PokéMum

My mum doesn’t know anything about Pokémon, but she loves to draw. I’ve challenged her to draw every single Pokémon based only on the Biology descriptions from Bulbapedia. The order she draws them is completely random.

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  • Haunter

    Bulbapedia description:

    Haunter is a purple Pokémon with a gaseous body. It has a round head flanked by three large, spiked protrusions on either side. It has triangular eyes with small pupils and a mouth with a long, pink tongue. The gases composing its head curve into its mouth to form several pointed teeth. Disembodied hands with three clawed fingers each float in front of its body. Its body tapers into a jagged tail. Haunter’s gaseous form makes it one of the lightest Pokémon in existence.

    My notes:

    Mum knocks it out the park again with this stellar new design for Haunter. The description goes hard on Haunter’s gaseous nature but it’s not something that’s really visible in the official design. Mum represents Haunter’s gaseous body using multicoloured particles that make up a spooky ghost shape. The tongue is now forked and the disembodied hands have hoops around them, as if borrowed from Hoopa!

    Mum’s notes:

    I really enjoyed visualising Haunter. I was so intrigued by its gaseous structure and the wonderful description of the mouth. I decided to compose Haunter’s body completely of small particles to represent gas and to make only the features solid. I hope I captured the gas curving towards its mouth, what an exciting feature! I also adore the floating unattached hands. What a terrific concept for a Pokémon!

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  • Bellsprout

    Bulbapedia description:

    Bellsprout is a plant-based Pokémon with a stem-like brown body. There is a single green leaf on each side of its body. It has a yellow bell-shaped head with what appear to be pink lips at the end and beady black eyes. It is capable of spitting corrosive acid from its mouth. Its stem is long, thin and very flexible, making it capable of swerving rapidly to avoid many attacks or moving with blinding speed to capture prey. Its roots resemble feet, and it uses them as such.

    My notes:

    I’d never expected Bellsprout to look so suggestive with its full pink lips and giant eyes. Mum’s bell shape is the opposite way around to the official version but everything else looks spot on. Mum has characteristically gone with a more realistic version of its root feet. I think Mum’s design helps you to realise what a strange prospect the original is.

    Mum’s notes:

    The description for Bellsprout was very clear and simple to follow. My main decision-making during design surrounded the direction of the bell-shaped flower. I made the lips very feminine and pouty, ready to spit their poison! The eyes were described as beady, so I made them round and shiny like black beads. I enjoyed drawing the feet – which are supposed to look like roots and I think this works well. 

    I don’t know if anyone will notice, but this is the only PokéMum where the name appears superimposed upon the design itself.

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  • Charmander

    Bulbapedia description:

    Charmander is a bipedal, reptilian Pokémon with a primarily orange body and blue eyes. Its underside from the chest down and the soles of its feet are cream-colored. It has two small fangs visible in its upper jaw and two smaller fangs in its lower jaw. A fire burns at the tip of this Pokémon’s slender tail and has blazed there since Charmander’s birth.

    My notes:

    The description says “bipedal” but honestly I’m here for mum’s quadripedal Charmander, as it looks dope. Mum gives this iconic Pokémon an astonishingly different design that still encapsulates all of Charmander’s signature features. With shining scales and an extremely long tail, Charmander is a lot less cute than he used to be, but he makes for a fantastic PokéMum. I’d definitely choose him to explore Kanto with.

    Mum’s notes:

    Charmander was a joy to design! The description is short and simple, really rather elegant. On rereading the description, I should have made Charmander more upright-looking. I think I got entranced by the idea of a reptilian Pokémon and ignored the fact that Charmander walks on two legs – oops! I was pleased with the fangs and large blue eyes. The long slender tail and flame burst at the end make Charmander a very attractive PokéMum.

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  • Garchomp

    Bulbapedia description:

    Garchomp is a bipedal, draconian Pokémon that is primarily dark blue in color. It has red on its underbelly from the lower jaw to the middle of the abdomen, including the undersides of its arms. A patch of gold comes to a point below the red on its belly, and a golden star shape adorns the tip of its snout. Garchomp has horn-like appendages that resemble a jet or plane’s engines, giving it an appearance similar to a hammerhead shark. These horns allow it to sense its prey from a long distance. Its large mouth features razor-sharp teeth. The feet have three white talons, and each arm has a single large, white claw for a hand. Curved fins sprout from the arms, creating wings that allow Garchomp to fly. Garchomp also has a large dorsal fin and another on its tail that resembles a shark tailfin. The male’s dorsal fin has a notch on it. Pairs of small, white spikes protrude from its upper arms and legs, and there are gill-like slits on the sides of the neck. The eyes are intense, with black sclerae and gold-colored irises.

