[WAR II] Pixel Art

[SassySnivy]

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WAR II: Pixel Art

Welcome, all, to the second incarnation of PXR's annual summer WAR competition! Here, you will all be fighting each other to death to determine who the top pixel artist is in PXR! Who will reign?

Each week for four weeks, you will be given a prompt upon which you'll need to create a pixel masterpiece. The challenges will start out easy, but will get more and more challenging as the weeks pass. Do you have what it takes to keep going?

Scoring Rubric

Each week, your entries will be scored according to this rubric. Note that each week, the rubric will change depending on the theme...so keep your eyes peeled!

Scoring (Final Week)

First Impression: 15 points

What's the very first impression you get when you see this at a glance? Fantastic? A little messy? Since pixel art a lot of the time focuses on what the result looks like when zoomed out, this is very important! In a way, you could say that this utilizes all of the scoring criteria below and kinda bundles it up into one score!

Quality: 10 points

Upon breaking it down, how clean and crisp and just good over all does it look? Did you execute techniques effectively, such as making sure your colors had contrast, keeping the lines clean, use proper anti-aliasing, etc?

Originality: 5 points

How much thought did you put into the concept, or even the execution behind making the sprite? Getting points here isn't just about the idea behind what you entered! If you found an interesting way to execute certain pixel art techniques, found an innovative way to use colors, and the like, that counts for creativity points, too!

Relativity: 5 points

How closely did your entry match the theme? Unless you noticeably deviate from the theme, you will most likely always get a perfect 5 here.

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WAR II Pixel Art: Rules

1. ALWAYS save as PNG for the sake of this thread. If you send your entry as a JPEG, I'll most likely give you a heads-up...since it honestly would not be cool to get a low score just because the image is gunky.
   
2. All artwork needs to be made by YOU. No direct art theft, and no collaborated works.
3. Your entry must NOT have been made beforehand! All entries need to be created in response specifically to the week's WAR prompt.
4. Please refrain from resizing your entries in any way. There's no need to do so, unless you also provide the original version.
5. You can only send in ONE entry per week. You can always post your WIP as you're working on, and you can always change your entry at ANY time...as long as it's before the cut-off date!
6. The Spriting Encyclopedia has some interesting, noteworthy content and sources, so check it out!
7. Feel free to ask ANY question that concerns you in this thread! You never know; someone else may be wondering the same thing.
8. I GIVE OUT FREE CRITIQUES BEFORE THE JUDGING PERIOD! :D This is one big reason why I encourage you guys to make your WIPs public if you want to. While I won't rate your entry before the judging period, I will definitely give you some free pointers and whatnot. All you have to do is ask me! <3

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Point Distribution

The first-place winner of a week in this part of WAR will receive THREE points for their team.

The second-place winner of a week in this part of WAR will receive TWO points for their team.

And finally, the third-place winner of a week in this part of WAR will receive ONE point for their team.

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Week Four!

...Something new! A lot of you all probably saw this coming. You have to make a sprite completely on your own, or "from scratch" as a lot of people like to call it. NO splicing, editing, etc for this week's entry!

What do I want you to make, though? This is the fun part. Do you remember the first week of the Drawn Art section of WAR, where people had to create a Fakemon of a brand new type? I want you guys to pick one out of ANY of those Fakemon to sprite this week. They are as follows:
@Mad Max's Dottle
@JamestheTyphlosion's Zerkonra
Nekomata's Lumebus
@lorii's Diovbot
Suicune's Fire's Binode
@MoogleSam's Origapaper
@Lady Darkrina's Skeleruin
@Velocity's Lunup OR Werunar
Morzone's Solvista
PTGigi's Astropter
The Frost Dragon's Magikcthulu

If any of the artists of these Fakemon don't want their Fake to be sprited for WAR, please do let me know. I will take it down as one of the options to use in a heartbeat! I want to respect all artist's boundaries to the best of my ability.

And yes, you can make one of the Fakemon you entered if you did enter one! But that's your call.

IT MUST BE NO LARGER THAN 93x93 PIXELS, and you MUST NOT USE ANY MORE COLORS THAN 15. You can make this in any style that you wish!

And most importantly, try to have fun with this! 8D

Form:

[b]WAR Team:[/b]  [Team X]


[b]Entry:[/b]  [Image here]


[b]Fakemon selected:[/b]

You will have until July 4, 2015 at 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time!!!



Once the results for that round are up, the new theme will be posted up in its place and the cycle will continue.

This section of WAR is going to take a slightly different turn this year around, so stay on your toes![/center]

Previous Week Themes

Week 1

Spoiler:

All you have to do is simply recolor a sprite! There's a bit of a catch, though: I'm looking for creativity here! Quality doesn't matter as much! This is to get you guys all warmed-up. :D
You can recolor any Pokemon, so long as it's a sprite from the main Gen III, Gen IV, or Gen V games. Please do NOT use fan-made sprites based off of the Gen VI Pokemon. Doing this keeps things simple. :> If you do, you will be asked to change your entry.

It is advised that you don't alter the shading, though some creative exceptions are allowed; for instance, if you want to add a more complex pattern and/or want to add some really slight texturing. Please be wary, however, that you will not get extra points for this.
It's also advised that you don't dramatically change the line art of the Pokemon you're recoloring.

