favorite place. 

Lanturn is a mix of basic features between an angler fish, dolphin, and shark, only much more cute and featuring glowing orb-shaped lures (hence the name Lanturn). Unfortunately its sprite doesn't show up beneath the trainer. I thought it would be so cool to see Lanturn's glow illuminate your environment at night or deep in the dark sea. This idea caught my imagination on fire and I had to let it out.

This is the process, starting from a sketch without reference:


Rather simple idea, huh?

I decided to change the trainer's pose so she could hold a fishing rod, albeit absent-minded. I wanted the trainer and her Lanturn to be doing the same action (fishing); even though they're very different from each other, this subtle repeated theme is meant to bring them closer. It's as reflective as the calm water.

A note - a feature in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire is the updated Pokedex. You can examine the 3D models of every single creature: rotate them, play their animations, do both at the same time, AND you can pause the animations as reference. You'll notice the Lanturn in my sketch is quite different from the one in the final.

I'm pointing this out because the tool was incredibly useful in finding Lanturn's correct physique. Reference online yields many results, most of which have conflicting colors and proportions, as shown. (These are official game sprites)
Lanturn  sprite from GoldLanturn  sprite from CrystalLanturn  sprite from Ruby & SapphireLanturn  sprite from Diamond & PearlLanturn  sprite from HeartGold & SoulSilverLanturn  sprite from Black & White
The tiny variations drove me nuts. So, turning to this latest game's Pokedex was very helpful.

To start off, I blocked out the Pokemon and her trainer (me).


Next, I quickly added the trainer's colors and the light sources. Lighting is my favorite part of any drawing or painting, and it's an imperative part of this scene, so it made me very happy. I reflected the nebulous starscape into the water.


Lit up the trainer and the Pokemon and put some misty light ambiance in the water, coming from the stars and the glowing lures:


Needed more glow from Lanturn's orbs, so next I put a warm haze around them, and had that light reflect moreso on the water. I also toned down the sky so it wasn't quite as distracting. Because Route 120 features ponds and small lakes (not an endless ocean), I added rock formations on the horizon to encapsulate the area:


The main piece is finished, but emptiness is not something I wanted to convey. The easiest way to get rid of that is to add more life to the scene. Here's the final; see if you can spot the other 4 Pokemon in the environment. Thank you for reading!


-Kez

7 comments:

  1. Hi, a tiny comment to say I really really liked this picture! It feels so nice and relaxing.
    A Lanturn fan

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    1. Thank you kindly! I'm glad you enjoy it, and glad there are more Lanturn fans out there. :)

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  2. I saw this picture few days ago somewhere in the web and it was so beautiful I immediately downloaded and used as a lock screen for my smartphone. Then, I decided to find the artist that made it and here you are!
    I only want you to know I love this work.

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    1. Aw, thanks so much for trying to find me! Art will inevitably be shared all over the internet, most often without credit, so I'm happy you took the time to seek the original. It means a lot.

      Enjoy the image, and if you can find the place where you saw this image posted, let em know where they can find me too ;)

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  3. Beautiful picture I came across. I wanted to thank the creator ! Thank you :)

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  4. I came across this pic in the web and then kind of hunted down the source to this page .... Just wanted to say that it is amazingly relaxing just to look at it and want more like them in deserts , mountains, Forests etc

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  5. Hi, not sure how often you check comments on your website. Just wanted to say I really like your work! I saw this picture online and they credited your DA account. I don't have a DA account but I wanted you to know this is one of my favorite images! Hope you're still doing art!

    ReplyDelete