We had a ton of great entries for "Character Contest 47: Weather, weather, everywhere" that really blew my socks off, so thank you all for your creativity! Also, practically everyone got the direct-link url stuff right, which given how aggravating my Internet connection has been was a huge deal. So thanks for that, too!
And now, without further ado, let's get to your Finalists and overall Winner.
Cliff's "Sue Nami" was my wife's favorite, and I like it a lot too. The use of the city and tsuanmi in a box behind the figure is a great graphic design element, that helps set off the whole thing. A simple, but effective character.
I wanted to show DiCicatriz's "Arc" mostly for the great color blending effect he's gotten with the new two-color gradient. I also love the background he's put together, it's very convincing.
Frevoli's "Whether Man" made me laugh.
Gargoyle323's "Sandstorm" has fantastic atmospheric effects, particularly in the sky. That looks awesome.
Jack's "Rain Coat" has one of the best straight rain effects of the bunch. My wife loved this one.
I apologize for the bottom of this one getting cut off, I'm not sure how that happened. But I thought Kyle's "Mother Nature" was outstanding, probably one of the best he's produced. The split-background look works really well here. The hand with the rose in it is a bit awkward, but otherwise a really nice image.
Martian Blue's "Thor" has a lot of great Norsitude to it (that's Norse-style attitude). The only thing that kind of throws it for me is the goat head man-region.
Me Myself and I has a great four-quadrant seasonal logo going on in "All Seasons".
Morzan's "Rodiin and Crimson Thunder" composition is pretty neat, particularly the glowing spotlights and imaginative characters.
(Click to embiggen.)
MScat's "Desert Storm" works on a lot of levels, from the outfit to the color choices to the cool background. A nice, solid image.
Samurai Pineapple got his image hosting woes ironed out, thankfully, and we're rewarded for his persistence with his "Leaf Conductor". What I liked about it was the great use of negative space in the black line and shading, giving it a sort of black-light look you don't often see. A cool effect.
I was surprised last week when Blue Blazer sighed about always being the bridesmaid, as I was sure he'd won a character contest before, but I checked and sure enough, he hasn't. But he IS one of the most-cited Finalists because his images are always both imaginative and very well put-together. This week is no exception, as his "Doctor Tornado" shows. Keep it up, Blue, I am sure a win is in the cards soon!
Asder said he had an idea for an Eagle-Weather sword, so he came up with "Ventoso". Wherever the idea came from, I like it! The sword effects are really cool.
I try to limit these Finalist recognitions to just one per person, but again SpiderCow2010 has thwarted me by putting in three separate submissions I just couldn't set aside. First up is "Winter Queen", which I love for its simplicity and effectiveness. The fur cloak in particular is great, along with the blue hair silhouetted against it.
His second was the extremely imaginative "Storm King". We've seen this general sort of idea before, but usually with sand storms a la "The Mummy". Doing it with clouds is more difficult, I think, and in any event it just looks fantastic. I think with a better ground element, this one might have won.
Finally, I really liked his "Scarlet Cyclone", which beats the socks off similarly-themed characters who shall remain nameless. Again, I think a more ambitious background treatment could have made this one the winner as well.
At the end of the day, there were four entries that I thought were all great, and possibly deserving of the win. I couldn't decide, so I corralled my wife and best friend John to help adjudicate. Those four were:
"Arida", by DiCicatriz, just a phenomenally efficient, clean, and effective illustration. the straps, the sun, the dirt pattern on the clouds to make dust, the facial effects, all are completely top-notch.
"PuaUa" by Jenna, which I thought showed a lot of creativity and hard work. Ultimately we all thought it probably had a little too much going on, particulary in the clouds, and would have benefited from a little more editing, but a really fun and cool looking image.
ChrisN's "Agathe" works in a lot of ways, particularly in the innovative use of the clouds as sea foam, rushing into the tree-as-waterspout lower body. That whole section is awesome. I also loved the way she has water leashes pulling the tsunami forward. Ultimately, all three of us felt the ears were the least successful part, and kind of threw the whole figure off a bit. The dress was also a bit plain. But an outstanding use of traditional elements in a non-traditional fashion to make an unexpected and kick-ass effect!
The final one of the four, and the one we all felt most deserved the overall win, was MScat's "Oya". John put it best, that every element was just right, with neither too many nor too few effects. It's a great example of the perfect economy of design. For instance, the blue of the eyes, tattoos, and floor pattern help tie the whole thing together. Overall a great, simple, very powerful character and illustration. Nice job MScat!
And that brings another contest to a close. Congratulations to all the Finalists, to MScat for the win, and to everyone who submitted a design. The entries were all outstanding this week, I cannot express enough how impressed all three of us were at what you are able to achieve.
AGAIN!? Poop.
WOW!!!!
Those entries are the best ever
Congratulations MScat for this awesome win
Congrats MScat and all others. Again thanks for the mention Jeff. I’m still not finished with my Thor, but he’s getting closer.
Are we going to have a halloween themed contest? I’ve got this dracula character I thought turned out rather well. Besides I might enjoy making some classic monsters.
Awesome work everyone! I’m glad to have been a finalist, though my name is Jake and not Jack.
It’s getting harder and harder to compete with so many great designs coming out.
I also want to say Jenna did an amazing job. With a bit of fine tuning, her entrant could be one of the coolest I’ve ever seen. I can tell alot of work went into this, and only a few minor tweaks would truly sell the overall picture.
Congrats all!
Nice work, MScat.
I think my favorite had to be Jenna’s, though. That was frickin great.
