The Spriting Contest - Generation Nine! - Tournament Judging and announcement on Page 24 - Page 27

quote bgg1996

Lets try something new.
I'll either get a high grade, or a low grade.
hopefully.

We've got 5 entries now, so I guess that's enough to judge. I'll be judging them tomorrow and hopefully posting it in less than a full 24 hours, so if you have any intentions of getting an entry in you'll have about 23 hours to do so! Here's your last day warning! (:

...You will won't get bonus marks for using my favourite Pokemon, V. xD

Judging Time!
First, I just want to say that my judging is shorter than usual because I spent the greater portion of the evening studying with some friends for my chemistry final in two days. Basically if there's anything I need clarification on, I need to ask for it tomorrow otherwise it's entirely up to me to figure it out before the exam, so I wanted to make sure I knew what I needed help with. School pwns pixels, sorry guys.

It can be really tough to scratch an existing Pokemon in a new pose, but it is considerably easier since existing sprites can be compared to, in order to try and keep your proportions correct and generally the main goal for a scratch is to replicate the Pokemon sprite style. This means your shading, outlining, pose, details, and overall representation of the Pokemon needs to be accurate and match the existing sprites as best as possible. Overall, the turnout for the round isn't too terrible, given that scratching can be tough. I always encourage people to enter scratch-specific themes, because it really shows exactly what you're capable of. With scratches, everything is entirely up to you, so it's the best way to see where you excel and where your weakest points are. With that in mind, let's waste no more time and jump headfirst into judging!



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quote luxor007




A : As far as ambition goes, there's no disputing that it's much easier to scratch a Diglett than a Dialga, so I can't give you picture-perfect marks for something so simple, even though it is very well done. The pose reminds me of Pokemon Snap, because when Diglett popped up, it would lean forward like that. Good pose choice. The outlining is very nicely done, though I would've liked the outline on the nose to be a little less "sharp" looking, with the black seeming to make a point at the top right. I also feel that some more effort could've gone into shading and copying the style of rocks that are used by the official sprites, but overall everything is very nicely done.



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quote bgg1996




A- : At first I was ready to give this sprite the top grade but the more I looked at it, the more I had to hold it back unfortunately. Choosing a Pokemon with complex lines like Nosepass can make your sprite look astounding and impressive, but that also leaves plenty of room for error. I feel the nose is the highlight of the sprite, because the shading is done perfectly. I also am a fan of the pose. However, whenever you have large spaces of one solid colour, things end up looking flat and two-dimensional, which is where your grade was harmed the most. I also feel the black outlines could be lightened in quite a few places, to lessen the contrast which negatively affects the appearance of your sprite.



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quote Megamaster37




B : Poliwag's family are some of my favourite Pokemon so I know them well. The main problem with his sprite is the proportions. The eyes appear to be identical, when the one on the left should be smaller for being farther away. They also lack "depth" as in they're entirely black and white. The mouth, in comparison, seems small, as does the pattern on its stomach. The foot on the left looks substantially larger than the other, so just cleaning up these problems will help your grade. The shading isn't perfect, so I'd suggest looking at other similar Pokemon (round Pokemon, like Voltorb, Jigglypuff, etc) to see how shading is usually done on a round Pokemon like this. Overall, not bad.



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quote JosiePika




B+ : An ambitious choice, so I applaud you on that. The first thing I noticed was its nose. It looks as though it has no snout, but rather its face slowly extends to the tip of the nose, and then recedes. If you look at any image of Riolu, its nose pokes out like a snout, so I definitely recommend fixing that. Your shading and pose and representation are very nice, so I'll just list the other few flaws. The legs appear quite awkward, as they're quite bent and in unusual ways, almost like jelly rather than having actual joints. The tail, at current, also appears to be coming out of one of his thighs, so just fix up that outline there. While the "close" arm is nicely done, the "far" one seems rather jagged and doesn't appear to connect to its body at the same place as the other. Not your best, but still quite good.



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quote w111j




C+ : You asked me not to mention it, so I won't, but just know that I did think it and it did bring down your grade. Like with Luxor, if you do something simple, you need to do it perfectly to compare to complex entries that have a few flaws. First and foremost, never sprite something looking directly "at the camera" because only one or two sprites are in that position and its generally harder to shade if it's not positioned at an angle. You ran into shading issues, as there is fine shading at the top but toward the middle and bottom, it just becomes a constant block of colours. It's generally a bad idea to rely on hatch shading (checkerboard shading) for more than a few pixels wide, because it just kind of draws attention to itself and is unattractive. Overall your entry looks very flat because it's looking perfectly straight, and the result is awkward and tough. Scratching can be tough, but choosing something overly simple will only make it harder. The first "repose" I ever scratched was Piplup, so I'd suggest something simple like a first-stage starter.



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quote Vollando




B+ : Heh, easily one of the better sprites in terms of impressiveness and technicalities, but it also has its fair share of faults. First, Flygon doesn't have a snout. xD; Its face is very much a circle, so always make sure you properly represent the Pokemon you've chosen. Its eyes and upper body are well done, as well as the wings and tail. However, the legs are where you ran into the most trouble. The far leg looks somewhat unattached, however it displays the proper design and appearance of Flygon's legs. Its other leg appears to just jut out from its stomach, and lacks the pattern on its thigh. With that addition, you could very much properly attach it to the body. Your shading is mostly spot on, just watch the leg area. Also, at current, the wing on the right appears to be attached to his arm. Be careful of things like that. ;]



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Good work this round everyone!

Scoreboard:
First Place : 3 Points : Luxor07
Second Place : 2 Points : bgg1996
Third Place : 1 Point : JosiePika, Vollando



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New Theme: Legendary Retype! Retype any Legendary Pokemon to any type of your choice! As always, if you have any questions, feel free to ask!
Judge: Aether
Date: January 27th