Judging Time! I always like themes which include lots of fusing, especially those which are nice and open ended, allowing for a lot of creativity. We got a wide variety of entries, which is always nice to see. (:
quote flyingfish27
C+ : This sprite is a little misdirected, but you definitely have potential. I like that you're willing to take risks and utilize a variety of Pokemon in order to experiment and put things together - that's nice to see. However, this sprite has a wide variety of problems. The shading is extremely inconsistent, with the biggest problem being the stomach and chest area. If you look on most upright Pokemon in a pose like that, the majority of its torso should be highlighted. You have a really unusual diagonal line dictating the shading, which just doesn't fit naturally. Next, the head is attached in a different position than the body. The head is facing to the side, while the body is facing more forward. It generally is a rule of thumb to match the pose as much as possible, otherwise there's a disconnect between the head and body - they don't look like they go together. Another thing to note is that you should always make sure you have one light source (coming from the top-left corner of the sprite). On one of the leg-armor sections (for lack of a better description), the shading is coming from the top right. Always make sure the shading is appropriate for your light source. Overall though, it's nice to see you take risks. Just remember that you need to master the basics before you can start taking on more ambitious projects.
quote neffoneR
B : Not bad, not bad. I really like that you used Seviper and turned it into a rodent sort of thing - it's not a Pokemon that gets used much other than for its tail. The small arms, big legs, and powerful tail really give the sprite some character, showing what sort of attack strategy it would be using. That said, I feel that the parts are all sort of recognizable - Nidoking legs and tail, Seviper head, etc. A really successful fusion can use just a few Pokemon, but will make the viewer take a second to really recognize what Pokemon were used. Your sprite has what I call "recognizability" which I don't think is a word, but I'm bringing it into play. Each of the parts are just too recognizable. Even though they're fused together cleanly and effectively, it's just too obvious and "simple" in that sense. On a final note, I'm not a big fan of the vibrant yellow - it makes black outlines look really dark and overall the two-tone colour pallet doesn't really sum up the Poison type too effectively, nor is it particularly evenly spread out across the sprite. It's not bad, just needs a little work.
quote Vollando
A+ : I'm very happy to be giving this grade. I NEARLY unleashed the long-forgotten A* grade for this one, I'm pleased to tell you. I think that I've done a sufficinet job praising this sprite, so I'll cut to the chase. A few things to point out. The horn on the head is at a slightly different angle than the face, so it's off a tad. The arms sorta come out of the side of the head - it lacks a neck and shoulders, so to speak. It also looks like it might need a tail for balance. The red is rusty, so I like it, but there's a bit too much difference in the shades, and the middle section of the red on the body is a little pillowy. Its legs look a little short, which again could be helped by a tail (it looks like it has a part which sags below the end of its body, if that makes sense). Overall though, this is proof as to why we need you spriting again. (Oh, and someone FINALLY fused Steelix effectively!!)
quote flobbadob
B : As I mentioned to neffoneR, recognizability can be a problem. There's just a little bit too much Kingdra in this. As someone else said, the black lines across the stomach would look much better if they were a dark shade of blue - like the shadow colour on the body, but darker. You also have a primarily black outline - it should have some shading to it, particularly on parts that are in the highlighted parts. As for the fusing, the bottom section where you fused Kingdra to Huntail is pretty clean. The head though, is a little messy. If you were looking at this Pokemon face-on, it would have its head fin curved to one side. For that reason, Swampert can be difficult to fuse effectively. My last note is that when you flip something, always reshade it so that it suits the light source (which comes from the top-left). This is a problem for the fin on its back, the orange parts on the cheeks, and the Huntail section of the tail. Always reshade so that the highlights face the top left, and the shadows are toward the bottom right. Overall though, this is a nice effort for a new participant. (:
quote Exxmaniac
A : As I said, this is a fantastic sprite - I really like it. I'm a sucker for Delibird's face - you can plop it on any sprite and it gives instant personality without the instant recognition that usually comes from stealing a face. However, there's just a few things holding you back from an A+. First, Vullaby's lower half is constricted by its shell, so it has no visible tail. Your sprite, on the other hand, is not, so it looks like it should have a tail, given that otherwise it's just a fuzzy ball. Next, the fluffy feathers on the top look unattached to the head. Either extend the blue to be on the head a bit, or find another way of showing that the blue feathers are attached. Lastly, it's a matter of colours. A two-colour sprite is hard to pull off. On this one, it looks pretty bland, mostly due to simplicity, so a third colour, maybe for markings or on the tail or something, would really help bring some points of interest to the sprite. Really good though! (:
quote Argetgarm
B : Nice to see you here! The problem with this sprite is that it's a little simple. I think if you would've used another Pokemon that would've helped to make everything fit together better. The really bulky legs don't work so well for this sprite, since they're not really supporting anything that appears to be heavy, if that makes sense. It works on Haxorus since its upper body is plated, and therefore extremely heavy, but here, it seems unnecessary. The pose is also a little awkward, being hunched over so much. On to technical aspects, the shading on the blue portions of its lower body look a little jagged and messy - just clean up those lines. The tail also looks really jagged, the outlines being the main problem there. The shading is also a little wonky there, too. I'm not a big fan of the grey-tipped tail - the way it's done is just a little strange. If it went straight across rather than sort of dripping down the way it does, it would look cleaner and make more sense. On a final note, it's never a good idea to take a head and leave it unchanged. I do hope to see you enter here more often though!
quote Shadow Wolf 10
A- : This is one guy I wouldn't want to have a run-in with =P Bigger isn't always better, it leaves room for bigger problems, if that makes sense. The shading is a little messy. On the snout (the reddish part), it looks like it should be all shaded the same, instead of two separate parts in highlight. The claws also are shaded strangely - I feel like the shades are too close together, and it kinda looks a little jagged or something. At first I thought maybe it was in jpeg when I looked at the claws. It needs to have a bigger section for its lower jaw - it literally looks like a flap that just hangs there with hair on the bottom. It needs substance. The eye also is hard to see, since it's yellow and black - like the hair and ear. It also looks a little small. It took me a while to understand the "sleeves" so-to-speak on the hand that's closer to us. It's just a little cluttered. The legs could also use some work, they're strangely attached and it doesn't really look like it has a foot, it just has "toes" you know? The reddish patch on the chest (under the jaw) seems really awkwardly placed and seems unnecessary. Lastly, the shading could use a little work on Skuntank's tail - since it was flipped it needs to be reshaded. I think you did some (I'm not bothering to check though), but it needs more.
quote Deoxor462
C : I'm sorry, but this is really messy. The eye looks really awkward - it's just a bit white circle with a black circle with a red circle. It has no life behind it, if that makes sense. Next, all the rocks look really messy and cluttered, and the shading is off. Shading rocks is extremely difficult - I'm not even completely comfortable with it. While Camerupt's volcano is attached nicely, but it's just really awkwardly put together. I recommond avoiding the use of Pokemon that are awkward in terms of design - like Magcargo - because it's extremely difficult to make them work effectively.
Scoreboard: First Place : 3 Points : Vollando Second Place : 2 Points : Exxmaniac Third Place : 1 Point : Shadow Wolf 10
New Theme: Bite me. Everyone knows that Slowpoke evolves when Shellder bites onto either its tail or is head... But what if something else bit it? What would it evolve into? Your task this round is to choose any Pokemon, and make a new evolution for Slowpoke as if that Pokemon had bitten onto Slowpoke. Fusion, scratch, anything goes! As always, if you have any questions, feel free to ask!
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