HOME | DD
PM-James — Solarshadow Designs
#comic #dark #eevee #eeveelution #espeon #fairy #psychic #series #shadow #solar #type #umbreon #nymphia #pookemon #sylveon #solarshadow
Published: 2018-02-20 07:45:14 +0000 UTC; Views: 2283; Favourites: 25; Downloads: 8
Redirect to original
Description
So this is something I've been thinking of doing for a little while now. Been getting more comments about this and I will go into more detail about it. Basically the characters are drawn differently from the normal Pokemon designs and they are drawn that way on purpose. All of the characters have these design changes, some of them are simple changes and others are more intricate. This was done for a handful of reasons:1) To give the characters a unique look to them. I wanted Solar for instance to look like a normal Espeon (no weird colors, no weird add ons, anything like that) while still looking unique compared to other Espeons. Same goes for the rest of them. This allows for him to look unique compared to other Espeons in the story itself and compared to other Espeon characters you might see in other people's stories.
2) To give the series I make a unique appearance. When I did this, I was more interested in producing something that would be unique and different from what everybody else was doing. My goal was to create character designs and an art style that was very different ones other people were doing. You know immediately what series they belong to and who created them as soon as they appear. I admit it may not be the best art style but it is very different from other art styles and that is more important to me.
3) Play into their personalities. Nymphia highlights that the most I think. Nymphia is supposed to look battle worn, like she has been through a lot. She doesn't have the roundness and general cuteness Sylveon usually has, favoring sharper edges, duller pinks, stuff like that. Shadow also has features like that, Umbreon has aggressive features (thin pointed ears, narrow rings, etc). Shadow has rounder features, brighter thicker rings, etc to give him a more friendly sort of look.
So that's the gist of it, on the left we have how they usually look and on the right is what they would look like if I were to draw them normally (normal feature placement, anatomy, coloring, etc). They look interesting like that to me and in some ways I like those designs but I find them generic. Hope you guys found that interesting and more to come.
*For those curious, yes, Rotaar is redesigned around the same concept though his wings are also given an in universe explanation that he is a hybrid, being the son of a Talonflame as well.*
Related content
Comments: 23
Honestly, I love all three of them. Personality is exactly what I'm looking for in a comic 😁
I have never been too big of a fan of Sylveon's cutesy design. Seeing it take over competitive with the title of "Dragon Slayer" just didn't make it seem right that it was a cheerful looking pink puppy. However, when Nymphia's design got fleshed out, I absolutely LOVED it. It retains what a fairy type essentially is, what with most of them being cute and pink, but this design gives her an extra dangerous look which is clearing shown in scenes such as the "Rotaar Draining Kiss" scene. Overall, it's perfect for her character. Good job!
I don't have anything I particularly want to say about the other two, but I love them as well.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Well should be plenty of that here, I am usually very character driven with the stories I write.
Yeah with Nymphia, I wanted her to be able to do botht he aggressive fights and the romantic stuff, so I wanted a design that could do both effectively. There's a lot of little tricks to making a character look more approachable, more aggressive, etc, I tried a combination of them with her. I'm pretty happy with it.
Thanks!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I think when it comes to personality Solars design the way it is was very important. If I see a regular Espeon, I can't find anything cocky, arrogant or reckless. I can't find much proudness either in the original design, it would be more like grace. In contrary: Espeon to me screams calm mind (pun intended) and also a little bit of wisdom. Especially his head form and his long neck is the reason I buy him for what he is. Another thing thats always to mention to me is the difference of the seing the mouth is extremly important to me.
I can't say to much to Shadow apart from that the design is just well done. I can't tell to much how the design changes make him look more of a friendly mon. I just can tell they do. I guess it's the things you say in the description.
Now Nymphia is just the best to me. In the beginning it took me a while to get used to her, but she really grew on me the deeper I got to know her.
