Okay, so I’ve been messing around with this idea of combining two things I love: dogs and Pokémon. Sounds kinda weird, I know, but stick with me. I wanted to see if I could, like, really make some Pokémon look like actual dog breeds.
Getting Started
First, I grabbed a bunch of pictures of different dog breeds. I’m talking Golden Retrievers, Poodles, German Shepherds, the whole nine yards. I just Googled them, nothing fancy.
Then, I fired up my trusty image editing software. I’m no pro, but I know the basics.
The Process
I started with Growlithe, ’cause, duh, it’s already a fire-type dog-thing. I took a picture of a fluffy Golden Retriever and, well, I tried to blend them together. It was…rough at first. Lots of erasing, undoing, and starting over. Think of a Golden covered in flames…yeah it needed work.
Next up, I attempted to turn a Stoutland into something resembling a Saint Bernard. This one was a bit easier since Stoutland already has that big, bulky look. I mostly focused on the fur, trying to make it look more like the Saint Bernard’s thick, droopy coat.
- Finding good reference images was key.
- Figuring out the right blend modes took some time.
- Keeping the Pokemon’s “essence” while adding dog features was the trickiest part.
The (Not-So-Grand) Finale
I did a few more, like trying to make a Houndoom look more like a Doberman (that one was actually pretty cool). I am not going to lie, some of them turned out okay, some…not so much. Let’s just say my “Poochyena-as-a-Pug” experiment is something I’d rather not share. Seriously, it’s that bad, maybe I will keep going at a later date.
Overall, it was a fun little project, I even learned a bit more about image editing along the way, even I failed, and its all trail and error. Would I do it again? Maybe. But next time, I’m definitely sticking to breeds that are a little closer to the original Pokémon designs. Wish me luck, I guess.
