[PXFIRE] Pixel Art!

[K'sariya]

https://i.imgur.com/I3gHnYY.png

Hello and welcome, fellow sprinters, to the PXFire 2018 Pixel Art event!

Pixel art is one of the most unique and intricate art forms vitalized by the digital age. It’s capable of an incredible range of styles and applications, and its this versatility that paved that way for much of today’s video game art. It’s time to put all of that to the test again over the next couple of weeks!

Each week, we’ll be flexing a different muscle in your pixel art skills, exploring pixel art in all of its different forms and applications. Even if you’ve never tried pixel art before, I encourage you to give this part of the competition a try. I’ll be doing my best to give as much constructive criticism as possible on every entry, so it’d be a great time to learn!


Rules
As with other competitions, plagiarism will not be allowed in any form. You’re allowed to reference other artwork when drawing (here’s a great tutorial on how to use references (https://shattered-earth.deviantart.com/art/The-BASICS-Using-References-255875213)), or use Pokemon’s existing in-game sprites if you do something that involves a fusion. However, please do not use other artist’s sprites (or pieces of them).
Only work that has been made during the week’s duration may be submitted. Please do not use your previously-created works or portions of your previously-created works.
All PXR forum rules apply to this competition!
Please feel free to comment on others’ work and give feedback. However, if you do, keep it communal and constructive—we’re all here to have fun!


Judging and Scoring
Depending on the theme, the exact criteria each week may change, but below are the basic things that I typically look at in scoring. Many are basic art principles, which apply as much to pixel art as they do any other medium.

Creativity - How creatively did you apply the round’s theme to your work? While you don’t have to come up with something completely new, clever or unexpected takes of an idea will always catch my attention—and a few points!
Color & Value - One of the most important things to keep in mind when creating something that is so detail-oriented (and potentially small) is contrast in color and contrast in value. These are the qualities that really help communicate your sprite or scene to the viewer.
Form - This criteria evaluates the shapes and figures in your work. If anatomy of a known figure applies, this is where it’ll be analyzed and discussed.
Technique - Just like with any medium, there are tons of ways to do any one thing! This criteria will analyze how you used your mastery of pixels to create certain effects. Did you create some sick gradients or perhaps some great cross hatching? Did you manage to number the pixels just right to get that perfect curve of a tail? It’ll be talked about and appreciated here!


Submitting an Entry:
One of the things I appreciate the most about art is the process. How people look at a problem and solve it is one of the most fascinating experiences of an artist’s journey for me. With that in mind, here is the form for submitting an entry. You can opt out of the extra fields, but I would really appreciate getting to hear your voice on your works! You’re the artist here, and I’d love to learn more about you and how you feel.

Username: (your username)
Entry: (your entry. Upload however you’d like!)
Likes/Dislikes: (what did you like or dislike about your entry? If you had more time, is there something you’d change? Sometimes, we’re not fully satisfied with the things that we create, but that’s okay—knowing what we don’t like gives us room to improve! This field gives me an idea of what to give you more in-depth tips on, and tells me what you already see and notice about your own work. If you don’t dislike anything, that’s great! Feel free to say so.)
What challenges did you face?: (did you do anything new or difficult while creating your entry? How did you overcome these challenges? If you felt it was easy-peasy, that’s alright too!)


Themes:
WEEK 4:
We all found our way to pixel art somehow, and for a lot of the people that I know, that way was through spriting! Fusing and recoloring Pokemon pixels was the name of the game back in the day. Let's call back to the classics with a spriting theme to start out!

Create Your Own Mega Pokemon!
We'll always be salty that our favorite Pokemon didn't get a Mega, so here's your chance to give it one! You can fuse in-game sprites to achieve this if you'd like. You have until July 22nd, 4PM CST!
WEEK 5:
The ultimate legendary fusion! Using fusion and only fusion, fuse together at least three (or more, if you so choose!) legendary (or mythical!) Pokemon together to create one ultimate being! You can use scratched portions for tiny accents, joining pieces, or fixing perspectives of parts, but not for any large portions of the sprite! Recolors are also A-OK.

The "form" criteria will be replaced by "unity"--how well do your sprites combine to create one being?