    My notes:

    Don’t skip leg day! I’m not sure this guy would be able to stand on those spindly little legs that end in loose claws. Otherwise, I’d say Mum has pretty much nailed Garchomp’s shark-dragon aesthetic pretty well, with most of its signature features still intact. This Garchomp has a gigantic head that ends in a funny star-nose and a row of eyelashes that say “come hither”. Is this Garchomp or Garchad?

    Mum’s notes:

    I really, really struggled to draw this Pokémon. Someone looking at my picture said it looked like a dragon in a hammerhead shark costume! And that really sums up my problems. How to combine the recognisable features of a dragon with some of the appendages of a hammerhead shark? Graphically, I like the primary colour combination and the jet-engine-type horns on the head, but the whole Pokémon doesn’t really come together for me. 

    I look at my Garchomp, sigh and say “Oh dear”!

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  • Rufflet

    Bulbapedia description:

    Rufflet is a small avian Pokémon with a blue body. A large white plume of feathers covers its head and three tail feathers extend from its lower back. The feathery ruff extends down past its neck, covering the upper third of its body. Its face is blue with five pointed tips, resembling a mask and crown in contrast to the white feathers surrounding it. Extending from its forehead is a large feather, which is red on the lower half and white on the upper half. The split between the two colors on the feather resembles a zigzag pattern. Rufflet’s beak is short and wide, with large eyes on either side. Each eye has a thick black iris with a small white pupil. Its yellow legs and feet are large in comparison to the body. Each foot has four digits: one backwards, and three forwards.

    Extra detail: pale yellow beak

    My notes:

    This bizarre blue dodo is the latest oddity to come from the mind of Mum. The original Rufflet looks like an eagle crossed with an owl, but Mum has opted for something closer to an ostrich. All the feathers make me think of a cheerleader’s outfit, but the star-shaped head and black eyes make this a truly surreal bird. Points for creativity!

    Mum’s notes:

    It was really hard to interpret the idea of a face shaped with five tips (like a star I thought), that is also split into a mask and a crown, oh and it has a beak and a central feather!  So I came up with this odd-looking Rufflet visage, but it does more-or-less accurately fulfil the description.

    Beyond that, because of the long legs, I went for a crazy ostrich-type bird body shape with heraldic fleur-de-lys ostrich feathers. It’s an unusual Pokémon but the “Big Bird” vibe makes me smile!

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  • Duraludon

    Bulbapedia description:

    Duraludon is a tall bipedal dinosaur-like Pokémon with large feet, a chunky tail, and a head integrated into its neck. Its body is mainly light gray and dark blue, with zigzag patterns running down its body, gray bands around its arms, and two black slits on its lower chest. Its hands have four triangular indents. Duraludon’s head has a small red section and multiple slits on it. It also has yellow eyes with green pupils, and it appears to be permanently scowling. It moves its upper jaw when opening its mouth. Duraludon armor has a smooth feel, similar to a mirror finish.

    Extra details: dark gray zigzags, long slit in the red section of its head and then two smaller slits either side, feet are large but appear to have one dark blue “toe” each, only other places you see dark blue are on its underbelly and on its hands, rest is light grey, arm has two grey bands, closer to the body than to the hands, arms start skinny but increase in size towards the hand, the outside of each foot are two short vertical ridges

    My notes:

    Bulbapedia’s descriptions are often excellent, but Duraludon’s description was desperately lacking in detail. This resulted in me having to give Mum a copious amount of extra detail to at least get some of the details correct.

    It’s still no surprise that Mum’s monster is very different from the original Duraludon, given just what a weird Pokémon it is, equal parts robot, dinosaur and building. Mum’s smoother version looks more like the Terminator 2 version, perhaps made of liquid metal.

    Mum’s notes:

    My main challenge when drawing Duraludon was to convey the idea of an armoured, mirror-finished outer skin. I tried to use a reflective line of lighter-coloured skin down the length of Duraludon’s body. To be honest, I don’t think I am very successful, but the lighter area suggests a shiny surface. I enjoy the scowling mouth and the head integrated into the thick neck – Duraludon is a tough and mean-looking Pokémon!

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  • Feebas

    Bulbapedia description:

    Feebas is a shabby, old-looking, fishlike Pokémon with a light brown body covered in dark, irregular spots. It has large, deep-set eyes and big, pink lips. The tail and pectoral fins are dull blue and tattered in appearance. The dorsal fin is triangular with a hole in the middle. Feebas is famous for its shabby appearance and is considered the shabbiest Pokémon.

