Pokemon Type Swap — Psychic Pikachu

Welcome to Pokemon Type Swap!

In this series i will be taking classic pokemon and changing their type — creating a new, fresh look. I am currently picking pokemon in no particular order and choosing a type i think would fit. Comment any suggestions for future ones below.

Todays pokemon is Pikachu, i have chosen to draw it as a Psychic type. I felt Pikachu was the next obvious step after the 3 OG starter pokemon.

Orginial Sketches

I wanted to keep some of the aspects that were recognisable of Pikachu. So, i kept his ears but made them not stick up. I also wanted to keep his distinctive tail, but i couldn’t figure out how to incorporate it. Instead i made Pikachu catch a pokeball with psychic powers in the shape of that distinctive tail.

I then did the outline to clean up the sketch, it was at this point i felt something was missing. I then added a gem to its forehead.

Colour

The main colours worked out on the first attempt, however, i had played around with the secondary colours a bit until they fit together. Looking back now, i would probably change the colour of the cheeks.

Shading & Background

I then added the usual shading to make it less flat. Then added some floating ground as is Pikachu was moving it with his Psychic powers. I then added the purple outline to highlight this was due to its powers similar to the pokeball catch.