So what I thought would just be a short-lived warmup yesterday night to prep for commissions accidentally turned into several hours of shameless self indulgence. Whoops! Anywho, for those of you who don't know, I've been a huge nerd for all things Pokemon since my wee days experiencing Gen 1. I'd seen a bunch of super cool artist takes on species/type variants before on Tumblr, and I've been wanting to do one for a while, so... here we are!

Absols have a particularly special place in my heart thanks to some writing/headworld building shenanigans with one of my dear friends. I even wrote a little blurbage for them last night, for anyone interested in silly rambling:

SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS (R = Row, C = Column):

R1 C1: Shady coat variant with mask. When the white body coat has any amount of pigment, white splashing stands out due to contrast. Splashes ranging from tiny dribbles to broad swaths over the chest, groin, armpits, flanks, brow and throat are not uncommon. Many classic white absols, in fact, carry some degree of “invisible” splashing. Socks and stockings may also be present.
R1 C2: Cinnamon type— isabella (lilac) face and points, dilute brown rather that blue-black. Coat may be slightly brown in color or pure white; variable termination of points on feet may occur, as well as (rarely) pale orange or golden eyes.
R1 C3: Charcoal or Ashen type. Developed via natural selection in areas where darker coats are advantageous to survival, melanin is overall more prevalent across the body. Face and points are significantly darkened vs. the standard wildtype, with deep smoky fur that tends to appear darkest near the spine.
R1 C4: Ghost or Snowy variant. Often displays urajiro-like pale areas around the muzzle, cheeks, jawline and brow. Overall reduced pigment in the face and points. Skin may be pale/pink rather than dark, best visible in the groan and pads. Snow nose is not uncommon.
R2 C1: Wildtype/standard coat showing common white markings that may occur in darkened/point areas. White toes may have pink pads and/or light claws. All blazes, snips, etc, are generally slender/narrow, and it is very uncommon (though not unheard of) for large areas of the face to be white. Darker, mottled “freckling” patterns may also occur in any pigmented zones.
R2 C2: Wildtype classic coat: the pokemon’s “standard” appearance, in natural full coat. Skin beneath the hair is pigmented dark (commonly visible in hairless zones such as the groin, bald scars, etc) regardless of the white coat.
R2 C3: Silverback or Dustback variant. A fading gradient of color— which may appear faintly blue grey or cinnamon/lilac— runs along the spine, generally starting near the back of the skull and terminating near the pelvis. However, some individuals may have color running the length of the body (forehead to tail) while others may only express this pattern over the shoulder area. The same gradient may or may not also be present in the paws.
R2 C4: Wildtye/standard coat, sheared into a common working cut. The bushy mane and forelock may be trimmed regularly to maintain a smoother appearance.

Bottom row (from left to right):

Hornless (genetic abnormality— horn nodes may be absent from birth or malfunction during development), “lefty” (some caused by situs inversus, though not all), double horned (genetic abnormality, born with two functional horn nodes; development is typically symmetrical), extreme “masculine” (hormones factor into horn growth/development, high levels of testosterone are believed to encourage dramatic curvature; it is also believed somewhat anecdotally to be associated with more aggressive/dangerous individuals), extreme “feminine” (females tend to have straighter horns than males), unusually vertical growth angle, mildly short horned/back angled, standard length/back angled, average/common angle and length.

Thanks again to all the fellow nerds who kept my company while I tooled around on this yesterday. Happy Thursday, all! :D