You have until the 29th at 4PM CST!
WEEK 6:
Dress-up! Like the dress-up competitions in Diamond and Pearl, your job is to create the most fabulously-dressed sprite! It can be fabulous, ridiculous, or whatever else you'd like--if you have a theme, mention it in your entry! You can scratch the accessories, or you can get them from pre-existing Pokemon sprites! Item sprites, ribbons, portions of Trainer sprites... the Pokemon pixel world is your wardrobe!

You have until the 5th at 4PM CST!

[Suicune's Fire]

Questions! O:

a. Do we need to have been the ones to design the mega? Or could we, for instance, create a sprite version (from scratch obviously) of someone else's drawing/mega creation (giving credit of course)? (This would impact creativity though I'm guessing)
b. If we design the mega ourselves, can it be a previously designed mega that we make a sprite version of? Or do we have to design it specifically for this challenge?

Thanks! ^-^

[Noblejanobii]

Username: NobleJanobii
Entry: https://i.imgur.com/902M8vL.png
Likes/Dislikes: I like the color scheme. The life preserver thing was a suggestion from a friend who was making color recommendation and I also think the green really suits Floatzel. I don't like how stiff the sprite looks. It really limited what I felt like I could do with the sprite given my inability to scratch so while I think it turned out fine, I feel like there we some untapped potential there.
What challenges did you face?: Scratching is one of the single most difficult things I've ever attempted to do in my life. I cannot scratch for the life of me when it comes to sprites. Thus, making a mega sprite proves very difficult because I have to think outside the box about how to overcome my restriction but still make the sprite look nice without making it seem like Frankenstein's monster.

[K'sariya]

Questions! O:

a. Do we need to have been the ones to design the mega? Or could we, for instance, create a sprite version (from scratch obviously) of someone else's drawing/mega creation (giving credit of course)? (This would impact creativity though I'm guessing)
b. If we design the mega ourselves, can it be a previously designed mega that we make a sprite version of? Or do we have to design it specifically for this challenge?

Thanks! ^-^

Oh, wow, I am so sorry! I didn't realize that it doesn't automatically subscribe & notify me to a thread that I create! AHHH! Terribly sorry for the wait!

So I'm gonna say!!

a) I'm personally going to say feel free as long as you link to and give full credit on the design. And yeah, it would gouge for creativity a bit, but you could totally try to change it up for points there!
b) It can be a previously designed Mega that you've done before! I'm totally fine with that!

[Suicune's Fire]

Oh, wow, I am so sorry! I didn't realize that it doesn't automatically subscribe & notify me to a thread that I create! AHHH! Terribly sorry for the wait!

So I'm gonna say!!

a) I'm personally going to say feel free as long as you link to and give full credit on the design. And yeah, it would gouge for creativity a bit, but you could totally try to change it up for points there!
b) It can be a previously designed Mega that you've done before! I'm totally fine with that!

Thank you for the response! No worries about that haha.

The only thing I don't really like is that it's kind of twice the work to design/make your own mega and THEN spend time spriting it too... D: I realised the only mega I'd ever designed was Mega Sharpedo before that was official, haha. So yeah can't really do that. But I came up with a crappy design and hopefully my sprite will look okay enough to pass. XDD




EDIT: Entry!

https://i.imgur.com/m9udazS.png
Username: Suicune's Fire
Likes/Dislikes: I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! My initial design differed a bit, such as how the drawn version (https://i.imgur.com/JZwjW36.png) has teeth protruding. However, I found that it only cluttered the face. I changed subtle other parts about the design and honestly kind of like the drawn one more, but I wasn't going to fuss over it because I needed to finish the sprite in time.
What challenges did you face? Kind of like I said above, mainly the clutter and trying to translate the large-scale drawing into a tiny little pixel work, because it's pretty difficult to get details without it looking cluttered, unless you're an amazing pixel artist. XD I also wasn't sure about the colour scheme, so the colours were a little challenging for me. I'm thinking that it's a Dark/Normal type after considering that it was Psychic/Normal. My other main challenge was trying to design the mega before I could even start spriting it. It was time consuming and I'm not very good with designs... But didn't want to lose points for spriting someone else's mega design.

