★ Improving the Studio's Hub

[Bummer]

In the beginning, Alchemator and Birkal made a section exclusively for Smeargle's Studio, or something that nowadays would be referred to as a 'hub'. The primary idea was to create an index of all badged artists and samples of their work, and while that did happen, it's now something that's been largely forgotten about. As in, the thread I linked to earlier hasn't gotten a reply in three years, and most of the artists within said index are either dead inactive, or in grave need of an update. However, I still like the idea of this and would hate some of the work already put behind this go to waste, not to mention that this hub has more potential than we've already used it for.

Some questions I'm sure you're already asking yourselves:



We have a HUB?!

Yes!



So what's this 'more potential' you're speaking of?

Most hubs that were created for most other tiers sooner or later got in bad shape since they were dependent on updating often with news and various metagame shifts, but given how the studio is a more stable environment, there's a lot of 'static' info that can be put onto the site that will remain relevant for quite some time into the future.

A comment I've gotten a surprising amount of times is how new users find the forums to be confusing, and while that may be attributed to how they may simply be new to forums overall, having a hub where they can browse through various topics and guides themselves to learn more about our community can be a simplier way to lurk rather than digging through forum posts.

So yeah, apart from an artist index, I'd like to see an index of our most popular threads and why they're worth a look, how to contribute art to Smogon, tips on various art-related topics, and other stuff that could make this a handy guide to any artists thinking of giving Smogon a chance. Basically: everything that'd usually get a sticky thread on these forums. This thread already houses a lot of info about the Studio, so simply uploading and rewriting it for the main site is one approach we could choose.


So what do you want from me?

If you're a badged artist that don't have an artist profile, then that offer is still relevant! PM a Smeargle Studio Mod (tiki, Kaiju Bunny, or Zephyri) or Kolohe with a description of yourself and thoughts about your craft, every relevant site you use to host your art, and naturally, some images you'd like to feature on your profile. If your work is already hosted on Smogon (such as The Smog and on-site articles), we can just grab the image address from there. If you're an artist who already have a profile, it'd be cool if you could look over it again to see if you want something edited or if you have more artwork to feature. If you'd like to have your profile updated, feel free to PM one of the people listed above with the changes you'd like to make! <3

What else?

Anything of relevance! If this is a daunting project, challenge my current plan with suggestions of your own. Name some other stuff that you'd like to see on the hub, lemme know if I can tag you whenever we need something GPd or HTML'd, advice on how to organise the various topics and indexes, whatever's on your mind. Let's make things pretty. And anyone with SCMS access (so basically all badged users) are capable of editing the hub pages as well, although do make a post in this thread if you're planning to do larger changes or contributions.

There's no deadline whatsoever, as long as it's not a project gathering dust.

Oh, and before I forget: helping out with this will definitely go towards a community contributor badge, (assuming that whatever you create won't require considerable effort by others to set straight :V), so this is by far not something exclusively for artists.

[motivational quote] lgi [/motivational quote]

 

[Bummer]

Placeholders for illustrating hub pages/directories

Info and FAQ -
Forum Rules and Etiquette - Tikitik
Getting Started -
Art Chatrooms -
Contributing art to Smogon -
Approved artists -
The Artist badge -
How can I improve in the studio? -

Gallery -
Monthly Art Contest -
Special Events -
Miscellaneous Art -

Artist Profiles - Bummer

Smeargle's Studio Resources -

Articles and Media -
Studio Updates -
Judge-A-Pokémon -
Arterviews -
General Art Articles -

 

[strawberry]

It's great to see smeargle studio's hub getting a revival. I'll be writing up that artist profile as soon as possible, and will try to help with some other stuff. I'd be more than glad to write something for the artists that are inactive or unable to do it themselves as well. ^^

 

[Falgaia]

Will get to it later today assuming the time is available. Also, if the hub links to relevant contribution outlets, maybe feature the Facebook PotW thread on it to give it a bit more publicity.

 

[Danmire]

Wow, haven't heard about this in forever. I miss Alch ;(

But anyways, glad to see mine is still there. I probably have more things to upload since I have definitely seen my self improve drastically, so it'd be nice to upload some new stuff when I get the chance. Concerning helping out on stuff, you can definitely hit me up if you need assistance in organizing the forum or the pages. I'll think of some ways to improve the page as well, so I'll start with those. I'll go ahead and PM you the updates, Bummer.

Also, just thought of something right now that we could have. We can have the artists that already have pages and are going to have pages to maybe organize their art by the early years to now. It'd be great so up and coming artists can see the transitions they have made and the contributions they have made to the site.

