ForumsArt, Music, and WritingArt Skills Competition: Fire and Water (page 56)

565 233185
Cenere
offline
Cenere
13,658 posts
Jester

Welcome to the Art Skills Competition.

As always, there are a few rules that needs to be followed for proper judging, viewing and general fairness.

Competition Rules
- All major parts of the entry must be original material, unless otherwise stated. Heavy references, sources and other visible influences should be credited as per normal forum courtesy.
- Submissions must follow the current theme to be judged, and must be drawn for that theme specifically. You cannot submit something you drew prior to the theme being announced
- Please do not post entries larger than 670 pixels in width. If your art is larger, post a thumbnail and link to the larger version.
- Artists cannot win in subsequent rounds, but are allowed to enter said rounds.
- Entries can be drawn in any medium available.

  • 565 Replies
Salvidian
offline
Salvidian
4,170 posts
Farmer

Just to let you know, I'll be finishing my entry tomorrow. It's not too late!

Bronze
offline
Bronze
2,417 posts
Shepherd

Don't let me down Sal! I'll have to think mean thoughts if you do. You don't want that.

Strop
offline
Strop
10,817 posts
Bard

I will be closing this round in 11 hours and 32 minutes.

Though of course, if you manage to sneak in an entry before I wake up the next morning (give it, say, another ten hours), then I will accept those entries too!

Cenere
offline
Cenere
13,658 posts
Jester

http://i428.photobucket.com/albums/qq1/Cerene_Cerine/img077.jpg

Got it scanned.
I would probably have gone for the same idea as Kega, drawing up the entire - city of Armor, but there's this instead.
So, the great king-god of ArmorGames, creator of the lands we traverse, Daniel McNeely, now in a marker-based iconography, which should also show that I found my age old markers.

As a bonus, Kai was being loud and obnoxious.
http://i428.photobucket.com/albums/qq1/Cerene_Cerine/img078.jpg
That alternate reality would have caused high blood pressure in more than a few of the involved, I presume.

Strop
offline
Strop
10,817 posts
Bard

Right. PARTY'S OVER. By which I mean I've deliberated, and am going to judge presently.

As I said in my opening statement, this round was going to be assessed on not just the subject matter picked, as it's not a contest about "what do you think the greatest thing in AG is". It's about portrayal of greatness, and I can see quite a variety in terms of how and how much the seven (that's a great turnout!) entries each addressed this. It would also be worth noting that some of the entries struggled to articulate the AG part of it within the image itself, but since there was virtually no overlap between those that did this well and those that articulated "greatness" well, I ended up weighting the "greatness" factor more, with due allowance for background information on the image. Henceforth I shall elaborate, starting with the winner and going in a descending order which becomes extremely vague past the placings:

First Place: Cenere

http://i428.photobucket.com/albums/qq1/Cerene_Cerine/img077.jpg

With the pose and regalia of a deity and the magic running through his fingers, this portrait (without the portrait, so iconography perhaps... oh wait, Cen already said that) is the very personnification of greatness. Markers also suit iconography to a tee, with clear, bold colours and lines to match the simple, plainly stated concept where there is little need for subtlety and much for its opposite. My one issue with the piece was that without the background (or a bit of insider knowledge about my metaphorical fictional universe based on AG where coding is likened to magic), it would have been difficult to discern how this submission was directly related to AG as opposed to something else. Perhaps some characteristic facial features, like McNeely's soul patch? (no idea if he still has that, by the way) Or would that have detracted from the "icon-icity"?

Either way, this entry portrayed the greatest, in the greatest way, therefore to Cenere goes the greatest spoils.

Second Place: Bronze

http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/ss282/BronzeCAE09/galiant.jpg

This was very close to first in my estimations, for an entry that had a different approach but came together very well.