If the Pokemon you're recoloring has a pattern somewhere on its body; YES, you CAN erase it, replace it, anything! You can even ADD patterns to your recolors; I encourage at least trying this out. Coming up with something original and cool and something that just works is what I'm looking for. (And I haven't been disappointed so far!)

Week 2

Spoiler:

Did you think you were going to do a fusion this week? If so, you were so wrong! This week you get to create a pixel-over of any of Sugimori's official Global Link / Dream World artwork for any forme of any Pokemon!

There are only two limitations: first off, don't deviate too much from the Pokemon's design. It's alright to deviate some lineart-wise, but just don't go crazy and make your Pokesona out of it or anything. You can use either the Pokemon's regular or shiny colors...or both! You won't get any bonus points for coming up with both, though.

You can find EVERY Pokemon's official Global Link artwork here! As you can see the shading is very minimal with this style, hence why I'm using them to test out everyone's shading skills! Make them look good. :D

Oh, and it also CANNOT exceed 200 x 200 pixels!!!

As for the shading, do anything that you'd like! Use a different position for your light source, add some texture, use your own signature shading style...whatever! This week, I want to see how well you guys can shade.

Week 3

Spoiler:

This week we're going to do something that we did last year: a silhouette challenge! But what is a silhouette challenge, you ask?

First, take ANY old Pokemon sprite you can find. It can be from ANY generation.

Color the entire thing in black (or you can reduce it all to one outline, but I find it easier to work from a silhouette).

FLIP THE IMAGE. This is probably the MOST IMPORTANT STEP OF ALL, and you MUST DO IT. Make sure that you only rotate it by 90-degree increments; 90 degrees, 180 degrees, or 270 degrees; in other words; don't rotate it so that it skews/distorts the pixels. It needs to be even. But why? Simple: when we see Hariyama's silhouette just as is, we still see Hariyama. However...flip it 90, 180, or 270 degrees and the right side of your brain will take over! That isn't Hariyama anymore...what is that thing?
Well, it can be absolutely ANYTHING. Only your imagination--and the pixel limit--is the limit.

Wait. Pixel limit? YES. You cannot add or take away even a single pixel from the outside borders of the silhouette. ANYTHING INSIDE OF THE SPRITE IS FAIR GAME. But you cannot change anything on the outside of it! You need to exercise your creativity and figure out how you need to do it.

[SassySnivy]

WEEK THREE

Scoring

Spoiler:

Brettles

from
@Brettles

First Impression: 6/10

I honestly didn't see this coming and I really love what you made out of Nidoking. In all honesty (and it could be because of the fact that Nidoking has a lot of external detail) I don't see Nidoking. At all. You have successfully broken the illusion, which is really cool. I find it interesting how you tried to vary the perspective (or that's how it seems). It looks like its being foreshortened, with its head closer to the viewer than the rest of the body...making the legs seem tiny. This being said, I think maybe the farthest leg (out left) is a little too tiny.

Quality: 5/10

This being said, there are still some things about the quality that lack. Mainly its the lack of much shading at all; and even in areas that were shaded, it isn't immediately noticeable due to both the over-dithering AND the low contrast between the shades of each color. I would also suggest some hue-shifting, but maybe it would be best to go over the bigger problems, first. :> Also try to remember to add shading to your lines, too. It's kinda tough, but it's definitely worth it! It looks a little plain with just flat colors that don't really even have a high enough contrast from the base color. You also did go over the suggested 15-color limit, but that was honestly only a suggestion more than anything! So I totally didn't take off anything for that. :>

Originality: 8/10

I really like what you did with this, and I seriously didn't expect it. This being said, it does still feel a bit plain. Probably because of the lack of prominent shading.

Relativity: 5/5

Total: 24/35

monkeybard

from
@monkeybard

First Impression: 8/10

There's a lot of readability issues, here, and I think it was caused by trying to cram so many details into a rather small space. Plus for some reason I still see Pichu; it was actually really hard to tell what was going on until I really squinted at it. Maybe next time try using a Pokemon with more space? That way you'll be able to show your skill off successfully without worrying about having to cram in so much.

Quality: 9/10

I'm going to embrace the color nazi in me right now: the colors are really nice here and I like how you hue-shifted AND tried to universalize your palette more (see: the use of yellow in the highlights on the drill was a really nice touch). I can't help but feel like you have a couple of redundant colors, though. The more reddish-brown is barely noticeable and would maybe serve its purpose better if it were darker. There's also two light blue colors that are so close together that the sprite would benefit either if you made that lighter one lighter, or just merged those two light blues together. I'm not taking any points off for that since it IS at the color limit. Just some tips is all!

Originality: 9/10

Despite the readability problem, I really like this concept! We've been getting all sorts of creative entries this week, and it makes me really happy to see that!

Relativity: 5/5

Total: 31/35

Caite-chan

from
@Caite-chan

First Impression: 6/10

This is...defintiely interesting! It's a cool use of Corsola. I know that you mentioned that it's meant to be a bath toy, and that's pretty much what I see. A very frog-esque bath toy, at that. You know I was totally willing to work with you on the shading; I do wish you would have messaged me when you "fixed it up," but at the same time it was my responsibility to message you back the next day as well. :P No biggie.

