PXFIRE Sprite Art Competition

[Noblejanobii]

http://i.imgur.com/edgsWTj.png

Welcome to the Sprite Art Competition!

Thank you all for coming! I look forward to seeing all your sprite art skills! I'm NobleJanobii and I'll be your judge for the Sprite Art Competition. So, I know you must be curious, what are my plans? Well, I'll be hosting three events. The first two events will last one week each while the final event will last two weeks. What are the events? You'll just have to wait and see!

I plan to grade based on four criteria-
1. First Impression: (A+ to F-) When it comes to sprites while attention to detail is key more often than not unless you're using high res sprites many people will make their judgement on your sprite based on their first glance at it. Therefore, it is important to wow me right off with your design. And while not necessarily doing so may not be bad in the long run, just remember first impressions are always important.
2. How well the instructions/theme are followed: (A+ to F-) While I won't give out any details when it comes to the second and final events, the first event, which is listed below, is a recolor challenge. How well you follow the instructions when it comes to doing the recolors, either by following the color schemes or making the sprite look smooth enough that it appears you followed the color scheme, is very important. Recolors, fusions, retypes, and all forms of spriting require a great attention to detail, therefore following my set instructions and theme is the key to success.
3. Coherency, Incorporation, and Quality: (A+ to F-) 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? Detail is a large factor into good looking sprites so when I zoom in on Photoshop and start looking at your sprite pixel by pixel, how does your sprite hold up?
4. Creativity of design: (A+ to F-) This will of course be taken on a case by case basis, but the more creative the design of the sprite is the more points it will get. If I can tell that the creator was really going for a certain design or style that was different from the original base then they're going to get more points. Now of course, for recolors, this can only go so far, but I assure you this category will play a far more important role in the second and final events.

Got it? Good! Now before I get to the first event, here's a few rules to follow!
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 may use high res sprites like those provided in the high resolution project thread, however, do note that this will severally limit the amount of pokémon you will be able to use in future events. While this may not seem like a big deal, it will hinder how well you creativity can shine through in the long run.
6. You can only send in ONE entry per week. You can always change your entry at ANY time...as long as it's before the cut-off date!
7. Some great resources are: The PXR Spriting Encyclopedia (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?3044-The-PxR-Spriting-Encyclopedia), PLDH.net (https://pldh.net/) which has all available sprites for pokémon up through Gen 5, PokéCommunity's Gen 6 sprite resource (https://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=314422), Smogon's Gen 6 sprite project (http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/xy-sprite-project-read-1st-post-release-v1-1-on-post-3240.3486712/), and Smogon's Gen 7 sprite project (http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sun-moon-sprite-project-dawn-of-a-new-day.3577711/). All of the sprite resources listed are free to use, however you are allowed to use your own sprite or sprites made by others so long as you have the proper permissions. Proof of permission is required.
8. Feel free to ask ANY question that concerns you in this thread! You never know; someone else may be wondering the same thing.
9. Complaints of any kind in this thread are highly frowned upon. I will be doing my best to be as unbiased as possible when it comes to judging these sprites and have laid out my criteria as plainly as possible. If you have a problem with something, take it up with me personally and do not post it here. This is supposed to be a fun environment and I do not want your negativity over a possible issue on my end or yours to ruin the fun for everyone else.
10. Most of all have fun! I hope you guys enjoy the events as much as I do (I've been working to create examples for you so technically I'm participating too haha) so don't hold back and do you best on these sprites!


Now for the event! The first event will be...

http://i.imgur.com/SdvBlSr.png
The Instructions: Pick three pokémon, a first stagger, a second stagger, and a final stagger and swap color palettes! It doesn't matter who gets what color palette as long as each pokémon ends up with a new color palette and no two pokémon have the same color palette.

My Examples for you:
First Stage: http://i.imgur.com/3c3WxzU.png
Second Stage: http://i.imgur.com/QxsVaOc.png
Final Stage: http://i.imgur.com/XxXPmdB.png
Granted they're not my best, but they're examples nonetheless! So get spriting!