A slightly indirect interpretation of the theme, but it was admittedly a slightly tricky one, so rather, I will say kudos on thinking outside the box. In this case I saw that greatness was generated more by the sense of opposition, of rivalry, conflict, and the magnitude of power that would come to clash (which works seeing as Galiant helps Sonny against the Baron). Many elements worked synergistically, from the back to back placement of the characters (the evil one facing away, a classic film poster device), the shape of the silhouettes and the glowing highlights (the craggy jagged edges of Brixius versus the solid, straight order of Galiant, parts of the character design which was captured well), which supplemented the colour scheme. Given the setup, I couldn't help but feel the composition was a little uneven, in part due to the evil aura Brixius was giving off, and while I think that Galiant's side is giving off an aura of his own, I can't tell if it's that or from the camera taking the photo. At least that's what it looks like. It would be a little unfair if this turned out to be a disadvantage due simply to technical specs, though, as the articulation of the theme was excellent.

Third Place: Reton8

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/8542/elephantstokongcomicret.png

I took the liberty of assuming the comic form was the entry, as it was more effective.

There was a lot of internal debate about whom 3rd should go to, because I was weighing a lot of things up. In the end this entry made it through partially because of its topical nature and the subject matter, despite the fact I did say it would count for less. I'm going to stop short of saying that it was because this entry had parody versions of Cen and Strop in it (Strop as gollum? Really???) and that it made me lol, because while it did make me lol and is an excellent crossover, it was more the package deal. As reton8 said, this image successfully references the history of AG as well as recent developments... but again the casual observer wouldn't understand. Then again the casual observer wouldn't understand the history of the AG community anyway, and that's why in general this became less of a factor for me as well.

Highly Commended: Gaboloth

http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee446/gaboloth/img038_zps30e903e8B_zps6f6d3dc4.jpg

This may come as a surprise to you, as it appears to be a hastily drawn sketch. Well, it IS a hastily drawn sketch, and that the subject is the villain of Armed with Wings (which is actually from an independent developer whose games were sponsored by AG) has little direct bearing to AG lore. However, for what it is, it does a very good job of alluding to what Vandheer stood for, in the sense of pose and the space implied by the framing of Vandheer in middle ground, with the characteristic forbidding craggy wastelands of the AwW games: great despair, great yearning, great malice and great vengeance. With so few elements, this submission is as effective as it is simple.

How Meta! Kegaumongo

http://i1163.photobucket.com/albums/q550/kegaumongo/AGsgreatestreduit_zps30b5dff3.jpg

The entry certainly is related to the theme, yes, and it brought a smile to my face because it's something I'm sure many can relate to. And as a cartoon it's very well drawn in an appealing style. The artist clearly has a grasp on drawing and I hope to see more in the future.

Unfortunately because of the specific brief I gave in my judging style, I couldn't actually place it, so I guess that's why I'm acknowledging it with a separate category.

What Were You Smoking? HecticHermit

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/020/b/6/ag_elephant_by_hectichermit-d5s70uq.png

Title is a running joke, as, I take it, was the fact the elephant is blowing smoke out his trunk. Hermit somehow manages to make everything smoke, and it never ceases to amuse me.

However, while the blue elephant is undoubtedly one of the greatest icons of AG, this submission is literally a drawing of the blue elephant, which is to say that it's a depiction, but not an articulation of the theme, which would make this entry, dare I say it, irrelephant xD

Sad Cat is Sad: Goumas

http://i693.photobucket.com/albums/vv296/goumas13/Sushicat_zpsa92e6191-1_zps43539bf3.jpg

I also struggled to see how this entry related to the theme of "the greatest". Undeniably cute and slightly evocative of "all of my HNNG"... but sadly for Sushi Cat, this is not icanhazcheezburger.com, so it doesn't earn any bonus points

Okay that's a wrap for this round. Good show!

Unfortunately nobody got the judging sorted out. Hermit, Sal, are you guys still interested? What about you reton? I can't do this for very long so we NEED to get this organised.