[K'sariya]

Thanks for everyone's entries, and thanks for the critique on the theme--I'll keep it in mind for in the future! I know some of the issues might have been caused by my delay in response, but I've got this thread in my subscriptions now so it'll hopefully work out better in the future!

https://i.imgur.com/902M8vL.png
NobleJanobii, Avalon Apostles

Creativity - 3/5


I love Floatzel, and I really love this design! You've applied the theme on a 'mon that could totally use a Mega. You've followed the Mega theme of "bigger, stronger, longer" that Pokemon tends to use with creating its Megas. The coloring was adventurous and looks great for greens, but thematically, I think it needs a tie-in--what makes Floatzel go from orange to green? A hint to this would really help tie it in as Floatzel's mega.
Color & Value - 3/5


I think that you've done the green successfully for what it is, and that's saying something. Pokemon tends to use some really gross greens for their shinies, but you've chosen a nice one, and managed to find a surprisingly nicely-complimenting beige to go with it. These two contrasts are nice!

The part where contrast becomes a little more murky are on the dark reds. You have dark outlines on the outward-facing edges of the floating device, but the parts that would have dark outlines caused by shadows would be the parts where the floats touch the skin. When first looking at the sprite, it also looked like the red chest marking was part of the device. Zooming in, I see you did a little bit of darkness to differentiating them, but this should be darkened up a little to let the viewer know! The same goes for other parts of the float. You can use a lighter outline where the float would be in the light on the other sides.

I might consider a lighter outline for parts of the fins. Typically, outlines will try to take into account the color of the object they're on and what light that object's in. Look at Floatzel's base sprite, where the left side of the belly above our left foot curls up into the line of its slimming stomach. It starts off dark where it would be in shadow, and as it goes up to where the belly color would be in the light, it gets a little lighter. I think you could use some of this on the fins! Define the spots of the outline that are light with a light grey, and make only the shadows darker.

I'd darken the shadows on the red of the float a little bit, too--the part in shadow is a little more gray, but not darker, so it's hard to tell that there are shadows there behind the head from a distance. Consider some highlights and shadows on the claws, too, to help shape them a little more. Nothing big--just a line of light or a line of dark or two would make them look wicked!
Form - 4/5


Your forms are nice here! You've extended Floatzel's little head fin down to its nose in a nice blaze. I also like how you've elongated the arm fins, and the shapes that you've chosen for them! I think I would have considered positioning them a little differently--where the one on our right overlaps with the beige sub-fins, the green body, and the red of the float makes for a bit of a confusing first impression. I had to stare at the other arm for a moment to realize what the shapes were. Arcing this blade a little more to our right would have helped show the edges of the float without the small fins interfering with it.

I love the little claws you've scratched in on the feet--they look very menacing, and have a great shape to show that they're rounded with the perspective of where they sit.
Technique - 2/5


You said that scratching isn't your best area, but that's okay! What really helps me when I'm adding onto a sprite is to stop and look at what the base sprite I'm working off of does. How does it outline the figure? How does it shape its curves? On this one, I'd look at our left side of its lower body, right above our left leg, and reference that when deciding how to outline what you scratch! The biggest area I saw on this one was the elongated fins that you created. On our right one, we see some dark dotting that seems a little scattered and uncertain. I'd definitely try to outline it like they did the belly. Notice how they step in each pixel and line of the outline to give the illusion of a curve. Once you commit to having an outline, I'd suggest sticking with it unless you have a reason not to (like a part blending into another, lighting, or the seams between two things becoming intentionally unclear), so I'd love to see that outline on the fin set a little more in stone, or at least the parts you have given a bit more order!

I see you've denoted a little line that divides the fin--this is a great, subtle detail that gives it some dimension and keeps it from being a flat shape. I also appreciate how you've created the white lines in the red. These really helped keep the float from being flat, and you also curved those lines great! They wrap nicely around the illusion of a curved 3D object.

