[PXFIRE] Pixel Art!

[K'sariya]

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), 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:

Spoiler:

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:

Spoiler:

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:

Spoiler:

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!