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Post by calithena on May 19, 2009 11:02:58 GMT -6
and without further ado...  Art Challenge WinnersBlack & White - Honorable Mention:
Jennifer Weigel, “The Adventure Takes a Surprising Twist” jenniferweigelart.com/ EO: “A pragmatic attitude by the would-be cute little captors. Clearly the time to fight is another day.” Anthony Stiller, “One Charge Left”  EO: “If I were the monsters I'd consider passing on this group.” Stephan Poag, “Surprise Attack” www.knucklebones.net/ EO: “I think everything is going to be okay here. The little guy is on the case.” Samuel Kisko, “Valley of Blue Snails”  EO: “I'd like to visit this town. Seems like a good place to recuperate after much slaying.” - and - “The Molluetuesk”  EO: “So this beast lures prey with its pool of tasty fishies while blending in with the surrounding caverns? Nature is so fun.” Kesher, “The Last Charge” sandboxempire.blogspot.com/ EO: “A fascinating battle. The hand seems like it’s lost the will to go on. What is in room 30?” Kelvin Green, “The Adventure Takes a Surprising Twist” junkopia.net/kelvinsdirtybits/main.html EO: “The big guy seems the most worried here, most likely it’s the unearthly glowing orb illuminating this inexplicable scene.” Paul “Bliss Infinite” Fini, “The Adventure Takes a Surprising Twist” www.indieonlycomics.com EO: “Hopefully this spell is the answer because the fighters don't seem to have the right stuff at this moment.” Steve aka Bat, “The Adventure Takes a Surprising Twist” ancientsecrets.wordpress.com EO: “Don't fall for it. You are deep u-n-d-e-r-g-r-o-u-n-d.” |
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Post by calithena on May 19, 2009 11:04:31 GMT -6
Color - Honorable Mention:
Kevin Vito, “Last Charge Left”  EO: “A pretty potent last charge. It appears that 5 living fireballs are heading out to target.” - and - "The Adventure Takes a Surprising Twist"  EO: "Always one lunker to be found among the minnows if you just have the patience. The bug eyes suit the holy man especially well." Simon Turnbull, “Overland” simonturnbull.carbonmade.com EO: “’Krump’ of horse charge meeting armored infantry felt especially tingly on such a brisk morning.” Andy “Atom” Taylor, “Fluggo and the Cockatrice” www.elfwood.com/~atomtaylor/ EO: “Yes, it is one ugly bird. What's sad is there doesn't appear to be anyone else around to help out. Forever turned to stone, alone, underground.” Alex Schroeder, “Gar and the Kraken” www.flickr.com/photos/kensanata/sets/72157594406870853/ EO: “I feel like Gar has a chance here but he doesn't appear to be holding it together well. Snap out of it man!” Steve Robertson, “King Lich”  EO: “Both these guys seem worth rooting for. That's always nice, makes for a more complex story.” Kevin Mayle, “One Charge Left” kevinmayle.netaidz.com/main.php EO: “Where are you going at such a great rate of speed? Of course I should have known, to your death.” Brad Ingle, “Kuo-Toa Surprise”  EO: “Perhaps the most doomed of all the adventurers pictured in the contest. Yeah, I know, the guys being eaten by the hydra and crushed by the cyclops are in bad shape but these guys just seem really doomed.”
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Post by calithena on May 19, 2009 11:07:05 GMT -6
Black & White - First Honorable Mention
Lee Barber, “One Charge Left” www.crithitcomics.com EO: “The eastern-influenced fighter’s garb and martial stylings are nice to see. I like the way everything is floating in a controlled apocalyptic sort of way. Appealing painterly b&w strokes.”
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Post by calithena on May 19, 2009 11:08:14 GMT -6
Color - First Honorable Mention
Pete Mullen, “Pit Trap” www.freewebs.com/mullenart EO: “Great troll, great composition.” Stephan Poag, “Temple of the Mind” www.knucklebones.net/ EO: “Eerie. You never like have your brains sucked out, but maybe it’s just taking over the brain? The metal doors with those handles are also a bad sign. This room may just fill completely up with giant brain juice.”
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Post by calithena on May 19, 2009 11:09:41 GMT -6
Black & White - Third Place
Steve Zieser, “Thrazar” curmudgeonsdragons.blogspot.com EO: “Gritty style to match the circumstances. I'd have to say make a quick move and shoot the big fellow on your right under the chin and blow its brains out. Might not work on the undead, unless you have a special bullet. Then good luck with the sword!”