Overall - 12/20


Overall, this was a really solid attempt, especially for someone who feels like they're not great at scratching! Making curves look nice in pixel form is a tough job, but you did great here. I think refining some of your outlining on what you scratch will help you a lot. You're on a great path, and I'd love to see more of your sprites!

https://i.imgur.com/m9udazS.png
Suicune's Fire, Agents of the Shadows
Creativity - 5/5


You mentioned having trouble with time due to having to design the Mega yourself, but you rocked it. You've created a thematically-awesome Mega that makes sense for the type you've imagined it as, and I love the additional details you've added, like the little moon crest on its head and the exaggeration of its shoulder tufts. I also love how its rounded ring on its stomach has angled into a rhombus for maximum edge.
Color & Value - 5/5


You chose great colors that compliment one another well, and great colors for your shadows and highlights. The colors here have a great sense of unity and like they belong together. I think the only spot that was a little unclear with coloring was just inside of the crook of the crescent--there's a dark line surrounded by pure white. I can't tell with certainty what this is, but it looks like a tiny spot left uncolored?

Your shadows and highlights, as mentioned, work great. You've got them in all of the right places, and everything seems to contrast in a way that's lovely. Nothing is murky or unclear color-wise. You've also used dark and lighter outlines in the right places--we have a clear sense of where the light is coming from thanks to your lights and darks. You also caught great little details like the shadow cast by our left arm and tuft, and the way the forward and raised arm on our right captures the light.
Form - 5/5


This worked fantastically in your favor. You've got the Ursaring's base anatomy all correct--thick arms, long and slender claws, punchy bear face and low grumpy eyes. I only see two very minute things here. The first is the tuft on the chest. The straight-down triangle doesn't communicate very well as a laying piece of fur, especially when all of the other instances of fur are sweeping and fluffy. Giving it a little upward curl to help it stylistically match the other fur would help clarify that a lot! The second is just the placement of the far ear--continuing the diagonal lines that stop at its base a little more would help show that it's on the far side. Right now, it kind of looks like it's sitting a lot closer to the eye that our left one is. Even just a pixel more of the cheek line extending up into the ear would help set the line of the skull and help set it further back.
Technique - 5/5


Your technique is great. The curves, the outlines, the gradation in shading--you've obviously had a lot of practice, if not with spriting then at least with art, color, and shading in general. The way you shape the shadow on the left knee to go upward and insinuate the leg going into the body beneath the fur without actually using a solid line is one of my favorite smallest touches. You've communicated just enough without over-detailing or making it messy, which as you said, is really hard! Fur in general in spriting is hard, but you've done great.
Overall - 20/20


This is a fantastic sprite that I had to look long and hard to even find small things to suggest. The work you put into it is superb, and I really appreciate it, even if using some of the time to design the mega yourself was difficult.


Final Scores for the Week:
Took the total of all points awarded in scoring the works, then assigned points based on the % earned of total points awarded.

Noblejanobii 12/32 = 37.5, rounded to 37 points
Graceful Suicune 20/32 = 62.5, rounded up to 63 points

Thank you guys so much for participating! If anything in your critique was unclear, let me know and I can try to visually show you! (:




Next up!

The ultimate legendary fusion! Using fusion and only fusion, fuse together at least three (or more, if you so choose!) legendary (or mythical!) Pokemon together to create one ultimate being! You can use scratched portions for tiny accents, joining pieces, or fixing perspectives of parts, but not for any large portions of the sprite! Recolors are also A-OK.

The "form" criteria will be replaced by "unity"--how well do your sprites combine to create one being?

You have until the 29th at 4PM CST!

[Suicune's Fire]

You mentioned having trouble with time due to having to design the Mega yourself, but you rocked it. You've created a thematically-awesome Mega that makes sense for the type you've imagined it as, and I love the additional details you've added, like the little moon crest on its head and the exaggeration of its shoulder tufts. I also love how its rounded ring on its stomach has angled into a rhombus for maximum edge.
Thank you so much! :D I'm really flattered with a perfect score, too! That was incredibly generous so thank you. <3




I think the only spot that was a little unclear with coloring was just inside of the crook of the crescent--there's a dark line surrounded by pure white. I can't tell with certainty what this is, but it looks like a tiny spot left uncolored?
The design kind of has two flaps on either side of the crescent so there's not actually meant to be any skin/fur between the crescent, if you get me. It's kind of hard to tell though haha. The drawn one gets it across better lol.




