Archives for 2005
Such a busy time of year, wouldn't you say? Even before Christmas started seriously eating away my time, I was so preoccupied with upgrading the site in a number of ways that I really haven't had much time for any new artwork. My apologies, as that's really what SP! is supposed to be all about! At last though I'm working on a few pieces at present, but for now you can check out the newly added gallery, which contains my humble first steps into the realm of Oekaki drawing. 8 new pictures, not particularly great, but I hope to improve my skills in this area.
Winter Coloring Contest Begins
2005/12/21
First day of winter is here, which means so is the new coloring contest. Wow, seems like just last week the Autumn one came to an end. ;) The new contest features Delibird. All the rules and other little details can be found here of course, as well as the actual line art for the picture. Join in, have fun, and give Delibird the most awesome coloring job you can!
Contest Winners!
2005/12/14
Took a bit longer than anticipated (such is the way of things this time of year), but at last the winners for the Autumn Coloring Contest have been chosen! Big time congrats to...
1st Place - Emerald Flygon
2nd Place - Susan_Rocket
3rd Place - Ho-oh Lover
Well done everyone! I guess it won't be too much longer before the winter contest is upon us, fancy that!
Autumn Coloring Contest Entries
2005/11/28
A little late, but I've officially declared the end of the entry period for the Autumn Coloring Contest and have added a page for displaying all the entries. Sadly there weren't as many in all as on the first contest, though it's hard to say whether that's because of less time with school going on, or just that Typhlosion might not be as popular as Butterfree... We'll try to have the judging results before too long!
History of Sneasel Plushie!
2005/11/19
Feels like the site has grown enough that some people might be interested in reading about its uninteresting background, so I added an SP! History page. Just a fancier way of saying the more commonly used "About Us" page. ;) It also includes pre-SP! stuff and images of the different layouts.
LAST MINUTE REMINDER: Only 3 days left to enter the Autumn 2005 Coloring Contest!
Another Affiliate Joins the Ranks
2005/11/15
Let's all give a warm welcome to Shinkirou Tenshi, a nice Pokémon site to be sure, with a pleasant feel and a variety of content.
The Cave of Dragonflies
2005/11/13
Sneasel Plushie! is absolutely delighted to announce its new affiliate, a magnificent site known as The Cave of Dragonflies! Most likely anyone and everyone reading this has been to the site or at least heard of it already, so I'm sure I need say no more. Thank you Dragonfree!
Expanding the Horizons
2005/11/12
The galleries are all in place, there's over 200 pieces of artwork to look at, the layout has been reworked, and even the most loyal fans of this site (assuming there are any) have to be wondering why they should bother visiting more than once a week or so to see if any new artwork has been added... Looking at artwork is nice, but you can only do so much of it and there's only so much to see, right? The time has come for this site to make the jump from useless to useful!
Sneasel Plushie! isn't a news site, isn't concerned with game tips and tricks, isn't aiming to have the most awesomely terrific, humongous Pokédex on the web... Sneasel Plushie! is about Pokémon artwork! As such there's only so many avenues the site can explore, but alas it's about time SP! started expanding where it can. Without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to the all new Art Resources page!
If you enjoy making signature banners in forums, or anything along these lines, there are only so many pictures of any given Pokémon available for use. It's great that sites like Suta-Raito and Valley of Nightmares (among others) offer nice fan artwork for people to use. Sneasel Plushie! would like to join the cause by giving new artwork to the people. Not only that, but we hope to do this more thoroughly than anyone else! Enjoy creating desktop wallpapers but having trouble finding large enough resolution images? Gotcha covered. Need a different pose of a Pokémon for your site's splash page? Maybe you'll like ours. Not fond of a certain coloring/shading style? Variety is the word. Sick of gifs plagued by white pixels, or cutting jpgs out around the edges? Different formats available. And so on...
