Curse

Sjeng · Jul 30, 2008, 05:33 AM // 05:33

wow! that's simply amazing!!! Thanks!
I can't wait to start judging these ^^
Keep em coming people. Saturday is the last day to submit (give or take a day if absolutely necessary...)

Latest list of contestants:

INC:
satomz - work in progress: clicky
Nikhera
draugaer - the first entry! see it here.
Vlad the Ranger Kid
YOmmi
Minelle Tempest - finished: clicky

Guru:
Just Hawwwwt
Soul Saver
Perynne
Rayala
Rohan Boru
Jumping Is Uselss - work in progress: clicky (can't finish)
Redstar
[M]agna_[C]arta - work in progress: clicky
Naximus
ezilo (perhaps)
StarrTheInsane - finished: clicky (revised)
Tzu - work in progress: clicky and clicky
Izarian - finished: clicky
MithosLuserien

AMP:
itsthatemochild
Paranon
Blazings - cancelled
Primal Hunter - finished: clicky
mit surugi

Other:
Moês - finshed

Izarian · Jul 31, 2008, 01:59 AM // 01:59

Hi ! It is finish!

Sjeng · Jul 31, 2008, 01:16 PM // 13:16

Hey! great, another entry! Good job man, looks great!

Deadline is now saturday, so be advised!!!

Sjeng · Aug 01, 2008, 10:11 AM // 10:11

okay everybody! important update here!!!

I've received several pm's about people not being able to finish their entry. This has brought me to the decision of postponing the deadline with 1 more week, in order to get everyone's submissions. It would be a shame to have so many artists draw something they can't finish in the end. Besides, it won't be much of a challenge to judge the few entries I've gotten so far. So please, do your best and try to finish your entries by saturday the 9th of august!!!

Good luck!!!

Sjeng · Aug 04, 2008, 01:59 PM // 13:59

Okay people! c'mon and get those entries done! I have 8 finished or WIP so far, and 22 contestants in total! What's going on? :P
Drop me a note or something

Sjeng · Aug 07, 2008, 09:13 PM // 21:13

Minelle Tempest @ INC made a last minute entry, and satomz posted an updated WIP:

satomz - work in progress: clicky
Minelle Tempest - finished: clicky

Sjeng · Aug 09, 2008, 09:26 AM // 09:26

Last call to all artists! Be sure to finish your entries this weekend, so I can start judging monday. I hope I have enough time to judge all of them before next weekend. I'll try to post the outcome then.

GL! Sjeng

Tzu · Aug 09, 2008, 04:57 PM // 16:57

just updating with my current progress, Sjeng, so you have a general idea of how long this will take:

done: mesmer, elementalist, necromancer, dervish, ritualist, monk and background...
ready to colour: none yet
sketched: warrior, assassin, paragon, ranger

Tzu · Aug 11, 2008, 12:54 AM // 00:54

I... FINISHED... IT.

*tear*

God, I'm so tired. "burning the midnight oil" is an understatement. Anyway, when I realised I had been beaten to the top 2 or 3 places, I kind of lost the will to do this, but then I manned (womanned :/?) up and finished anyway.
Hope it puts a smile on people's faces...

click on this picture to see the full artwork:

oh, and the photoshop version is HUGE, and I organised it so you can easily play around with it as you like, removing the golden lighting/cutting out characters/whatever you need to do. Just tell me if you want it and I'll try and find a way to deliver it to you ^.^'

Widowmaker · Aug 11, 2008, 01:35 AM // 01:35

Unlike Tzu (lovely piece by the way, Tzu) no amount of burning the midnight oil is going to let me do the last bits tonight so good luck to everyone who finished on time.

I don't envy Sjeng judging these.

Sjeng · Aug 11, 2008, 05:46 AM // 05:46

Tzu's entry is finished! *phew* clicky
And it is amazing ^^ good job!!

edit: and satomz at INC too: clicky

Sjeng · Aug 11, 2008, 05:15 PM // 17:15

All right, I've gathered all artwork that people have ever made for me on a page here.
At the top are the commissions I paid for in the past, or that I got as a gift.
In the middle are the entries for the contest that I've gotten so far.
And at the bottom are screens of my characters for reference.

I'll try to have judged the entries by next weekend. I'm still hoping that some late entries will still show up in my mailbox, because I haven't heard from quite a few competitors. Magna Carta made 5 out of 10 characters, but I never received the other 5. Others just never replied, even after having sent them a pm on the forums.