Most important thing is the battleworn part. Couldn't have descripted it better. She looks like the tough daughter of a gun that she is, and I really love it. Everytime I look at her body, it reminds me of how strong she is. Another thing that Nymphias design acutally tells great is her social behaviour. WHat I mean by this is that a regular Sylveon to me looks like it would easily makefriends with everyone and not be to sceptical about it, while when I look Mrs. Moonblast, I get kinda a lone dog vibe, even if she still not look slike she would be antisocial. Not easy to describe. Last to note is that I like the eyecolor and ribboncolor is great as well. It reminds me of like in the actual world where flash colour often symbolizes enemies that they should watch out before attacking. It also gives her a special aura that she seems to have some great mystical power, which would be a way I would take the fairy- type seriously (doesn't mea I will ever forgive that it's super effective to dragon).
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks! A lot of the designs are based on making them fit the roles better. Solar is cocky, arrogant, prideful, but he's also supposed to care a great deal for family members. So most of his features are built around that.
Shadow has a lot of the sharpness removed, the ears and tail bend and sway more, stuff like that. Generally if you want to design a character to look approachable, you make them rounder, curvier, etc, and you avoid sharp and stiff elements. Shadow is supposed to be the friendliest of the three of them and he is also supposed to care what people think of him and wants to put out a good impression. So his design is built around that.
With Nymphia, she needs to be able to do several things since characterwise she has the most variation. So she has some of the round, cuteness that Sylveon usually has with the sharpness in other places. Most of the sharpness is away from the face and chest, the feelers, the tail, stuff like that. There are still some elements in the face, like the eye colors being very contrasting so she can look aggressive when need to. That was the basic idea.
Mrs.Moonblast XD, a fitting nickname Rotaar didn't think of XD
As far as Fairy types go, I always got more of a general nature vibe from them, like they draw power from the forest, the moon, etc and are weakened by metal, toxins, etc. I feel like the type was intended to be something like Arcana or something like that but was changed for whatever reason.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
*sighs and shakes head* ... You're...not gonna like what I have to say... But in my opinion...the designs on the right look far better and closer to the designs of the other eeveelutions shown so far in the comic(s) you've produced. I can understand you wanting to have your own unique style...to the characters and all...but unique is only a small part of overall design. Solar and Shadow look fine and more or less are close to their representations (minus the 4 digits per paw instead of three)...but then we get to Nymphia (Sylveon).
So let me say this... As an avid lover of Sylveon (my OC even is one)...yours just never got to me the right way. I've not taken as much note...but now seeing the two designs side by side...it just makes me see it big time. Her concept and backstory are nice and explain her well, as well as her special feelers, but in all seriousness...why is the neck bow on her chest? I mean...it's called a neck bow right? Why is it on her chest? I don't get it at all. And something else I notice...why is her neck more slanted forward than Solar and Shadow? Essentially she's not even standing upright in the posture which is different from both Solar and Shadow.
I know I'm gonna get a lot of words tossed back at me for saying this...but I'd rather take the color scheme and unique features hybridized onto the designs on the right with slight changes for uniqueness...because seeing these two side by side now...again just makes me want those designs on the right more. Not because they're generic or like every other artist's design (which they're not, each artist's style has a uniqueness to it by color, by style, by design...even if they all follow the same original layout)...but because they make sense. You say that you wanted to make your characters stand out to know what story they are from...but how will anyone know what story they are from...if they can't find it to read it?
If I'm to be totally and completely honest, your story was actually HARDER to find because of this. (No seriously, I found this comic because of The Shining Consequence since those pokemon look more close to their original designs. True story. I wouldn't lie about that.) After I did find your comic I have enjoyed the story telling and most of the pokemon look amazing in the design but they don't stray too far from the original design either (your take on Mew is personally my favorite designed pokemon). But the trouble was that I had such a hard time finding the comic to begin with. SolarShadow was easily the hardest pokemon comic I ever looked for without having The Shining Consequence to link from. Google searches never gave me your comic. It was honestly frustrating to find it before I got a DA account. If it wasn't for The Shining Consequence...I likely would have never found SolarShadow...and that depresses me that I couldn't find it without using another comic as a link to.
Now that I'm done...I apologize if I made any offense or slanderous opinions. I just wanted to share my...criticism...of the decision...and how it might have...effected me finding the comic to begin with..? You know...I should stop now because I don't even know how to say what I'm trying to say.