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Post by calithena on May 19, 2009 11:10:51 GMT -6
Color - Third Place
Stephan Poag, “Cyclops Attack” www.knucklebones.net/ EO: “It’s sad when a party is completely wiped out, but as we all know it does happen. I can't really see any alternative here; both monsters appear quite fit, every adventurer is badly wounded and the cleric's head is compressed into the thorax.”
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Post by calithena on May 19, 2009 11:19:37 GMT -6
Black & White - Second Place
Steve Robertson, “Triple Trouble”  EO: “An unholy alliance, the travelers are in for a very rough journey. Channeling the old school - very much so. Simple and bold.”
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Post by calithena on May 19, 2009 11:20:42 GMT -6
Color - Second Place
Raven Daegmorgan, “One Charge Left” wildhunt.daegmorgan.net EO: “The concept and treatment are working strong together. The light and shadow overlaying the textures/shapes of the rock is powerful. I'd like to say ‘chin up, you still have 1 charge’...but I think things are well past that.”
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Post by calithena on May 19, 2009 11:21:22 GMT -6
and now...for the Grand Prize winners! Congratulations to all our wonderful contestants!
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Post by calithena on May 19, 2009 11:22:27 GMT -6
Black & White - First Place
Mikko Torvinen, “Overland”  EO: “When I first saw this picture it was hard to take in all at once. Now I think I understand. The three sub females are very cool. An echo of the vampire's harem, except instead of a vampire here we have a... Shepherds take the dimensional gate sooner rather then later. Pull up your trousers lad. The terrain is wonderful, including the strange solid gas cloud the women are riding.”
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Post by calithena on May 19, 2009 11:23:32 GMT -6
Color - First Place
Mark Allen, “The Adventure Takes a Surprising Twist” portfolio.marjasall.com EO: “I never thought I would see such a sweeping majestic battle with Stirges, but there it is. Good thing it is a large party as it appears they have to deal with the ‘roots’ as well, plus some tricky things about gravity. Twisty and beautiful.”
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Post by calithena on May 19, 2009 11:25:23 GMT -6
And there you have it! Full-size versions of these images will be appearing in upcoming issues of Fight On!, so be sure to check out the magazine regularly!
All winners will receive free PDFs of the issue in which their winning works appear, in addition to other prizes specified in the contest advertisement.
A hearty thanks to Erol Otus, who has inspired so many of us and who has been a joy to work with!
Fight on!
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Post by kelvingreen on May 19, 2009 11:32:32 GMT -6
Congratulations everyone! I'm absolutely floored by the quality on show here. Great stuff! So... same time next year?  |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2009 11:35:14 GMT -6
That was a lot of fun! I hope there are more contests like this in the future. As an old school gamer, Erol Otus was/is my favorite of the TSR bunch. I'm delighted and honored to have participated.
Kit Kaboodle
(Brad Ingle)
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Post by calithena on May 19, 2009 11:40:07 GMT -6
Thanks guys!
Brad, if you wanted to send along a bigger file of your image, it would be appreciated. Erol and I were both really impressed with the quality and quantity of submissions, and I have to say that I can think of at least a few that didn't make the cut that I thought were totally publication-worthy. So keep up the good work!
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Post by Zulgyan on May 19, 2009 12:18:13 GMT -6
Amazing art all around! Congrats to the winners!
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Post by calithena on May 19, 2009 12:30:39 GMT -6
For some reason I can't post the winners on Enworld right now. If anyone wants to take it upon him/herself to post them in an appropriate forum you could copy the bbcode from dragonsfoot classifieds. Anyway, thanks again!
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Post by kesher on May 19, 2009 12:50:20 GMT -6
I am utterly thrilled to have placed in this contest, especially with so many other amazing entries!
Thank you, Calithena and Fight On!, for this opportunity, and thank you, Erol, for work that made me believe in the reality of fantasy.
Aaron
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bat
Level 4 Theurgist
Mostly Chaotic
Posts: 157
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Post by bat on May 19, 2009 13:15:22 GMT -6
Congratulations to the winners, certainly a lot of talent out there.
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Post by kevinmayle on May 19, 2009 14:27:15 GMT -6
Wow! That's alot of really great entries!
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Alex Schroeder
Level 4 Theurgist
I like my boring fantasy setting
Posts: 182
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Post by Alex Schroeder on May 19, 2009 14:46:25 GMT -6
Some of these entries could make a grown man cry.
This is awesome.
I will now click on all the links and look at more pictures!