All this of course has to start on a small level and expand bit by bit. For the initial launch, 8 Pokémon have been given the works. Each of them has a variety of 6 styles, and there are 3 file formats per style. This is to be the standard, though we may find ways to expand even further in time. For now, go check it out! Preparing this new section took a huge amount of work, way more than anticipated, and I even finished earlier than I expected to! Go me! ^_^
Just added a little avatars page. Nothing more, nothing less. Should have a major update within the next few days.
On Second Thought...
2005/11/07
I had a slight change of mind and decided to go ahead and get all the new style thumbnail images taken care of. I will deal with the art info and descriptions separately. That's all for now. Exciting announcement soon? Perhaps...
Sneasel Plushie, Rebirth!
2005/11/01
Welcome one and all to the new and improved Sneasel Plushie! As you can see the new layout (Rebirth style) has been applied, and I hope everyone's as pleased with it as I am. Unfortunately most of the important changes are not readily apparent to the eye. As for visually, I think it retains the feel of the original style but tones it down and adds a bit of dignity and refinement, symbolizing the site's maturity as it moves to become a worthwhile place to visit-- or something to that effect at least. Green and purple again? You bet! Why? Because they're my favorite colors, and the color scheme just doesn't work with any of my other sites. ;)
The only remaining changes to be made to the layout concern the gallery thumbnails, which are going to be completely reworked. As I go through and do that, I will also be adding informational pages for many of the more prominent images on the site. For example, hand sketches will open in the standard image display as usual, but the quality Photoshop works will be getting their own pages with specific info pertaining to the image you are viewing, such as file size, creation date, artist commentary, etc.
Wishing Everyone A Happy Halloween!
2005/10/31
For those who celebrate it and for those who don't, hope it's a fun day for you all! Just for fun the Jack-o-Sneasel has been "lit" and the site is going to turn off the lights for the rest of the day. No, this isn't the new layout at all. ;)
Also, Sneasel Plushie! would like to give a big thanks to Valley of Nightmares, who placed SP! as their current Feature Site. Have we hit the big time or what? ;D That was of course before their bandwidth sadly expired, presumably for the remainder of the month. Hopefully they will return tomorrow.
What's Going On, Eh?
2005/10/19
The title is a bit of an inside joke (sorry, could resist using it), but it works, as I'm just posting this to let everyone know what's up. Sneasel Plushie! will be undergoing a transformation soon, in the form of a new layout! Don't get too excited or disappointed. There won't be a whole lot of change, as I'm really quite pleased with the current layout and it works well. Having been around for over a year though, a few technical problems have managed to reveal themselves so while sorting them out (and planning ahead for some expansion), I figured I might as well do some graphical adjustments as well. I hope you'll look forward to it!
On a side note I finally gave in, did some looking around and decided it might be beneficial for SP! to join a Topsite, and so it happened.
And before I go, just a quick reminder to get cooking on the Coloring Contest if you haven't started! Several entries have already been received, but the more the merrier! Spread the word, make it another success!
Sand Dune Showdown, for Wyndigo
2005/10/04
My most recent artwork is now up! You'll find a new piece in the Mega Man Gallery, and another in Originals, but most importantly is the new Poké picture, Sand Dune Showdown! This image was done for Wyndigo, who as winner of the Summer Coloring Contest got to make a request. She was quite vague in her specifications, simply giving me the choice of drawing Marowak, Rhydon or Sandslash. With that much freedom, I played around some and without thinking much about it, tried a new outline style. I hope she won't be too disappointed in the end result... Hopefully it makes for a worthy award.
Good Old Pencils, Where'd I Be Without 'Em?
2005/10/01
October, my favorite month, let's hope it's a good one! In order to start it off on the right foot, would it be enough to fill in the entirety of the Hand Drawn Galleries? My scanner still isn't working, HOWEVER, I managed to look through some old, nearly forgotten folders on my computer and found a good deal of artwork that I had scanned years ago. Combine that with a bit of use from my digital camera, and a few pieces pulled off ancient backup CDs, and I've managed to bring together about 70% of my hand drawn Pokémon artwork!
