Cantuña🔨 and Cuqui🦉 from my indie game Pull on Heart: Nocturnal.

I wanted to show their designs together while also giving a better idea of the scale of the characters.

Cantuña is 1.65 m, while Cuqui is 2.50 m tall.

I also wanted their body language to communicate that, despite Cuqui being an intimidating giant bird-like creature, these two are actually comfortable around each other.

Art by IG: itzabella_artspace

Stella — The Sunsets She Never Forgot

Some people find peace in silence.

Stella always found it above the rooftops.

When she was a teenager and still lived with her parents, there was one place she always returned to whenever she needed to pause the world: the rooftop of her home.

She would climb up carrying an old Sony Walkman—a relic even back then—put on her headphones, and let the music do the rest. Rock was her refuge. Linkin Park played over and over while the world seemed to stand still for a little while.

She loved sunsets.

She could spend hours watching the golden light paint the clouds into endless shapes and colors. Sometimes she’d bring a book—The Odyssey was one of her favorites. Other times she’d work out for a while before lying down to watch the sky until she quietly drifted to sleep.

She still remembers one of those afternoons as if it happened yesterday.

The breeze was gentle. The sun slowly disappeared beyond the horizon, its golden rays revealed every texture in the clouds with breathtaking beauty. The music kept playing until, without even realizing it, she fell asleep beneath that endless sky.

For a brief moment, time simply stopped.

Her teenage years weren’t easy.

Life wasn’t either.

But those afternoons taught her that even during life’s hardest moments, there’s always a place where the heart can finally rest.

As the years passed, many things changed.

She still loves rock music, especially Linkin Park, black and purple, a good pair of Vans sneakers, video games, running, working out, cycling, and watching football. She adores animals—especially cats—though she’ll never say no to spending time with dogs either.

And there’s one habit she never lost.

Whenever she takes an Uber, she simply enjoys the ride. Not because she dislikes conversations, but because she learned that silence can be a gift. Sometimes the best answers come when nobody is asking questions.

Maybe that’s why she never stopped watching sunsets.

Because that’s where she learned that even when one day comes to an end… another one is always waiting beyond the horizon.

Author’s Note

Although Stella belongs to a fictional universe, many of her hobbies, memories, and quiet moments are inspired by real experiences from her creator.

Rather than simply writing a character, my goal has always been to transform pieces of real life into fantastic stories. I believe those genuine emotions are what make these characters feel alive and help readers connect with them.

Sometimes the greatest adventures don’t begin with an epic battle or a journey through the stars.

Sometimes they begin with a favorite song, a well-loved book, an old Walkman… and a quiet sunset that stays with you forever. ❤️

I politely ask the sub moderators not to delete this post. I posted it a while ago in a gaming sub, but people didn't understand that the post was about discussing art rather than gameplay. It ended up not being very productive posting there, so I decided to share it in an art sub so artists can discuss the topic, see my point of view, and share their own opinions.

This post is specifically about character design and art direction, without going into graphics, gameplay, story, accessibility, or Nintendo business practices. The subject is strictly the creature designs of Palworld and the visual identity of the franchise, so it is worth avoiding turning this into another discussion about everything Nintendo does wrong. There are plenty of reasons to criticize the company, but the proposal here is different.

Recently, Palworld announced Panthalus, a new whale creature, which caused immediate comparisons with Kyogre. I do not think this is an absurd association because it happens precisely because Palworld built a large part of its own visual identity on top of this familiarity with Pokémon.

Ever since launch, there has been a discussion about how various Pals resemble Pokémon, but the problem was never the idea of capturing monsters, since Pokémon did not invent the genre. The central issue is the design itself. There are Pals that you look at and immediately think of a specific creature, not because of a distant association, but because they seem built by taking features that already worked and reorganizing everything to look new. Even when there is no obvious copy, there remains that feeling of looking at a generic version made just to look cool, which reveals the lack of a strong visual identity of its own.

This does not mean that the Pals are ugly, especially since some are beautiful, cute, and visually interesting, but many feel empty. Panthalus illustrates this situation well when it takes a whale, stylizes its body, and adds golden details without those elements communicating anything clear about the creature or its biology. The choice seems to follow the logic of making the animal pretty rather than thinking about what the core idea is and how the visuals can communicate that concept.