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ant
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
Posts: 243
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Post by ant on May 19, 2009 17:08:58 GMT -6
The high quality of the winning entries makes me truly honoured to be counted among them. Congratulations, everyone. Also, heartfelt thanks to Cal, Iggy and Erol for such a wonderful opportunity.
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Post by geoffrey on May 19, 2009 19:05:34 GMT -6
Amazing works of art. My heartiest congratulations all around. I envy your artistic abilities!  |
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marjasall
Level 3 Conjurer
Fantasy Illustrator
Posts: 57
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Post by marjasall on May 19, 2009 21:10:23 GMT -6
Sorry for the delay in getting on here and saying something - this sounds funny, but I couldn't find the reply button. LOL. It's kind of like trying to accept an award and you can't find the stairs to the podium. Then Ignatius told me that I had to log-in in order to see a reply button - so here I am (I was beginning to wonder if it was a closed thread).
Anyways....
"WOW!" That was the first word out of my mouth this morning when I got an email that I had placed in the contest. I didn't know at that time HOW I had placed. But a few minutes later all of the winners were posted and there was my name in 1st place for color. And I could not believe it. What a way to wake up!
The pic is sort of small (the one here) but if you can make out the bald guy with the sword (a stirge slamming into his shield) - that's chgowiz. It's true. He wanted to enter the contest and as the deadline was drawing near he decided that he could not enter for various reasons (which he states in his blog). He was disappointed, naturally, to not enter. I wasn't going to enter either (I felt that I was out of time myself), but my wife convinced me that if I did not, I would kick myself forever for it. Turns out she was dead right. So I created the piece you see (the day before the deadline, with a death in my family that very morning), and I put chgowiz in the painting. I figured if he wasn't going to enter, he could at least "enter" by being a part of the illo. So yeah, that's him on there. This morning I told him that he won.
All in all, I want to say congratulations to every one of the winners. I see some really awesome stuff posted up in this thread! I'm sure it was not easy at all for Mr. Otus to pick through them.
Erol Otus is the reason that I work hard at what I do. It's his art that I saw at 10 years old and said "I want to do that" (i'm 39 now). So this is a big deal to me and I told him so with a really nice email exchange we had this afternoon. He had some wonderful uplifting things to say as well that I'll keep with me forever - it's important stuff to me. So I am truly honored and that's putting it mildly. I honestly thought I wouldn't have a chance with so many entries.
"Thank you so much" to Mr. Otus, to everyone involved, and to anyone that has ever believed in my art!
I plan to look through all of the winners and post - I have some compliments to dish out. I see some pieces that I really like.
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marjasall
Level 3 Conjurer
Fantasy Illustrator
Posts: 57
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Post by marjasall on May 19, 2009 21:55:48 GMT -6
I looked again and you can't make him out in the little pic. So here's chgowiz playing stirge-ball (just a tiny snippet):  |
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Post by chronoplasm on May 19, 2009 23:39:44 GMT -6
See, I love it when little details like that are hidden in there. Congratulations man! Congratulations to everyone who place. ...That said, I'm kind of wondering about that shoulder pad there. The guy's left shoulder pad. Something about it looks a bit off. Other than that cool! I wish we could have gotten more criticism in those comments though (constructive, of course). I like getting good critiques; helps me improve. |
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Post by calithena on May 20, 2009 7:00:18 GMT -6
I can't guarantee he'll respond, but I will pass notes from artists on to Erol.
As you will see in upcoming issues of Fight On!, many of these pictures have impressive details that aren't obvious in the thumbs.
This contest was a really fun experience and we thank all of you who participated!
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marjasall
Level 3 Conjurer
Fantasy Illustrator
Posts: 57
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Post by marjasall on May 20, 2009 10:14:00 GMT -6
Thank you! It really all comes together when you see the entire pic. I didn't pay much attention to the shoulder pad. I just kinda slap the colors up there and get a flow going - some details I refine, some I leave alone if it's not all that important (scale has alot to do with that also). I find that some of the best parts of a painting are random flukes of the brush - sort of letting things land where they may, subconsciously or by mistake.
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Post by kelvingreen on May 20, 2009 11:24:21 GMT -6
How good is Lulu's printing? How feasible would it be to have that wonderful winning colour painting as a cover?
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Post by calithena on May 20, 2009 11:38:33 GMT -6
I would expect to see most or all of the winning color entries on FO! front or back covers over the next couple of years. Mark's, Pete Mullen's, Raven's and a few others are especially attractive to me as front covers for near-term usage, but I would expect to see most of these wind up on the magazine eventually in one form or another.
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