Your form-
Username:
Team:
First stage sprite: (link to the picture or the picture itself, please state the pokémon and what it is being recolored as)
Second stage sprite: (link to the picture or the picture itself, please state the pokémon and what it is being recolored as)
Final stage sprite: (link to the picture or the picture itself, please state the pokémon and what it is being recolored as)
Additional comments:

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Username: Pokemon Trainer Sarah
Team: Gracidea Order
First stage sprite: http://i.imgur.com/FdbYIaf.png (original at bottom; recoloured as Aurorus)
Second stage sprite: http://i.imgur.com/cNpEV9y.png (original at bottom; recolored as Tyrunt)
Final stage sprite: http://i.imgur.com/wAAShdm.png (original at bottom; recolored as Hakamo-o)
Additional comments: DINOSAURS! This was fun. Tyrunt was the most difficult as Aurorus has a lot of colours! So I ended up going with a sort of gradient effect. I spent the longest on Tyrunt, but Aurorus is my favourite of this lot. Kommo-o totally looks like it could be an evo of Tyrunt. XD I started off using Archen instead of Tyrunt but Archen ALSO has a lot of colours that are very bright and it just didn't look good. xD The sprites I used are from the Smogon sprite projects. :)

[Coru]

Username: Coru
Team: Prankster Platoon
First stage sprite: http://i.imgur.com/nFYAvzh.png Ponyta [Recoloured as Spiritomb]
Second stage sprite: http://i.imgur.com/3fHnmIr.png Ivysaur [recoloured as Ponyta]
Final stage sprite: http://i.imgur.com/mXI0tQg.png Spiritomb [Recoloured as Ivysaur]
Additional comments: This was really fun. A little more interesting trying to do it on Photoshop because I have a Mac so can't use paint which was super annoying. I think the one that worked the best was Ivysaur. Tried to find palettes which worked well for the other Pokemon but not sure about the Spiritomb, looks too christmassy lol. All these sprites used were the BW sprites. I had to create extra shades for some Pokemon as the palettes for some colours didn't have enough shades.

[azura evley]

Username: azura evley
Team: Gracidea Order
First stage sprite: 1671 jiraji ---> latias
Second stage sprite: 1672 Latias ---> Shaymin
Final stage sprite: 1673 shaymin ---> jiraji
Additional comments: Well that was fun!

[Noblejanobii]

All right guys! Thanks for your entries! I'm technically on vacation right now but I'll try to have these graded soon, like Monday-ish. Of course you are still allowed to submit stuff until later today, I am just going to be on the road for most of the day so I thought better to get the challenge up early rather than late. In the meantime, here's your next challenge!


Fuuuussssiooon HA!

This week's challenge is a fusion sprite challenge! Take any three pokémon and fuse them together! This is where the coherency, incorporation, and quality categories really come to play so make sure to take extra effort that you can see the representation from all three pokémon. Also bonus points can be awarded if you use the same three pokémon as the first challenge.

My example for your:
http://i.imgur.com/0B4HtQ3.png

Your form:
Username:
Team:
Names of the three pokémon fused:
The fusion sprite:

[Caite-chan]

Username: Caite-chan
Team: Steel Scavengers
First stage sprite: http://i.imgur.com/ngNhabf.png As a Politoad
Second stage sprite: http://i.imgur.com/ASzd6pZ.png As a Flareon
Final stage sprite: http://i.imgur.com/ebOB12b.png As a Porygon
Additional comments: I feel like I haven't done this in forever and it seemed like everything wanted to give me a hard time...lol.

[Noblejanobii]

Pokemon Trainer Sarah
First Impression: A
How well are instructions followed: A
Coherency, Incorporation, and Quality: A
Creativity of design: A+
Total Points: 27
Overall, you did a great job! The first impression of these sprites is great. They’re colorful, quite striking, and you make them look almost like the natural colorings. Even better, you present the actual sprites to show the contrast and shift. But what gets you the most points is the theme, which factors into your creativity of design. So great job there and can’t wait to see more!

Azura Eveley
First Impression: A
How well are instructions followed: B
Coherency, Incorporation, and Quality: B
Creativity of design: A+
Total Points: 18
The main places you lose points are quality and instructions. Overall because the sprites were shrunk down for some reason it makes the pictures very grainy which destroys the quality. You also didn’t follow the instructions entirely, which doesn’t hurt your first impression score because I didn’t realize it at first, but does hurt your instructions score. All these pokemon are final stage pokemon, whereas the directions asked for a first stage, a second stage, and a final stage. But otherwise you did very well. Like Sarah, you had a theme, which got you bonus points, and you had the actual sprites there too which also helped you. The sprites look great recolor wise as well and overall you did great. Better yet you can even get bonus points next round if you use these guys again since there’s no stage requirement for the second challenge.

Coru
First Impression: A+
How well are instructions followed: A
Coherency, Incorporation, and Quality: A+
Creativity of design: A
Total Points: 27
You did great all around. While you didn’t have a theme, the first impression on these guys was great. Personally, I think Ponyta looks the best, but they’re all great. You followed the instructions, made the recolors look seamless, and used photoshop which was a program you were uncomfortable with. If you need any tips for doing sprite work in photoshop, feel free to ask since that’s the program I use and it’s great for recolors and fusions with tools like contiguous paint bucket.

