Pokemon: Detective Pikachu gave moviegoers an impressively realistic take on a number of classic Pokemon designs. While the pocket monsters stayed quite faithful to their video game roots, they still had a realistic depth, thanks to the fur, feathers, and scales the film was able to add. Part of the movie’s design success came thank to artist RJ Palmer. Palmer was one of a number of artists that worked on the film, but long before that, he was creating his own realistic takes on Pokemon. Palmer is at it again, this time with a take on a creature that debuted in the excellent Pokemon Sword and Shield: Grimmsnarl.
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According to Palmer, the painting took nearly 50 hours to complete. It’s easy to see why. The painting has an impressive amount of detail, particularly since it also features the rest of Grimmsnarl’s evolutionary line, Impidimp and Morgrem. Grimmsnarl is easily one of the more intimidating new Pokemon introduced in Sword and Shield, and that certainly holds true in Palmer’s painting. Like the Pokemon that appear in Detective Pikachu, Palmer’s take on Grimmsnarl looks quite faithful to the design from the games, while also looking just a bit more realistic. Also, much more terrifying.
As of this writing, a sequel to Pokemon: Detective Pikachu has been announced, but no details have been released. It’s unknown if Palmer will be one of the artists returning for the sequel, but given the strength of the designs in the first film, not to mention his other realistic Pokemon designs, it would be a shame not to see him brought back. Since the film released before Sword and Shield, perhaps the sequel will incorporate some of the Pokemon introduced in the new generation. Maybe one day we’ll be seeing this version of Grimmsnarl threatening Pikachu and Harry on the big screen.
Presenting Grimmsnarl, the greasy strangler! This is my first new piece for my Realistic Pokemon series in almost 4 years. A lot has happened since then, including working on Detective Pikachu, so I wanted to update the formula a smidge. Look at my giant hairy child. pic.twitter.com/Jw8fLrbmIa
— RJ Palmer (@arvalis) March 5, 2020
Of course, those eager to see more of Palmer’s realistic Pokemon designs can help the artist draw more by visiting his Patreon.
What do you think of Palmer’s take on Grimmsnarl? Would you like to see the Pokemon appear in a Detective Pikachu sequel? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!
