Ken Sugimori the Original Pokemon Artist

[@DJIVision]

Great video. Better than most stuff I've seen from a lot of 100k+ KZbinrs. Keep it up and you'll be goin places. If you don't mind, I thought maybe I'd just offer a couple tiny pieces of advice. The first thing's just to find a good font for on-screen text that you like and stick with it for consistency. For example I like to use a bold version of Delfino (a knock-off of the Mario Sunshine font lol). Only other thing I'd say is when you use fan art from RacieBeep or scans from HiResPokemon, it's a good idea to credit them in the bottom corner of the screen. Those folks'll be a valuable resource if you keep making these kinds of videos, and if they see your videos, I'm sure they'll appreciate the courtesy. Good luck mate :)

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

Thank you for watching!! And for the kind words! I will take your advice and apply it to the next one. Thanks again Dr Lava, it means the world to me.

[@DJIVision]

@@Soup_Likes_Art Cheers mate :)

[@BarcelonaBlitzer]

He has shaped millions of childhoods and should be proud of his work/legacy. Incredible man! 👍

[@adamwilson1691]

those early water colored illustrations by Ken are still top tier creature design for me to this day

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

100% agree

[@kirimusse]

8:48 And I honestly agree with him; early Pokemon artworks have a certain charm to them unseen in the later generations.

[@fantntastic]

When the Pokemon theme came in - chills! Absolutely loved this video, man! Actually nuts to think that everything original was hand drawn! 😱

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

Lol, glad you enjoyed it man!!

[@Eerondeimon]

This is the Ken Sugimori video we all needed 👍🏾🔥

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

Thank you Aaron 🙏 I'm glad you liked it!

[@Eerondeimon]

@@Soup_Likes_Art most definitely man! It was mad informative. Been down a rabbit hole watching your content lol. Definitely gonna subscribe

[@DSVN23]

Great video! His art is pure nostalgia. Our childhoods owe him massively !

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

Agreed, love his style! Thank you for watching!

[@ClaytonCountyHistoryHound]

Outstanding, I love these type of videos. Not knocking any of your past ones but this was by far my favorite. Thanks for sharing and take care. ✌️

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

Thank you!!! They're a lot more work but I enjoyed it 100x more

[@simpindulgence6384]

Mr. Sugimori inspired my own art style.

[@bvbrown405]

Poor guy, he’ll only be remembered as the artist for the biggest grossing franchise in the entire fucking world… that must really suck

[@uhhwhateverdude9463]

😂 I know! How horrible!

[@memegraveyard9502]

I mean, yea from an outsider’s perspective it may seem goofy, but he simply didn’t want to be known for just one thing. It’s understandable, he’s got a lot of thing in that head of his, he wants it ALL to see the light of day Yknow?

[@justinarzola4584]

That doesn't sound bad, at least he likes working on it, unlike others who got famous on something they didn't like doing.

[@MarioManzanares]

Thanks for this informative video. You deserve way more views! I almost cried when seeing his original pokemon watercolor/marker drawings... :´)

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

Thank you for the kind words Mario! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. The next one is in the works!

[@mrbagelbyte]

Amazing video! I'm in the process of checking out his other work as I type this. Such a huge influence on our generation...I really enjoyed the video!

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

Glad you liked it Bagel! His Jerry Boy manga has some incredible art. I have the "Ken Sugimori Works" book, I'll take some photos this week and share in the discord. (Just wish I could translate it)

[@punderful_me306]

You did such a great job highlighting all of his works! Can't wait to see what you do next!

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

Thank you!!

[@andrewmiller8410]

This was awesome, thanks. Nostalgic lately for the old pokemon designs, and I had to look up more about the artist. I just remembered that they allowed the white to show through as the highlights and thought that was interesting.

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

I'm glad you enjoyed the video, thank you for watching!

[@xkodybarberx]

I love how humble he is

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

Same!

[@cbthetrainer9760]

Awesome video! Very informational and shows how one mans drawings can change the world forever.

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

100%!! Thank you!

[@AnnaGiuliaSalmina]

His Pokémon are so characteristic! The last ones are just not the same

[@gars129]

He's never been the only designer, even in Gen 1. Real reason is that he's no longer the art director, so he just makes the final art of the Pokemon without putting much input on the designs these days.

[@Filipe_agb]

Excellent video bro❤️

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

I appreciate it! Thank you for watching!

[@giovannihallone]

Great Job and Video!