The first is the tuft on the chest. The straight-down triangle doesn't communicate very well as a laying piece of fur, especially when all of the other instances of fur are sweeping and fluffy. Giving it a little upward curl to help it stylistically match the other fur would help clarify that a lot! The second is just the placement of the far ear--continuing the diagonal lines that stop at its base a little more would help show that it's on the far side. Right now, it kind of looks like it's sitting a lot closer to the eye that our left one is. Even just a pixel more of the cheek line extending up into the ear would help set the line of the skull and help set it further back.
The chest triangle isn't meant to be a tuft of fur; it's just a colour division line haha. So yeah meant to be flat. But yeah perhaps I shouldn't have made the lines so dark so it blended better. xc Also I totally agree about the ear--I overlooked that a bit. ^^;




This is a fantastic sprite that I had to look long and hard to even find small things to suggest. The work you put into it is superb, and I really appreciate it, even if using some of the time to design the mega yourself was difficult.
Eee thank you! That's very kind. <3 It's been a good while since I sprited so I'm glad it worked out! :D

Also I realise I should have tagged you when I posted the questions early on. XD Ah well. Anyway this theme sounds like fun! Probably a challenge too!

[Noblejanobii]

Hehe, like I said scratching's not my forté. I have a hard time with outlines and dithering, which is what really docked me on the points this past round. Thankfully, scratching wasn't a requirement this round which works great for me. In case you can't tell, the three pokémon used in my entry are Groudon, Regirock, and Shaymin.

Username: Noblejanobii
Entry: https://i.imgur.com/VNvYp8k.png
Likes/Dislikes: Fusions were one of the first things I ever learned how do with sprites and honestly if you look at some of my earlier fusion sprites I'm proud to see how far I've come. While I typically only do two way fusions, I have done three and four way fusions before. They're definitely one of the more fun fusions to do even if they are a bit more difficult. I'd have to say I love how overall this came out. I was going for a gaia theme, something kinda like what Regigigas does but better, and this does pretty well in that. There are a few things I don't really like, like how the left foot looks, but I couldn't ever get the claws to look quite right on those. I also had a hard time making the claws on the hands stand out from the rest of the image but I think it worked out nice enough. Though I do worry the amount of shaymin's hedges I use overpower the image a bit.
What challenges did you face?: This certainly wasn't my easiest fusion but it wasn't the most difficult one I've ever done. The fact that I only had to use three legendaries/mythicals rather than say four or five made it a bit easier. I think one of the toughest parts was picking out three pokemon to with the gaia theme I imagined. That and trying to have enough of each mon represented so that you could tell there were three, even if they weren't entirely equally represented. Definitely though, I'd say my greatest challenge was remembering everything I wanted to do. Usually I do my sprites all in one go and because of work I actually had to stop while I was working on this to do other things rather than spend several hours of just working on this, which presented a lot of creative challenges since I couldn't always remember what I wanted to do and would remember stuff after it was possibly too late to include it.

[Suicune's Fire]

K'sariya Just wondering, to which extent are we allowed to scratch? For instance, can we scratch shading as well as the appropriate bits needed to join the fused parts? O:

[K'sariya]

K'sariya Just wondering, to which extent are we allowed to scratch? For instance, can we scratch shading as well as the appropriate bits needed to join the fused parts? O:

Yes, you may! I mentioned joining pieces in the theme, but shadows are also accepted!

[Suicune's Fire]

Username: Suicune's Fire
Likes/Dislikes:
I like that it seems neat enough and not too over-the-top. I don't really love the colour palette; I struggled a lot with it and I'm not really sure if I like the end result or not.
What challenges did you face?:
Two things: first, I kept finding myself scratching too much and I was like "oh no is this even allowed??" XD But I think it's pretty copy+paste enough. The other main challenge was that I didn't know if it was "ultimate legend" enough. I know that copy and pasting too many elements can get messy really quickly, and things don't match or fit well and it ends up looking like a disaster. So I went with a relatively small base and replaced parts rather than building it up, but I don't know if I really reached the theme well enough. In addition, it's not so much meant to look like one legend or another; it's just got many parts of multiple pokemon and again I'm not sure if that was hitting the theme well enough, and if you have to be able to see each pokemon significantly included.
Entry:
All Gen V sprites; this was done with a raikou base (https://img.pokemondb.net/sprites/black-white/normal/raikou.png) and I kept the fangs but everything else is changed. Has a kyurem head (cut off some of the jaw though because it looked weird) and ice wing-things, and back legs; virizion green and shoulder leaves, as well as the leafy spikes coming off the back; cresselia moon head and yellow colour; cobalion front legs, chest fur, and the markings on the front shoulder bit and back leg; and rayquaza tail. The yellow underbelly/inside of the back legs was also inspired by raikou.
https://i.imgur.com/WvaiaM4.png