That said, I want to thank every one who sent me an entry very much, and I'll contact each one of you after my judgement. Be sure to pm me your IGN's so I can whisper you if I see you online. Let the judging begin ^^

Widowmaker · Aug 11, 2008, 08:55 PM // 20:55

*Shadow steps in and slyly slips mine into the pile*

Here be heroes.

Good luck to everyone.

Sjeng · Aug 11, 2008, 08:59 PM // 20:59

lol, well, as I said before I'm not that strict, because I know this takes a huge amount of time, and I've given others extra time as well, so, I'll pretend it's still sunday... Maybe it is in some parts of the world :P

Thanks!! it really looks amazing! I'll add it to the page.

KoKoS · Aug 12, 2008, 12:44 AM // 00:44

awww i love all of those drawingz <3
i wish i'd seen this thread a month ago

gl to everyone and if u need me to vote i'm here

Sjeng · Aug 13, 2008, 11:50 AM // 11:50

Man, judging is hard xD
I've judged 3 entries so far. Some are really close!

Fjalar · Aug 14, 2008, 11:25 AM // 11:25

Hey buddy! I had some spare time during my trip to take out my laptop and my wacom and make a quick doodle for you! I wish I had time to do a full coloured portrait, but well, this is better than nothing!

Sjeng · Aug 14, 2008, 12:42 PM // 12:42

SWEET MOZES! cool man thanks!

I'm almost done judging. I'll post the results ASAP.

All that talent! *mind explodes*

Sjeng · Aug 15, 2008, 07:29 AM // 07:29

YES! It it done!

Judgement was hard, the outcome was close, very close, but here it is!

THE RESULTS:
All submissions can be viewed on this page.

THE PRIZES:
1st prize: 300k in ingame gold!!
2nd prize: 100k
3rd price: 50k
4th prize: 20k
5th prize: 10k
6th-10th prize: 5k

JUDGEMENT CRITERIA:
- Effort (obviously): the more effort you put in it (or make it look like you did lol), the higher the score. Again, your style does not matter. Just draw in the style you're most comfortable with. I will not reward true to life drawings more than anime drawings for example. An artists style is their own choice, so I think that should not matter in judging.
- Detail: kind of speaks for itself.
- Originality: Aside from the rule the drawings should be within the Guildwars world, you're pretty much free to draw what kind of scene you like.
- Colouring / shading: Although line-drawings are accepted, more points can be gained by using shadow and/or colouring.
- Proportions: I've added this point, because I feel some should get extra credit for this.
- The X factor: I'll give an additional score for my personal opinion of the entry. I'll describe my thoughts on the entry and add a score accordingly.

JUDGEMENT:

Drauguer: view entry
- Effort: 4 out of 5. He's obviously put in a lot of effort, but I'm not gonna give him the full 5/5, because he was the first to submit his entry, and pretty fast too, while others needed the full 3 months. So Drauguer is a pretty fast artists, which means he's very skilled at using his drawing style. So I'm not saying he didn't put in alot of effort (still 4 out of 5), but because he's obviously very accustomed at drawing the way he does, it took him less effort to create his submission then others.
- Detail: 3 out of 5. At first glance you'd say there is less detail than StarrTheInsane or Tzu, because it's more scetchy and blurred. But if you look closely, the characters' armors are really very recognizable. Even the faces are very recognizable, even though they're not particularly detailed. I'd give him 4 out of 5, but he did cheat a bit by putting a large table in front of them, so I'm going to have to subtract 1 point for that.
- Originality: 5 out of 5. The theme made me laugh out loud. The idea is brilliant. I liked it so much I've had his entry as my desktop wallpaper for the entire duration of the contest.
- Colouring / shading: 5 out of 5. Well, it's pretty obvious that the colours are fantastic, the shading even more so. It really looks like an actual painting. You can tell he's got a lot of experience. I wonder if he does professional drawing...
- Proportions: 4 out of 5. The proportions are simply right in this entry, 5 out of 5. That's all I can say really. But again, because we can only see the top halves of their bodies, I'll subtract 1 point, because it wouldn't be fair to the rest.
- The X-Factor: 5 out of 5. I was really really impressed by this entry. kudo's to Drauguer!
Grand Total: 26 points!

