Pokemon Card Drawing Tutorial

How to Make a Pokemon Card Drawing?

Many people want to design the drawing of their own Pokemon card. A process that however requires good drawing skills and a good knowledge of the game. The card can then represent an existing Pokemon, but it's also an opportunity to create your own creature! Discover therefore how to make a Pokemon card drawing in seven detailed steps.

Choose the Type of Pokemon to Draw on the Card

Before anything else, you must of course decide what type of Pokemon you want to draw on your card.

• Do you want to reproduce an existing Pokemon in a version that's your own?
• Or do you prefer to completely invent a brand new Pokemon?

Make your choice before going further in your Pokemon card drawing approach.

Get Inspired by Official Card Models

Know that there are many sites that allow creating a Pokemon card from pre-existing templates to customize. We recommend using these templates as sources of inspiration and as basic models to start your Pokemon card drawing.

Print the model of your choice (preferably on high-quality paper) and glue it on a thin cardboard background before moving to the next step. You can of course choose to draw your card entirely, without going through the printing step. In all cases, the support must be solid enough to offer a believable card texture. At this stage of the project, cleanly cut out your Pokemon card template. Prefer using a cutter here to ensure a perfectly clean cut. Although tedious, this is an essential step before moving on to creating the illustration as such.

If you're comfortable with graphic design tools, don't hesitate to digitally draw your Pokemon card. You can then print your card by choosing printing options and paper quality closest to cards purchased in stores!

Practice Before Starting Your Pokemon Card Drawing

Whether you want to create your own Pokemon from scratch (while being inspired by the franchise's style) or whether you want to reproduce one of them, the draft is an essential step in your creation.

Especially since drawing a Pokemon card must fit in a rectangular frame with very limited dimensions. So work on your sketches beforehand before moving to the step of creating the card as such.

Some tips:

• start by practicing to faithfully reproduce the official illustration of one of the Pokemon before inventing your own poses, attacks, etc. (always keep some examples of this Pokemon within reach to consult if needed.)
• If you invent a Pokemon from scratch, simultaneously draw inspiration from those that already exist and real-world animals (after all, a large part of Pokemon are inspired by the animal kingdom.)

Drawing the Background of a Pokemon Card

By observing your deck, you'll quickly notice that the backgrounds of each illustration vary depending on the cards and generations.

Thus, on some cards, the drawing represents the Pokemon in a specific place, while on others, it stands out against a simple colored background.

You must therefore think about the type of backdrop on which you want to represent your Pokemon. For example, we can imagine a maritime, forest, or snowy setting depending on the type of Pokemon to draw.

For those who are beginners in Pokemon card drawing, you can use a shaded background to facilitate the creation process.

Create Several Drafts of Your Pokemon

Before attacking the card drawing as such, it's recommended to create two or three preparatory drafts of your Pokemon. For each draft, experiment with different poses, physical characteristics, etc.

Then take the time to well identify what you like most in your drafts to transpose these elements onto your final drawing.

Transpose Your Pokemon Drawing onto the Card

With your different drafts within reach, it's time to recreate the final illustration of your Pokemon directly on its card.

Once inked, it's impossible to go back to correct any defects, and if some small errors can be concealed, others risk ruining all your work. So this is not the time to rush! Take all your time to create your Pokemon card drawing. First use pencil before finalizing the illustration with pen or ink.

Once done, you can move on to the card coloring step. Avoid colored pencils here which don't have the brilliance that we generally associate with Pokemon card graphics. Prefer colored markers which give much better results here.

Of course, you can also scan your creations to ink them and color them using your favorite drawing software.

Specify Your Pokemon's Statistics on Its Card

It probably hasn't escaped you, but drawing a beautiful Pokemon illustration isn't enough to completely create a card. Also, let's now step a little outside the framework of Pokemon card drawing as such, to focus on the role of the latter and its abilities.

Your Pokemon Card's Statistics

If you're reproducing a known Pokemon, it's enough here to research and reproduce its different attributes on your card. However, if you're designing your own Pokemon, you must also determine its role and type after illustrating it. Thus, an electric Pokemon obviously doesn't have the same skills as a psychic or aquatic Pokemon! Examine (or revise) the different statistics inherent to each existing Pokemon, as well as its most common attacks.

• For an existing Pokemon, the base statistics of its "species" are a good starting point here. You can then modify these stats according to your specific needs.

• If you create your own Pokemon, don't hesitate to rely on the statistics of a species similar to yours.

A Pokemon's base statistics include:

• its hit points (HP);
• its defense;
• its special defense;
• its attacks;
• its special attack;
• and its speed.

Thus, all this data must appear on your Pokemon card, just below its drawing.

If you intend to use your card to play with, you must also include here other essential statistics such as:

• its weakness;
• its resistance;
• and its cost.

Generally, these three elements depend on your Pokemon's elemental type.

The Pokemon's Attacks

Creating new attacks requires some creativity, and the creation process can be very fun! Base yourself on existing attacks to invent yours, thus well considering the balance of cost, strategy, and power. To find inspiration, know that there are complete lists on the Internet that list all known Pokemon attacks.

Of course, the question doesn't arise if you use a pre-existing Pokemon for creating your card. In this case, you simply need to copy its own.

Pay Attention to Balance

Golden rule to which you must never deviate: make sure your Pokemon is balanced. Indeed, it can be very tempting to create a hyper-powerful and invincible Pokemon! The problem is that you'll lose all the pleasure of the game at the same time… Keep in mind that "to win without peril is to triumph without glory".

All official Pokemon species have been designed to be used strategically in the game.

Note: the rarest Pokemon also have the most specialized abilities. They're mainly used when you already have a very good understanding of how the Pokemon game works. The same goes when you decide to create your own cards. If you want to launch into creating a Pokemon with unique abilities, make sure you're perfectly comfortable with the game's concept.

Obviously, you can also make your card just for the purpose of creating the most aesthetic drawing possible! In this case, all questions of statistical balance have little interest for you!

Conclusion

Different reasons can lead you to create the drawing of a Pokemon card:

• to enrich your deck;
• for the pleasure of owning a truly unique card;
• to participate in an online card design contest;
• to give it to a collector close to you;
• etc.

You're not skilled enough in drawing to complete your project? Cartoonely artists are here to help you create a Pokemon card drawing that's totally unique, with a rendering identical to an official card!