A Breakdown/analysis Of The Various Official PMD2 Promotional Art Styles

A breakdown/analysis of the various official PMD2 promotional art styles

Lineart Styles

Style 1: Sugimori-style linework

Drawn with Ken Sugimori's distinctive brushwork. Line weight varies throughout, and the lines themselves have a slight shaky/choppy look to them. Primarily black, with some occasional sections of coloring (most commonly on the inner linework).

Style 2: Crisp linework

Bold, crisp linework. Opaque & untextured; some instances of this linework are slightly shaky/choppy in places. In areas where different body parts meet, linework is sometimes intentionally broken in order to create contrast (i.e. along Chatot's ruff & where Pikachu's ear meets his tail). Typically colored with dark colors (brown, blue, purple, etc.) and/or black.

Style 3: Soft linework

Thin, soft linework. Often has a very slight translucency, which can be seen by zooming in on the areas where differently-colored markings intersect (i.e. between Piplup's blue facial markings). Most commonly used in backgroundless character art, which was intended primarily for use in merchandise, advertising material, and guidebooks.

Style 4: Rough linework

Partially-translucent linework, with a crayon-esque texture. Can vary in thickness and texture intensity. This linework style is relatively uncommon, and seems to have only been used in two Special Episode-inspired promotional pieces.

Shading Styles

Style A: Complex shading

Detailed rendering, with softened edges and varying hues. Often uses warmer colors for lighting and cooler colors for shading. Most commonly seen in (though not exclusive to) Sugimori's PMD artwork.

Style B: Layered shading

A method of shading with noticeable layering; has numerous distinctive, unblended 'lines' where different shading colors meet. This form of shading can either be sharp/crisp, or have a softer, more rendered look to it. Most commonly used on item artwork, but can occur in Pokémon artwork as well; in such cases, there tends to be an overlap between Style B and one of the other two shading styles.

Style C: Soft airbrush shading

Simple airbrushed shading. Scarves, bandanas, and bowties tend to have denser/harsher shading than the rest of the Pokémon's body. Most commonly used paired with soft linework in backgroundless character art, which was intended primarily for use in merchandise, advertising material, and guidebooks.

Misc. Notes & Observations

• Though most official PMD2 artwork falls within a singular style group each for lining and shading, some pieces can fall within multiple style groups.

• As far as I am aware, Ken Sugimori has only been officially credited for the creation of the PMD2 box art. I've referenced every piece of PMD2 merchandise I own that features promotional artwork, and while the box art is credited as "Illus. by Ken Sugimori" in nearly every instance, I was not able to find any other PMD2 artwork that was credited to him. With this in mind, it can be assumed that all other PMD2 artwork was created by different (uncredited) artists; that said, however, please feel free to send an ask/DM if you have any definite proof to the contrary.

• In Style 3C (soft linework + airbrush shading) artwork specifically, the colors used typically differ from those used in the main series Sugimori artwork of the same Pokémon. In some instances, these colors are shifted to a more pastel palette; in other instances, the saturation/vibrancy will be increased.

• Style 3C artwork was often traced or heavily referenced from the official main series Sugimori artwork, albeit with occasional small tweaks in details, expression, and/or posing. This isn't the case for all Style 3C artwork, however- some, such as Grovyle, seem to have been drawn entirely from scratch:

• Though seen more frequently in artwork from later entries in the series, hatching is used relatively rarely in PMD2 promotional artwork. In the instances where it is used, this effect is achieving by overlaying a pixelated hatching layer and erasing the areas where the effect is not desired. For reference, take these two promotional pieces for PMD2:

And compare them to these two promotional pieces from Super Mystery Dungeon & Rescue Team DX respectively (which both use a more deliberate, hand-drawn hatching style):

Thanks for reading, and I hope this might prove interesting and/or helpful to some of you!

Megapon Meden, don’t ask why this exists it just does. For the small amount of people who like the “Bored Patapon doodles” I’ll draw those eventually once I get bored.

wait what happens when you reblog a reblog??

also no, this is one of the first times I’ve drawn Ormen Karmen, I think.

got bored again.

oh hey look, I got bored again. And fun fact, I got bored drawing these, meaning I got bored whilst being bored. Oh also there’s spoopy horror stuff or whatever lmao

I wonder

should I start some cringy ask blog where you ask the “Bored Patapon Doodles” version of those Patapon character or whatever they’re called, y’know like uhh Dettankarmen or whatever it’s called. Although I have no idea how to Ask blog but I’m sure it’ll be a learning experience filled with comments from people who need to go outside and touch gra- but ah well :). Man I Gotta draw something…

made this doodle of Shookle loading a Shotgun a long while ago. Forgot when I made it but it wasn’t today.