So just what does that amount to? A total of 42 images have been added today! Not only that, but while I originally anticipated they'd all be simple sketches, I realized I do have a few pieces of finished work that were worth posting as well. So, I hope you enjoy them, and if you're familiar with the CG art throughout this site, you may find all the sketches of the original line art interesting... At last, this fills in the base content of all the last remaining galleries which had been sitting empty, so there's only room for further growth now!
Autumn Has Arrived!
2005/09/22
Indeed, my favorite season of the year has begun. You know what that means, don't you? It's already time to begin the next coloring contest! How time does fly! So... The Autumn '05 contest features Typhlosion, and I hope to see as many wonderful entries as Butterfree got, if not more! What else can I say? Check out the Coloring Contest page and get coloring!
Summer Coloring Contest Concludes!
2005/09/09
The judging results for the first coloring contest are finally in and SP! is pleased to announce the winners! Congratulations to:
1st - Wyndigo
2nd - Elizabeth P.
3rd - Ash.mx
They are the top placers in the contest, but a total of 25 people participated with a splendid variety of colors and styles. Well done to everyone, thanks for making this contest a success! A new Coloring Contests page (linked
on the right side bar for now) has been set up where you can view the rules, awards, and all the entries for the contest- as well as for future contests yet to come.
Happy Birthday And Such!
2005/09/03
Visitors to the site the past two days no doubt noticed that it was as good as down, as none of the pages worked. Turns out my hosting service altered their default PHP configurations, thus all of the links on Sneasel Plushie! merely lead back to the home page. Nasty! The problem has been corrected now, so it's back to happy fan art browsing once again! Thanks to Pitch for being the first to alert me of this problem.
On a much happier note, SP! celebrated its first birthday on September 1st! I've been quite tied up with one thing or another lately so wasn't able to take proper notice of the occasion I'm afraid. It's been a nice first year though, here's to the next!
Sorry about the overwhelming amount of nothing... I've been wanting to fill in the hand-drawn gallery all summer but I'm afraid my scanner's been out of order. I do have a few relatively new pieces of artwork to share though!
The Non-Pokémon Misc Gallery has a new Klonoa picture, finished just earlier today as a present for my friend Dia. The Mega Man Gallery has two new pieces, both definitely worth checking out for their artistic merit even if you only visit here for the Pokémon stuff. The Gesellschaft in particular, done for my best friend Feldinaut, took over 30 hours and is without a doubt the greatest piece of fan art I've ever made! ^_^ Finally, if you're dying for new Pokémon art, I've added a really funky style Suicune (also done as a gift for a good friend) to the Adobe Misc Gallery. It's definitely a major departure from any style I've ever done before so check it out!
Coloring Contest Update
2005/07/21
Thus far Sneasel Plushie is pleased to announce that it has received 12 entries into its first coloring contest, featuring Butterfree! (see contest details in the post below) It has been one month since the contest was put into effect, which means any interested participants now have one month left to submit their colored works. Sneasel Plushie is hoping to reach a total of 20 submissions by the end of the contest period. Whether you're an artist or just a Pokémon fan, find the fun and join in, or pass the word along to someone else who might enjoy taking part!
On a side note, regular updates should resume shortly!
Summer Coloring Contest '05 Featuring Butterfree!
2005/06/21
Greetings everyone! Up to now, Sneasel Plushie! has been a personal fan art gallery for me. Now that I have established it as that, I wish to expand and include the works of other talented Pokémon artists as well. I have a few ideas in mind for this new phase in the site's life, and the first is to begin regularly holding a series of coloring contests.
Introducing the Contest:
This marks the first of what I hope will be many fun contests to come. The set plan is to begin a new contest on the first day of each season. Beginning that day, the entry period will run for two out of three of the months of that season, and the remaining month will be a time for judging and a break before the next contest begins. So to clarify, this first contest begins now, on the first day of summer, and all participants have until August 21st to submit their entries.
