Deviation Actions
Description
Reblog on Tumblr: bonnyjohn.tumblr.com/post/7932…
Spikes Pokemon
Rock/Ground Type
Pokebots, transform and roll out! What’s up with today’s illustration for the day? It looks like a knock off of Beast Wars in the Pokemon universe! Today, let’s take a look at a mechanized Rhyhorn!
The HG (Heavy Grade) RHYHORN Tank Unit is used as an armor vehicle to lead into battle, breaking through enemy barricades and, well, anything that gets in the way! With a large industrial ready drill that can shift orientation, this bulldozer is a force to be reckoned with. Outside of battle, the RHYHORN is used for mining and construction purposes. Comes in steel grey and mustard yellow.
Or is it even a Rhyhorn? No, it’s not! I envisioned the interpretation after a creating blueprint of a charging Rhyhorn. The style for that piece would have been pseudo realistic - the anatomy would stay true to real world rhinos while I would armor it up like it’s cartoon counterpart…However, when I was doing research for Rhyhorn, I found someone else had done that kind of art! I ended that draft and immediately made a connection from a charging rhino into that of a tank.
The original draft sees my Rhyhorn as a sort of half animal, half machine. I looked up references for tanks of both a toony and realistic variety, and mixed and matched what I liked onto the blueprint. I quickly gave up on a cyborg Rhyhorn, who I kinda see as such because of it’s sleek body and plates. That said, being a four legged creature, the visual connection to a tank was very visible to me so I was happy to move onto the interpretation.
Eventually, the work would evolve more and more less into a tank and more of something like a construction vehicle. I suppose it’s a balance of the two - I wrestled with features like adding a cannon, antennae and other features that I eventually removed to make it a bit more simple. I wanted to go with something technical that also looked chibi. This was a piece where I had to constantly decide one feature or aesthetic choice against another. Chibi or realistic? Practical design or fun? Organic hide plates or sleek, futuristic armor plates? Decal stickers to make the profile view look like a rhino or no? Of course decal stickers!!!
So yeah, eventually the piece was whittled down to what it is now! I actually wish the piece looked a bit more like an animal but I guess the whole point of the direction was to make the piece look like a vehicle, something I haven’t done for Pokemon One a Day. I translated the actual plates of a Rhyhorn accordingly to what I could do with a futuristic looking tank…I guess in that sense, mission accomplished!
Yours,
Bonny
+ Pokemon One a Day is a series illustrated and curated by Bonny John in an effort to represent the the first generation of characters from the world wide phenomenon that is known as Pokemon. The idea is simple - to draw and share one new Pokemon a day (weekends off!) until every Pokemon from the set is completed. This project is an exploration of fine art styles for learning and leisurely purposes.