And now, the judging!
These will be in two posts of five in order of entry. I'm sorry if I'm a bit harsh, but I try to give constructive criticism.
+: something positive that you did really well.
- : something you need to work on.
! : something I particularly liked or feel is important.
Entry #1: Roxxor
Quality: 2/5
Glad to see it's not a JPG for a start. I can see that you've scratched the mermaid tail, which is a great effort, but I think that more practice would do you good - the shading on the tail isn't as good as on the rest of the sprite and it looks a bit flat in comparison.
Design: 2/5
It's great that you've made the tail in the flow of Gardevoir's dress, but the tail still needs work. Again, go over with shading and details and it should be fine. However, you didn't really add much else to the sprite apart from the tail, did you? Also, never use the preset colours found in paint, because they're usually eye-hurtingly awful.
Originality: 4/10
Gardevoir isn't a pokemon I would have used and you've got the concept across quite nicely, however I think that you could have done this better. Apart from the tail, it doesn't particularly look like a water-type pokemon. I think if you'd added more 'watery' things, like fins or scales or something, you would have done better.
Overall: 6/20.
+ It's great that you scratched parts of the sprite, with more practise I'm sure you'll do better. You've kept the graceful quality of Gardevoir too.
- The colour scheme of the sprite is its worst feature; try experimenting and work on your shading.
! You've got a great idea here and it's a handy effort, well done.
Entry #2: iLike2EatPiez
Quality: 2.5/5
I really like your use of colour here - you took a risk using orange and yellow, though. I think your major flaw is shading. There are parts of the sprite where your shading doesn't match up, like on the main body of Furret and the fins have completely different light sources. Because of this, the right fin seems to blend with the tail. Also, the left fin is a different shape and size to the left one, and where it attaches to the body is a bit muddled.
Design: 3.5/5
I love the colour choices in this sprite and it's so different from the rest of the entries but I don't think that orange and yellow was the best way to go. I think the whiskers were a bad move though - they were a little too large and it would have worked better if you scratched them. I love the way that you've kept the original flow of Furret together in this design, though. I think you need to pay more attention to the details (like shading, outlines, joining spliced parts, etc) for it to be really fantastic, though.
Originality: 7/10
Furret is definitely not a pokemon I expected to find in this contest. It's a brilliant idea and the design is very good, but the quality of the sprite brings it down a lot.
It definitely looks like a water-type pokemon.
Overall: 13/20.
+ Original, good use of watery features. Interesting colours and choice of pokemon.
- Pay attention to details, shading, and splicing.
! I really like this sprite but the quality pulls it down. Work harder!
Entry #3: PichuK
Quality: 5/5
Extremely good quality. Your shading is fantastic and the colours blend effortlessly. You've even transperentized it, unfortunately I can't add extra points for it because it wasn't a requirement. All your light sources match up.
Design: 4/5
It's an interesting design, but you've kept Butterfree still looking like Butterfree, which is good. However, what's the pale brown stuff on its body? I'm assuming it's some kind of shell, which is a good idea. You've done the most scratching I think out of anybody. But where are butterfree's hands?
I like the design a lot, but some things are a little unclear to me, which is why you receive 4/5.
Originality: 8/10
Not many other entrants put together their sprite as good as you did, and none of the other sprites entered used 'wings'. I think if you embellished it a bit more, maybe changed the antennae or something, you would have brought up your score.
Overall: 17/20.
+ Excellent Quality. A+ for shading, splicing and colours.
- Some things were a little unclear, probably because it was a small sprite.
! The 'wings' look perfect for the sprite; nice idea to use fins as wings!
Entry #4: Fluffy the Eevee
Quality: 5/5
I can't fault much with this sprite: the shading is good, the colours are great and it's not a JPG. However, the water drops were a bit hard to make out without zooming in.
Design: 1/5
You didn't do anything to the sprite except recolour it and add water. I'm sorry, but I can't really give you many points for this. The red of the mouth and eyes is a striking contrast though.
Originality: 3.5/10
I have to admit that having water spurt out of Exploud's... uh, orifices... is an interesting idea, and something I hadn't thought of before. Apart from that you didn't do much else to the sprite, so I can't give you any more points because I have nothing to grade, get my point?
Overall: 9.5/20.
+ Very good quality, interesting idea.
- It's Exploud with water coming out of it... what else?
! Good idea, but you really should have added more to it.
Entry #5: Zephyrous Castform
Quality: 4.5/5
Great Quality, but your shading and colours are a little off in some spots, like where the white fins join the main body. Minor things. I think that there could have been more of the darker shadows on Dragonite's belly, but it's only a minor thing.
Design: 4/5
This is actually quite good; you've added a bunch of things to the Dragonite, but you can still tell it's Dragonite. I can tell you've added bits and pieces from other pokemon, but you've fitted it together so it's all good. However, Milotic's tail seems out of place, because it's a different colour to every other part of the sprite. If you compare it to the original milotic, you can see the reds and stuff in other parts of the sprite, but here it looks.. odd. Also, Dragonite's back goes oddly straight and then connects to the serpent-y body really smoothly.
Originality: 8/10
One of the more original sprites in this competition. I like how it's recognisably dragonite, but because you've made it like a serpent (as opposed to like a fish) it still holds that 'dragon' look which pulls together the sprite really well.
Overall: 16.5/20.
+ Good idea, very nice 'flow' to the spite.
- Watch your shading in some spots, also the Milotic's tail looks out of place.
! Dragonite's pose fits in perfectly with Milotic's body.
Next 5 will come at a later date, probably tonight or maybe tomorrow. Stay tuned!