Otherwise, I shall nominate the next theme, which is Science Fiction Gadgets. The last round was, to me, a test of imagery and construction. This round will be a test of your imagination, and how effectively you capture it. I want you to capture the essence of Science Fiction. I want you to invent, or even reinvent. I'll accept everything from mind-control guns to Tron cycles to space ships to stealth suits to mecha to touchless motion sensitive display arrays etc. etc. I don't care if it's a schematic or a concept sketch or even a fictionalised demonstration. I just want you guys to make me go "oooooh, so cool." Or sexy. Or powerful. Or dangerous. Or plain terrifying.

This is an art contest, so I'm going to judge you on your portrayal of science fiction concepts in the image, and the image alone, regardless of what it is you're actually aiming to draw, okay?

You have 1 week. I'm going to judge in precisely a week, probably plus 8 hours or so as that's when I'll be waking up from my post-night shift sleep.

Right. HAVE AT IT!

Bronze
offline
Bronze
2,417 posts
Shepherd

Great judging, feels like the good ole days. I regret not adding more to mine, but I'm prone to experiment and screwing things up.

Sci-fi gadgets uh? That'll push my imagination. I already used power armor on the futuristic technologies theme a couple months back.

daleks
offline
daleks
3,770 posts
Chamberlain

Great judging, feels like the good ole days.

So basically before Cen was all 'Who wants to guest judge?' And I was all 'Me, unless someone else wants to do it.' Then I judged and I felt bad about it.
Bronze
offline
Bronze
2,417 posts
Shepherd

No, before I ran the last ASC to the ground.

Salvidian
offline
Salvidian
4,170 posts
Farmer

Unfortunately nobody got the judging sorted out. Hermit, Sal, are you guys still interested? What about you reton? I can't do this for very long so we NEED to get this organised.


The past week has been hell. Hopefully I'll be able to return to normal activity soon.
inferedmonkey
offline
inferedmonkey
942 posts
Peasant

Hey I was wondering if photoshop work would be accepted in this competition.

Strop
offline
Strop
10,817 posts
Bard

Okay guys, come on, I know you've got something. I'm obviously not participating in the round but here's a work-in-progress I just started:

http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/bb476/stropmd/mecha2_zpsfd678f80.png

Remember, get it in by Saturday!

Strop
offline
Strop
10,817 posts
Bard

Hey I was wondering if photoshop work would be accepted in this competition.


If you're editing images, you need to cite the source(s). After that, we're fairly stringent on what passes, and usually require that there's some direct artistic input i.e. drawing, and not just transformation and filters.

The main reason for this is because in the early incarnations of this competition when that was allowed, some users would take an image and apply a few filters and post it here. Most images you find online, unless they have a particular creative commons license, would disallow that as it fails Fair Use criteria.

In short we wouldn't encourage it, but you could submit photoshop work. However the judge (at the moment yours truly) reserves the right to disqualify it on the above criteria, or if it is deemed to have "insufficient artistic input", and if a moderator thinks you deliberately omitted the appropriate acknowledgements or infringed on copyright, that could get you banned. It's a risky business.
Gantic
offline
Gantic
11,892 posts
King

What year did I click into? Is the time glitch back? Is this 2008/2009? Hot cranberry juice, it's been four years!

Strop
offline
Strop
10,817 posts
Bard

ikr Gantic? Except this time I'm not going to make the same mistake of actually committing to judging this contest permanently and then burning out.

I just want to kinda maintain the platform so that the artists and illustrators here have something to cluster around once IWTSYMP finishes. Which reminds me, I had an idea for your last one, but I fear it may be too saucy for AG...

Hectichermit
offline
Hectichermit
1,828 posts
Bard

:P Well I finally pop back in and it seems the threads liven up a bit. , Sci-Fi gadgets, for some reason your picture has me thinking its a horse in a horse mecha :P So I thought gadgets were small lol

Showing 436-450 of 565