142 Aerodactyl - Pokemon One a Day

Part of a series of 152 illustrations that sought to present the famous character creatures of the Nintendo hit franchise Pokemon in various new styles and direction. Aerodactyl came along at the end of the series, and was surprisingly the first illustration to feature a more comic-y approach in terms of coloring and inking.

As comics and graphic novels were great influences growing up, I wanted to use the style for a creature that I could convey as menacing. Aerodactly was that creature. In specific, I made the visual connection to the gargoyles that Batman might stand atop in panels or covers.

I painted the piece with both hard and soft brushes, and found using powerful contrasting strokes to create lighting that was striking and really helped build the form of the creature.