Quality: 6/10

Since this is meant to be a bath toy, I think it would have been cool to try to shade it so that it looked like a shiny plastic toy...but first you've gotta get basic shading down! You're getting there. I'm not really sure what that dark stripe of blue is there for by the eyes, though. If I were to guess, I'd think that maybe it was a mistake?
The shading looks like it's coming from directly above. That in itself is fine! It is kinda odd that you added highlights to the purple appendages though near where they start from the blue body, unless you meant for the purple areas of those appendages to start bulging out or something. Again, I can't stress this enough: I'm NOT taking off any points for this, it's just an observation and is really important to consider. xD You've got lots of redundant colors going on. There's two pairs of the blue that look pretty much exactly the same (#7FAAFF and #8EB4FF; then #3962CC and #295AE6), along with two pairs of violet that look incredibly similar (#A722E5 and #A722E5; then #A722E5 and #A722E5). Gotta watch out for these things! :o

Originality: 7/10

I'm definitely giving you a bunch of originality points for this...thing. xD What took away from that, though, was the fact that it is a little bland / flat of a design (or at least the execution anyway), but that's totally understandable given that this was only your first or second shot at shading something on your own! Right? ^^

Relativity: 5/5

blurb

Total: 24/35

PTGigi

from
@PTGigi

First Impression: 8/10

Oh my. This thing is really cool, and I love how well the cyan and magenta go together with the black and white. Plus the concept itself is really neat because what used to be Vaporeon's legs are now little harlequin-like protrusions from its head. Overall this has a really jester-like feel, which is cool and definitely fun to look at!

Quality: 7/10

You did a pretty nice job with this; however, it does look as if you tried to cram a little too much detail into such a space, lowering the readability of the sprite. Does it have another arm / paw? What exactly is that thing that's right by the leg; is is a hand or a foot? It looks a bit out of place. It's also hard to tell if this thing is facing us and its tail is protruding out from its front (LAWL), or if it's turned around slightly. The two darkest blacks also look so similar that they could definitely have been merged. Sometimes it's not a bad thing to use the "black" color to shade for really dark areas! The fact that the cast shadow (I think) from the paw onto the belly(?) is so prominent looks a little odd. The shading kinda looks like it's just all over the place which probably contributes to the readability problem.

Originality: 9/10

Definitely a really cool concept! It's like, one of those things that you don't expect but totally makes sense. Vaporeon's collar makes for a really good collar on this jester-like creature. And I love that grin and those slanted eyes. So mischievous!

Relativity: 5/5

blurb

Total: 29/35

Pokemon Trainer Sarah

@Pokemon Trainer Sarah

First Impression: 10/10

Wow! I'm really impressed with your entry this week! The use of hue-shifting is nice, and I love how you combined the color ramps yet were still able to easily portray that there are two different hues in this Pokemon. I also enjoy how you really emphasized on the fact that less can sometimes be more! The design is very simple, but it really works.

Quality: 9/10

One minor thing is that the contrast between the third red down and the second red down (the second-lightest) is a little too low. This is a really minor detail though. Despite this, I feel like having a midtone there is necessary to reflect the texture of this Pokemon (which is very gelatinous and shiny yet also plasma-like and I love it). Therefore, try making your second-lightest red just a little lighter along with your lightest red. The darkest red could also be a smidge darker in order for it to work better with the black used there.

Originality: 8/10

The design is basic, but it does work. It's really cute and given your description, it's clear you put a lot of thought into it! However, the description doesn't really give you any more creativity points...otherwise I probably would have given this a perfect 10.

Relativity: 5/5

blurb

Total: 32/35

Suicune's Fire

from
@Suicune's Fire

First Impression: 10/10

I love how you broke the mold a little and used a sprite from GSC! I do wish that Feraligatr didn't have those negative spaces inside of its silhouette, though, otherwise it would have turned out just a smidge better. Ah well! It really isn't something you can help.

Quality: 9/10

I love this and your colors used and your shading style, because it is very reminiscent of the RSE style...minus all the dithering, anyway. Sadly because of something that you really couldn't control, though, that negative space between the mouth and shoulder really doesn't make much sense. Also I couldn't help but notice those random clusters of light yellow off to the bottom-right, but again I don't really think there was much you could have done.

Originality: 9/10

This is a REALLY cool concept. It makes me think of a creepy genie-ghost / a Hindu-like interpretation of an Indian elephant. It's hard to tell what a lot of the things on its body are, though, but the little leg-like protrusions are nice and consistent. The teal appendage down on the bottom-left looks both like a ghostly talon / claw and a piece of torn fabric. I do feel like the design could have been a little more consistent on both sides.

Relativity: 5/5

blurb

Total: 33/35

Winners

Spoiler:

First Place: Suicune's Fire of Jupiter Mining Corp.!
You get 3 points for your team!

Second Place: Pokemon Trainer Sarah of Team Trainer!
You get 2 points for your team!

Third Place: monkeybard of Jupiter Mining Corp.!
You get 1 point for your team!

WEEK TWO

Scoring

Spoiler:

Sou Cleife

@Sou Cleife

Spoiler:

First Impression: 8/10

Sou, I am REALLY impressed with the final result of your entry. You fixed it so much since that very first entry, showing how dedicated you are. That's really awesome. Needless to say, this version looks much better. It looks very bright and colorful, which is very suiting for Sylveon. I also love the stylistic choice with the shading; by this, I mean making the shading look so glossy. It's a really nice signature that also really matches with Sylveon.