 

[brightobject]

God I love Dusknoir
This is gonna be really hype :) as I said before, a commissions database ought to be a part of this as well. Tutorials and a link to the PS! Art room site could help too I think.

 

[strawberry]

Welp, I guess I'm going to break the ice. Not too long, not too short.

Hide

Who is Tikitik?

Heya there. I guess you can say that I'm an example of someone that enjoys drawing pokemon, but not competitively playing. After getting used to Smogon and feeling comfortable with its community, I gathered up enough courage to start my very own art thread. Later on, I found myself contributing some of my artwork for The Smog and The Player, and writing some articles as well. A bunch of artwork later, I started to frequently post in Smeargle's Studio. All in all, at that point I enjoyed my time on smogon and sharing opinions on my and other people's art as well. Except the Studio, you generally won't see me anywhere else around the forums considering that I don't have as much interest in the other sections.

Regarding my work, I'm one of the few individuals that does his stuff while only using a mouse. I'm mostly comfortable with using my knowledge of SAI for getting the best out of my art. Aside from that, I love doing traditional art, which I sadly am not able to share due to not having a decent camera or a printer.

I treat drawing as a little hobby of mine, although it was my childhood's dream to try and do it professionally. What I actually do is studying pharmacy, and lets just say that it certainly keeps me busy. Nevertheless, you can still find me in a bunch of rooms on PS!

Achievements
Earned an artist badge for my contributions to the webzines.

I wrote a few articles for The Player.

Here are a few pictures that I'd appreciate being featured in the profile.

Hide

Anyways, I'd love to help out with some more stuff so feel free to hop on PS and hit me up when and if you need some assistance ^^

 

[HellaHellaStyle]

Who is HellaHellaStyle?

• Was taken in and forced into slave-labor for The Smog by Seven Deadly Sins.
• Been an official contributor since like, May 2010. Extremely on-and-off ever since.
• Proud to have four pieces of cover art featured on The Smog.
• Have many other pieces of art scattered throughout some of The Smog issues.
• Started an art thread a while back and took a bunch of requests. Not sure where it went. Probably here somewhere, still.
• Entered some MACs along the way.
• Also got to participate in the very first "Something A Little Different". Mad-dumb.
• Oh yeah, my favorite Pokémon is Parasect.

Achievements:

• Did the cover artwork for The Smog issues #8, #11, #15, and #20.
• Took 1st place in Monthly Art Contest #15: Strength, and #16: Ground-type.
• Oh yeah, I think I have or had and artist badge at some point.

 

[Arkeis]

lol wow, it still uses my old username. That should be changed.
Will work on it next week when I have more time

 

[Typhlito]

Honestly never knew this was a thing until now or else I would have made one. I'll post mine up when I get the chance.

 

[ZapDraws]

I didn't even know this was an option. I'll have to write something up.

 

[princessofmusic]

I can handle any GP that needs to be done and also update the HTML for the MAC and Gallery pages (for the latter, whatever others feel appropriate to include) and help to HTML any new pages that are going up. I'll see about writing up a profile page later as well.

Months ago, I actually had the idea of updating the Smeargle hub but lost interest for certain reasons. I'm happy to see it got revived anyway, though.

 

[Regime]

yeah modesty....

I'll work on mine.

 

[Falgaia]

aXl

About (Studio Hub)

Hi, my name is aXl and I’ve been on Smogon since ‘09. I first became interested in art around that same time through browsing the forums and stumbling upon an old Spriting thread in Smeargle’s Studio. Since then I’ve been working to improve my craft and branch out into other forms of media.

When not making art, I am likely working hard trying to get my Architecture assignments completed for college. I currently use the usernames “Falgaia” and “semiAquamatic” outside of Smogon.

My favorite Pokemon is Mega Banette, with Gallade following close behind.

Notable Accomplishments:

• Created over 40 custom-made Pokemon sprites for the Pokemon XY Sprite Project, as well as over 50 quality checks on other sprites in the project (Including some of my own).
• Placed third overall in the Smogon Front Page art contest.
• Contributed several pieces to Smogon’s Facebook Pokemon of the Week series.
• Placed first in the CAP 20 Sprite Poll

Selected Works:

Edit: If we only have three pieces, I'll probably remove the sprites. If allowed, I'd rather leave out Bisharp in order to keep all of the sprites included, but either works.

