At some point in my journey to sculpt realistic takes on the original 151 Pokémon, I knew I'd have to tackle some absolute fan favorite characters that I would really need to get right. The Dragonite line, while not a personal favorite of mine, is one of those evolution sets that has such a fervent fan base that I knew I had to bring home the goods with these sculptures.
What resulted in my attempt was arguably some of my favorite work to date, particularly in the serpentine detailing and the painting effects throughout the Pokémon and the base platform. I wanted to play off of the idea of these being guardians of travelers and bodies of water, and thus I took inspiration from water snakes and other marine reptiles.
While it may be controversial, I love the gaping, open mouth on my Dratini. It just makes me chuckle every time I look at it, as it is both cute and frightening at the same time.
Dragonair was initially meant to have a more upright pose, but the clay collapsed during the baking, leaving it with a more horizontal posture. It still works with the snake inspired motif, but I wish its head would have sat a little taller in the final design.
I have not started on Dragonite yet, as I want to perfect my techniques for wings and scales before I tackle him (though, I do have a very cool design sketched out for it that should pair nicely with these two).
As is my tradition in this series of sculptures, I have nicknamed these two Pokémon:
Dratini – Stevie
Dragonair – Nicks
For obvious reasons, Dragonite will also have a name inspired by one of the greatest bands of all time, but I'll share that nickname when we get to him…
Thanks for checking out my work!
by Mpickardart