Quality: 12/15

As I said: you've fixed it up a lot, but there are still some rough patches. The shading on the tail is very banded..."but wait," you ask. "none of the pixels are hugging each other, so it's not banding, right?" This is a different kind of banding, and it's very, VERY tricky to break. All of your shades and your highlight color on the tail all follow the same pattern. See also: gradient. ^^; (I swear I was not trying to sound snarky by saying it like that) In the end it ends up making it look a little tacky; but like I said, it's a very hard habit to pull because that's just how our brains work. We seem to like gradients for whatever reason.
But you know what? You followed all of the advice I gave you to the best of your ability. We can still work on polishing this up some if you'd like, but that's all up to you! I especially love how you followed my line-tapering example; wunderbar!! <3
But...you made some color mistakes again. you have a bunch of doubles of your dark pinks, bringing your total up to 25 colors from the earlier 16-18. I know this is more of a nitpick than anything else, but you really gotta watch out for that! Does index color mode work to show you what colors are in the image in Photoshop?

Originality: 4/5

I really like your approach with this. Again I love the bubbly, bright colors and the glossy shading because it matches Sylveon's disposition so well.

Relativity: 5/5[/indent]

Total: 29/35

lorii

@lorii

Spoiler:

First Impression: 7/10

Same with you, lorii: even before I gave you direct advice and crits, you STILL learned from others' mistakes and successes and improved your entry significantly...without my direct help, even! I really enjoy the hue-shifting, and again, I feel like the bright shading style really matches Hoppip's disposition. It looks bright and happy; just like Hoppip!

Quality: 13/15

You've made some severe improvements, but it is still a little rough around the edges. Some areas of the line art still are in need of polishing: mainly the ears. You also have a slight problem with banding with the shading similar to the problems Sou was having (check out her review if you want to know exactly what I'm referring to). It's really just around the body, though, and it's something that's tough to avoid with round shapes, especially. I like that little bit of backlight. Not necessary, but it does give it more depth! I also love that you didn't totally get rid of the dithering; you proved that you can have JUST ENOUGH dithering that it isn't excessive but creates a subtle but interesting texture. In specific, the dithering on the highlights. I also love you for not using pure black and going so far to re-use the "black" color (That dark yellowish-brown) on the leaves, even.

Originality: 3/5

There isn't much to say here since there wasn't much you could do to earn points here. Actually to be totally honest I'm not even sure what to say. I guess I really don't have any comments / things that stick out to me in this aspect?

Relativity: 5/5[/indent]

Total: 28/35

Brettles

@Brettles

Spoiler:

First Impression: 2/10

I guess it really was my fault for not communicating what a pixel-over was; I assumed that 95% of you knew what it was and if not I assumed you guys would be able to go ahead and Google it. Sorry for making assumptions; I can assure you that won't happen again.Still, I do feel a little sad that you didn't see the tutorial I posted a link to (at least I don't believe you did) in the post just below yours; it shows you basically what a pixel-over is. To be honest I'm not sure what you did here; it looks a little like you shrunk the original Global Link artwork (recolored, though) down and just added some dithering. Apologies if that's not completely what you did; it's just what it looks like. A pixel-over is meant to basically be a trace / overhaul of original artwork, except in a 100% pixel form. There are 1,739 colors in this image, which is also why I'm going under the impression that you just shrunk the artwork and added some dithering / shading.

Quality: 2/15

This goes hand-in-hand with what I typed above. Sadly this is hardly pixel art, but you have no idea how much I appreciate the fact that you entered and you did try!

Originality: 2/5

The shading is pretty much the exact same as the original image, minus dithering. The original flat colors and lines from the original image are all still there.

Relativity: 2/5

I know you gave it a shot and I know that I made a big mistake by not communicating exactly what I wanted. I'm sorry about that last one.

[/indent]

Total: 8/35 (Don't give up!!!!)

TheoreticalSelkie

@TheoreticalSelkie

Spoiler:

First Impression: 9/10

Your works are as awesome as always, Selkie. For some reason, though, this didn't really strike me that much. I guess because even though you shaded it very skillfully and used good colors, it just doesn't feel all that adventurous to me. I do like the sharp highlights on its head, though; that gives it a really nice touch, portraying the dorsal part of Scolipede's body to be a hard exoskeleton.

Quality: 15/15

The really only big mistakes are the one(s) that I mentioned in the GSS. I know that you kinda had to rush your entry because of a vacation, and probably didn't have time to edit it. Otherwise there are no actual "big" mistakes!

Originality: 3/5

I guess this is a big reason that the first impression scored an 8 for me: it just doesn't really strike me all that much. It just feels really standard. I think it would have been awesome if you would have taken time to play with the colors more. I know what you're capable of!

