Just pixels.

[Speed-X]

So at first I was really, REALLY hesitant about posting these, which is pretty much the reason they haven't gone much further than my DeviantART account. The reason in being so hesitant about posting these up for crits is because, well... they're pretty blatant traces. Which tends to be frowned upon. Another reason is because I'm too hard on myself.

But I do enjoy making these for fun when I'm "in the mood." Also perhaps others could use these for...well, for whatever reason(s) they wish, I suppose.

These are ones that I had finished quite a while ago; I made these to both emulate the original sprites they were based on, as well as the proportions and whatnot of their official artwork (Sugi and anime). The colors are used from the official sprites traced from, along with the ways in which the colors are used. On some of them I edited the contrast just a little bit in order to look better for the larger size.

If you guys don't mind, I'd really like whatever crits I can get. Whichever ones you'd like to, really. I know I'll never end up finishing these for all the BW sprites, but at the very least I'd like for these to be something that people can use; and at that, I'd like for them to be high-quality. So here's pretty much a few that I feel are my best ones, so I can get some objective eyes, here. :>

I'll post up, for comparison, the Pokemon's official Sugimori artwork on the left of the "HD" sprite and the original sprite on the right.











I'm sure there's a lot of things to still be touched-up upon, so any input is, of course, always appreciated. Some things I'm starting to notice upon actually comparing these with the official artwork is that maybe I only really took the appearance of the original sprite into consideration instead of also considering how they look in their official artwork.... To be honest I'm starting to see more errors as I compare them to their Sugi counterparts. I dunno, what do you guys think? Should they stay more true to their official sprites or a little bit moreso towards the official, full-sized artwork? I think I'm just worried about making these look too much like Sugi art traces.

[Garamonde]

HD B/W sprites? I say yes.

(Also welcome back Speed aaaaa)

[Level 1]

I don't play the new Pokemon games, but the black fox Pokemon's snout isn't as long as the original design.

[Omega]

Larvestas butt should be a little more pointy-ish
Make a few pixels coming out of the top of the eye to give Zangoose those eyebrow definition like in the art.
Zoroark needs a sleeker snout.
Finally Empoleons trident mask...thing needs to be longer and thinner before the top.

Otherwise these are excellent.

[Speed-X]

Larvestas butt should be a little more pointy-ish

You know, I just now finished up my touch-ups on Larvesta and then I see your post, pointing out the lack of...pointiness of its abdomen. Thank you! I swear I wouldn't have noticed that. xD

It's a very minor touch-up, but I think it's looking better now.

Zoroark, on the other hand, really did need its muzzle elongated...so thanks you guys. :>

The claws were sharpened / narrowed some as well, and its pupils are a little bit smaller now. Also more detail on the tips where the black and red fur blend together.

Oh, and about the Empoleon: I'm not really sure, from the perspective of the original it almost looks as if, since Empoleon is looking slightly up and away from the viewer, the prongs on its head are foreshortened. But yeah, upon looking at it, the official artwork of Empoleon has prongs that are twice as long...and thinner. So I'm definitely going to go fix that. Thank you!

[Iocus]

I think you should make Altaria's beak more similar to the artwork-- it just seems more anatomically correct I guess? (Not that I'm an avian anatomy buff). Also, you should probably brings its eyes closer together.

Something about Zangoose just bugs me...Maybe if you make the angle of the upper outline on the eyes sharper (I think Omega might've mentioned this) and make the mouth more like artwork one it'll look better. Also, the zigzag on its belly just looks kind of flat...is there any way you could also some light shading to show its going along with the shape of its body?

(Also I'll admit that I was hoping you'd post some new sprites someday...I like your work!)

[Speed-X]

Thank you very much! The Zangoose is definitely looking more Zangoose-y now. Tbh I think it really was mostly in the eyes. I also fixed some things here and there that existed in the original sprite, but didn't translate into a larger size well (the broken Sel-Out'ing inside of the tail). Also wasn't sure what the highlights in its palms were--I assume they were just paw-pads--but I just went ahead and got rid of them. *shrugs*

I do remember having a difficult time with Altaria's beak. But yes, I'll definitely edit that too.

Note to self: think for yourself when making these, don't follow the original sprite exactly by the book. :]

Hmm. You know I've really been needing some different eyes to look at these fusions, maybe you guys could help? x] I've mainly been stuck on this Treekasaur:

I've always had trouble with Treecko's body type, it seems. Something is terribly wrong with this but I'm not exactly sure. Can't tell if it's too small, too crammed, or maybe even a little bit of both?
I guess I was somewhat trying to emulate the official BW style, but can't do so spot-on. The full-scale design of the actual hybrid is here, in case it helps!

[Garamonde]

They are pawpads, so you will probably want to put them back.

[Speed-X]

Oh...well that would make sense, then. Thanks Jetters. x] I'll get to that...eventually. As of late I've been working more on the Unova Pokemon...which I've aimed to maybe finish at some point in time.

I took quite a bit of time tweaking these, mainly because before this I used to like to add that white 1-pixel-thick border around any pixel art I made. Difficult to see on a light skin such as this, but I guess you could say that this was the lazy way out. I got rid of those and fixed all of the outlines and the AA'ing around them so that they would look decent in both a light AND darker background color.

Now instead of being the exact same as the original sprites and nothing more, I've made many more, yet very small fixes that help fix contrast issues, how some shapes translated incorrectly onto the bigger picture, etc.

Anyway I'll link to this image cause it's huge. Just the ripped BW Unova Pokemon sprite sheet from here x2, replacing the old ones with the finished HD ones. ^^;

Here's the list!

Most recent one that I just now finished is Emolga.

Again, if there's any nitpicks, do let me know!

[StarSock64]

emolga's body looks weirdly flat/unfinished compared to the head

[Speed-X]

Thank you! It does kinda look odd like that....

Here we go! Also I've been looking at its farthest eye and it's struck me as...odd, ever since I shortened both eyes by one pixel each. It almost looks like, instead of it looking like its being foreshortened--as its meant to look--it looks like the other eye is wonky. Then when I try to give that farthest eyeball one pixel extra in height...

...it looks wonkier.
Maybe it's just me.