[Bulbasaur]

Username: Bulbasaur
Entry: (it's a picture I took with my camera to send to Xanthe, because I accidentally closed the window without saving... :X)
https://scontent.fewr1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/38001442_2226957487318727_6816879625860284416_n.jp g?_nc_cat=0&oh=4500f0f83509b390c85a6e7073a04392&oe=5C0B3281
Likes/Dislikes: I haven't sprited in forever, and I was never very good, so it's not very good. Plus, I had very little time to throw this together. PLUS, I accidentally closed the window without thinking, so I couldn't do anymore changes. :'[ I would've liked to make the Mew tail seem less out of place, for sure.
What challenges did you face?: making it Thinking of what Pokemon to use. I think I definitely could've come up with a better combo of Pokemon.
Pokemon: It's an Arceus, with Celebi's color palette and a Mew tail.

[K'sariya]

I'll judge these sometime soon, but in the meantime...


Next up!

Dress-up! Like the dress-up competitions in Diamond and Pearl, your job is to create the most fabulously-dressed sprite! It can be fabulous, ridiculous, or whatever else you'd like--if you have a theme, mention it in your entry! You can scratch the accessories, or you can get them from pre-existing Pokemon sprites! Item sprites, ribbons, portions of Trainer sprites... the Pokemon pixel world is your wardrobe!

You have until the 5th at 4PM CST!

[K'sariya]

Thanks everyone for your entries, and your patience with this week's judging!

https://i.imgur.com/VNvYp8k.png
Noblejanobii, Avalon Apostles
Creativity - 5/5


I love the application of this theme! It really seems like some kind of monolith of nature--it reminds me of the machines from Studio Ghibli's Castle in the Sky. I can see and identify all three fusions clearly, and in general it just looks great. Good job here.
Color & Value - 3/5


You have lovely colors here, but I do have to say that my favorites are the body's tan and the Shaymin's leafy green. The other greens are a little off. For contrast, I'd suggest leaving the head and legs as the body's tan. This is because the greens of the head, legs, and feet claws clash with the other shades, and also take away from them. The claws and the flowery/leafy back are the most visually interesting parts of the work, but the other greens compete for attention with it. What would really drive this work home is not just a tan body, but a tan body topped with green moss, almost like you already have on the top of the "knees"! Take some of those moss pieces and cap off the tan Groudon spikes with them. This will really set the body apart from its accents, and let us appreciate them without them fighting for attention.

The bright green highlights on Groudon's crests are too bright. They draw a lot of attention. Take that highlight down a few shades and it'll be perfect.

You mentioned being worried about the claws on the hands--don't, they look great and stand out great thanks to their darker outlines. Those outlines help distance them from the more "palm-y" parts behind them, making those curled claws really come out at us. Great work there.
Form - 4/5


Love the pose you've chosen here--it gives us the impression of not only a monolith, but a powerful one. Keeping the curled claws was a great choice, and that bit of motion makes this a lot more dynamic than it would be without it! I agree that the back leg is a little lackluster--I think it's mostly because it's turned too far toward us. We see the front of our right one's claws because that leg would be facing us, but the other should have a more flat bottom with the claws stacked behind each other and going toward the left, since we'd be able to see where the foot meets the ground better in profile.

