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CAP 13 CAP 2 - Sprite Submissions

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Well mektar, the thing is that you've artificially made it harder for yourself to put in the same level of detail as everyone else by making the sprite much too small.
 
Wyverii definitly has a good runner, and I do like Elementalpenquin's and Ice-cold Claws. I hope that I end up in the final running, along with these guys.

So I tried to make the Dress bigger in an attempt to fufill the suggestions given, though I wasnt sure how to make it less conical. I'm also going to go back and try to move the bow so that it fits with the kimono theme. I also edited the shiny color slightly. rather than blue, I have a greener color where thered was in the normal sprite. All CC is welcome and I will try to comply with edits. Also, I'll edit with some more possible shiny colors...which I just did, and i'd like some suggestions on the shinys.

cap52female.png
cap52femaleback.png
Normal
cap52femaleshiny.png
cap52femalebackshiny.png
cap52femaleshiny2.png
cap52femalebackshiny2.png
cap52femaleshiny3.png
cap52femalebackshiny3.png
cap52femaleshiny4.png
cap52femalebackshiny4.png
 
oivd6x.jpg

So! I took Meddle's advice to heart - I had actually been thinking already that the shading wasn't very pokemon-ish, or at least not 5th gen style. 5th gen sort of just goes "highlights what are those" so it doesn't conflict with the animations... In any case, I removed the white highlights, hopefully making it look somewhat cleaner. I also tapered the thorns on the vine - that really helped a lot. I'm not too sure about the point about the head being tilted down - while it's true that many pokemon just look on a horizontal plane, there a notable few that actually look down and left, towards where the trainer's pokemon are - Charizard is probably the most exaggerated in that regard, along with Gyarados. I could theoretically make the vine larger, as that is at the moment only an 80x80 sprite, but I feel that confining it to that size makes it look a bit better - I'm a fan of it being that small. So the vine most likely won't be receiving any changes. I'm gonna try and get some CC off irc, and if no huge issues are brought up I'll probably move on to the backsprite.

EDIT: The gray was too dark without the highlights, so I made it a bit lighter.
 
Well, Thank you everyone for the advice you gave me

This is the new, freshly shaded sprite, hot off the press
iaza19766115642100.gif

I redid shading and highlights and colors make it look fuller and more 3 dimensional, I made the back end of the dress larger than before and moved the left arm. The only thing I have yet to do is move the head which I will do by my next post. I tried to make as similar as possible in style current 5th gen Pokemon sprites.

Anyhow that's it for now.

Please tell me what you think.
 
I moved the stembow to the sash to represent the kimono theme better. Im still looking for crit on which shiny i should use...

cap52female.png
cap52femaleback.png

cap52femaleshiny.png

cap52femaleshiny2.png

cap52femaleshiny3.png

cap52femaleshiny4.png
 
Doran: Thanks. You don't need to hope, you probably will.
The sprites are good enough to me; for shinies I would take option B. The green and crystal-blue give off an eerie feel imo, while keeping the typing clear.
Good luck to you!

penguin: I would've pointed out that the straight-lined shading on both arms look pretty strange but nevermind, they're no huge issues. Great sprite, I'm itching to see the backs :toast:

Steam: If you're not adding the details, there's still one feature you should add: the red teeth on the hands. They're Mikomon's main weapon and I think that's important.
The two tones on the dress have pretty low contrast. The shadow on the dress should be darker. Aaaand everything Mektar said above.
Hope it's not too much for you. I really want to see it completed, because that vine-hair is awesome.

And guys, Shineygengar has a point, Vespiquen and also Darkrai are very comparable to Mikomon. They both have unusually small faces and a disproportionately large dress.

Many thanks meddle and penguin, I tried as many of the suggestions as I could comprehend, and this is what I came up with.
2jebpnd.png

Right, so we have:
  • A greyer kimono
  • Bigger flower, more noticeable eyes/mouth/red thorns
  • Slightly larger back thorns
  • Very slight dithering at the vines (I don't know, was that where I was supposed to dither?)
Unfortunately had no idea how to make the vine appear foreshortened.
frown.gif

Any crits? If not then I think it's high time I did the backsprites.

Oh and because the eyes look out-of-character, would these do better?
25i86k1.png
 
ICC, I love your sprite! I just suggest that you make the vine thingy a brownish color instead of the greenish color you're using. But it still looks really nice :)
 
Gun6 I like the contrast the white teeth have with the head!

now then: shinies and touchups.
grmdrkmndot2.png
grimdarkmonback2.png

grmdrkshn2.png
grmdrkmnshn2.png

Definitely the best so far in my opinion, but Wyv's is also very good.

