How Pokémon's Art Director James Turner Draws Pokémon 

I kinda wanna see the artists with the pokemons they each designed!

Huh, because of how chill he is about it and how he described it I have a new appreciation for vanillite I didnt think it was terrible before but now I like it a bit more

I love this man. He's such a pure sweetheart. I'll never forget when he replied to me on Twitter. I told him I love the Vanilluxe line, and that the hate for it is dumb. But he replied and told me basically to let my love outweigh the hate it gets. It really changed my view on the more hated Pokemon that I love.

Aw..he's like a kid at heart..his soft spoken voice etc.

James Turner: *sees job opening for official Pokémon designer* _"Yeah, I think I can do that."_ XD Love how casually confident this guy is.

James really loves drawing Vanillite judging by his Twitter

He seem like a very kind hearted man.

Game freak should have contests where people can design a Pokémon and send it in and the winner gets to have it in the games

Crazy to think gen 5 came out almost 10 years ago

I wish i could draw like that, he is so chill about it too

"Every Pokemon, you feel like, you could be friends with" I think that's the most pure method of Pokemon creation. There's some kind of appeal to every Pokemon, even the ones many might think are weird or ugly. I really appreciate how much value they put into each and every Pokemon design!

Honestly, Polteageist looks like one of his designs, especially with the face.

Step 1: Draw a circle. Step 2: Draw the rest of the damn Pokemon.

Someone wrap this man in a blanket, give him some tea and tell him everything is going to be alright.

I really love the interviewer in this one, the kind and gentle way he regards Turner is a nice chance of pace from typical interview rigidity

"I tend to end up drawing rather strange Pokemon" And that's why I love your desings, they are very cool, no matter what other people thinks

James Turner designed Shadow Lugia at Geninus Sonority, of course they'd take him.

This is so wholesome and chill. It's relaxing to hear the silence, y'know? The sound of his markers gliding through the paper and how down to earth his way of speaking is. So chill.

This warms my heart so much!

I really like James Turner. He seems so chill and cool

He’s so chill! Ive always appreciated Vanillite’s lore as an icicle who dressed itself with snow to look like ice cream, and I think it’s evolution line gets too much unnecessary hate. Not to mention he inspired phantump, who’s definitely one of my favourite Pokemon. I love this guy.

"I worked for a company called genius sonority" Me: POKEMON COLOSSEUM!!!

I always liked the vanillite line. So,e people say its “unoriginal” but its much better than a pokeball with eyes i think we can ALL agree

I really like James's designs, Buzzwole and Guzzlord are IMO two of the best UBs in SM/USUM and I never got the hate for the Vanillite line. Plus he looks super chill and friendly, would love to talk with him.

Really hope the hate doesn't get out of hand and also target this guy. He is a very nice person.

James Turner has seriously given me a boost of confidence with my hopes of becoming a better artist. And what he said is something that I can strangely understand on a personal level. There's been a design forming in my mind for a few weeks of a Ghost and Fairy Type Coocoo Clock Pokemon. Time to see what I can come up with. 👈⏰👉 ⏳

Despite other's opinion,I absolutely adore vanillite and it's whole line. I love it since I saw it in white. I mean,IT'S A LITTLE HAPPY CUTE ICECREAM THING.

"Every Pokemon, you feel like, you could be friends with" Gigantamax Eternatus: *I AM THE HAND OF AN UNCARING GOD*

This is the guy who designed the Golurk line, so he's got my respect.

I read that he was also part on Colosseum and XD, my favorite titles. He was the one designing Shadow Lugia. And now the fact that es favors Sobble from the Galar Starter-Pokémon, I like him. =)

Fun Fact: James Turner actually has a Pokémon card that he drew too! I’m hoping he gets to draw more on the TCG. I love his stuff!

I've always liked Vanillite, I feel like folks were always unfair to its design.

I tweeted to this guy once thanking him for making Buzzwole since it's my favorite Pokemon and he actually responded he's such a cool dude

This is WHOLESOME! My favorite kind of interview! Thanks a lot, GI!

This guy would be amazing at asmr

He’s not used to signing his art omg why is that so wholesome? Lol

I've always loved the Vanillite line 🍦🍦🍦 I hate how people complain about any inanimate Pokémon design as if that automatically invalidates the design or as if there haven't been those kinds of Pokémon from the start. Every Pokémon has a special place in someone's heart

He gives off such a gentle approach and it makes me so happy/comfortable

Ever since I got white as a kid I liked the vanilliuxe line a lot, so I was really surprised when most people seemed to hate it

You can hear how his accent has been changed from British to a more Japanese style. Overall, I respect this guy for his work in Battle Revolution and I do love the Vanillite line (despite most people hating on it).

Thank you James, thank you for creating some of the most memorable Pokemon in the series.

I hope to be like him someday! I'm working on mastering the art style! Wish me luck!

I wish you’d have asked him about being a western designer in japan

I wanna party with James, he seems like a swell guy and we're lucky to have him at game freak, a sort of bridge between worlds.

This dude is so down to earth. I really enjoyed this video! Not a fan of the kind of Pokémon he is in to but I can appreciate his chill personality and the advice he gives for the artists out there. What a cool dude!

This is just so wholesome. I love it. Also, I like how you guys at Game Informer are still using an AF100. Though I've upgraded twice since, that may be my favorite model camera I've ever owned.

He’s so lovely and passionate about his job, I wanna hug him so badly 💛

I could never draw as good as that. I suck at art. :( Of the Pokemon James has come up with, I'd say Poipole is my favorite. It looks cool and cute and I really like the overall design and color of it. With Pokemon designs, I love it when cuteness and coolness come together. To me, cuteness and coolness are what makes the best Pokemon.

