Smeargle's Studio Update

anundeadboy has a well-honed talent for professionalism, represented through both his presentation and artistic ability. Seriously, have you guys seen his art thread? This guy is made for the polished world of graphic design, whether it be on a T-shirt, billboard, or the logo of the next cosmetic product you buy. anundeadboy opted to make this 2nd place entry for the MAC less of a study of artistic aestheticism and more of a feat of engineering. Expertly chosen fonts, immaculate vectors and proportions, and a futuristic expansion on an odd and clunky Pokémon design all contribute to an artwork that is pleasing and intriguing to look at. Do you remember as a kid soaking up every detail of the Pokémon cards for hours at a time, carefully arranging and rearranging them in various orders, and even if you had 10 Weedle and you hated the bug, you never got tired of Sugimori's artwork? I do, and in my humble opinion, anundeadboy's art brings some of that magic to the world, a magic that is highly sought after and so rare to find.

Blue Frog has rightly earned his place as Most Improved Artist of the 2013 Smog Awards. This piece makes use of humor, clean lines, cel-shading, gradients, and background (which is almost always to be expected from Blue Frog) to clinch 1st place from stiff competition. Emboar as Bjork, the once-espoused silver-tongued Bachelorette from Iceland, makes a stunning entrance on the red carpet sporting a rather eccentric swan dress—props to the Hunter who nabbed it before some other celebrity could properly express the avian garde. All in the name of fashion. Or did Bjork, I mean, Pork, just convince the white turkey to Play Dead? PETA has taken issue, but Pork has stated: "If you complain once more you'll meet an Army of Me". But don't worry, All is Full of Love, especially Pork, and she obviously reimbursed Swan-Kind for its humble service with a reading of their native Pagan Poetry (and a hefty contribution of bird feed). Is this scintillating side of bacon going back to the crib for some Big Time Sensuality? Will Blue Frog win the next MAC? Are bacon, egg, and cheese burritos better than their sausage counterparts? Possibly. Maybe. These, along with other questions (and their answers) await you in the next issue of Smeargle's Studio Update.

I'll just say this piece looks like it came straight out of a children's coloring book. And that's not a bad thing at all. Many starving artists would give their left nut to illustrate coloring books (not their right one—that's the important one). There are so many things done right in this storybook picturesque setting. Things that stand out to me are the wonderfully thin lines, Arcanine's expression, and the very natural shading, especially the paper cut-out look of the clouds. God I love those clouds. That said, I do feel the fence takes up too much of the limelight due to it's brightness and the relative amount of canvas it occupies. I'm also confused about the direction the drop shadows are cast—the moon is the only light source pictured, and as it is in the background, the shadows should be extending toward the viewer, not away. However, there could be another light source that naisa chaves was taking into account, such as a motion-sensing porch light or a 50 inch TV glimmering through floor length bay windows. These negatives aren't enough to detract from the many positives of this picture however, and like a low risk/high reward 'mon finds itself residing in the S-Ranks. Too bad the same can't be said for Arcanine...

I don't like this piece that much for one reason, and I'll have to echo what PoM said—it's because of the blurriness. There's obvious attention to detail, as well as good shading and contrast, but the blurriness detracts too much from the artwork while really adding nothing but an unfinished rough-drafty look. I get the feeling Shinxe just went over 90% of the painting with a blur tool and called it a day. It doesn't help that the part of the picture that is in focus, Talonflame's head, is just kind of ugly. A too-dramatically curving beak paired with a flat forehead and an even flatter expression doesn't scream "look at me!", yet that is what the artist would have us do, and really, I'd rather not. I'd like to admire the cute Eskimo girl and Talonflame's flowing feathers. Sorry Shinxe, I'm a fan of your work, and your tutorials in the Professor Smeargle thread are impressive to say the least, but I'm not a fan of this.