Entry Guidelines:
1. This contest features Butterfree, get the line art here and start coloring!
2. Please do not remove the "Line Art by fab" in the lower left corner of the image.
3. Colors do not have to match the Pokémon's actual colors.
4. Backgrounds will be counted in judging the overall appeal of each picture, so do your best to make them nice!
5. Even though it's a "summer" contest, you don't have to feature anything pertaining to summer. Feel free to place Butterfree in an ice cave if you like.
6. Submit your entry by sending an e-mail to me.
7. Save pictures as PNG or JPG preferably, no BMP please!
8. Be sure to include your name somewhere on the image itself.
9. Only one entry per person.
Entry Judging:
Were this a contest where the participants needed to draw Butterfree, I would think it necessary to select a group of knowledgeable Pokémon art critics. However the point is only to color Butterfree. The question the judges will be asking themselves is, Who did the best coloring job? Therefore I see no reason why anyone can't judge. So as to rule out biased judging, I will be asking for the opinions of people I know in real life, family and friends who are not members of the online Pokémon community, and know next to nothing about Pokémon. I think that's the most "fair" way to do it, and it also means that no potential participants will have to forego entering to take part in judging. Hopefully no one has any objections.
Concerning Prizes:
At this point I am unsure as to what sort of prizes will be awarded. At the very least, the winner can expect to receive an award (some form of fancy graphic indicating their victory) and spotlight recognition here on Sneasel Plushie! It is possible that greater prizes will be awarded to the winner, and perhaps to the runner(s) up. These decisions will be influenced by the amount of entries and overall enthusiasm toward the contest. Most importantly though, I hope people will participate for the fun, regardless of potential benefits.
Corel Galleries Complete!
2005/05/29
No more playing around! It's about time Sneasel Plushie! got the rest of its galleries together, and so today I present to you the Corel Wallpapers and the Corel Miscellaneous galleries. These bring 10 new pieces to the site, including the widely reknowned fan favorite, the Mewtwo wallpaper! That now completes the Corel sections entirely. Mind you, I still have more Pokémon drawn in that style, but they were either drawn when I first learned the program (urgh, hideous) or else they're more recent and I didn't bother giving them a decent shading job, and therefore don't feel like showing them off. Anyway, enjoy the latest. Next on the menu will be the Hand Drawn galleries.
New Art At Last!
2005/05/28
All of the new galleries added to Sneasel Plushie! in the past few months have been playing catch up with my huge pile of older Pokémon artwork, and in all honesty there hasn't been anything fresh coming from me lately even if I'd wanted to add something new for a change. No longer the case however, as just within the past two days I have created two brand new pieces of 3D artwork! You'll find them in the 3D Models > Ones I'm Proud Of section. They are Desert Refreshment, featuring Vibrava, and Farther Than Far, featuring Regice. I've got the Vibrava one posted over at DeviantART, so if you happen to be a member there, I'd certainly appreciate any comments you have.
I finally got around to adding the second series of the Trading Card Game that I made. They're in the Corel Gallery of course. Links are on the left, have a nice day! ^_^
Apologies All Around
2005/04/30
I'd like to apologize to the site, for neglecting it, to VG Fan Art for not being much of an affiliate, and to all of you visitors for not giving you anything new to look at. While it's true I've had computer problems, and have been working hard on other projects, I'm afraid I run short on excuses when I try to fill in nearly two months of nothingness...
Now, time to get back on track. Once again, it's an update to the Corel Style Gallery, this time in the form of the Trading Card Game. Yeah, lots of people make fake Pokémon cards, but these of mine were made long ago, and from scratch-- no scanned templates and such. Also, I've never seen anyone make their own series of cards. With 100 cards in all, you just might find it's worth a glance.