Moes: view entry
- Effort: 3 out of 5. Moes has put in enough effort to draw all my characters, and also make me laugh very hard indeed. But he hasn't gone through the trouble of drawing my characters completely, as others have, so it wouldn't be fair to give him more than 3 out of 5. This is a caricature, so the faces are the important thing here, and he has succeeded well in making a very funny entry indeed. So 3/5.
- Detail: 2 out of 5. The level of detail is a lot less as others, but again, this is a caricature, so it is to be expected kind of. The characters are recognizable enough to grant him 2 points.
- Originality: 4 out of 5. Noone else has made a caricature, and I really had to laugh at this one. My characters just look really funny, so 4 points!
- Colouring / shading: 3 out f 5. The colouring is really bright and lively, I especially like the light effect on the scythe. There is little shading though, so 3 points!
- Proportions: Well, as this is a caricature again, I can't really give a lot of points for proportions, as they don't really matter. But I'll give him 1 out of 5.
- The X-Factor: Moes is the only one brave enough to do something completely different. A caricature that's really funny deserves a good score, if just for laughs: 4 out of 5!!!
Grand Total: 17 points!

Starr The Insane: view entry
- Effort: 5 out of 5. This has clearly taken a huge amount of effort to make. A lot of work and time has been spent on Starr's entry, that much is clear to me, so max points here!
- Detail: 5 out of 5. The detail just blows me away. Every little detail on armor, tattoos, even the LJ banner, has been worked into this drawing. I can see grass! And take a good look at the skull Ingel is holding. Simply amazing!
- Originality: A relaxed scene in one of my favourite surroundings. They're just chilling, having a rest and some drinks even after a long day's battles. Nice theme. 3 out of 5.
- Colouring / shading: 5 out of 5. What can I say. It's perfect. The colours are very lively, and very much like the ingame colours, and the shading makes it even more real. Brilliant!
- Proportions: 5 out of 5. My characters' sizes seem to be right, they have the right proportions. And I know how hard it is to draw people rather than objects (well to me at least that's more difficult).
- The X-Factor: I like the way Starr has handled the positioning of the characters. 10 is a lot to cram into a single drawing, but he managed it very well. He used the scenery to place some higher up and some in the front. Well done. All in all a superb entry! 5 out of 5!!!
Grand Total: a whopping 28 points!!!

Tzu: view entry
- Effort: 5 out of 5. Another entry that simply blew me away. Tzu has spent a lot of time on this one, and you can tell. The characters are very detailed, the background is elaborate, no characters are hiding behind things. Great work!
- Detail: There's a whole lot of detail in this one too. Facial expressions, armor, and especially the scenery are fantastic. I like the little things lying around such as the crate of fireworks. 4 out of 5!
- Proportions: The proportions are pretty good, but there were a few minor things that were slightly off. Huubke's head is a bit big, and Tietske is a lot smaller. But other than a few little things, they look great. So I'm going to give Tzu 4 out of 5 for proportions.
- Originality: The Dragon Festival! Ah, how wonderfull! I love the fireworks at the end of each festival finale, and Shing Jea just looks so beautiful. Our guild has had the Warrior's Isle since the beginning, and I love it because of the Asian architecture, and Shing Jea has just that! Another reason why I loved Factions when it came out. I like the fact that my toons are having a party. My assassin's hanging from the ceiling lol! I love it! 5 out of 5.
- Colouring / shading: Another piece with very lively colours. Especially the background appeals to me. Shading is also very good, but to be honest not quite as "3D" as Starr's, so I'll give Tzu just 1 point short of perfect: 4 out of 5!
- The X factor: Well, I just love this one. It's beautiful. Hard not to give it 5 out of 5!
Grand Total: a whopping 27 points

Magna Carta: view entry
Unfortunately, MC has only finished half of his/her entry. The Charr Homelands theme with 5 of my characters is done, the Shiverpeaks theme with the other 5 isn't. Not saying he/she hasn't put in any effort, but unfortunately I can only count his/her score for 50%. I'll just divide the final result bt 2.
- Effort: The start looked promising, but I guess MC kinda forgot about the contest and only finished half. Effort wasn't bad though. 3 out of 5.
- Detail: MC's style is pretty unique, but it doesn't have a whole lot of detail. I guess that's just inherent to his/her style. 1 out of 5.
- Proportions: Kinda hard to tell ^^ but the characters were recognizable. Some characters were hidden behind others though, so I'm gonna give this 2 out of 5.
- Originality: I have to hand it to MC, the style is unique. I think it's pretty cool comeone can digitally draw something up really fast in a scribbly kind of style, and still make it recognizable in a strange way. Weird, but fun. 4 out of 5.
- Colouring / shading: Colours are nice. Very lively. No shading though. 3 out of 5.
- The X factor: Well. Given the fact that this was made pretty fast, and only half of the commission was done, I cannot hand out too many points for this one. I find it unique though, I've never seen people draw this way xD. 3 out of 5.
Grand Total: 16/2= 8 points I wish you had finished the second part

