With the majority of users opting for either DarthVader317's or Wyverii's work, I'd like to point out which I support, and why, which includes some unopinionated observations that
must be considered in the voting stage.
Here is a new shiny pallete. I'm not sure on what you guys meant about the eyes, so I just left them.
This is probably my final edit. Good luck guys.
KoA your back! Sweet. I hope to see you spriting next CaP.
First, let me say that both of these sprites are undeniably well done. However, one is closer to both the concept art (which is optional, but optimal, in my opinion) and the style used in D/P official sprites (which is certainly
not optional). Firstly, the D/P official sprites rarely use more than two colors
on a single surface. The only exceptions are instances where a Pokémon such as Graveler only has one or few main body colors to work with, and even then, the colors are used conservatively to emulate the anime style the spriters were attempting to convey. Because CAP 5 only has three main body colors, that left roughly 3 colors, including outline colors per body color. Wyverii's, with 11 colors, beat Vader's, with 14 colors, by remaining closer to that figure. Secondly, D/P sprites use only black and outline colors (which are classified as lines) for texturing. This is where my support went to Vader. His sprite remained true to this factor. Wyverii's, however, uses base, shadow, and highlight colors on the head as a means of texturing. I don't mean to say that it does not look aesthetically pleasing, but that it looks like it came from a game that relies heavily on the use of these classes of palette colors for texturing. It does not look like a D/P official sprite. Thirdly, an inconsistency that both back sprites possess is the overuse of dithering. D/P official sprites do not use nearly that much in proportion to space. Lastly, my support goes to Vader's because it does not vary substantially from the lineart or simplicity of the concept art as Wyverii's does. In conclusion, both sprites have their problems, but unfortunately, Wyverii's sprite's is much more obvious, along with the fact that when compared side-to-side with D/P official sprites, Vader's appears more consistent with the overall style.