 

[strawberry]

Regarding the featured artwork for the profiles, the previous limit was no more than three images per profile. Are we going to stick to that or expand it to a certain extent?

Another neat thing to do would be for everyone to link their art thread at some point in their profile, so it's easier for anyone interested in seeing more of the artist's work to find it.

 

[Bummer]

Who is Tikitik?

Who is HellaHellaStyle?

stuff

Thanks for doing these, I'll get to them once all of the artists have their own html file on the site, right now there are links to everyone (refresh the page if they don't show), but obviously not all the names lead to an actual page, and even then they'll mostly be placeholders before we add some written content along with images.

Regarding the featured artwork for the profiles, the previous limit was no more than three images per profile. Are we going to stick to that or expand it to a certain extent?

I'm open to revisiting this, but since links are much easier to manage, one can also dedicate a certain section of the profile with links to articles from The Smog, Player, facebook posts, and other articles on-site. That way, we can easily catalogue them without turning the profile page into a complete scrollfest. It also means that the images you choose to feature can also be personal works or non-article stuff, but if you really want to share an illustration you've done before, remember that you could just borrow the same image adress from the article it's hosted in (so that we don't host the same image twice). I assume that the site has no current issues with memory space, but I'd like to be sparing when applicable.

Another neat thing to do would be for everyone to link their art thread at some point in their profile, so it's easier for anyone interested in seeing more of the artist's work to find it.

Like I said above, links are faaaaaar easier than anything else. If you've got a Tumblr, deviantArt, Instagram, facebook page, pinterest, personal site, webcomic, or any other possible outlet for you to showcase or sell your art, put a link to it. And if there are multiple links, consider putting them all in a list somewhere.

I tried to throw together a template so that everyone know what they can put it, but if you have suggestions on other stuff you'd like to include, post about it in here. I get new ideas each day anyway.

[title]
ARTIST NAME

[head]

[page]

<h3>Who is ARTIST NAME?</h3>

<p>Some short info about yourself, particularly irl descriptions if you're okay with that, and what you're currently working with right now if Smogon is not your only place of activity.</p>

<h3>Smogon Biography</h3>

<p>Earlier called 'achievements'. Talk about what made you join the site, what parts of the site you've been active in (studio included), if you've managed any particular activities or projects, and so on. History!</p>

<h3>Art preferences</h3>

Just an idea for now, but if you have the time, a small snippet about what you like to draw and why would be cool, along with what tools you use (digital, traditional, software, the works).

<h3>Links</h3>

<ul>
  <li><a href="LINK">TEXT</a> - DESCRIPTION</li>
</ul>

I can talk about what to think about when uploading images later.

Edit: Short on time as I'm leaving, but the section where one wants to link articles to The Smog, Player and other stuff they've illustrated can be a section of its own

 

[az]

alchemator and birdkal made that subsecrion?????

oh i see i must have imagined pumping in all that stuff to give every badged artist at the time a page

:^)

 

[Lemonade]

:)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Hide

PS: this is REALLY CRINGY

 

[Magistrum]

Oh I wasn't aware there was something like this o_O Okay let me take a whack at it

Hide

Who is Magistrum?

An Architect-to-be (as of this time) that still can't let go (and probably won't let go) of this stupid Pokémon franchise. He stumbled upon Smogon back when Pokémon XY was first announced. That was when he saw the Create-a-Pokémon section and decided to create an account and contribute a design. Since then he's been on and off from Smogon because of unfortunate circumstances and unfortunate procrastinations IRL. He can also be seen in Pokémon Showdown's Art Room showing off his boring fakemons.

At present he is working at an Architecture Firm that is too lax for its own good because construction projects aren't that many during this season. His free time includes deluding himself into thinking he can finish his fakedex project and wondering why he hasn't drawn a doujinshi (of his original character Magistelle) yet.

Achievements barely worth noting:
- Won MAC #23 (It's a tie tho)
- Contributed artworks to Smog Issues #26, #27, #29, #30, #36
- Did cover Art for Smog #36
- Got Art badge after Issue #30
- Made the winning design for CAP 17 Cawmodore and CAP 19 Plasmanta
- Won P.S. Art Room's 1st Voice Challenge
- Did some Team Logos for LC Tournaments
- Contributed various artworks for The Player

Art Preferences
For Traditional Art, Magistrum uses 2B Mechanical Pencils for sketching, Disposable Tech Pens like Unipin or Artline for Inking, and Markers for coloring things because apparently Watercolor doesn't love him and Color Pencils frustrate him because they leave white spots and grain. He uses Kurekolor Markers because Copic Markers aren't available in his country and he is too lazy to buy them online.

