Kicking Off the Pokémon 151 Challenge: #001 Bulbasaur!

As I mentioned in my recent post, to mark the upcoming 30th anniversary of Pokémon, I’ve decided to combine my love for book folding with the world of Pokémon. My goal? To create a unique book fold for every single one of the original 151 Generation 1 Pokémon.

I know this is a massive undertaking—it’s certainly going to take well over a year to complete—but I am so excited about it. And there’s no time like the present to get started!

We have to begin at the very beginning, with Pokédex entry #001.

Meeting Bulbasaur

For those of you who might not be deeply into Pokémon lore, Bulbasaur is an absolute classic. It is known as the “Seed Pokémon,” famous for the plant bulb on its back that grows larger as it evolves. It’s a Grass/Poison type and is beloved for being one of the very first “starter” Pokémon players could choose back in the 90s.

He really is the perfect place to start this journey.

The design

For the very first entry in this series, I decided to go with a relatively simple design to ease myself in. I chose a clean line drawing of Bulbasaur using a standard cut-and-fold technique.

Because I knew right from the start that I wanted to add colour to this project, I added cardstock into the folds, specifically using black cardstock for the outline. This really gives the final design a crisp “colouring book page” feel before the colour is even added.

Bringing it to life

As is often the way with crafting, the tricky part wasn’t the folding, but the colouring! I did struggle initially to find just the right shades of teal-green for Bulbasaur’s skin, but I am really happy with the final choice.

I used my trusty Promarkers to colour him in. My technique was to first do a coat on the very edge of the pages, and then go back and colour in the folded tabs. This takes a bit longer, but it gives the colour so much more depth and really makes the whole design pop out from the book.

One down, 150 to go!

I am so incredibly happy with how this very first one turned out. It feels amazing to officially tick #001 off the list in what is going to be a mammoth challenge.

I hope you enjoy following along with this long-term project. There is no set schedule, but I will post each new addition as and when it is ready.

Next up on the list: #002 Ivysaur