As far as creating this ultimate legendary's anatomy goes, you did great. You mentioned the leaves maybe being too overpowering, but they're fine! The suggestion I'd make there is either shortening it's "height" on the back (horizontal width at this angle), or bring it further up. Thematically, something like this is more likely to grow around the shoulders and upper back than near the tail. The natural cuve of Shaymin's leafy bundle would have also gone better with the curved neck than the flat surface. The only other thing is taking the head and nudging it to the right just a little--the distance it is from the shoulders makes it seem like this beefy creature has a little bit of a narrow neck for its size. Otherwise, great job here.
Technique - 5/5


You mentioned that scratching isn't your thing, which made me excited to see how you handled this challenge technically. The verdict? You did awesome! It's an incredibly clean fusion. The way you layered Shaymin's leaves is really, really nice, and I love how you've dispersed greenery throughout the figure. Your thoughts behind bringing the claws out more were spot-on and a great decision. Your skills really shone in this great, clean fusion.

Overall - 17/20


This was a fantastic sprite. If you make changes to the head and leg colors, I'd love to see it--what a cool creation, really! Thanks so much for sharing this with us.

https://i.imgur.com/WvaiaM4.png
Suicune's Fire, Agents of the Shadows
Creativity - 5/5


Oooo, now this is a legendary legendary! This is something I'd expect out of Gamefreak if they ever wanted to do some legendary chimera beyond any two legends. You've got a little bit of everything in just the right amounts, and it looks awesome. I also agree with your design decisions, like removing the bulkier parts of Kyurem's jaw. Spectacular application of the theme.
Color & Value - 5/5


The color-matching here is wonderful. It's hard to believe that at its base, your palette is just mostly gray, green, and blue. They go incredibly well together, and the consistent yellow accents unify the different parts extremely well. Just a splash here and a splash there on every major body part--it just binds it all! You have appropriate contrast on all of your body parts then let them stand apart from each other. Not much to say here other than great job.
Form - 5/5


You've created a chimera from the most unexpected Pokemon to fuse together, and yet it works, not only thematically but also anatomically. I love the way you carried Cobalion's legs with Virizion's green past the wings and down the back with Virizion's tuft. Somehow, you made Cobalion's really, really derpy bow legs look believable with the rest of things, which is a feat on its own.
Technique - 5/5


As always, incredibly clean. You've got a consistent light source and have joined everything together really well. There aren't any parts that stick out at all.

Overall - 20/20


I wish I could offer something more helpful than just praise, but this is just fantastic work, chicka! And there's not much more to say than that!


https://scontent.fewr1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/38001442_2226957487318727_6816879625860284416_n.jp g?_nc_cat=0&oh=4500f0f83509b390c85a6e7073a04392&oe=5C0B3281
Bulbasaur, Agents of the Shadows
Creativity - 2/5


This one barely scrapes by the three legend requirement--at first, I didn't recognize it as Celebi's color palette, so it only looked like two legends with a recolor that I wasn't sure about. It's a safe fusion for the prompt. I'd definitely invest in altering more in the future--the Mew tail was a great start. I'd try replacing other things, too, and see how far you can get with replacing parts little by little. What if Arceus' rings were Cresselia's instead? And his wavy head crest Zekroms or Reshiram's? I know you ran into technical difficulties, but if you ever try to recreate this one, I'd love to see even more experimentation with just how much you can replace!
Color & Value - 2/5


This is using Celebi's palette, but you've maintained Arceus' intrinsic pale body. The only place the Celebi palette really comes across is on the outlines, which is a little underwhelming. I'd suggest committing to the Celebi palette if you're going to do it--make that Arceus really heckin' Celebi green! I know you were working on the Mew tail still, but the pink is naturally really distracting here.

That blue you've got for the rings is lovely! Two I'd change there is 1) making the green gems a little lighter in color. They're similar in darkness to the blue, so they don't stand out much and get a little lost, and 2) changing their outline color. The brownish color is harsh against those shades. The blue is so resplendent and lovely that it makes the browns look gray and desaturated when they're butted up next to them. It's one of the things that makes brown a really difficult color to work with against any other bright colors--it either sucks the life out of bright colors around it, or it gets the life sucked out of it by the bright colors near it.
Form - 4/5


The form that you do have is solid. The ring nicely hides the joining of the Mew tail, which honestly helps it fit a lot better than I expected pose-wise! Otherwise, just a good ole Arceus.
Technique - 3/5


You show great potential here. You mentioned you're really rusty, but you have a good understanding of recolors. Recolors is where I started, too. I think it's where a lot of us started! The one thing I'd suggest for recoloring is to not be afraid of shifting values a little bit. Color picking from your source is great for grabbing the hue, but you want to adjust the tint and shade of that hue to match your base color.