However nowadays he mostly does Digital Art via Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended or Paint Tool SAI. He lives in constant fear of being arrested because he didn't pay for these programs and thought it was better to pirate them using some shady torrent links.

Gallery Links
DeviantArt
Smeargle's Studio Thread

Hide

Artworks barely worth looking at:

^err sorry if they're too large, if you want me to resize them just tell me :)

 

[strawberry]

Alright, after talking with Bummer a couple of days ago I've been working on the Index of Popular Threads. Here's what I've got so far, I may or may not have missed or forgot about some threads (or just still didn't get a chance to include them in the list) so feel free to let me know about any mistakes! It's basically a list of threads that are worth a look, with some additional backup text that explains stuff about the thread.

Hide

Here's a list of popular threads that are certainly worth taking a look if you're planning on getting involved with the Smeargle's Studio's community. If you want to check out everything this forum has to offer, don't hesitate to visit the following links!

Informational Threads

Smeargle's Studio rules and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - If you're thinking about posting in the forum, the first thing you should do is to take a look and read this thread so you can be aware of what you should and shouldn't do. Knowing the rules makes your time on the forums better and makes the moderator's time much easier. Aside from that, if you have any questions about Smeargle's Studio, you came to the right place! Feel free to make a post with your question and a staff member will have an answer for you shortly.

Smeargle's Studio Directory and General Info - As the name suggests, this thread contains the basic, general info for both experienced and new artists along with a few links that'll lead you to some useful threads. The thread itself contains quite a bit of info for a newcomer and it might be a lot to take in at first, but taking your time to read it is surely a wise choice.

Smeargle's Laptop Rules - If you are more interested in graphical arts such as banners and signatures or pixel art of any kind, you've probably decided to take a look at the Smeargle's Laptop subforum. Much like the Studio's rules, you should take your time to read these as well if you plan on posting in this subforum.

Resource Threads

These threads contain more in-depth and detailed information along with being a great place for artists of all skill levels to seek advice on their work.

RMA: Rate My Art! - A perfect place for an artists that's looking for some constructive criticism for his work, or for someone that is eager to help others by sharing his knowledge in order to help them improve. Everyone is free to submit their pictures or to offer a critique!

Professor Smeargle: Digital Art Tutorial / Tutoring Thread - If you're looking to improve your artistic skills, this is the right place for advice on that. With an insane amount of useful tutorials, guides and videos by successful smogon artists, you'll certainly want to pay this thread a couple of visits during your time on Smeargle's Studio.

Participate!

Once you get used to Smeargle's Studio environment and get familiar with the rules, you're probably going to want to participate and get more involved with the community. There's a wide choice of threads and events just waiting for you to take your part in them, and here they are.

Daily Draw Challenge - One of the many activities the PS! Art room has is the daily draw challenge, having a different, unusual theme for you to draw every day. There are no prizes involved, so this is just a casual thread that enables you to share your creations!

Collaboration Thread - As the name says, you can collaborate with other smogon artists and share the results here! Maybe you have a sketch or some line art that you don't plan on finishing? If so, pay this thread a visit and share some of the unfinished work you have, there may be some fellow artists interested in finishing it.

Battle Free for All - Another fun, casual thread where you try to think of ways to defeat the current pokemon champion through an art piece. Take a shot at playing, reserve a spot and brainstorm ideas for a battle scene!

The Smeargle's Studio Writing Thread - We're not only about visual art, and this thread proves it! Share your short and long stories here, as well as feedback on the stories of others. Or just enjoy reading all the amazing stuff your fellow Smeargle's Studians wrote.

The Smeargle's Studio Music Megathread - Your very own music box! Embrace your musical talents and share recordings of either you playing or singing or someone else performing a song that you wrote. If singing isn't your cup of tea, you can always listen to the creations of other talented smogon musicians.

Smeargle's Studio Photography Thread - Anything and everything photography related is shared and discussed here. Talk about cameras that you want or have, or explore various photography tutorials.

Contribute!

Maybe you are interested in offering your artistic skills to various forum projects? If that's the case, here are some threads that are worth taking a look!

Artwork for Tournaments - As you may know, there's a lot of tournaments happening around Smogon forums, and this thread is the place where those in need request artwork for them. Everyone with some artistic skill is able to help out as well as give thoughtfull criticism to those who still need some advice. Aside from that, you can always just visit the thread to check out some of the fantastic examples of tournament logos.