Relativity: 5/5[/indent]

Total: 32/35

Pokemon Trainer Sarah

@Pokemon Trainer Sarah

Spoiler:

First Impression: 8/10

Nice job! I really like this because you picked something that has a lot of detail and is really busy. I also like that you tried to go outside of your comfort zone by using some more advanced techniques that you aren't too familiar with. That shows dedication. Most of all, I really hope you learned something from this! <3

Quality: 12/15

It's a BIG improvement from your last version, but it could still use some more polishing-up. For instance, the anti-aliasing in the glasses. You had the right idea; you really did! Sometimes in order to fix jagged lines, though, you need to do more than just anti-alias outside of the lines; you may need to anti-alias inside the actual lines, as well. RHLPixels made a very comprehensive tutorial about different types of anti-aliasing and different situations in which to use it and in what way; you can check it out here! It's awesome. Just for reference, I'll show you what it might have looked like using that anti-aliasing technique in specific. ^^
Some of the shading could also still use some work: I know, I didn't point that out in my original crit, and I'm sorry for that. I shouldn't have even had you have to ask for a re-crit: I should have been on that like a wolf. Your light source is very unclear; the highlights suggest it's coming from directly above, but the shading on Pikachu's head suggests that it's coming somewhere from the right at an angle. Make sure to be careful of those things; maybe even add a ball and some lines / rays of light coming off of it for where you want your light source to be? It really, really helps because it gives you a simple but effective visual guide so you're less likely to unintentionally screw that up.
I also feel like maybe the jacket is shaded a little odd, too. There's almost these cast-shadows at the bottoms of the jacket that seem to come from nowhere, and there are no bends with the fabric. :< Fabric is very tricky, though.

Originality: 4/5

I don't really have many comments, here. I definitely didn't expect one of the cosplay Pikachu, though. Nice choice!

Relativity: 5/5[/indent]

Total: 29/35

Suicune's Fire

@Suicune's Fire

Spoiler:

First Impression: 10/10

Xanthe, I am going to do something that is probably totally unforgivable and it's not something that I just throw around. You totally impressed me with your entry this week. What's the crazy thing I'm about to do! You'll see.

Quality: 14/15

I. Absolutely. Love. This. It's just so blah and IN YO' FACE. The light source that you choice furthers Tyrantrum's incredibly dynamic stance and makes it feel so much more dramatic. What killed that last point though, was that that ridge by the eye is still really banded. DX But I don't mean your standard banding. See, the shading creates a straight line that really doesn't have much of a place and really sticks out to me. And your color choice and hue-shifting are wonderful, and how you were able to both use the orange to shade AND to differentiate Tyrantrum's differently-colored markings is awesome.

Originality: 5/5

I love the Pokemon you choice, and a lot of it had to do with how complex it is, how well you managed to pull that off, and just how dynamic this is. You took the tone / mood of this artwork and just ****ing MAGNIFIED it by a hundred-fold. Also I like the fact that the neck scales are portrayed as warts; not 100% accurate, but who cares in this case? It works. It works really well.

Relativity: 5/5

Okay. So I did something ALMOST unforgivable but I didn't quite do it. I ALMOST was able to give you a perfect score had it not been for that one little flaw that sticks out like a sore thumb to me. Congrats, though!

[/indent]

Total: 34/35 (So close!!!)

PTGigi

@PTGigi

Spoiler:

First Impression: 8/10

Gigi, you're always surprising me with your skill that I never really suspected you had with pixel art! Great choice of Pokemon, AND you were able to pull it all off with one hue (well, two if you count the eyes). That's kinda a given when it comes to Mewtwo, though, but it still is awesome.

Quality: 13/15

Very nice! Though like with lorii and Sou, you've got some serious banding going on with the shading. Not banding where the pixels hug, but banding where each shade pretty much follows the same shape. It's a hard thing to avoid, but maybe if you only can shade in that one shape, use fewer shades next time? Your line art is pretty smooth, but there were some jagged pixels in your shading, and a lot of pixel placement that didn't make much sense to me. You also have quite a bit of ACTUAL banding going on: the tip of the "tail," the back of its head arch, and a few of the toes, to name a few.

Originality: 4/5

I do like where you went with this; I really am enjoying the glossy shading style. It's a subtle glossy, but I can still see it clear as day. I also like your newer one versus your older one in the sense that the colors are more vivid in your newer one.

Relativity: 5/5[/indent]

Total: 30/35

purple umbreon

@purple umbreon

Spoiler:

First Impression: 2/10

I like that you gave it a shot; I really do. However, your submission is suffering a lot of the same problems that Brettles; is. Ignoring the fact that it looks to be jpeg'd, it looks like you just took the original art and painted over that. I can understand where that misunderstanding would come from, though, and I am a lot to blame for the miscommunication. I know I had posted that tutorial up, but I really should have added it to the OP. sorry

Quality: 3/15

There isn't much to say here. I can see where you made the edits, but it's so terribly blurry likely due to the format you saved it in.

Originality: 3/5

Despite being NPA (non-pixel art), I do like the direction you tried to take with the shading here. The idea of the flames being the only light source was a nice choice; I feel that the fact that it goes from dark tan straight to black, however, is a bit too much in terms of contrast.

Relativity: 1/5

I can't even see the differentiation of each pixel cluster in this one. I'm sorry for causing any misunderstanding.

[/indent]

Total: 9/35 (Keep at it!!!)

Corrupt_Voidlich

@Corrupt_Voidlich

Spoiler:

First Impression: 6/10

Pretty nice! Nice choice of Pokemon and I like how you used a light blue-violet for the highlights for the red parts of its body instead of just light red or pink. It makes it feel like the light source is slightly blue. Plus, it's a pretty nice hue-shifting trick.