Overall - 11/20


I'm so sorry that you had technical difficulties, but I'm really glad that you were able to at least get a picture. I don't want this score to discourage you--for being rusty, it was a really solid attempt. You should definitely try to get back into it. As I mentioned, I'm sure a lot of us started somewhere basic, like recoloring. It's a great tool for getting to dig into a sprite and see how the artists constructed them. I'd love to see some more creations from you--and more sick Mew tails on unexpected creatures!

Final Scores for the Week:
Took the total of all points awarded in scoring the works, then assigned points based on the % earned of total points awarded.

Noblejanobii 17/48 = 35.4, rounded to 35 points
Graceful Suicune 20/48 = 41.7, rounded to 42 points
Bulbasaur 11/48 = 22.9, rounded to 23 points

Thank you all so much! I'm sorry if grades were lackluster--I'm pooped, but wanted to make sure you guys got your points and results. If you have any specific questions for me, I'm happy to answer! Thank you all again.

[Suicune's Fire]

Username: Suicune's Fire
Likes/Dislikes: I'm pretty happy with how this turned out actually! It's a gardevoir dressing up as Officer Jenny. I decided to go with this instead of using pre-made accessories because I wanted to do something a little different, and I generally prefer scratching things.
What challenges did you face?: Mostly just shading/lighting, including the outline darkness/lightness on the legs.
https://i.imgur.com/HOBLCJK.png

[K'sariya]

Username: Suicune's Fire
Likes/Dislikes: I'm pretty happy with how this turned out actually! It's a gardevoir dressing up as Officer Jenny. I decided to go with this instead of using pre-made accessories because I wanted to do something a little different, and I generally prefer scratching things.
What challenges did you face?: Mostly just shading/lighting, including the outline darkness/lightness on the legs.
https://i.imgur.com/HOBLCJK.png

Hey there! Sorry for the wait on this--it's been a little rough. This one will be a little more abbreviated than usual, and since you're the only entry, you received the full 100 points for the week, so scores won't be tacked on here.

This is an absolutely lovely sprite--I love how you combined all of these elements so well. The hat seems like it fits well on the head, and we can clearly see all of Gardevoir's features. All of your lighting matches, which is great.

The only thing on this that makes me pause are a design decision or two. The decision to remove Gardevoir's more dress-like lower half was a bold move! I think here, though, the right leg is a little too thin, and as you pointed out, the outline darkness exacerbates that awkward shape a little. I'd definitely have the pixel step-in be a little more shallow on the left side of that one, or at lest bow out the bottom of the right side a little more.

The colors here worked really great together. The mixing the outfit's purples with shiny Gardevoir's pale blues and greens was a great choice. You have a fantastic sense of color in all of your sprites, and that's something that I really admire.

Overall, this was a really deserving entry, and I appreciate the time that you put into it! Thanks so much for your participation.

[Suicune's Fire]

Hey there! Sorry for the wait on this--it's been a little rough. This one will be a little more abbreviated than usual, and since you're the only entry, you received the full 100 points for the week, so scores won't be tacked on here.

This is an absolutely lovely sprite--I love how you combined all of these elements so well. The hat seems like it fits well on the head, and we can clearly see all of Gardevoir's features. All of your lighting matches, which is great.

The only thing on this that makes me pause are a design decision or two. The decision to remove Gardevoir's more dress-like lower half was a bold move! I think here, though, the right leg is a little too thin, and as you pointed out, the outline darkness exacerbates that awkward shape a little. I'd definitely have the pixel step-in be a little more shallow on the left side of that one, or at lest bow out the bottom of the right side a little more.

The colors here worked really great together. The mixing the outfit's purples with shiny Gardevoir's pale blues and greens was a great choice. You have a fantastic sense of color in all of your sprites, and that's something that I really admire.

Overall, this was a really deserving entry, and I appreciate the time that you put into it! Thanks so much for your participation.
Thank you for your thoughtful feedback! I agree with you about the legs haha. They were mighty awkward. In depictions I've seen them that thin but yes it definitely looks strange, especially with the outlines. Thanks for taking the time to write this post. :) And great job judging all the entries this season!