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

Thank you for watching and for the nice comment, hopefully I can get cooking in the next one soon

[@NotOrdinaryInGames]

I enjoyed the video, thanks for making it. And now with the generic pleasantness out of the way, extra respect for bringing attention to the fact at least half of all pocket monsters were not designed by him.

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

I'm glad you enjoyed the video! Thank you for the kind words!

[@NotOrdinaryInGames]

@@Soup_Likes_Art People need to be more aware of who creates the art they buy (instead of crediting the company), you are doing good work spreading the word.

[@jessediaz1293]

Pokémon cards had his designs and they are beautiful. Mr. Ken Sugimori and Mr. Atsuko Nishida’s art style is my favorite. Shout out to the Pokémon card makers for putting the artists names on the corner of the cards 🤛

[@noviranger88]

4:13 Paradox Rhydon IN 1996

[@MindBr3Arker]

Really good information video well done

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

Thank you for watching, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@josephkocherhans5545]

Well done!

[@gywii]

It's awesome to have videos that commend this legendary character. It's baffling how little he is talked about but then again, Nishida too and Arita (even though he is more active on socials) suffer the same fate. That said, the conclusion of the video felt a bit reductive to me, as Sugimori always seemed like someone who feels trapped in his work and working in the shadow of others rather than being a star like the manga artists he wanted to be like, at first. Granted, maybe his way of seeing his carreer is just due to his own character and one should actually just look at the efforts and results which definitely are huge and monumental, respectively, his character not concerning us after all. However, I cannot help but relate to this feeling of being in constant struggle with my artistic carreer and second guessing my work's value all the time. I think something is to be said about the struggle of being an artist and I actually would have prefered not to have rose tinted glasses for so long about the profession. At the same time, you need to have goals and aspirations, so, arguably, that drive is actually needed like it was for me in fueling my relentless practice. But that's the thing actually worth musing over, to be honest, the fine line between motivation and vain hopes. I guess, in this case, it is more of a success story so we can focus on that take-away more than the grim reality of being an artist. Although, I think it is quite characteristic of Ken Sugimori to be this figure of regret too, in a way (no offence) engulfed by the monster which spawned from his own hand and that blew out of proportions uncontrolably, so I think it's worth mentioning too.

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

Very well said. Thank you for watching and thank you for your well thought out input. I agree with, and deeply feel the struggle of second guessing one's own work and the desire to know if the path you've chosen was the best path to choose. I like what you said about him "engulfed by the monster that spawned from his own hand", that rings true to me too. I can see how that would weigh on someone, and I'm not sure I could withstand that pressure. Thank you again for checking out my channel.

[@lucydoran2470]

lovely video, and he seems a lovely soul

[@ElectroBlastLuigi]

4:43 So there's a chance that Ken Sugimori was taking inspiration from some fans' fakemon and fan art from social media although some of the Pokemon could be coincidental.

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

Thank you for checking this out! Tell me about your favorite Pokemon card art / artist.

[@stylesheetra9411]

5:23 sad that now every design principle he set was throw in the garbage

[@glamourdiamondnails7114]

Naoki saito does the best pokemon illustrations imo, a video on him would be awesome :)

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

that's a great pick! I'll be sure to add him to the list. I think Naoki Saito's full art cards are some of the most beautiful in the modern TCG. Did you know he has a KZbin channel? @Naoki Saito illust Channel - if you haven't already checked it out you would love it!

[@bexiexz]

so cool!

[@Cholez_]

does anyone happen to know the name of ken's first manga? I cannot seem to find that, or almost any of his mangas by searching on google as mostly just pokemon stuff appears😅 I have searched for the volume of jump shown in the video and, from what I can find, he doesn't seem to be one of the mangakas featured. perhaps he had an alternate pen name? or maybe I am just bad at research? anyway, any help on this subject would be much apricated. Thank you :)

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

I wish I could help more. The issue I put in the video was just a random issue from around that time. It is extremely difficult finding any information about Ken that isn't related to Pokemon. I own the book "Ken Sugimori Works" but if the answer is in there I would need a translator to find it. The book opens with the Quinty manga, which might be his first published series, but like you, I'm interested in finding that manga that was first published in Jump. If you find the answer please let me know 🙏

[@FrogmaskMusic]

the fact that some of the designs were pixel art *before* ken had to make them look artistically coherent drives me nuts-- given how, (ok, actually pretty normal for gb rpg standards), gonk some of the original 151 designs were, that man was really GRINDING away at official art

[@barklols]

Today I learned I share a birthday with Ken Sugimori.