Doug, the body looks fantastic, but the head and (stem?) seem a little too rough and choppy.. If they were smoothed out I think yours would be my top choice
 
Have to Say Mos-Quitoxe's, Wyverii's, elementalpenguin's, The Reptile and Ice-Cold Claw's are my favourites at this point in time. I'm going to have a tough time choosing one of these...
 
Hello hello.
Thanks guys, so I had a lot of spare time in the afternoon (3pm over here, Yilx would know) and I made the backs.
14ll44.png

Yeah, I don't know. I'd like you guys to tell me though.

PoJ: Hmm, so I tried a Tropius brown and...
10xu8lf.png

It doesn't look half bad! Actually resembles a dead stem which is pretty sweet.
But then, with no disrespect intended, imo green is the color that helps identify Yilxmon as a grass-type, and the official artwork definitely shows green. I think it's best to keep it this way.
Unless you've been suggesting a brownish-green in which case I cannot help, because I'm colorblind to red-green shades (and I won't know how to identify the color).
 
Ice-Cold Claws, it's looking better than ever and I prefer the faded green over the brighter one. However, you missed out her back ribbon; Quan's excellent sprite depicts it very well. Can't believe I missed out on it in my previous post.
 
Quan: It's as good as anything, I think you can make it your final. Good luck!

Yilx: Ah ribbon! Curse me, I didn't read your OP thoroughly. Here:
kb3hwj.png

Plus faded green! But with the bow it's kind of exploding with detail don't you think?
Or, it could be just this.
2134ysp.png
 
Sprite artists are allowed creative freedom with little details like that. The back ribbon is in no way canon already or somehow required for the design to be good. Do what you think looks best as a spriter. I personally like your back sprite more without the ribbon; it's less cluttered.
 
So I added the hand teeth and I changed the dress to be a bit more acurate. still attempting to make them less conical, but I like the way it looks so...

Also with the one preferance for shinys, i'll have the shiny be B, the yellow based shiny. Anyways, I think Im pretty much complete...

cap52female.png
cap52femaleback.png
cap52femaleshiny2.png
cap52femalebackshiny2.png
 
Time for an update,

I took everyone's advice very carefully and the end result looks much better in my opinion, take a look
iaza18533143324600.gif

I was looking at the supporting artwork and found the backpose and what the back is supposed to resemble (Though it is a cool thought) so I took off the long end vine. The vine looks more complete now and rounder along with the creature thing on her head. I moved the head up and over a little, changed the darkness and the shape of the shadow on the dress and made it look more complete. The head looks better now thanks to lightening some lines. I also added the red spikes on her arms and the creature on her head's face.

I think that's all and I'll get started on the backsprite.

The only thing I'm debating now is the feedback you guys give be and if I should make the vine thinner.

Tell me how I did!

***************************
Doran: looking good, the only thing I would do now is play around with more shiny (I'm not a big fan of the green/yellow body) but that's up to you

Ice: looks great
 
Doran: Oh that's yellow? Argh. Color blindness.
You might want to ask around for more opinions on shinies, because my opinion is usually very bad and out of the norm.
It's still an excellent sprite though, don't worry.

Steam: Noooo don't remove the vine end! That was the selling point of your sprite.
But other than that, the flower creature is vastly improved, and the dress is beautiful, except it's a bit straight on the left side.
I'll be waiting for the back!

Sprite artists are allowed creative freedom with little details like that. The back ribbon is in no way canon already or somehow required for the design to be good. Do what you think looks best as a spriter. I personally like your back sprite more without the ribbon; it's less cluttered.
I see. I always asked for a general opinion because I thought CAP sprites were made for the community, not for my personal viewing. But if you say so, then ok.
I'll go with the ribbonless backsprite, because I have your opinion, and also my own (I'm a neat freak and dislike cluttered things). So...
epn3b6.png

Shall this be my final?
 
Alright, more C&C:

Steampowered - Things are looking quite fine for you. The mon's right arm (on our left) looks a bit awkward, and the mon's right arm has too much of a pattern on its upper border, which I would suggest you try to make it more curvy to add an organic feel. The vine is really dark in comparison to the rest of the sprite, but other than that, your pallet choice is exceptional. Also loving the shading work.

Bluemon - The shading is a bit flat on the head and vine, and on the middle petal of its dress I would suggest its shading basically flipped horizontally. The arms are a bit flat, but otherwise the posing is very nice. You should try an outline with varying colours instead of just black. Your pallet choice is very nice, however, I would advise you keep it, because it's not too intense variation and it doesn't blend together.