Minelle Tempest: view entry
- Effort: At the last possible moment, Minelle sent in her entry. It's hand drawn, scanned, then possibly retouched. Not coloured in though, but still a nice effort, considering the time she did it in. 3 out of 5.
- Detail: There's a fair amount of detail, especially in the armor. Not as much as Tzu's or Starr's though, the faces could use some extra attention, so I'm gonna say: 3 out of 5.
- Proportions: 3 out of 5. Seem to be pretty good.
- Originality: Well, there's no theme or setting in which they are being portrayed, it's just them. Time probably was an issue here, so I'm gonna give it 2 out of 5.
- Colouring / shading: No colouring, so no extra points to be had there, but the shading looks nice. Pencil scetches can be very nicely shaded indeed, and I think this entry does pretty well. 2 points for shading, 0 for colours, makes 2 out of 5.
- The X factor: 3 out of 5.
Grand Total: 16 points

Izarian: view entry
- Effort: Definately a lot of effort in this one. Not sure if this is hand-drawn, scanned, and coloured in, or if it's completely digitally drawn with a pad, but it's a nice, full drawing. Not much hiding behind characters, a full background, colours, effects. Nice work! 4 out of 5.
- Detail: 4 out of 5. A lot of detail here. Lot's of work thast must have been! I like the armor details.
- Proportions: 3 out of 5. Proportions are good, slightly off here and there, but still quite well done!
- Originality: 3 out of 5. Somewhere in the Domain of Anguish I think ^^ (I can't for the life of me remember all those names beyond the Gate of torment. All those Gates and Domains confuse me...) All together on a quest, ready for battle. A bit gloomy, but hey, it's not a nice place there. I'd give it 4 points, but since they're all standing straight and not in any poses, I'm going to have to go with 3 points!
- Colouring / shading: 4 out of 5. This is pretty well done. The armors have been coloured quite nicely, shading is good. Lot of work in that I gather. worth 4 points!
- The X factor: This is something that reminds me of a movie poster. The heroes are lined up, ready for adventure. The title would be right above them, with the credits below ^^. 4 out of 5!
Grand Total: 22 points

Satomz: view entry
- Effort: Another good effort here! Satomz has chosen to put my heroes in a circle, back to back in battle, probably surrounded by a deadly mob of monsters! Well done! Some of my characters are hiding a bit behind others as a result though, so I'm gonna say: 3 out of 5!
- Detail: I think Satomz didn't quite have the time to put in as much detail as he/she wanted, because some toons are more detailed than others. My ele Sonya who's in front has a lot more detail than my monk for example, who's armor is just plain green. 3 out of 5.
- Proportions: 4 out of 5. Proportions do look good, although a bit skinny. But once again, some toons are kind of hidden by others, and they aren't fully drawn head to toe, but that's a matter of effort, which I judged already. So I feel for proportions alone 4 points seems fair enough.
- Originality: Full action scene. Nice. Shame it's a close up. I would have liked to see what exactly was going on around them. But the posing of the characters is cool. I'm giving this 4 out of 5!
- Colouring / shading: 3 out of 5. The scene is coloured in, armor is coloured and shaded. As mentioned before, not as detailed as might have been the goal, but for the use of colour and shading, I'll give it 3 points!
- The X factor: I like the dynamic feel of this one. It's a shame I can't see more of my characters though, or whatever it is they're fighting, and it could use a finishing touch (maybe Satomz will still do some tweaking?). But all in all I still like it a lot! 3 out of 5.
Grand Total: 20 points

Primal Hunter: view entry
- Effort: Judging the drawing style, I'd say this is our youngest contestant. Nice to see people of all ages trying to compete here ^^. Undeterred by some of the obvious talents we have here, he decided to give it a go, which I think is pretty brave. He drew all my characters digitally, even added a little background. I'll give him 3 out of 5 for effort.
- Detail: 2 out of 5. There's not a whole lot of detail really. I can clearly see which characters are which, but they're kinda blurry and a bit transparent even ^^. No faces, therefore 2 points here.
- Proportions: 2 out of 5. It's hard to judge proportions here, because there's just not enough detail to really see any proportion. But you can tell how the characters are positioned quite well I think. Some are sitting, or giving the cheer emote, so that's worth 2 points I think

- Originality: 2 out of 5. Can't really tell where they are, somewhere with trees, might be the shiverpeaks. But other than that, it's just my characters, and no real "theme", so for originality I think 2 out of 5 is fair enough.
- Colouring / shading: 2 out of 5. The drawing is very blurry, but he used many colours. It's a lively drawing, but no depth, so I'll give this 2 points.
- The X factor: 2 out of 5. I've spotted a small mistake: He drew my dervish twice in her old and new armor, and forgot my mesmer. I think he used my wiki page as reference, and drew from that idea. Not bad, I'll give it 2 points.
Grand Total: 13 points

