[PXFIRE] Pixel Art!

[K'sariya]

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


Noblejanobii, Avalon Apostles

Spoiler:

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.

Suicune's Fire, Agents of the Shadows

Spoiler:

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!

Spoiler:

Bulbasaur, Agents of the Shadows

Spoiler:

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.