This man is so wholesome and does not deserve for his ice cream pokemon to constantly get shit on by the masses

I've really been getting back into drawing and art and stuff like that, so just watching professional artists and explaining their tips and tricks for designs and doodles really motivate me to keep on imagining and putting my thoughts on to paper. Thank the Lord for Pokémon!

The way he talks about his craft gives me a new found respect for art directors.

This dude created some of my favorites, being Golurk, Phantump, Guzzlord, and the Poipole line. I love them all

he doesn’t connect his lines..., INTERESTING

The man debuted with an ice cream cone Pokémon. Let that sink in.

The pokemon having a level of friendliness really is an important part of Pokemon design I think the roundness is what gives that appeal

“Im gonna draw Vanniluxe” *draws Vannilite*

As much as I respect him and like some of his designs I still miss the old ken Sugimori style

This made me appreciate the icecream Pokémon

The fact that this man likes to draw cute little creatures is adorable honestly

I knew he was going to draw Vanillite the moment he picked up the blue marker

This is just delightful, thank you for this interview. I needed this today.

This is why we respect James. He has awesome art, a calm voice, and of course... The best name ever. (So do i!)

Phantump is one of my favorite Pokémon, it’s so cool that he had a part in designing it!

Now, before I hate on a design, I have to remember that a person worked hard to design that poke, and I appreciate it much more.

James Turner is fantastic, my depression is my worst enemy but I want to be an artist and if I do well I can complete my unique personal pokemon and all I want

Bless him and his love for vanillite but I can’t believe he’s the one that’s given us the new awesome designs thus far

I love that, according to the art director, the one thing above all that makes a Pokemon look like a Pokemon is the ability to feel friendship towards it. That's so wholesome.

I like some of his designs. Not all, but some. I guess it all comes down to individual artists and tastes. It’s exactly like he said: different artists draw things they themselves like. He likes some things that I like, and some things I don’t. List of Pokémon he designed according to Bulbapedia, graded by my enjoyment of them. Feel free to disagree with any of my opinions XD Shadow Lugia A+ Vanillite B Vanillish C Vanilluxe C- Golett A- Golurk A Vullaby D- Mandibuzz C+ Phantump B- Trevenant B+ Buzzwole C+ Guzzlord B- Poipole B Naganadel D He also FINALIZED the design for Bruxish. Which I neither like nor dislike.

This glorious artist made my favorite Pokemon. MAD RESPECT MR. TURNER!

Would love to see the artists try and draw each other’s designs

He seems like such a sweetheart & it was relaxing to hear him talk. Really enjoyed this.

james turner's signature design style is about leaving blank dots between the lines. it is really great.

Thank you for asking about the fragmented lines! That was the first thing I wanted to know when watching him draw.

It was nice to hear more about how James got started at Game Freak. Looking forward to SwSh!

He’s got such a dream job, I’d love to design characters for one of my favorite game series ever.

I saw "James Turner" and immediately thought of my beloved Sims Supply 😂

This is my favourite video. Great work Game Informer. Also love reading all the wholesome comments and seeing James and Vanillite getting so much love.

I hope he designs more pokemon like vanellite, I really love pokemon like that!

this man might just be my artistic hero. i first got super into pokemon during the unova region's first reveal. the vanillite line is one of my favorite ice type pokemon and i always will have one on my team. pokemon is what originally got me into creating art so i feel like if this man didn't create such loveable creatures (and all the other artists), i wouldn't be creating things to say

Can we win that art by James Turner tho? Because that is a masterpiece! 👍👌

This is weirdly soooooo relaxing. I'd love to watch an hour long video like this

Wow, i remember not liking vanilite when it first came out but its become one of my favorites from gen 5. Hope to go back and use one on my team next time i play.

I was describing to my dad what some of the more...questionable pokemon designs have been over the years and naturally I mentioned the Vanillite line. I always thought it was pretty cute and hearing James talk about it and watching him draw it just kind of reaffirms that. And learning he's basically behind the design of Phantump and that he did design Shadow Lugia is actually insane. He seems like such a kind and gentle person

This is really cool. Could you do an interview like this with the sound and music director? As a prospective sound designer for games, I could learn a lot from an interview like that

This man made me do a complete 180 on the ice cream mons. His live for them is infectious.

the sound that the markers make made me *REALLY* uncomfortable

I've always wanted to see of video of James Turner, one of the very few Westerners to work at Game Freak. It makes sense for him to lead the art design on an England-based Pokemon region. What an awesome job. I wish I had a talent for drawing.

Fascinating, I thought they were all Japanese artists. They are diversifying!

I always get insanely nostalgic when I play/listen to pokemon. It's such a huge part of my childhood, and I'm glad I still love them now that I'm an adult.

I hope we get a tutorial on how to design a Pokemon, like what's his process for designing Pokemon like buzzwole

I appreciate his success. He's from a little village in my area. It gives my son hope that he could do the same thing one day. I like to tell him James Turner is from down the road and he was the art director on sword and shield! It's inspiring for him.

Not a fan of his design tastes but he’s living the dream of all pokemon fans

It's been my dream for a very long time to be a concept artist, so people like James Turner really inspire me.

Looks like the ninth doctor is drawing aliens for Game Freak.

He seem always so calm and chill.

This is a very wholesome comment section and it was warmed my cold cold soul. You go, people!

Ken Sugimori: "am I a joke to you?"

I love this! Am a kid and I’ve drawn fakemon since I was very little and this vid helped me so much!

Careful, he’s a legend

vanillite is the only pokémon card i have since i was in middle school! always will have a special place in my heart 💕