[@Shampew]

It's pretty evident that "modern/recent" Pokemon do not go through that original rigorous criteria that Ken originally created. And I'm not trying to be some "Gen 1-2 or bust, get off my lawn" type, but the newer Pokemon just do not fall into his OG design rules at all. Wish Pokemon had gone down a different path more aligned with Ken's original art.

[@ggggg77273]

The designer of Munna has stated they were asked just to come up with a design for a pokemon on the fly, they drew it, and they went with it. Apparently they would do this frequently in gen 5's development.

[@56ty_]

Eh.. very subjective. I’d argue modern mons are even better that average

[@EmmaElizabethPrice]

This is an example of the Law Of Attraction. Nothing is coincidence. Everything happens for a reason.

[@WakoDoodle]

I miss the old style. Whether the more agressive and square designs of gen 1 -2 or the more rounded and detailed gen 3 - 5. Maybe it's me, but the simplification of pokemon designs have gotten so bad for me I genuinely can't tell what some of them are supposed to be in violet and scarlet. Like Shroodle. When I first saw it I thought "Oh it's a bug! Since it has no neck, torso and looks very beetle-like", turns out it's a mouse. There's simple and then there's so simple it's abstract art. I'm worried pokemon will simplify their designs so much they'll be floating shapes rather than creatures. What happened to the detailed designs? Groudon and Shroodle look so different, it's like night and day.

[@WakoDoodle]

@@tlst94 Probably refreshing since they'd have more time if they wanted to revive/return to pokemon years later. If you mean ending forever, then they'd probably do what they did before pokemon and make other games with or without nintendo. They did make Mario & Yoshi for gameboy before pokemon. However the fans will keep it alive even after it's end. Coromon, tem tem, fan hacks, casette beasts, etc.. Or, they'd just work on Yokai Watch.

[@fantntastic]

Yuka Morii!! Please! 🤩

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

Oh, they're on the list for sure

[@MWBowen403]

Anybody now the website with the stock photos by chance?

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

Hey, which photos are you referring to? I can point you in the right direction.

[@MWBowen403]

@@Soup_Likes_Art The base set Ponyta background

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

@@MWBowen403 Okay, so Twitter user Fanamel discovered the stock images here- www.sozaijiten.com/cdrom/lineup.asp?pt=0 The site is old and in Japanese, it's kinda hard to navigate. Thank you for checking out the video. If you have anymore questions or need anymore help just let me know!

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

Here's a link to Fanamal's original tweet. twitter.com/FanamelT/status/1375507679636979718 I also updated the video description with these links so future people with the same question can find the info easier. Thanks again!

[@MWBowen403]

@@Soup_Likes_Art Thank you sir. I found a few original pictures. Just what I wanted.

[@ExcaliburTTP]

ayoooo Jan 27th birthdays whassup!

[@bloodblues85]

You forgot about Bushi Seiryuuden.

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

You're right! Wow, I've never heard of this game. It looks incredible!!

[@bloodblues85]

@@Soup_Likes_Art There's a fan translation that's pretty good. I would highly recommend it!

[@JKSmith-qs2ii]

I really like the watercolour art from Generation 1 and 2 a lot, I think Generation 3 is on the edge of me not liking it. After Emerald I really do not like the art that much. I wish they could go back to that style. I think I treally went off the rails around gen V. Sometimes I can't even tell a character is from pokemon or another generic anime thing in Alpha Omega Ruby Sapphire and Let's go Pickachu, or sword and shield and scarlet and violet.

[@FriedWyce]

It doesn’t have that original Pokémon charm, you can see how the design evolved over time by looking at the player character designs and the professor designs. I love Sugimori’s gen 3 artwork, to me that is the peak of the original style. I think that’s why Pokémon Trainer looks like he/she does in Smash Bros. It’s iconic.

[@4EverAwesomness92]

living picasso

[@frisianwarrior2295]

What an odd guy. He made the best designs in human history but it's almost like he isn't really proud of it... I definitely expected way more passion from him, I would had thought he l loved nothing more than drawing monsters.

[@themelancholyofgay3543]

Thumbnail got Saitou Naoiki

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

Hello, the thumbnail is of Ken. It's a photo directly from his book "Ken Sugimori Works" I'm a big fan of Saitou as well, and frequently watch his channel @saitonaoki2 . One day I will dedicate a video to him.

[@cowyounq]

04:55

[@cowyounq]

07:56

[@sultanofsway5100]

👍👏

[@Soup_Likes_Art]

🤙

[@gonzaloarvietti4920]

Thats why new pokemon games series or movies are nothing Pokemon lost the naturallity

[@frankr919]

𝐩𝓻Ỗ𝓂Ø𝓈Ｍ