Quality: 8/15

You made a really nice try. You really did! Still, though, it does look rather messy on a pixel-level. It needs a lot of polishing. The thing that stuck out to me the most is how pillow-shaded it looks, ESPECIALLY in the tentacles. Make sure you figure out where your light source is coming from next time or else you might fall into that pillow-shading pithole! As I suggested to Sarah, it really helps to make a temporary visual guide to help you not fall into that really common mistake. The line art also feels pretty unpolished in a lot of spots, which I feel like was caused by not going over your line art and fixing it along the way (again, I apologize if it sounds like I'm trying to make any accusations). The arm-like tentacles, where they're intended to be rounded, look very squareish and a bit awkward. It's totally alright to use the line / curve tools, just have to make sure you check if the final product is up to snuff, is all! Also, I'm not sure that you needed a whopping 51 colors. .-. I see some areas--namely in the blue hues--where the colors could have been re-used elsewhere. Try to optimize your colors a little more! If you find some redundant ones, then try to correct that. :> It also may have helped to work at a slightly smaller scale, too! ^^

Originality: 3/5

Love your Pokemon choice and I do like how smooth the hair-tentacles look, despite the pillow-shading. Again with the blue-tinted highlights; that's a really nice little addition.

Relativity: 5/5[/indent]

Total: 22/35

Caite-chan

@Caite-chan

Spoiler:

First Impression: 6/10

CAAAAAIIITE. It's not as bad as you think it is; really! You've not done stuff like this before anyway, right? EVERYONE STARTS SOMEWHERE!!! :D Don't be so hard on yourself especially since you're just starting. Try not to compare yourself to others because we all started out pretty shitty. I like that you decided to use the shiny colors for this.

Quality: 7/15

I do think it would have been cool to try to make the light come from below (you could have done that by flipping it upside-down, shading it as if the light were coming from the top, then flip it back), but it's alright. I can still see that there's some highlighting up top...but barely. I also feel like you could have used maybe a shade or even two to help ease the contrast between the off-white and dark grey.
I don't think that Electrode's teeth are in an indent that far into Electrode's body (that's what the cast shadow there is portraying), but I do see what you were trying to do with that. I also wouldn't have added cast shadows under the eyebrows myself, but you know what? It actually works. It gives Electrode that extra depth that it needs.

Originality: 2/5

Unfortuantely despite the fact that you're a beginner at this and wanted to start out slow with something easy, there aren't many originality points I can give for using Electrode and not shading it in some crazy innovative way. but like I said: IT'S DEFINITELY A START!!! :D

Relativity: 5/5

Don't be so insecure! Be a little more adventurous each attempt you make. You are off to a great start! I really hope to see you submit entries for the future weeks, too.

[/indent]

Total: 20/35

Winners

Spoiler:

First Place: Suicune's Fire of Jupiter Mining Corp.!
You get 3 points for your team!

Second Place: TheoreticalSelkie of Phoenix Battalion!
You get 2 points for your team!

Third Place: PTGigi of The Prism League!
You get 1 point for your team!

WEEK ONE

Scoring

Spoiler:

Suicune's Fire

First Impression: 7/10

Bigger isn't always better, but I think it would have been a lot cooler to use Zebstrika. It would amp up the effect (no pun intended) because Zebstrika appears more "intense" per se than just little old Blitzle does. Blitzle is cute and fits well with this theme, but I feel like Zebstrika would have been even better.

Quality: 5/5

No major issues for me to complain about, here! Just some slight contrast issues in the fleshy color and the black. Black is a tricky color to work with when it comes to getting the right amount of contrast, but the majority of the time you're going to need MORE contrast between shades of black than less contrast. A bit like how white works, but vice versa!

Originality: 13/15

This is a clever little idea. I especially love how you added the crease in the "jacket" near where its back and neck connect. It makes it look more like an actual jacket and less like a skin-tight suit. The theme was also a good pick for this Pokemon because MOHAWK. x] However I still do feel like it's lacking, like you could have done more with it. Even using Zebstrika probably would have scored you more points.

Relativity: 5/5

No issues here!

Total: 28/35

Caite-chan

First Impression: 5/10

Ah, how cute! However the fact that the little inner organelles are outlined harshly in black doesn't really do it for me. Maybe if you were to have used one of the darker greens it would have looked better. Also, I think I may understand where you're coming from with the lines / border around Ditto's body but I'm not one-hundred percent sure.

Quality: 2/5

As I said above, the harsh outlines for objects that are supposedly floating around inside of Ditto's gelatinous body doesn't really work out so well. Just all of the black lines really lower's Ditto's readability and it's more difficult to understand what's going on at a first glance. I played around with it a little and actually found out that even by replacing all of those black lines you placed with the darkest green, it helps loads. :o Also maybe you could have tried to make the organelles a little less pointed and polygonic and more curved. :>

Originality: 12/15

It's definitely a cute little idea. As I said I feel like the execution could have been a little better, but hey! Props to you for going a little bit outside of your comfort zone. Don't let this discourage you; I definitely look forward to seeing more of what you can come up with in the future!!

Relativity: 5/5

No problems here. :>

Total: 25/35

TheoreticalSelkie

First Impression: 10/10

"Wow" was the first thing that ran through my mind when I first saw this. I love your hue-shifting and how you took a further step with the colors, deciding to re-use certain colors for different areas. Color control, in my opinion, is the essence of pixel art. <3 Plus the pattern is really pretty, too.

Quality: 4/5

You would have gotten the full 5/5 if it weren't for this one glaring issue: the eye marking on the farthest wing is much too horizontally skewed. I found that just by increasing the height by one pixel seems to clear up the issue. And our good old friend, anti-aliasing. c; Which you also probably could have used a little more of on the farthest wing. That darn problematic thing!

