Classic artwork

[Sheep]

The series' artwork has evolved a lot over the years!

Do you prefer the classic Ken Sugimori artwork of the early days, or Pokémon's current style? Here are some old and newer Sugimori art comparisons!

 

[Setsuna]

Recently I've realized just how well some of the old art holds up. I saw Sugimori's FRLG artwork of Pikachu in some recent advertisement (I can't remember what it was for unfortunately) and it was the only time I realized "Oh, I've seen that art before, how old is it" and was shocked to find out it's just about 20 years old. I think they were still trying to figure out exactly how they wanted some Pokemon to look in the newer gens, especially Gen I, so when changes do happen to their design (like Pikachu becoming slimmer) it's really interesting to me. I think a lot of the newer artwork just looks more polished but I think the way they were coloured looks a lot more appealing and I wish that could have stuck around. This Oddish especially reminds me of the whole watercolour aesthetic and I think it'd be cool if official art for the Pokemon felt like they came out of some old research study with ink pens and watercolour paints and that sort of thing, it'd be like how Monster Hunter has these stylized icons for its creatures.

 

[Sheep]

The watercolor art is so good. <3

Spoiler:

Eevee is so good especially. Man I miss this.

 

[BWZ]

Spoiler:

A real feast for the eyes

There is this guy named Tomycase on DA who likes to does colors of newer gen Pokémon, gen 1 style. It's as good as you expect it to be.

Spoiler:

 

[Setsuna]

There is this guy named Tomycase on DA who likes to does colors of newer gen Pokémon, gen 1 style. It's as good as you expect it to be.

Spoiler:

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Oh this is a total gem! 🤍
After seeing stuff like this I'm definitely sure it's this colour style that appeals to me. I'd love to see this done in official art, maybe for an anniversary or something?