Wyverii - Incredible pallet choice and posing. Shading is great on front sprite, except for the rear arm; however, the back sprite looks kind of flat and could use another layer of shading (except on the side where the highlight is, that just looks awesome).

DougJustDoug - If you want some help for your attempts to make the dress shading better, ElementalPenguin's sprite would be a great example. Your sprite is looking otherwise awesome, and I love the shading on the upper half of the body, especially the vine's highlight. And I'd also like to point out a fun fact about your shiny, that your choice of purple, green and gold is often a great way to appear wealthy, and I believe your sprite is certainly rich with awesomeness.

MektarTheOverlord - I'll agree with Mos-Quitoxe that your sprite is quite small, but if you do increase the size I would suggest leaving the arms the same; they feel a bit clunky and awkward with the current proportions. The shading is good, but could stand to rise along the back edge of the dress. I personally like the colour choice, that red tint to the upper body's white parts is amazing. I think the vine would be better in the yellow, it's a great shade that isn't too dark. The green vine would also look great if it was darker, but I'd still vote for that yellow one.

Doran Dragon - I'll agree that the yellow and blue is an incredible choice. I would suggest adding another level of shading to the back sprite, so that it looks more round. I love your arm posing and how you made the hands round and jaw-like.

Ice-Cold Claws - Your eyes make him look like this guy right here, because they're so small and dot-like. If you want to go for another look, I'd make the eyes about 1 pixel wider, but I would like it even if you left the eyes the way they are. I would make the vine's border less flat accross from the 3rd thorn, which can be easily done by giving 1 pixel on each side of the longest line to the next lines on each side. I absolutely love your posing and shiny colour choice, it looks so spectacular, and I also find it great that you make the vine's head just as clear as the main one.
 
MektarTheOverlord - I'll agree with Mos-Quitoxe that your sprite is quite small, but if you do increase the size I would suggest leaving the arms the same; they feel a bit clunky and awkward with the current proportions. The shading is good, but could stand to rise along the back edge of the dress. I personally like the colour choice, that red tint to the upper body's white parts is amazing. I think the vine would be better in the yellow, it's a great shade that isn't too dark. The green vine would also look great if it was darker, but I'd still vote for that yellow one.

Thanks a bunch! I didn't feel like enlarging the sprites, as the small size is my selling point, but I did make some changes.

th_Cap2Front-3.png
th_Cap2ShinyA-2.png
th_Cap2Back-2.png
th_Cap2BackShiny-2.png


I shortened the arms to fit the proportions, adjusted the shading on her skirt, and edited the ribbon on the backsprites.
 
Ice-Cold-Claws, I don't know if this is a reflection of your username or not, but that shade of grey you used looks much too blue to me, making the mon look chillier than it really is.
 
I'd have to agree with Mos-Quitoxe here! It is pretty chilly. In addition, the dress looks somewhat... truncated in the backsprite. It curves up to sharply on the imaginary rim. Um. Hard to put into words... Sorry.
 
Mos-Quitoxe actually makes a very good point. I agree that the blue looks very out of place in the main non-shiny sprite. As a matter of fact, if you look at the original design, it's more red-hued than blue. I think that red hue would much better suit the design.

Mektar, I'm kind of sad that you chose not to enlarge the design. I think that is the biggest issue with it right now, and that without increasing its size, you'll be totally unable to fix the proportions or include necessary facial details. That's pretty much the crux of the issue with your sprite right now.
 
Final Submission

Sorry to dissapoint you, Dusk, but I'm going to submit my now-transparent/possibly-too-small sprites now. I'm going on a 6-day vacation to Texas, and I don't want to miss the submission window.
Female Front:
th_Cap2Final.png

Female Shiny Front:
th_Cap2ShinyFinal.png

Female Back:
th_Cap2BackFinal.png

Female Shiny Back:
th_Cap2BackShinyFinal.png


Happy Holidays, CAP!!!
 
Best of luck to you Mektar!

Rising_Dusk said:
NOOOOOOOOO
x5to2h.png

I was literally clicking pixel after pixel without seeing any difference, can you?
Screw red-hued blindness.
Many thanks though, especially to MLaRF! I think I've fixed the stuff you pointed out. And elementalpenguin, I fixed the dress. (I'll make the ends pointier, right now I just don't feel like re-uploading everything.)

Oh and here's an additional something-something to demonstrate proportion and detail when compared to other 'mons.
28s356q.png

Does it fit in?
 
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