Widowmaker: view entry
- Effort: 4 out of 5. Wow. Fully painted. Very cool entry. Some characters aren't fully drawn or hiding behind others though, so even if I feel this is worth 5, it wouldn't be fair to the others, so 4 out of 5! Awesome!
- Detail: Detail is great. Clearly a lot of time was spent on it, and again I'd go for 5/5, but because you simply can't see every complete armor, some detail is "hidden". 4 out of 5 again.
- Proportions: 4 out of 5. Looks pretty good. Kinda like with Satomz I can't judge all characters, because parts are hidden, but the parts I see look fine. Some minor things look a little off (kitsune's chest, tietskes body and harie's face) but other than that I'm impressed.
- Originality: I love the light effects. Sonya's arm in flames, Tietske's staff spewing lightning, Ingel's green aura of death. Superb! This also looks like a movie poster. It's more lively than Izarian's, so I'm giving it 4 out of 5!
- Colouring / shading: Well, colours and shades are used plentifully Very nicely done indeed. simply 5 out of 5!
- The X factor: 4 out of 5. This is one I'd like to print out and hang on my wall like a poster. Something you could find as a special gift in a game DVD box. It's full of action. 4 points!
Grand Total: 25 points

Finally, as I have stated in the first post, I'll reward everyone who has sent in something, even if they didn't meet the contest requirements.
So, I've decided to award the following artists with these prizes:

- Touchwood: drew my ranger very nicely indeed. He gets a ruby and a sapphire. I know this is worth more than the 5k that some contestants got, but it's so well done, I just feel it's worth it.
- Demonstroke: drew my ritualist. Pencil and ink scetch scanned in. Thanks for that! you get a ruby!
- Stoudac: made a start by drawing my paragon. Didn't have the time to draw them all and finish for the contest, but it's still quite a good scetch! Looks promising. Shame you didn't have the time for more ^^. You get 2 lockpicks for the effort!
- Fjalar: scetched my warrior's face. Pretty damn cool man! 2 lockpicks for you too!

REWARDS

If you contact me ingame or pm me your IGN's, I'll guest-invite you to my guildhall, and hand over the prize money there. If you're one of the first 4 prize winners, be sure to have some worthless items at the ready to trade for the gold, so Anet's anti-gold-trading-scripts won't flag us for suspicious money transfers. My ign should be well known by now ^^: Sjeng De Nachraof.

1st place, 28 points: 300k goes to Starr The Insane congratulations!!
2nd place, 27 points: 100k goes to Tzu gratz to you to!
3rd place, 26 points: 50k goes to Drauguer very nice!
4th place, 25 points: 20k goes to Widowmaker awesome!
5th place, 22 points: 10k goes to Izarian well done!
6th place, 20 points: 5k goes to Satomz!
7th place, 17 points: 5k goes to Moes!
8th place, 16 points: 5k goes to Minelle Tempest!
9th place, 13 points: 5k goes to Primal Hunter!
10th place, 8 points: 2.5k goes to MagnaCarta! (because of half entry)

That's it!!! Thank you all so much for participating and commenting in this contest thread. I had great fun, and some awesome results to show for it! I hope you all had fun too! Eternal fame for all of you!

*now to get Anet to implement a way to add custom HoM tapestries xD. Hey! TexMod might help there! Anyone who could pull this off?*

StarrTheInsane · Aug 15, 2008, 02:47 PM // 14:47

"She"

Man, I new I'd get stuck in the originality department. I always do. Tzu had my heart thumping for sure. Lots of personality, beautiful colors, and very consistent work between characters.
Drauguer and Moes I got a kick out of. One I'd expect to run across in a museum, the other I wish they'd make into a saturday morning cartoon. Hey, it worked for D&D.
Widowmaker, OMG, I need my derv airbrushed on my truck like ASAP. Seriously, show off your work at auto shows and you'll be rich in no time!
Izarian shares my obsession with armor details. The way I see it, people save up and spend alot to make their toons look that way, it's best to represent it well.
Satomz makes the toons look like "Oh...more Charr...*yawn*...okay, they asked for it"

Minelle Tempest, at first I thought "cool, a pencil drawing" but is that pen? Either way, gratz on very confident drawing!
Primal Hunter and Magna Carta, these reminded me of SNES games. Primal was very ghostly and mysterious. Magna made me think of Yoshi's Island and I really wanted to see the finished picture.

Good job everyone!