Thumbnail Art and Commentary

Hello, dear Patrons! I shared this post on YouTube Community, but going forward, I'd like to make this kind of content a Patreon exclusive for you, wherein we talk thumbnails, and showcase both the art and thought process behind some of these thumbnails.

I used to make all of the thumbnails myself, but have found that commissioning art is both a lot less work, and a lot more fun. I love supporting artists, and am privileged to be in a position where the Channel can commission art in this way.

Please find, below, the community post I just put out, which features some thoughts from the thumbnail's artist, @louritashine! Maybe it can help to inspire your own creative process, as well!

---
The next video topic will be "Why Hasn't Nintendo Axed Pokemon Showdown?" It should be ready early next week. I'm in the process of putting together the thumbnail with the help of  @louritashine , a dear friend of mine, and a brilliant artist, who has put together some of Moon Channel's most memorable art, including the thumbs-up Phoenix Wright you've seen me use, the Miku-Garfield thumbnail from the propaganda video, and more!

For this thumbnail, the initial idea was just a Pokemon Battle, reminiscent of Pokemon Showdown.  @louritashine  thought to make it a double battle, wherein one side represents "the law", or Moon Channel, and the other side represents would-be IP infringers. What characters then are a good fit for Maya and Phoenix?  @louritashine  came up with Frosslass and Misdreavus for Maya, both of which fit well. For Phoenix, who I often use as a stand in for myself, I proposed Slowpoke. A friend though of  @louritashine  proposed that perhaps Tinkaton would be a better choice, given the title of the video! And that idea turned out to be the winner. In image 2, you can see four thumbnail sketches!

Which of these do you like best? The idea was, at first, to portray the ip infringers as Meowth and Ditto: the money pokemon and the copy pokemon, respectively. Maya does most of the work in the thumbnail, while I present my badge in the background, as is tradition.

You may have already spotted the issue here: we didn't want to paint Showdown in such a negative light, and we were worried that using Ditto and Meowth would send the wrong message. The thumbnail was then simplified further to the sketch in image 3, wherein Maya Tinkaton prepares to swing an axe at Meloetta: Showdown's mascot! You might note that the name there says "Zarel" -- we are considering moving that to the trainer box, as that might also give the wrong impression of the video.

In any case, I look forward to sharing the final result with you: the thumbnail and the video both!

---
From  @louritashine : It is always such a joy getting to draw Pokemon for commissions, since that was one of the first things I very frequently drew as a kid! Ideating on how to combine Maya and Phoenix with Pokemon was probably the most fun part of working on this thumbnail and Slowpoke Phoenix just sparks so much joy! I'm not as familiar with the newer Pokemon so it was very interesting learning more about Tinkaton. I never thought I would ever be drawing an axe alongside Pokemon so it was also a fun challenge figuring out how an axe could fit into such a composition!

I hope you guys enjoy the final version and know that I always very eagerly read your comments about what you think of the thumbnails!
---

You can check out  @louritashine  's other art and goings-on, on twitter, at https://x.com/LouritaShine