Caite-chan
First Impression: A
How well are instructions followed: A+
Coherency, Incorporation, and Quality: A
Creativity of design: A
Total Points: 28
For having not done this in a while you did a great job. You even exploited a loophole I unknowingly put in the rules which gets you extra points. Overall, the recolors look almost like shiny forms for the pokemon if you didn’t know any better. You also get kudos in the creativity for using more than just the three pokemon that are the bases. Can’t wait to see more from you!

[Coru]

Well done guys! We all definitely did our teams proud. Nice one Caite for using that loophole, didn't notice it until just when Noble pointed it out. haha.

[Caite-chan]

I don't even know what loophole that is other than sheer dumb luck...lol.

[Noblejanobii]

I don't even know what loophole that is other than sheer dumb luck...lol.

So when I was writing up the challenge, I meant for you to pick three pokémon and switch those pokemon's palettes. But I was vague enough in my instructions that you could actually use other palettes entirely like you did.

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Username: Pokemon Trainer Sarah
Team: GO!
Names of the three pokémon fused: Tyrunt, Aurorus, Hakamo-o
The fusion sprite: http://i.imgur.com/oWD3MbE.png

If anyone wants to see my mess of a process for getting to this point it's in the spoiler. XD

http://i.imgur.com/qBe0t0Y.png

[arnisd]

Username: Arnisd
Team: Gracidea Order
Names of the three pokémon fused: Deino, Jolteon, Arcanine
The fusion sprite:
http://i.imgur.com/pAaPlcG.png

[Coru]

Name: Coru
Team: Prankster Platoon
Names of Pokemon fused: Ivysaur, Ponytail, Spiritomb
The fused sprite:http://i.imgur.com/kKf8ZHC.png
Info:
Garghost, the gargoyle Pokemon. [Rock/Ghost]
Garghost, evolved from Wispone, is made solely from stone. Protruding from it's back is a keystone, which is said to absorb the souls of all those who dare stare into it's eyes. The flames on it's body apparently are kept alight by the souls it has absorbed. Something seems to be trying to emerge from the small crack in the keystone.

This was seriously SO HARD. Photoshop is really not great for fusing haha and also spiritomb was so hard to try and merge with these Pokemon. Ponyta and Ivysaur worked fine and I managed to merge them about 4 different ways. All I couldn't get any part of spiritomb to look good so I had to go with a more subtle design like this. I used the keystone sprite of spiritomb but it is still in the sprite gallery of spiritomb so I assume it is still valid to use.

[Caite-chan]

I'm having one hell of a time with this Fusion thing...lol.

[Noblejanobii]

I'm having one hell of a time with this Fusion thing...lol.

Well, you have until the end of the day. I'll be posting the next challenge when I get the examples done. Worst case you can do a much simpler fusion and just not get the bonus points. Also remember, since you technically used five pokemon in the first challenge, three of any of those five can be used in the fusion.

[Noblejanobii]

Darwinism

For your final challenge you'll be creating an evolutionary line for the fusion you created last week! However many stages you create is up to you, you can even create split evolutionary lines if you so choose. The only restriction is that the base pokémon must be from the same line as the main base for last week's fusion! You have two weeks for this one as well so take your time and enjoy yourselves!

My examples:
http://orig11.deviantart.net/70a5/f/2017/197/b/1/litumpkyu_by_writerraven-dbgizmh.png
http://orig10.deviantart.net/2aa1/f/2017/197/8/6/chandikyugeist_by_writerraven-dbgjd1v.png

As I mentioned earlier, you still have until the end of the day for challenge #2.

Grades will be posted probably tomorrow. I have a math test Tuesday so it might be Wednesday, just depends on my study schedule.

[Caite-chan]

Username: Caite-chan
Team: Steel Scavengers
Names of the three pokémon fused: Bayleef, Flareon, Politoad, Porygon, Abomasnow
The fusion sprite:
http://i.imgur.com/TUeJPwU.png

This is the first time I have ever done a fusion of any kind and dear god is it ever hard...lol.

[Coru]

Noblejanobii

With the next theme, I'm going to do a split evolution line, is it ok if I have one of the Pokemon based from the bulbasaur line and then have another with a different base as long as the bulbasaur line is still somehow involved? If I use the same base they wouldn't turn out different enough for the split line to look good.