Originality: 14/15

I really didn't see this coming, especially not with Salamence. But honestly, Salamence has just a simple enough body with just enough protrusions that it actually works really well.

Relativity: 5/5

You got it.

Total: 33/35

Mad Max

First Impression: 7/10

This is cute; plus, it makes sense.

Quality: 2/5

There's a lot going on with the quality, though; mainly your colors and contrast. The white on the body looks flood-filled, as in the two shades that were originally there are filled in with one color. Don't forget to preserve the shading! :o Another major color problem is with your yellows, there. Yellow is a tricky, TRICKY color to work with...it would have been best if you were to either make your shades of yellow much darker than you would with any ordinary color, OR lower the saturation of your yellow slightly as you make them darker. That helps with the horrible contrast problems you get when you work with yellow! :> Lovely try, though! ^^

Originality: 10/15

I do like this, but it's also not unexpected. I mean, it's not like I expected this, either, but it's one of those things where you're like, "Oh, okay, I could have seen that coming." xD But nonetheless, I do like disguise recolors. I think maybe next time if you ever do make another Vivillon disguise recolor again, maybe do so on a Pokemon that you wouldn't expect to see it on as much? :> Like...Flygon! Flygon would actually be really cool to see a Vivillon design on. And it would work, too! :D

Relativity: 5/5

All clear!

Total: 25/35

PTGigi

First Impression: 9/10

This one also wow'ed me when I first saw it; it's definitely not anything that I expected! I absolutely love how the markings are so intricate yet not excessive. Nice color choice, as well; it definitely works!

Quality: 5/5

I see no major quality issues. One nitpick I noticed though is that you seem to have a duplicate color for every single color on that Reshiram, doubling its color count. (doubles as in two colors that look exactly the same; the only differences are very, very minor and you really don't notice them until you get a program to analyze the colors for you) I'm going to assume that this was a mistake of some sort, though, since there's literally one for like EVERY color, and the placement is pretty random.

Originality: 12/15

Not something I totally expected, but also works! As I mentioned, I love the fact that the markings are so intricate yet not excessive to the point that it takes away from the sprite's readability.

Relativity: 5/5

Yup!

Total: 31/35

Nekomata

First Impression: 8/10

I really, really love what you did with this and I can tell you took a long time to finish it. Upon analyzing it I noticed that you literally made individual color ramps for each different hue; plus I love the range of hues you chose. Yellow-green all the way down to violet? That definitely screams tropical, so it's safe to say you nailed down your theme. x] This is really cool and all, but entails one major problem...

Quality: 4/5

...color count. No, I'm totally not going to be a color nazi, here, but damn! 45 colors? That's cray-cray! Well, sorta. I mean with so many different hues it's a little difficult to really emulate a gradient without all of those hues. But the gradient is another problem: there's so much of a gradient that it actually takes away from the sprite's original shading. Maybe next time you can lower the number of hues and instead use some dithering here and there (but not in excession) to help the colors blend in without the sprite looking too gradiented. The yellow spots do add a really nice accent to the more bluish areas, though!

Originality: 14/15

Once again, this is one of those things that I never expected to see but at the same time, it totally works! I love the theme you used, it's so colorful and bright and it stands out really well.

Relativity: 5/5

No problems!

Total: 32/35

Noblejanobii

First Impression: 7/10

Oh, a Kitsune! Nice choice of theme. Especially since it's white with red and black markings it also bears a very striking resemblance to Amaterasu from the Okami series. <3

Quality: 3/5

Nothing big, just some contrast issues here and there. Your darkest white shade could have a lot more contrast from the shade above it...but I do love your hue-shifting. Instead of just going down to blank white, you actually added a warm, yellowish tint to it. It would have been cool to see a little anti-aliasing on the kanji on Ninetales' body, else it just looks like it's floating there and isn't actually a marking within its fur. Your red was also a little harsh and lowered the readability on the face. You definitely could have benefitted from making it just a tinge lighter and by adding some anti-aliasing there, too. ^^

Originality: 12/15

There's just something about this that I find really cool. Maybe it's the fact that that "ho" kanji provides just the extra "umph" that the recolor needs? Plus the red markings. It's a design that's both simple and satisfyingly detailed.

Relativity: 5/5

You got it, skipper.

Total: 27/35

ninjaskarmory

First Impression: 4/10

My first impression of this originally was a little unfazed, but once you actually went into detail and started to explain your reasoning behind every single little color and your knowledge of the lore of the Bioshock series, I was amazed! That being said it is still a rather plain recolor (which isn't always a bad thing...not at all), but the fact that you made your colors symbolize certain things within the franchise is a neat little twist. Plus, the rust color goes really nicely with those navy and cyan colors.

Quality: 4/5

No major quality issues.

Originality: 15/15

Despite the recolor not having any intricate pattern or designs, I feel like your explanation behind your reasoning really bumped up your points here. It's like, everything in this recolor has a place and a reason, and nothing here has been done accidentally or just because it looks cool. You decided to take a different approach, and I totally commend you for that! I just hope that you'll continue to submit more entries in the coming weeks. Looking forward to seeing what you have in store!

Relativity: 5/5

'Tis a recolor, no problems here.