The Workshop - Much like the Artwork for Tournaments thread, here's where people who start various projects and threads can request images to make the thread more appealing to the readers. If you're willing to help and have some spare time in your hands, you should definitely consider visiting The Workshop!

Art for Articles - The numerous on-site articles about subjects such as battle strategy or anything related to competitive Pokemon play are always in need of quality illustrations. Here is where you can sign up to illustrate an article of your choice! Along with that, if you have issues with too tight drawing deadlines, worry not! There are no set deadlines for you to finish your artwork, although you shouldn't drag the process too much.

Artwork for Facebook - Smogon's quite popular facebook page is also a great place for offering your talents, so if you're planning on making an effort on an art piece, why not make it a contribution for our facebook page? Go ahead and reserve a spot now!

XY Sprite Project: Pixel Pefrect - For all the talented spriters out there, this is the ideal place for contributing your pixel making skills. The sprites you make will be used in Pokemon Showdown and Smogon! This thread may not be a perfect place for a newcomer in spriting, as the project looks for a certain amount of quality.

EDIT: Stream Announcements Thread and MAC are something I have yet to add.

 

[Bummer]

Gonna post real quick that almost all artists in the artist index should now have a placeholder page with the current template. 4 of them needs to be fixed, 2 have easy solutions while two I may have just forgotten to create files for. Will reply to Lemonade and Tikitik tomorrow, but it's all stuff I like to see discussed in here.

 

[brightobject]

Hmm, might as well. I'll be collecting commissions details for any artists who are or will be accepting commissions/requests in the future. To either be put into each artist's profile or possibly be put into another page for prospective patrons to Ctrl + F or something

I'll be compiling them somewhere else so as to not clutter up the thread, so just PM me with:

-any links to commission reference sheets /info blocks and the like

-what kind of stuff you'd be willing to / unwilling to do (e.g. furry, nnsfw, etc)

-what product you're peddling (yt banners? paintings? trad? digital? all of the above? anything?)

-price ranges

-time constraints

-any special catches

-and anything else you'd like to add

Thanks! :)

 

[Danmire]

Besides the artists pages, are the other links going to get updated too? Things like who is running MAC or who ran MAC. Those pages should also have the judge panels with all the judgements if they haven't been put already instead of the Smog since the Smog isn't a thing anymore. I could run a compilation of all the Smog MACs with all the information when I get home later today.

 

[Bummer]

:)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Hide

PS: this is REALLY CRINGY

alright time to tackle this one

As for the first paragrap, Tikitik has already catalogued most of our interesting threads above. I'm definitely of the opinion that /smeargle's front page could use more links to other parts of the hub so that visitors aren't expected to notice the list on the top left. More on this part down below where I reply to Tikitik's list.

Your second paragraph also strikes a chord with me, since it can be one of our areas that has recent content displayed to show what's happening in the sudio, be it contests, featured artists/art, or other events of interest. The most recent submission can have the text and images seen on the Gallery page, while older entries can be saved as a list below leading to individual pages (to avoid making the gallery too tall of a page and to ease on the loading time).

Sadly, your third paragraph is something I cannot agree with, and something Alchemator made clear when the question arose. Since the artist badge not only shows that the person has shown both skill and talent with their art, but that they've also been active in the community for at least a while, it's easier to acknowledge their efforts with a profile on-site. I did consider giving this privilegie to approved artists as well, but since there are some that I approve of immediately when seeing their work, that's not a sign that they'll actually stick around on Smogon since contributions aren't a requirement to become approved. So in short, artist profiles should be another thing that should motivate people to become eligible for an art badge, especially so since we've been hurting for new art contributors for some time.

Writers aren't that common in our studio (or at least, not many are keen on expressing it), so while I wouldn't mind displaying writers in the gallery, I see no need to feature that brand of artists at this time.

And yes that post was indeed cringy but it touched upon some really important topics so I would look past that if I were you :)

Oh I wasn't aware there was something like this o_O Okay let me take a whack at it

Hide

Who is Magistrum?

An Architect-to-be (as of this time) that still can't let go (and probably won't let go) of this stupid Pokémon franchise. He stumbled upon Smogon back when Pokémon XY was first announced. That was when he saw the Create-a-Pokémon section and decided to create an account and contribute a design. Since then he's been on and off from Smogon because of unfortunate circumstances and unfortunate procrastinations IRL. He can also be seen in Pokémon Showdown's Art Room showing off his boring fakemons.

