Alch's Art Picks

Hello and welcome to Alch's Art Picks, bringing you the best art from Smeargle's Studio over the course of the month. Feel free to send me a message on the forums to see if your art can get featured, or simply nominate someone else's artwork!

Art Picks

Weezing ~ Shinxe

Despite the Monthly Art Contest being a completely new innovation, the quality and amount of entries was breathtaking. Shinxe, a relatively new user to Smeargle's Studio, amazed the forum with this realistic take on Weezing. The radioactive highlights and sludgy composition make this piece both unique and amusing!

Weezing and Koffing ~ Yilx

Another product of the Monthly Art Contest, Yilx was a favourite to win. Though beaten to the first place spot by Shinxe, this undoubtedly a fantastic piece of art. The main draw of this piece is the dynamic pose—difficult to achieve when the subject of the drawing has no limbs! However, Yilx has expertly conveyed the movement through the trailing gas, leading to a convincing and breathtaking piece.

Whismur ~ Rocket Grunt

The famous Rocket Grunt once again shows his aptitude to draw gruesomely cute Pokémon with this huggable whismur. The cleanliness, simplicity, and fantastic use of space earn this drawing a top spot in my Art Picks for this month, with Rocket Grunt's grungy brushes adding a great sense of texture and atmosphere.

Camerupt ~ Kinneas

This drawing of everyone's favourite camel brings every aspect of Kinneas' art to light—personality, dynamic posing and vivid color. If you didn't smile at this, you won't smile at anything!

Meowth Dreaming ~ Swaggersaurus

I'm sure I've said this many times before, but in any form of art there are two main criteria to be fulfilled—concept and execution. Swaggersaurus (formerly #Az) satisfies both of these criteria and more with this amusing drawing of a Meowth taking a catnap. The color scheme is warm, and the shading adds a comfortable dose of texture to the scene. However, I'm not sure why Meowth has a humanoid nose!

Dreams and Nightmares ~ Aragornbird

The renowned Aragornbird once again stole the hearts of Smeargle's Studio with this beautiful and somehow poignant dreamscape, created for a contest on another site. It is simply breathtaking. The dream and the nightmare both combine seamlessly and contrast at the same time, with the drawing having many focal points—allowing the viewer to be absorbed by the scene. It is so delicate and beautiful that it is difficult to describe!

Cynthia and Garchomp ~ Shinxe

If this isn't a great example of why Garchomp was banned, I don't know what is. The main selling point of this piece is the atmosphere—the complete darkness other than a soft frontal light source and the overbearing pose of Garchomp make it look all the more menacing. Cynthia is dynamically posed, shown by her blurred hair—a fantastic piece of work.

Sprite Picks

Scratched Tentacruel ~ Doran Dragon

A scratch-spriter with oodles of raw talent, Doran Dragon created this amazing, fully scratched Tentacruel - it is truly up to (or even above) the standards of Game Freak themselves!

Cherrim Retype (WSC #37 Entry) ~ Solefuge

With this contest entry, Solefuge proved just how effective a simple recolor can be. The contrast of the pale blue to the green leaf or red seeds is sublime, and the actual recolor is executed perfectly.

Torchic (Project Amethyst) ~ Nopie / Darthvader317

Though our little chick may seem simple at first, making such a small sprite is actually very complex. However, Nopie pulled this off with aplomb - Darthvader317 as Quality Control only needed to make minor edits. The slight dithering around the neck alleviates the need for an outline, making it look much more natural and there is not a pixel out of place.

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