>>35310243If I ever actually use these designs for something, then a series/setting of my own would probably be for the best to avoid GF's judgmental gaze. I try to mix up my game, but there's bound to be a reoccurring pattern that I may not be aware of that's more or less locked to my drawing style.
As for your second point, it'd be nice to know in which sense my designs overall aren't Pokemon. One school of thought is that they just need to be on the same level of simplicity as most pokemon designs, which largely is what draws me to make them in the first place since it can a challenge to fit all the features you want without going overboard.
If, however, you belong to the school of thought that says that anything not mimicking Sugimori's style cannot be called fakemon designs, then I'm afraid we'll be at an impasse.
>>35310278In the end, you still want designs that feel relatable. If you take the concept of a sea lion, but base it more on an actual lion rather than the sea lion in question, you'll just have a hard time to get the crowd's support since you're essentially asking them to set aside what they already know about the base animal and instead go with your angle. 'That' design probably hadn't been nearly as much of a problem if they also hadn't demanded to include bird wings of all things, but that's what happens when you try and fit too many elements into one design.
Pic related is my take on sea lion, decided to go ahead with it since Popplio took an entirely different route than I thought. It's not necessarily the correct approach, it only represents how I usually tackle concepts.