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

I don't even know what the base of my previous sprite was. xD I guess it's technically Aurorus. Do they need to be fusions or can we use the Pokemon from last week as a base (eg. Aurorus for me) and then scratch most of the rest of it? ie. do we have to fuse in an extra Pokemon sprite? :O

[Noblejanobii]

I don't even know what the base of my previous sprite was. xD I guess it's technically Aurorus. Do they need to be fusions or can we use the Pokemon from last week as a base (eg. Aurorus for me) and then scratch most of the rest of it? ie. do we have to fuse in an extra Pokemon sprite? :O

Either option is perfectly fine (I saw the base more as Tyrunt but it's totally up to you). If it's easier for you to scratch or to fuse in another Pokémon then do what is easier for you.


Noblejanobii

With the next theme, I'm going to do a split evolution line, is it ok if I have one of the Pokemon based from the bulbasaur line and then have another with a different base as long as the bulbasaur line is still somehow involved? If I use the same base they wouldn't turn out different enough for the split line to look good.

Since you'll be doing a split evolutionary line that is perfectly fine to use a different base.

[Noblejanobii]

Great job this past week, everyone! All around the sprites were great and those of you that used your same sprites from last week received bonus points so great job all around! These fusions were all amazing and I can't wait to see what you guys come up with in the next challenge. Remember, you have two weeks for this one so don't rush it.

Pokemon Trainer Sarah
First Impression: A
How well are instructions followed: A
Coherency, Incorporation, and Quality: A++
Creativity of design: A
Total Points: 26
I absolutely love this design. You definitely excelled as the coherency, incorporation, and quality. Each of the three people is equally shown, and including your process really helped to hit that home. This is a great fusion and I’m looking forward to seeing what you do next.

Arnisd
First Impression: A+
How well are instructions followed: A
Coherency, Incorporation, and Quality: A+
Creativity of design: A
Total Points: 23
Okay if I was having any fusion as a pet this would be it. You totally won me over on this one with a first impression. What I really like is how you did the stripes and how subtle Jolteon’s inclusion is. I didn’t notice it at first glance until I started to study the design which is really good because that means it looks really smooth. Great job all around!

Coru
First Impression: A+
How well are instructions followed: A
Coherency, Incorporation, and Quality: A++
Creativity of design: A+
Total Points: 28
I’m sorry to hear you think it’s difficult to fuse in Photoshop. I’ve always found fusions were much easier in Photoshop. Feel free to ask for tips if you need any. I love the inclusion of a pokedex entry and how you used a different sprite. Overall this was an amazing fusion. Great job thinking out of the box with it!

Caite-chan
First Impression: A
How well are instructions followed: A-
Coherency, Incorporation, and Quality: A-
Creativity of design: A+
Total Points: 23
For a first fusion that is actually really good. I think where the fusion mostly suffers is you tried to include all five pokemon rather than just picking three like you were supposed to. And while that isn’t necessary a bad thing, as I can see the influences from most of the pokemon, overall it just didn’t work. Fusions are difficult, especially when it’s with more than just two pokemon. Yet you did amazing is incorporating the little details into the design! I can see Politoad’s cheeks, Porygon’s tail, and Flareon’s fluff. The only pokemon that I really cannot seem to locate is Abomasnow, but given you were trying to fuse more than just three pokemon, that’s not a huge deal. My advice to you is when doing the final challenge, try to make each pokemon a bit more present. Maybe knock the fusion count down to three and then work to make them all present. It doesn’t have to be huge, sticking with the little details like you did is great, but I think your fusions would look great with more presence of the components in them.

[Coru]

I think I got the hang of this now. Really wished I hadn't picked the bulbasaur line. Took forever to scratch back the body of venusaur when I got rid of the flower. haha.
Anyways, here is my line. The Haunted Gargoyle line. I created some backstory to go with the line. I changed my poked details for stage 2 a little to fit better.

Backstory:
There once was a curse put on the town of Erkuruk by a dark and evil creature and once Halloween arrived, ghosts Pokemon would flock and terrorise the town for 3 days and 3 nights. The towns folk, over the years found out that if they create gargoyles, it would trap the spirits and not allow them to wreak havoc among the city. They began to build gargoyles across the city resembling a reptilian creature. Once halloween arrived, the sprits would then be locked into these gargoyles and be trapped forever. The towns folk, however, did not realise that when enough spirits inhabited these gargoyles, they would gain a life of their own, slowly developing and growing until they became huge reptilian monsters with flames powered by all the spirits trapped within. Once halloween arrived, the spirits would be stronger and attempt to flee from their rocky shell. If the gargoyle had been damaged enough, it would shatter, allowing the monsters within to fly freely among the earth.

Here are my entries

Stage 1:
Blaroc
Type: Rock
Sprite:http://i.imgur.com/8JFFqYs.png
Pokedex entry: This cute little creature is made from pure rock, brought to life by the essence of the ghost types trapped within it's body. The flames emerging from it's head blaze stronger with every ghost type it encounters.