Total: 28/35

Pokemon Trainer Sarah

First Impression: 10/10

Holy hell. Seriously, you went all out with this one. You hollowed out the eyes, added cracks, joints, and even ribs. RIBS.

Quality: 4/5

No glaring problems here. I think it would have been best if you maybe evened out the contrast a bit (there's a pretty low contrast between the main white and its shade, while there's a super-high contrast between that second-lightest shade and the one just below it). There are also just a couple of little pixels that you accidentally forgot to recolor, for they're still purple. c; That last bit isn't taking anything away from your score, though; just a heads-up!.

Originality: 14/15

The idea is pretty predictable, but your execution really kicks ***. You really went that extra mile.

Relativity: 5/5

I feel like this constitutes more as an edit than a recolor--referring to the addition of ribs--but I won't take any points off since I really wasn't all too clear about this rule to begin with.

Total: 33/35

sammy0295

First Impression: 7/10

This is really quite neat! Very nice choice of colors, too, but I can't help what inspired you to use that really dark, dulled-out violet. Not that that takes away from anything, it's just me pondering is all.

Quality: 4/5

No major problems here. Nice! The big thing is that I feel like the main body color could use some more contrast between the shades; namely the base color and the one just below / darker than that.

Originality: 14/15

This is a really interesting idea! It makes me think of steampunk, almost. Maybe a mix between a church organ and something steampunk. Very original concept!

Relativity: 5/5

I feel like this also constitutes as more of an edit than a recolor (due to the extra lines and especially the extra shading), but since I really wasn't clear on that to begin with I'm not going to take off any points for it. That was kinda my fault, to be honest.

Total: 30/35

Brettles

First Impression: 7/10

I was like, "whoa!" when I first saw this. I love the direction you tried to take this in. Just the execution was a little bit sloppy. But hey, no shame in that. We all start out pretty sloppy. c;

Quality: 2/5

20 colors? Wow! I think I see what went a little awry here, though. It almost looks as if you may have gotten a little mixed up as to what areas were supposed to be recolored plainly and what areas were meant to have a pattern. Here's a little trick to help you! Make multiple copies of the sprite you're recoloring. In one copy, just reduce it to flat colors, and draw out the pattern that you want to use. Make copies of the original sprite; for each color that you used for the pattern, go ahead and make a separate recolor of it for each individual hue. When you're done with that, take the sprite that has the pattern that you planned out (or copy it just in case you mess up).
Let's say that you have your patterned Charizard, and you have four separate colors: black, red, orange, and yellow. You should have one Charizard recolored for each of those colors you're using in your pattern. Take the one with the pattern and get rid of one of the hues--so say, let's get rid of orange. Paste that over your orange recolor, and viola! Just keep doing that for the other colors. It really helps and makes the process much less complex!

Originality: 12/15

Flames + Charizard = slightly predictable, yes, but I love how you just went all-out and made this Charizard look as if it's completely on fire, or totally pimped out with some sick decal. xD

Relativity: 5/5

No problems!

[center]Total: 26/40

Winners

Spoiler:

First Place: TheoreticalSelkie of Phoenix Battalion and Pokemon Trainer Sarah of Team Trainer!
You both did excellently; it was really difficult to choose which one of your entries deserved first place more!
Both of you receive points; TheoreticalSelkie gets 2.5 points for Phoenix Battalion and Pokemon Trainer Sarah gets 2.5 points for Team Trainer! Congratulations!

Second Place: Nekomata of The Prism League!
Congratulations!
Nekomata receives 1 point for The Prism League!

[Suicune's Fire]

WAR Team: Jupiter Mining Corporation (in case my postbit banner and signature didn't give it away. ;] )

Entry: Punk Rock Blitzle!



Speed, if you could please let me know if I have changed the shading too much, or made an error by recolouring the stripes, that would be awesome. I'm not quite sure how you feel about changing the patterns...I mean, they didn't technically have lineart so I wasn't sure. xD I added the tiniest bit of shading (the lines on the back of the neck to emulate the look of a jacket) but if that's not allowed then can I classify it as a pattern happening to be in the right place? ;D Lol I kid. But really, I'm not sure about things.

[Dragon Master Mike]

me when I opened the site this morning:

"When does WAR start again? Let me go ask on skype."

"Wait, Speed-X mentioned me on her Pixel Art section"

"Wait a minute, all the threads are up."

"JUNE TWELFTH DEADLINE WHEN-WHAT-HOW"

I'm guessing it starts today?

[SassySnivy]

Changing patterns is totally fine! In fact, that's what I'm hoping you guys will try to.do! And yes, it starts today :>

As long as the pattern you're replacing on the Pokemon is just a pattern and not actually a protrusion on the Pokemon's body (i.e. Salamence's underbelly scales are a protrusion, not a pattern) then it is totally acceptable.

[Caite-chan]

WAR Team: Phoenix Battalion

Entry: Germy Ditto

[TheoreticalSelkie]

WAR Team: The Phoenix Battalion

Entry:

Based off this. I name it... MOTHMENCE.

for no reason in particular.

[Rival Max]

WAR Team: Team Trainer

Entry:

Based on savanna vivillon

[PTGigi]

WAR Team: Prism League
Entry:


Reshiram with a more bird/dragon-like pattern C:

[SassySnivy]

Very, very impressive results, everyone! Keep up the great job~<3