Ugh. I'm out.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
"the designs on the right look far better and closer to the designs of the other eeveelutions shown so far in the comic(s) you've produced."
In what way exactly? If you think they look better that's fine, in some ways I like those too, but they look generic and like any other Espeon, any other Umbreon, etc, to me.
As for the other Eeveelutions I've shown so far, which ones would that be exactly? All of them have these changes, Aqualus for instance has darker blues (in both his mid blue and his head and scale blue), the scales on his back are individual apposed to being one large fin, The ear fins on the sides of his head are very different, his eyes are black instead of purple, his tail fin splays out much more, he also has four toes, his paw pads are blue instead of pink, etc. He has just as many differences as these guys do (far more than Shadow does). Blaze is the same way, so is Tyler, Ian, and Harvest (they also have differences between the three of them as well to distinguish them from one another), etc. Even the Jolteon that appeared brifely in the flashback had that. So which one are you talking about exactly?
"but unique is only a small part of overall design."
It's everything, not a small part. When you create your own series (including fan work) one of the most important things is to make it distinctive. One way to do that is to produce an instantly recognizable style, something that is instantly recognizable as that series. Even if somebody hasn't read my comics, if they see say the portrait I will never dissapoint you and than stumble across a comic with Nymphia in it, you can tell that those two are the same Sylveon. The reason for that is the designs.
"why is the neck bow on her chest? I mean...it's called a neck bow right? Why is it on her chest? I don't get it at all."
This seems awful nitpicky to me, Shadows rings are much thicker, Solar's gem is held much higher up on his head, but no problem with any of those? The reason is she is supposed to look battle worn. A bow held high up on her neck makes it more difficult for the character to look that way, a trait like that makes her look peppy. If she wasn't frowning in that shot, there'd be no sign of that in her whatsoever. Scenes where she ducks her head down don't work as well when she is ducking down into a giant bow. She is supposed to look like she has been through the wood works.
"why is her neck more slanted forward than Solar and Shadow?"
Because Solar and Shadow don't have those traits and both of them have a reason to stand up straight. Solar is a prideful character who considers himself the most powerful psychic in the region. He stands tall because of that, he sees himself as something great (the first page even had him say, "Bring on the meek and the great, I'll bury them all"). Shadow is concerned about what people think of him and tries to put out a good impression, one way to do that is to stand up straight, make yourself look like the kind of person that would deserve respect. Nymphia has no reason to stand like that. She's a thief and wasn't proud of that, she was taken away from her master who she loved, her best friend hates her now, etc. She has nothing to be proud of anymore. She also doesn't care what people think of her like Shadow does, so she has no reason to put on an act either. So she has no reason to be posed like that, especially here where the point was to illustrate the design elements that pushed their personalities.
"because seeing these two side by side now...again just makes me want those designs on the right more."
Just makes me more confident the goal was achieved. They don't look the same, yet are still recognizable as Sylveon, Espeon, etc. If Solar was standing around twenty other Espeons, he would be instantly picked out in the crowd, because he has noticeable differences, he looks unique. Elements like Solar's pride fullness I think come out there with details like his gem being held up much higher (a simple way to demonstrate pride, he holds his power source up high), etc. with other details like his more detailed chest gives him a more open appearance, so when he goes to comfort Tyler, it would look more believable. Stuff like that.
"...but because they make sense. "
Ok, say I changed Nymphia's design to the one on the right, character and events are all the same otherwise. How would it make more sense exactly? Imagine that look in these three scenes but now she looks like that:
Nymphia was riding on Rotaars back, she bit him with Draining Kiss, he asked, "What kind of kiss was that?!" and she responded, "The kind they give in hell!"
When she was restrained and giving commentary, she said, "They learned quickly they had to muzzle me if they wanted to keep all there fingers."
Nymphia has been defeated by Rotaar and he says he will eat her, to which she replies, "Well than I hope you choke on it!"
To me, it comes across as much goofier, having the big bow up by her head, she looks way to cute to be saying things like that making it more comical than anything else. I see nothing that suggests that change would be helpful.
"...but how will anyone know what story they are from...if they can't find it to read it?"
