Character Contest 46 Winners!

I was really impressed with the entries for Character Contest 46 (Clerics), you all did an outstanding job. As a result, we have a lot of Finalists to go through, so I want to get right to it.

Before I do, though, we have some unfortunate business to address. I was unable to count the following entries due to bad links that went to a jump page instead of directly to the image:

  • GuyDiga: #127;
  • Mindless: #115;
  • Daniel England: #104, #77;
  • Asher: #79, #85;
  • FelipeSCard: #144;
  • Samurai Pineapple: #162, #158, #157

Remember, for ImageShack or PhotoBucket, you want the link listed in the "Direct Link" box over on the right or left, and NOT the URL from the address bar of your browser. I couldn't even get PicasaWeb to load this morning to tell you want link to use, but I think the way to do it there is to right-click on the image and use "Copy Image Location".

And now, on to our Finalists!


First, I thought Watson Bradshaw's "Agnostic Avenger" was a hoot:

I can't even imagine how long it took VonMalcolm to do "The Devil's Druidess":

Timespike's "Fatewalker" combines mysticism and cool for an exceptionally strong image. The Aztec calendar in the back is a great element as well.

Technically Spidercow2010's "Luriel" doesn't count for the win because the character is an angel, not a cleric, but whatever you call it, the image is kick-ass. The halo, wings, and outfit choices are all spot-on.

I liked Rhinoman's "Brother Nevil" for its simplicity and cohesion. He looks really, really mean.

MLS submitted "VaRiel", and I love the sense of motion he injects into the image. The character concept is tight and very well executed in every detail.

I don't think I need to say much about Martian Blue's "Brother Gabriel" image, it pretty much speaks for itself:

Legatus' "Battle Nun" will hopefully appear one day as a "Battle Pope" sidekick.

I picked Kyle's "Raj" mostly for the belt buckle and vest, which I think are simple yet good. I also really liked the way he sized up the right hand, making it appear closer to the viewer. That's a subtle but very effective technique of perspective.

It's hard to believe Jenna's "Onati Tansis" is her first contest entry ever. I hope we get to see lots more! The faceless acolytes, the great use of greens throughout, the censer, the outfit, and the pose are all just great.

I was trying to keep each person to no more than one Finalist designation, but I couldn't resist including two from Haxxx, starting with the very simple but cool "Witch". I think it's the leaves swirling around the staff head that really do it.

Also from Haxxx is the aptly named "Priest", although he could just as easily be a Highland warrior. I love the tats, the hammer, the hair, and the beard. Just a very cool, savage guy.

I had a hard time picking just one from Gargoyle323 -- I had a total of four of his entries in the preliminary cut ("Monk of Arms", the nice tribute to his reverend Rob who recently passed away, and "Sister Stryker"), but I finally settled on "Brother Bluud and the Sinn Sisters" because of the great group outfit design.

Strangely, there were two intelligent gorilla characters submitted, but I really loved the story behind Galactic Ketchup's "Reverend Monkey", with the stake made from the burned altar and the hammer he used to build the church in the first place. Very cool example of a good character made great by a solid story.

Doomed Pixel's "Heretic" is just an awesome image.

I also picked two from DiCicatriz. I have a weakness for the guy's designs that's almost Imp-like. First up is "Revenant", which I love. I think in a lot of ways it's the most "clerical" of the submissions this week. The glowing hand, reinforced by the use of the new two-tone gradient masked onto the robes, is fantastic.

The other DiCicatriz entry is "Ciruja", which I think is the best "Dark Priest" style entry. Love the blood effects on the hands.

While Danny Beaty's "Nun Butt, the Brave" made me laugh, I ultimately went with his "Deacon Justice" instead, as I think it's a great Golden Age type of character.

Cliff's "Lavanah" is good in general, but what I really wanted to point out was the fantastic use of the moon as the head of her mace. What a great idea!

Blue Blazer's "Father Devlin" is just a rock solid Old West Robot Preacher, and what could be better than that?!

Asder figured out his posting problems, I think, and had two nice ones. I chose "Death Angel" to profile here as I think the setting is fantastic, but I also liked "The Spiritist."

Anarchangel also has two entries, starting with "The Shaman":

And also "Flare", who is rocking that outfit.

The final Finalist is Alex, with "Nomad", a great, simple, streamlined wandering monk type of guy. Love the tats on the left arm and the floating candles.

Now, having looked through all of those great entries out of the much larger number of also-great entries, I have to pick one overall winner. I have to say my favorites out of the bunch in terms of doing the best job of executing the theme of "Cleric" are Timespike's "Fatewalker", Martian Blue's "Brother Gabriel", Jenna's "Onati Tansis", DiCicatriz's "Revenant", and Blue Blazer's "Father Devlin".

But since there can be only one, I am going to go with ... Jenna as our overall winner! Congratulations, Jenna, you knocked it out of the park with your very first contest, that's impressive! The combination of the entire scene, the consistent colors, and the great costuming choices along with the pose are what ultimately swayed me. You win your choice of either any item you like or a portrait to be included in HeroMachine 3, OR you can choose a subject for a black and white "Sketch of the Day" style illustration from yours truly.