At present he is working at an Architecture Firm that is too lax for its own good because construction projects aren't that many during this season. His free time includes deluding himself into thinking he can finish his fakedex project and wondering why he hasn't drawn a doujinshi (of his original character Magistelle) yet.

Achievements barely worth noting:
- Won MAC #23 (It's a tie tho)
- Contributed artworks to Smog Issues #26, #27, #29, #30, #36
- Did cover Art for Smog #36
- Got Art badge after Issue #30
- Made the winning design for CAP 17 Cawmodore and CAP 19 Plasmanta
- Won P.S. Art Room's 1st Voice Challenge
- Did some Team Logos for LC Tournaments
- Contributed various artworks for The Player

Gallery Links
DeviantArt
Smeargle's Studio Thread

Hide

Artworks barely worth looking at:

Thanks for writing this up! The images are definitely on the large side, but they can be resized to fit more comfortably on the site. All three apart from Moltres are more wide than tall, so they could serve as spacing between the various sections.

Alright, after talking with Bummer a couple of days ago I've been working on the Index of Popular Threads. Here's what I've got so far, I may or may not have missed or forgot about some threads (or just still didn't get a chance to include them in the list) so feel free to let me know about any mistakes! It's basically a list of threads that are worth a look, with some additional backup text that explains stuff about the thread.

Hide

Here's a list of popular threads that are certainly worth taking a look if you're planning on getting involved with the Smeargle's Studio's community. If you want to check out everything this forum has to offer, don't hesitate to visit the following links!

Informational Threads

Smeargle's Studio rules and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - If you're thinking about posting in the forum, the first thing you should do is to take a look and read this thread so you can be aware of what you should and shouldn't do. Knowing the rules makes your time on the forums better and makes the moderator's time much easier. Aside from that, if you have any questions about Smeargle's Studio, you came to the right place! Feel free to make a post with your question and a staff member will have an answer for you shortly.

Smeargle's Studio Directory and General Info - As the name suggests, this thread contains the basic, general info for both experienced and new artists along with a few links that'll lead you to some useful threads. The thread itself contains quite a bit of info for a newcomer and it might be a lot to take in at first, but taking your time to read it is surely a wise choice.

Smeargle's Laptop Rules - If you are more interested in graphical arts such as banners and signatures or pixel art of any kind, you've probably decided to take a look at the Smeargle's Laptop subforum. Much like the Studio's rules, you should take your time to read these as well if you plan on posting in this subforum.

Resource Threads

These threads contain more in-depth and detailed information along with being a great place for artists of all skill levels to seek advice on their work.

RMA: Rate My Art! - A perfect place for an artists that's looking for some constructive criticism for his work, or for someone that is eager to help others by sharing his knowledge in order to help them improve. Everyone is free to submit their pictures or to offer a critique!

Professor Smeargle: Digital Art Tutorial / Tutoring Thread - If you're looking to improve your artistic skills, this is the right place for advice on that. With an insane amount of useful tutorials, guides and videos by successful smogon artists, you'll certainly want to pay this thread a couple of visits during your time on Smeargle's Studio.

Participate!

Once you get used to Smeargle's Studio environment and get familiar with the rules, you're probably going to want to participate and get more involved with the community. There's a wide choice of threads and events just waiting for you to take your part in them, and here they are.

Daily Draw Challenge - One of the many activities the PS! Art room has is the daily draw challenge, having a different, unusual theme for you to draw every day. There are no prizes involved, so this is just a casual thread that enables you to share your creations!

Collaboration Thread - As the name says, you can collaborate with other smogon artists and share the results here! Maybe you have a sketch or some line art that you don't plan on finishing? If so, pay this thread a visit and share some of the unfinished work you have, there may be some fellow artists interested in finishing it.

Battle Free for All - Another fun, casual thread where you try to think of ways to defeat the current pokemon champion through an art piece. Take a shot at playing, reserve a spot and brainstorm ideas for a battle scene!

The Smeargle's Studio Writing Thread - We're not only about visual art, and this thread proves it! Share your short and long stories here, as well as feedback on the stories of others. Or just enjoy reading all the amazing stuff your fellow Smeargle's Studians wrote.

The Smeargle's Studio Music Megathread - Your very own music box! Embrace your musical talents and share recordings of either you playing or singing or someone else performing a song that you wrote. If singing isn't your cup of tea, you can always listen to the creations of other talented smogon musicians.

Smeargle's Studio Photography Thread - Anything and everything photography related is shared and discussed here. Talk about cameras that you want or have, or explore various photography tutorials.