    My notes:

    Feebas gets a glow-up! I find it funny how often the description uses the word ‘shabby’ and I was curious to see what Mum would come up with. Rather than the ugly old fish you see in the official Feebas, Mum’s version looks like a tattered former beauty queen, the type of fish that would win prizes but has now lived into her old age. The eyelashes and lips really sell this perception but of course, the magnificent fins and tail are what truly draw the eye.

    Mum’s notes:

    I found it really hard to make Feebas look shabby. The fins are tattered and full of holes but Feebas still looks attractive. I think the big pink lips and deep-set eyes led me that way. I was enjoying the colour combination of pink-brown-blue – my Feebas is just irrepressibly pretty!

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  • Terrakion

    Bulbapedia description:

    Terrakion is a bovine, quadrupedal Pokémon. It has a black, rounded forehead adorned with two brown, axe-like horns that curve forward. Its face is beige with orange eyes and a short snout. On top of its head are several short spikes. Down its back are two brown ridges that join just past its shoulders. There are two orange protrusions on its shoulders. The bands around its legs are the same color as its face, and it has black hooves underneath these bands. Its striped underside is also beige. It has a short, stubby tail.

    Additional info: grey main body.

    My notes:

    I knew we were in for a fun time with the word ‘bovine’ in the first sentence of the description, but I had no idea I’d see literal axes protuding from its skull! More worryingly, on closer inspection, one of the axes comes from the center of its head while the other comes all the way from the extreme right!

    His striped tummy looks as if it’s been sliced open and is now healing, while the orange hump on its back looks like a gaping sore. No wonder this is such a sad-looking cow.

    I noticed that the description did not list the main body colour for Terrakion, so I added that for Mum. Going forward, I want to try and fill in any significant gaps I see in the description for Mum’s benefit to try and draw something less ambiguously.

    Mum’s notes:

    I enjoyed painting Terrakion, I love the gentle, rounded, ruminative quality of cattle. I think my Terrakion is amusing in that I have drawn a soft domestic beast with literal axe-adorned horns! That’s how the description spoke to me.

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  • Bagon

    Bulbapedia description:

    Bagon is a bipedal, blue, reptilian Pokémon vaguely resembling a Pachycephalosaurus. It possesses a large, round snout, triangular eyes, yellow, circular ears similar to reptiles, and a yellow lower jaw with two teeth protruding upwards. Three thick, gray ridges cover the top of its head and continue downwards to cover its neck as well. There is a triangular patch of yellow on its underside. It has stubby, digit-less arms and short legs with two toes on each foot.

    My notes:

    Bagon has a beak now? That wasn’t on my bingo card. It also looks so weird with a tail, but now I’m realising the original looks weird without a tail. Mum has upgraded Bagon’s grey dome to a set of cornrows. With the stubby hands as well (which are true to the original), this is an extremely strange-looking PokéMum.

    Mum’s notes:

    Bagon was conceptually simple once I looked at a few Pachycephalosaurus dinosaurs. I think I made his legs a little too long. I love the yellow/ blue combination and I am pleased with the ruffle-like ridges on his head. Perhaps his face is a little too much like a beak?

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  • Sentret

    Bulbapedia description:

    Sentret is a small mammalian Pokémon covered in brown fur. It has long, dark brown ears with dark pink interiors, beady black eyes, and a small mouth. While it is capable of standing on its hind legs, it typically moves on all fours. It has a round body with wide arms and two small feet. On its belly is a white ring and there are dark brown stripes around its tail.

    Sentret has a cautious, timid nature and can often be seen standing on its tail to scout its surroundings.

    My notes:

    This is probably the first critter you’d see as you begin your trek around Johto and as such Sentret has tremendous Nostalgia value for me. Mum’s more realistic take on Sentret makes it lose some of its ‘cute’ factor but I still enjoy seeing the round ring on its belly. I tried to include the description of it standing on its tail so that Mum’s version could have had a similar pose but alas it did not translate.

    Mum’s notes:

    Sentret was a pleasure to draw. The description was simple and cute to design. I really enjoyed giving this creature exaggerated long ears with lovely pink interiors. I think his twinkly black eyes and his wide arms make him look like he would be good at hugging! I tried to depict him, standing using his tail as support, the way a kangaroo would do. However, I see the original Sentret uses his tail as a sort of platform to lift him up – genius design! Wish I thought of it!

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