That's not a design issue, that's a popularity issue. When I typed in Eevee comic into google, I couldn't find any of my comics. When I typed in Espeon comic,
this one popped up. Which I think proves my point, I was looking fro Espeon comics, and the only one where Solar shows up is one where he is only in a couple panels and wasn't the focus of the page at all. The way google works is it's based on the number of views something has (assuming they aren't paid to make it more easy to find, which I obviously don't pay them). So if somebody has a comic with Espeon in it (or at least in the key words) that has 10,000 views, it will be easier to find than this page here with 2,200 views. This page
has much more to do with Espeon, him being the focus and in every single panel. But that page has only about 1,100 views, ergo the search engine will consider the page with 2,200 views more likely what people are looking for, despite Solar losing it having much more to do with Espeons and the Solar character as well. The thing is, I am not very popular, I have a fairly respectable audience I'd say but there are far, far more popular people on here than me. That's just how it goes, it might have to do with the content I create, it might have to do with me being only on Deviantart and not on other sites gaining viewership there, it might have to do with pure luck and be completely out of my control, who knows.
"(No seriously, I found this comic because of The Shining Consequence since those pokemon look more close to their original designs."
No they don't. Like I demonstrated with Aqualus, he looks very different. I'd say the only character that looks fairly close to the original design is the female Absol Aura, who has made the least number of physical appearances in the comic to date (especially during Crystal's attack, she only physically appeared in one page during that entire sequence, only being mentioned otherwise and wouldn't get much focus on until after the attack). Aydrean appeared several times and his lower half is very different from the normal Hydreigon (different legs, feet and tail, different head too). Blaze is colored completely differently from a normal Flareon, her mane has been redesigned quite a bit, her head and face are very different, etc. Tyler is much brighter in colors, his grey is akin to Silver apposed to the metalish grey Shiny Eevee normally is, his mane is a pearl white apposed to the off white it usually is, his ear fluff is different, his tail and legs are proportionately longer, he also has four toes, etc. I'm sorry but no, I see no evidence for this. Shining C. uses the exact same style Solarshadow does, they're sister series and always have been.
"Now that I'm done...I apologize if I made any offense or slanderous opinions."
I wouldn't call this slanderous, I don't agree with what you had to say but respect it and I wouldn't call it slanderous. My problem as far as being discovered is I am not popular enough for things like Google, Deviantart, etc, to make me easier to find, that's not anybodies fault, that's just how it is. I can't rely on that. You can test this out for yourself, look at literally any page, any portrait, anything I have ever done. Look at the "More from Deviantart" section. Am I there at all? I bet I'm not, and if I am, am I the majority or is there like one picture from me? Look at Shining Consequence, Catch me If You Can, my portraits, my earlier pages, my most recent pages, I bet I wont appear there on any of them. That's why being unique is important, if I am not memorable, than nobody will find me. People need to remember the Skarmory with odd wings, the girl in brown with the Shiny Hydreigon, the Sylveon who was stolen from her master, the Silver Eevee etc. Even characters like Green, who I made look like Red, is extremely memorable because of what an Asshole he was during the Battle with Green section.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
*reads over entire response* ...sorry. Just disregard everything stupid sounding I said. I have no idea why I commented what I did... I contradict myself multiple times. (This is what I get for sending a message when I'm half asleep and heading to bed.)
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
It's fine, don't worry about it.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
It's perfectly fine, I'm not upset about it. I've never done commission work, I don't know anything about that (the process, what's expected, what's fair as far as prices go, etc).
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
(Well it's something that can be discussed privately if you would like some information on how the process works. I still feel like I owe you so I kinda want to do this.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Can you Note me and we can discuss?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
You've really improved over time! Always funto look at
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Np! Can't wait to see how you develop further!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Nymphia's bows look like butterfly's to me XD
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
They do yeah, back when Sylveon's type was kept secret, I thought it was supposed to be bug type (the ribbons being a reference to silk worms), so I made her bows look like butterflys as a reference to that.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
oh.. you know I wish that I could appear in one of your two comics but I cant... :/
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
It's cool you have this side by side so we can see the differences.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Yeah thought it be neat to show.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0