Stage 2:
Flaregoyle
[Evolves from Blaroc at level 23]
Type: Rock/Fire
Sprite: http://i.imgur.com/phwrHlr.png
Pokedex Entry:
Flaregoyle, evolved from Blaroc, is made from pure stone. Protruding from it's back is a keystone which is said to hold the spirits of many Pokemon. It's flames are kept alight by the flames of the fallen. Something appears to be trying to make an escape from within the Pokemon.

Stage 3:
Stalagflame
[Evolves from Flaregoyle at level 48]
Type: Rock/fire
Sprite:http://i.imgur.com/GAHswS0.png
Pokedex Entry:
Stalagflame, evolved from Flaregoyle, has fully matured and honed it's abilities. This huge beast is a perfect prison for all the souls it contains and has the ability to use them to attack it's foes. It's back has fully hardened to stop any spirits from escaping but it can use the energies seeping out of the cracks to power up it's flames during attacks.

Stage 3 [Alternate]
Garghost
[Evolves from Flaregoyle from level 40. It's health bar must be on red when levelling up.]
Type: Rock/Ghost
Sprite:http://i.imgur.com/RRJCkr4.png
Pokedex Entry:
Garghost, evolved from Flaregoyle, is the amalgamation of all the spirits that had become trapped within the gargoyle. It broke free when the vessel had become weak, making it crumble to dust. Due to the amount of time it spent in the vessel, it's biology has become part rock, allowing it to assume a rocky floating body. It is not to be underestimated, as it can use it's abilities to break down entire buildings.

My least favourite is Stalagflame. I really like the others but Stalagflame was a challenge and I don't think I pulled it off as much as the others.

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

http://i.imgur.com/LLh1Abt.png
Topazaur -> Minerazaur

Topazaur the Young Gem Pokemon
Type: Dark
Topazaur live in dark caves, their gems glow red at all times, which frightens passers by. Topazaur can light their blue frills up at will to intimidate opponents. Despite their fierce appearance, they are shy and eat only rocks. They are born at the very depths of caverns and spend their childhood climbing upward toward the surface. It is said they reach maturity once they see daylight for the first time. Topazaur then return to the cave and a wild Topazaur will never venture out of the darkness again in their lifetime. Their glowing red eyes are perfectly adapted for seeing in the dark. Their name comes from topaz and dinosaur. Evolves to Minerasaur at level 37.

Minerazaur the Ancient Mineral Pokemon
Type: Dark/Steel
Minerasaur live only in the deepest caverns. Their gems give off a constant, eerie red glow. Minerazaur can hibernate for decades at a time, curling up and becoming rock-like and still. Even in hibernation, their gems glow, an indication of their life force. Their tails and head decoration are made of steel and they bang them on rocks to communicate through caverns from miles away. They are thought to be an ancient Pokemon species which have survived underground for millenniums. Their name comes from mineral and dinosaur.

My process:
http://i.imgur.com/pGjfOCH.png

[Noblejanobii]

Pokemon Trainer Sarah
First Impression: A+
How well are instructions followed: A
Coherency, Incorporation, and Quality: A++
Creativity of design: A+
Total Points: 48
Okay, I’ll admit, I absolutely squealed when I saw the tiny dino. I MEAN IT’S JUST SO DARN CUTE! Really great scratching usage here. I absolutely love this, even better with the pokedex descriptions! JUST AHH SO GOOD.

Coru
First Impression: A
How well are instructions followed: A++
Coherency, Incorporation, and Quality: A+
Creativity of design: A++
Total Points: 52
I love that you decided to do a branched evolution based upon the pokedex entries. That is amazing and the sprites all look great. There is a story behind each evolution and for the most part they all look seamlessly fused. Garghost looks a bit wonky, but not terribly so. Maybe a different color for the venusaur head or maybe going with ivysaur instead of venusaur would have been the better choice. I’m not quite sure but it looks great nonetheless.

I really couldn’t decide who to give the higher position on this. I was debating the points back and forth for a while but Coru did create three stages to Sarah’s one so I did give Coru a slightly higher score. They’re both impressive scores though so don’t feel too bad because the sprites all look absolutely fantastic!

[Coru]

Thanks for hosting such a great event over the past 4 weeks. It's reminded me of how fun spriting is. Congrats to everyone who got points over the past 4 weeks. You all did great! Some amazing stuff came out of the challenges you set for us.

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

This was heaps of fun! Thanks Noble :) And well done Coru! I love all your entries!! The final one was especially impressive! I had hoped to do more stages but I ran out of time xD