Thanks again to everyone who entered, and congratulations to all our Finalists!

I'll post the next contest in a few hours after these folks have had a chance to bask in their glory for a while.

24 Responses to Character Contest 46 Winners!

  1. Haxxx says:

    Thx Jeff for including me as a runner up…twice.

    @Alex: when I saw your entry I said outloud (and people stared) “If he is’n the winner then…” (forgot what I said a week ago).

  2. Gargoyle323 says:

    Congrats Jenna! Great work in your first contest. Also congrats to all the others. Outstanding job,as usual.

  3. Jake says:

    Congratulations everyone! There were some really great entries for this contest.

    I had planned on going in and editing my Shaman entry for a better smoke effect, more prominent colors, and things like that, but the masking didn’t keep in the save file and there was way too much of that that I wasn’t willing to redo. Wishing I had now.

  4. Anarchangel says:

    Congrats Jenna and everyone else.

    I’m actually surprised you chose Shaman and Flare for this Jeff. Of all my entries for this contest those two were my least favorite lol

  5. The Doomed Pixel says:

    I’m so glad to be doing this again! Thanks so much for the Honorable Mention, I really appreciate it. Hopefully I can continue doing this again!

  6. Chisoph says:

    When and what’s the next contest? ‘Cause I want to enter. I entered this one late and just noticed.

  7. Legatus says:

    Congrats to Jenna! That was a spectacular entry and a deserved win.

  8. Watson Bradshaw says:

    Jenna FTW, congrats on a fantastic piece.
    I thought my “Cardinal Sin” would be the one that would get the mention but I am glad you appreciated the humor of the the Agnostic Avenger.

  9. Alex says:

    Congrats Jenna and thx for the mention Jeff!
    @Haxxx:I’m glad you liked “Nomad”.Btw “Witch” and “Priest” are awesome too I love the way you made the tattoos on them.

  10. Blue Blazer says:

    (sigh) Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.

  11. Jenna says:

    ……..

    ……..

    0_0

    HOLY CRAP!

    *faints*

  12. Danny Beaty says:

    Congrats Jenna!
    @Jeff: Thanks for the honorable mention of “Deacon Justice”, and I’m glad “Nun Butt, the Brave” made you laugh.

  13. MartianBlue says:

    Thanx Jeff, Congrats Jenna, and congrats everyone else.

    With each contest the overall quality of work increases. I have to say there were some very good entrants.

    Thanks all for sharing your exceptional work.

  14. Jenna says:

    Wow, just wow.

    Thank you Jeff and everyone! Looking through all awesomely talented entries, this was…unexpected to say the least, but oh so very very welcomed! Thank you!

  15. @Jenna: Willkommen and congrats! Snuck that one in at the last minute. The faceless acolytes are a awesome. The veil effect is spectacular. The incense burner is a great touch.

    @All: Lots of good stuff. Don’t have the time to comment on them all.

    Special nod to Gargoyle323: I love the church design.

    On to CC 47! :9

  16. Timespike says:

    Nice job, Jenna! Congrats. That was one awesome design!

  17. kyle says:

    Congratulations everyone

  18. Rhinoman says:

    Thanks Jeff for the honorable mention! It’s good to get back into the contests again!
    Congrats, Jenna! Welcome to this awesome form of competion!
    On to the next!

  19. spidercow2010 says:

    That was indeed a tough decision to make, Jeff.
    Pleased to add my “welcome” and congratulations to Jenna. A well-deserved win.

  20. dungeoner says:

    Awesomeness!!! lol, congrats, those characters look great, please when the moment comes, make heromachine 3 a desktop ed.

  21. Arch-Squirrel says:

    You know, I would have liked to get even a small mention, but seeing as its my first contest, I’m happy with how I did. Congrats Jenna!

  22. Connor S. says:

    Doomed, I think that your illustration was fantastic, and Nomad was a very simple, but good picture. Anarchangel, those were some amazing effects with the lightning, and I think Shaman is sweet. DiCicitraz, Ciruja looks like one crazy b*tch, and I think it was a great idea masking the “blood” onto her. Haxxx, I think priest is a very good pic, and with a background, you could have won. Jenna, Onati Tansis was an astounding first entry, and I hope to see more from you. And VonMalcom, Devil’s Druidess is a great show of effort, and I know that that sort of dedication is rare, even among some of the people that win often.

  23. VonMalcolm says:

    I was going to wait to go through all of the entries before I posted, but I still have a bunch to go through. . . so I will post now and give a belated congratulations to Jenna, my fav among the finalists, and I really liked a lot of the finalists (Deacon Justice has to be made into a comic, TV series, movie or something! Brother Nevril’s face is outstanding. Brother Gabriel is my runner up of the entries here -nice shadow on his face. Heretic and VaRiel are somewhere in my top six.)