Corel Gallery Jumps In Size
2005/03/05
Okay, here's a whopping addition to the site, 28 new pieces of Corel style Pokémon! You can now find various Pokémon pictures from the Kanto (18) and Johto (10) generations. Among the many are popular favorites like Chikorita, Espeon, Heracross, Bulbasaur, Blastoise, Mew, Mewtwo, and even Pikachu. If you'll recall, these are all rather old pictures, anywhere from 2-6 years old. So, please bear in mind you won't be looking at masterpieces.
An Hour And One Minute's Work
2005/02/15
The other day I was inspired by a fellow Pokémon artist, to try my hand at quick drawings. Timing myself for 30 minutes, I whipped up a much more respectable piece of artwork than I thought was possible in that amount of time. I followed up with a second one. Both are now on display in the Miscellaneous Photoshop gallery. The Pokémon are Skiploom and Chimecho.
Noteworthy Landmark
2005/02/13
Sometime today, Sneasel Plushie! reached what we consider the first major landmark in site visitors, 500 hits! Not an overly amazing amount for as long as we've been around, but fair enough, when taking into consideration the type of site and previous lack of advertising.
First Affiliate!
2005/02/11
Sneasel Plushie! is very pleased to announce that it has gained its first affiliate. The site is VG Fan Art, a most suitable affiliate as it is focused on the single goal of creating a massive video game fan art collection. Be sure to pay them a visit, they've got stuff ranging from the early NES to recent GameCube, from a number of contributing artists!
Mega Man, Zelda, Anime & More
2005/02/05
Thought it might be a good idea to take a break from the Pokémon artwork and fill in the galleries for other artwork of various origins. As a result, I've gathered together 32 pieces of artwork which span 5 new galleries. These galleries contain artwork from the Legend of Zelda series, the Mega Man Legends games, various Anime (Snow Fairy Sugar, Angelic Layer, etc.), some miscellaneous stuff, and even a few of my very own, original pieces. As always, you can find the links along the left side.
Sneasel Plushie Wants YOU!
2005/01/25
You know the old Uncle Sam routine. Well, Sneasel Plushie would like to ask some help of its few visitors. The site needs exposure to grow, which can be obtained in a variety of ways. SP! has its sights set on some nice sites with which it would like to be affiliates with, but naturally those sites have certain qualifications which must be met. Sneasel Plushie must rise to meet those qualifications, namely increase hit count. I'll be doing my best, and I'd be most grateful if you would help out as well. You can do so by spreading the word. Have a friend or friends who like Pokémon? Tell them about Sneasel Plushie! Don't just say, "hey you should visit this site I found." If their favorite Pokémon is Deoxys, send them the link to the Speed Deoxys artwork in the Photoshop gallery. Get them interested! Also, if you happen to have a Pokémon site of your own and feel like being really generous, you could post a link to SP! It's a long road ahead of us, and I've experienced before what it means to take a site from it's first visitor, to a place that receives hundreds of visitors per day. I know from experience that every little bit helps at this early stage in SP's life, so I say again, if you can spread the word please do so! Thanks in advance everyone!
More Artwork Added
2005/01/24
No new galleries added today, just five pieces of artwork. First off is a 3D Meowth, done this past Christmas as a present for my good friend PurpleKecleon. ^_^ Yeah, that makes two entries into the "Ones I'm Proud Of" section under 3D images. Additionally, I remembered 4 Photoshop-done pictures I did awhile back for a Pokémon site. They're battle scenes, relatively simple, but still worth at least a look. There's Skarmory Vs Dragonair, Misdreavus Vs Pikachu, Espeon Vs Tauros, and Mightyena Vs Typhlosion. That's all for now!
Corel Single Pokémon Gallery In Place
2005/01/11
Yes, at last the Corel area has begun to open up, starting with 18 images of single Pokémon, all from the Ruby & Sapphire set. 18 at once may seem like a lot at once, but not in comparison with how much is still to come. In any case, you will hopefully enjoy this small start, featuring Pokémon such as Absol, Latias, Mawile, Flygon, Torchic, Mudkip, Treecko, and several others. Remember, the Corel artwork is on the older side, so don't expect the same beauty found in the Photoshop style images.
