【The Playbirds】

Gotta 3D design 'em all.

Joshua Dunlop,The Playbirds a freelance concept artist based in London, has created incredibly lifelike images of three classic Pokémon.

Called Pokemon Zoology, Dunlop's creatures appear to look 3D. The renderings basically show what it would be like if Pokémon Go came to life.

There were a lot of steps involved in creating the images.

"I originally sketched out some rough ideas in Photoshop, using real life animals as reference. Once I was happy, I used a 3D program called 3D-Coat to build and texture the model," Dunlop said in an email to Mashable.

"I then brought the model into a rendering program called KeyShot which allowed me to get realistic lighting and effects," he said. "Finally I brought everything into Photoshop and built the images using a combination of photo-manipulation and digital painting. It takes a while but it's a lot of fun when you see the finished product."

Dunlop is a longtime fan of Pokémon, but he was only inspired to create the images recently.

"I've always had a soft spot for Pokémon, ever since I first got Pokémon Red for Gameboy. I loved the adventure and fantasy that came with the games," he said. "I always wondered what they might look like if they were real. After watching Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themand seeing the fantastic creatures they had brought to life, I was inspired to try and do just that."

Dunlop plans to continue with his project by digging even deeper and creating more 3D Pokémon images.

"I'm actually looking into possibly making a fan website focusing on Pokémon Zoology. Looking at their diets, habitats, breeding and training, accompanied by my 3D and Digital Artwork," Dunlop said. "I think it would be a great project and would be happy to work with anyone willing to help (starting with a web designer)."

Dunlop is raising money to create his Pokémon Zoology website. You can see more of his work on Facebook and Twitter.

[H/T: Storyful]