Form/Detail
This piece has a lot of good structure going for it. The main thing to note is the way the eyes are drawn in between the two pokemon, your dark shadows creating a direct, clean path from one to the other. I think you managed to use the space well, and you followed the rule of thirds almost too perfectly, placing the main subjects on the opposite ends of the picture instead of centered. While there is not a crazy amount of detail, what you do have fills up the available area and does not distract the viewer from looking at the subject matter. I like the natural curves of your shadow attack, it has a very solid mist-like feel to it, tendrils curling over the environment naturally and flowing towards the target. It is another way that the pure darkness of the image can drag the eye back to the main focus of the image, Zorua.
Color, Texture, and Shading
While this image is monochrome, you definitely managed to pull it off. The lights and darks are nice, contrast well, and you did a very masterful job of shading. The vast majority of your shading is correct, however - if Zorua is emitting light, as it seems to be, Bounsweet might have more light on her back then her front. There could very well be another light source shining on her that is outside the scene’s boundaries, however it is the one main thing that somewhat throws me off. Looking at the ground shadows though, is this in daylight? Otherwise the ground shadows wouldn’t be there, you would more likely see shadows radiating away from Zorua on the ground. There’s not too much in the way of texture here, but the tree’s natural contours are fairly beautiful. Your bush could have potentially used some lines to show the leaves/clumps, but otherwise there’s not much I can hit on for the textures.
Pokemon Anatomy
I looked at the bounsweet first for critiquing, and there is honestly not much I can dock on at all for Bounsweet, The legs could be seen as a slight bit long, but that.s it. I have never seen someone draw such a smooth circle before, and the emotion on its simplistic face is perfect. Ironically its your target pokemon, Zorua, that could potentially need more work! In the general sense Zorua is pretty good as well, as i could easily identify it. The proportions are correct, though the rear hip seems off somehow. Just a tad bit out of alignment for Zorua’s small frame.The main complaint on Zorua is that it seems to be missing its read features, such as the top of the head puff, the feet, and the forehead dots. While I wouldn’t think they need to be their own color, perhaps a light outline showing they are there, despite being whitewashed by its obvious use of power. I could not tell if the white crescent under the nose was a crooked smile or just a nose highlight, but either seems to work well in this case, adding some additional emotion if it is the mouth. Perhaps something else to consider would be to add a touch of malice to the eye shape, as it currently seems more surprised, whereas i could totally see a more evil tilt to their tops.
Environment/Perspective
For your environment, I would like to start with the trees. The two most prominent ones, the two in the upper left corner, are beautiful and twisted, very fitting for theis scene. Their pits and valleys capture the light and give the mildly ominous vibe inherent in the image. What seems less amazing is that your other trees seem very straight and bland in appearance, especially the one most of zorua’s power is reflecting off of. While it might not have the dark shadows of the other two, a more natural shape could have given it additional character and some loverly highlights behind Zorua. The log hiding underneath Zorua’s shadows seems somewhat out of place, being the only tree with the more prominent bark lines. To fill up that area i might have used a rock or bush instead, something that could have more easily been identified yet not calling much attention to itself.
Creativity/Effort
Honestly, I like this piece in general. You do have a story, though I wish I knew what it was that caused Zorua to be attacking Bounsweet. But the mystery seems to be part of the piece, along with its dark mystical feel. Looking at it, I get the feel of an old silent movie, almost like the pencil lines are film grain and I will momentarily see a title card with Bounsweet screaming. Its a neat effect and goes well with the feel you have here. I can tell you put a lot of time and effort in this, even though you were able to submit it at a lower rank.
Improvements
The only things I could suggest for improving upon would be shadow placement and some texture refinement in this image to give the more natural materials more variety throughout the piece. It is otherwise a very well done piece, probably one of the best pencil pieces I have ever seen. Just a few minor tweaks and I think it could have passed for complex or higher, easy.
Results
I dont think there was any doubt, its a very nice, clean, and nearly perfect piece. Artistically speaking its good, the only downsides are minor and would not be immediately noticed by many. I think it is fairly safe to say that Zorua is caught!
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