Contribute!

Maybe you are interested in offering your artistic skills to various forum projects? If that's the case, here are some threads that are worth taking a look!

Artwork for Tournaments - As you may know, there's a lot of tournaments happening around Smogon forums, and this thread is the place where those in need request artwork for them. Everyone with some artistic skill is able to help out as well as give thoughtfull criticism to those who still need some advice. Aside from that, you can always just visit the thread to check out some of the fantastic examples of tournament logos.

The Workshop - Much like the Artwork for Tournaments thread, here's where people who start various projects and threads can request images to make the thread more appealing to the readers. If you're willing to help and have some spare time in your hands, you should definitely consider visiting The Workshop!

Art for Articles - The numerous on-site articles about subjects such as battle strategy or anything related to competitive Pokemon play are always in need of quality illustrations. Here is where you can sign up to illustrate an article of your choice! Along with that, if you have issues with too tight drawing deadlines, worry not! There are no set deadlines for you to finish your artwork, although you shouldn't drag the process too much.

Artwork for Facebook - Smogon's quite popular facebook page is also a great place for offering your talents, so if you're planning on making an effort on an art piece, why not make it a contribution for our facebook page? Go ahead and reserve a spot now!

XY Sprite Project: Pixel Pefrect - For all the talented spriters out there, this is the ideal place for contributing your pixel making skills. The sprites you make will be used in Pokemon Showdown and Smogon! This thread may not be a perfect place for a newcomer in spriting, as the project looks for a certain amount of quality.

EDIT: Stream Announcements Thread and MAC are something I have yet to add.

Very thorough post! If possible, I'd to explore the option of not featuring the entire list on the same page, and instead divide the links depending on what the reader is looking for. Perhaps in the fashion of "New to Smeargle's Studio?" , "Want to contribute to Smogon?" and so forth. Regardless of how we'll choose to organise it, thanks for writing up a small summary for each of them, I'd probably take way longer to do it myself.

Besides the artists pages, are the other links going to get updated too? Things like who is running MAC or who ran MAC. Those pages should also have the judge panels with all the judgements if they haven't been put already instead of the Smog since the Smog isn't a thing anymore. I could run a compilation of all the Smog MACs with all the information when I get home later today.

I did a small compilation myself some time ago. Some of the current pages dedicated to MACs don't have the description for the theme at the time, so the quotes without images already have pages set up on-site but just needs to text to be added. I'd also be nice to have a small commentary on the results, but I can volunteer to that if no one else feels like it. The images branded as Honorable Mention are either those who ended up third place, or those that I personally found to be worth featured alongside the winners.

MAC #23 - Surrealism

Use Pokemon in a way that would break the regular norm. Use the element of surprise. Be imaginary.

MAC #24 - Retyping

Draw any Pokemon retyped to another type or type combination!

MAC #25 - Pokemon trainers

Draw a trainer doing what it is they do. Are they a Pokemaniac on the search for the rarest Clefairy, or are they retired and prefer chilling with their pokemon around the house? Or something altogether different? Don't feel limited to only drawing existing trainers though, designing your own trainer is completely acceptable!

MAC #26 - Mega Evolutions

Not just any mega evos though, we only want to see your ideas for mega evolutions of mons that (as of right now) do not have a revealed mega evolution. Don't worry, that only removes 7 pokemon from the list!

MAC #27 - X & Y Redesign

I think everyone saw something like this coming. We want you redesign the final evolutions of the XY starters! As some of you may know, the final evos of the starters have already been leaked, which is why this is being called a redesign, but having seen those designs isn't necessary for entering the contest. Just go for whatever you think they should look like! Feel free to redesign between 1 and 3 of them, as well.

MAC #28 - David VS Goliath

No, not the literal biblical story. This is Smogon! Show an LC mon kicking ass in OU.

Tied Winner 1: freezenlight

Tied Winner 2: Blue Frog

Honorable Mention: REBioHazard

MAC #29 - Springtime

Pretty simple theme this time around, it's essentially just drawing pokemon against a spring backdrop. Maybe they're doing Easter things, or maybe they're like annoying trolls who just want to grow flowers, sing, dance and get weirdly excited when toddlers kiss them. Up to you guys!

Winner: MewSkitty

MAC #30 - Pokemon Makeover

Do you think a certain pokemon has an interesting base concept whose design failed on the drawing board somewhere? Then this is the competition where you can fix that! Draw any single pokemon or pokemon line, I just want to see them redesigned using the same basic themes/animals/concepts, just done in a different way from their official designs.