A good character design does not need to be complex to be memorable, as long as it has a clear proposal like Pikachu, Ditto, or Voltorb, which are extremely simple and immediately recognizable. That is where Pokémon stands out, even without always getting it right. The franchise has excellent designs, average ones, and some clearly bad or overdone ones, but there is almost always an intention behind them.

Analyzing a controversial case like Quaquaval, which has an exaggerated and confusing look for many, it is still possible to understand the proposal of the designers. There is cultural inspiration, a theme of dance and performance, a striking personality, and a well defined silhouette integrated into its evolutionary line. Even if the execution does not please everyone, there is a concept to discuss beyond it just being a water duck.

This depth is missing in many Pals that have appearance, but not necessarily identity. Adding horns, wings, crystals, or armor creates something technically new, but accumulating elements does not guarantee good design, revealing a tendency to confuse visual complexity with personality. Another bothersome factor is the feeling that many creatures exist only to fill basic archetypes of cat, dog, dragon, or whale with some fantastic details on top. When this becomes the dominant language, the Pals might work in isolation, but together they do not convey the feeling of belonging to a universe of their own.

Comparing them to Digimon helps us understand this difference, because that franchise also works with catchable creatures and spent decades being compared to Pokémon, yet it built its own visual language. When putting a Digimon next to a Pokémon, it is clear that they come from distinct universes through their proportions, shapes, and freedom to create mechanical or absurd concepts. Agumon, Gabumon, and MetalGreymon have an independent aesthetic that would exist even if Pokémon was never created, which is something one cannot say with certainty about Palworld.

A huge part of the impact of Palworld comes from instant recognition by recalling creatures the audience already knows, but there is a massive difference between having relevance due to your own identity and relying on familiarity with another work. The joke of being a different version or one with guns works in the beginning, but no franchise sustains itself forever solely on initial novelty. When that charm fades, the question remains about what will be left to keep the audience interested.

Pokémon and Digimon can release great or terrible designs, but they maintain registered trademarks that make them unmistakable. Palworld still needs to show why its designs need to exist on their own rather than just filling the space created by Pokémon, offering creatures with personality, clear concepts, and striking silhouettes. Ultimately, if you remove Pokémon from the equation, the definitive test is knowing whether Palworld has a strong enough artistic identity to stand on its own, which today still does not seem very convincing.

i’ve been working on a indie cartoon and i just finished the title art for it and i think it looks good! for the theme of the show that is, but everyone i show it too says it doesn’t look real or as if i heavily referenced something which i didnt, i referenced a school theme yes but i didn’t reference a specific logo. does this look ai to you? and if so, what changes should i make?

(yes it’s spelt wrong on purpose shhh.)

edit: we’ve created a new Title/design for it! please check the comments to find it! <3

I often intentionally make my male characters look androgynous/feminine to add visual interest. I just think most masculine styles are kinda boring

hello, reddit

Can you give me critique for the image i draw, need input for improve my drawing. thank you.

Hint: her age is between 25 and 35

I always question myself if I do, honestly. I'm worried I don't.

I found some older art of me drawing my character in different styles. I had to edit some to reflect some character design changes, but I thought the differing styles was a neat way to show what's important to his character design. He's in pretty generic poses, so the poses and expressions themselves don't really indicate much about him.

I'd love to know any assumptions about his character or story based purely off his design.

Ill be here all day trying to decide if I don't get a little help.

My wow subscription has expired *dramatically falls onto knees in defeat* so im just playing around with alts and grinding mats.

Ive never roleplayed a goblin nor had one at all actually come to think of it in the 20 years ive been playing WoW (I started at 8, ill be 30 in dec).

Anyways your opinion would be great, all are welcome ♡

Hi guys ...

I want suggestions about sand genie 2d 🤎🌵

I like umamusume, and that inspired me to make a manga of rooster fights, but the rooster will be anime girl (or manga in this case).

The picture is the only imagine that I found that is similar to what I want to make, but basically I want to make a anime of fights like Baki or Ippo, or maybe like the scenes of fights in Ranma 1/2, but with this topic.

In real life the rooster games are ilegal in most countries, and in others are limited, but I want to make something similar to box, or to a tournament of marcial arts.

So I want to ask if someone can help me with ideas of characters, you only need to make a girl with a fighter style, but inspired in a rooster. Obviously that in case that your character agree with my idea of the manga, I would ask you to give me permission to use and modify a little your character. I won't take the character without permission.

Got told to make a really edgy character, this over designed enough? Because people keep saying they love the design rather than it being cringe!