Winner: hiddenpowerice/brightobject

Runner-up: anundeadboy

Honorable mention: Andrew

MAC #31 - Pokemon Cosplay

Our theme this month is... Pokemon cosplay! It's based on cosplay pikachu from ORAS, except extended to all pokemon! Design an outfit for a pokemon! It doesn't have to be based on the outfits used by cosplay pikachu, go wild with whatever ideas you have for pokeclothes.

Winner: Blue Frog

Runner-up: TeraVolt

Honorable mention: Sir_softalot

MAC #32 - - Real World Pokemon

What does this mean? It's about Pokemon acting as their real world counterparts or inspirations would. For example, Zorua getting chased by a Norwegian Forest Cat, Pikachu caught in a mouse trap, or Garbodor waiting to be picked up by the garbage collectors. While we've had realistic Pokemon as a theme before, this theme is focusing on realistic actions over realistic looks. You won't lose points for making your Pokemon look realistic, just make sure they're acting as real animals or evil spirits or computers would.

Winner: naisa chaves

Runner-up: Shinxe

Honorable mention: Sunfished

 

[HellaHellaStyle]

Who is HellaHellaStyle?
I'm currently attending the Art Institute of Silicon Valley, in Sunnyvale, CA going for my bachelor's degree in Media Arts & Animation. I've lived in Northern California's bay-area for my entire life, and I've been a digital artist since high school, which means about 14 years or so (if you do some math you can get a ballpark of my age). I've worked in the game industry on-and-off for a cool 7 or 8 years: QA testing, standards/compliancy testing, concept art, asset design, illustration, website design, programming - you get the point. Never moved up very far on the food-chain, which is why I'm finally attending college.

Besides drawing I'm also a musician, screenwriter, animator, storyboard artist, and ex-Super Smash Brothers Melee pro (was ranked top-10 in NorCal way back in the Melee golden-age with a first place in Melee teams at an MLG event and various other top-3 finishes under my belt). I'd like to consider myself a jack-of-all (decent at most, though) in the creative-world. I eat, sleep, and breathe cartoons and the cartoon industry. My biggest ambition is to become the creator of my own network television cartoon show.

Smogon Biography

• Was taken in and forced into slave-labor for The Smog by Seven Deadly Sins.
• Been an official contributor since like, May 2010. Extremely on-and-off ever since.
• Did the cover artwork for The Smog issues #8, #11, #15, and #20.
• Have many other pieces of art scattered throughout some of The Smog issues.
• Started an art thread a while back and took a bunch of requests. I think it's gone.
• Entered some MACs along the way taking 1st in Monthly Art Contest #15: Strength (tied), and #16: Ground-type.
• Got to participate in the very first "Something A Little Different". Mad-dumb.
• Oh yeah, I think I have or had a Smogon artist badge at some point.

Art preferences
I'd say, if you can classify me as anything, it'd be a cartoonist, especially nowadays. I'm also very good at emulating other art styles, but would like to think I have something unique to offer, style-wise. While my drawings are on the bright and bold-side, a lot of my influences are darker, and I find a lot of humor in darker-comedy and realism. I also love product-placement in art, I think it's hilarious.

The main drawing program I use is openCanvas 6. I've been using the openCanvas programs since I first got my drawing tablet, so it's more of a preference thing, but I love some of the program's features. It's inexpensive, small, and allows users to save replays of their drawing process (which can later be uploaded to their website in video format). I also still use openCanvas 1.1, since it has online capabilities. You can draw with up to four people at once (and many more if you get N-SoCS, aka the Non-Shitty openCanvas Server) and has a lot of powerful tools, considering. I typically use Adobe Photoshop to touch-up my artwork, as well as add text and fun stuff like that.

My tablet is a Wacom BAMBOO fun. It's the second tablet I've ever owned, and I've been using it since 2009, I think. A great little tablet.

Links

• Smeargle's Studio Art Thread (Pokémon art)
• My Portfolio (most recent stuff in here is 2 to 3-years-old).
• Tumblr (the future sight of my cartoon's updates).
• SoundCloud (if I post new music, it goes here).
• Drawing Replays (via the portalgraphics.net PGN Community - kinda old).

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Made a new art thread today. Feel free to take whatever you think is best from there, or any art from the Smog for examples. Also, I had a NSFW section for art links, but I figure if people do a little (and I mean very-little) searching, they'll find that stuff.

Kay, I think that's it.