I can’t believe it YEY! thanks so much guys evryone did an awesome job
Congrats Mscat on a well deserved win. I loved the glowing effect on the body tattoos. Also, congrats to all others. Each week the level of work keeps getting better and better. When “Arida” by DiCicatriz and “PuaUa” by Jenna don’t win it is a credit to the fine work everybody is turning out!
Also,thanks Jeff for selecting “Sandstorm” as a finalist. I really struggled with the theme this week and did not expect to place because of the superior talent turned in. It was a pleasant surprise!
PuaUa gets my vote. 😀
To bad it lost….congrates to the the winner!
🙂
Congrats to the winners: Good Job incorporating weather into your characters. I liked my concepts but I was a little disappointed how they turned out. . . back at it for the Circus Contest!
With the contests now weekly I am getting way behind in going though all of the entries, but judging by the finalists I think I would have to give Jenna back to back wins with the very artistic “PuaUa” (even though the lower right leg is a little funky IMHO).
Every Monday seems slightly disapointing as I see I did not even make the list of finalists in yet another character contest. And then I see the awesome work done by those that make the cut, and it strengthens my resolve to step my game up, because I really need to do better to match these results. Congratulations to everyone who made the cut, and especially MScat for winning. And thank you to everyone that has helped me to improve my work at this.
P.S. I love the clouds in “PuaUa”, but then again if you’ve seen my work I tend to go for more instead of less: Beauty is the eye of the Beholder!
And on a related note: Rock On Cliff!
Thanks Jeff.
I am proud to be among those mentioned since there was so many awesome entries.
DiCicatriz I warn you now I will be using that effect on Color Kid at somepoint. I had with HM 1 or 2 back when using top a color, belly, gloves and belt, briefs, thighs boots. But the gradiant effect is simply beautiful. Well done!
Jack Rain Coat is pretty awesome
Kyle, I love Mother Nature’s flower garden
Martian Blue, I love Thor AND his goat!
MM&I All Season’s quadrant effect is very kewl. I am having a problem figuring out how you did the quarters.
Morzan “Rodiin and Crimson Thunder” are awesome, but the persepctive, make them seem like Hobbit adventurers or Gods. Not a bad thing. I love Hobbits.
MScat “Desert Storm” is very kewl. I admit I have problems with the shadow effect on Font a lot, so your’s just ROCK!
Blue Blazer “Doctor Tornado” is so very polished, looks very “Professional” … and sexy.
SpiderCow2010, truly awesome entries with Winter Queen and Storm King!
DiCicatriz Arida SO struck me as definitely being in the top pics!
Jadda PuaUa so was my pick for the Win. It has such a Elfquest desert elf feel to it, and SO artistically well done. a real work of art in my books.
ChrisN’s “Agathe” rulz the waves.
Congratulations on the win MScat!
Sorry to all I didn’t comment on. I have so less time than I used to, with Dialysis 3 days a week, low energy on my off days and RPGs on Friday and Saturday.
and Thanks VonMalcolm 🙂
@MSCat: Congrats, Oya is one of my favorites. The glowing tattoos and eyes are nice contrast to the dark shading.
@Jenna: PuaUa is awesome. The pose is awesome (though the right leg is awkward). The perspective has a depth, which I struggle with.
Other favorites:
Cliff’s Tornado – nice use of Misc Items
Cola’s Fog – the character facing the dawn, directing the mist
Jason Ransom’s Sunburst – glowing effects
joel’s Iofthestorm – backstory is hilarious, and eerily possible
Melissa’s London Fogg – overall good, the background with Big Ben and The Wheel is great
MMI’s Sunburn – costume, especially the green splash
Roy Van Dijk’s Mistic Bow – overall well put together, especially the pose
Watson Bradshaw’s Acid Rayn – Nice use of the Space Background as toxic percipitation
@All: Lots of good stuff. Don’t want to take up too much HM bandwidth and board space with my comments. (The reason why I post my backstories alongside my entries).
On to CC 48! (Clowns… so creepy.)
@Cliff thanks for the shoutout
I love the play on words for her name, you also did a fantastic job at capturing a truly asian face.
Also I’d like to wish you the best of luck with the dialysis, I’ll pray for you;)
Dang, but you guys do keep raising the bar. Gotta keep bringing a new & improved A-game every time! Thanks for the challenge.
Congratulations to all. Were it up to me, I would’ve thrown the win to Jenna’s PuaUa, however busy, ‘cuz I’m a sucker for unconventional poses. Not to take anything away from the quiet power MScat’s Oya has.
And I gotta say, Blue Blazer’s Dr. Tornado looks as if he could have stepped off the pages of any mainstream comic mag. I’m joining Team Blue.
@Atomic Punk
Thanks for the comment. I am glad someone liked Tornado Aly. I liked here a lot.
@Martian Blue
Thanks for the comment. I have been lucky with my Asians and their faces somehow. I really liked her wave earrings and the wave tattoo on her. Makes me thnk “Yakuza”.
And Thanks for showing me a goat head can be made. I have silently lamented the lack of goat head … you know my love of Satyrs by now I’m sure. you may at some point, see me using the goat head at some point. So thank you in advance.
And I take all the prayers I can get. Although I am pagan now, I was raised Baptist and Church of Christ and don’t discount the Christian God, just feel more comfortable with Pan, Hestia and Gaia, mostly due to my gayness … might also have to do with me being an Aquarius, we have a rep fro being weird and eccentric LOL … and I am sorry I’ve mentioned my Dialysis so much lately. Not so much looking for sympathy, it’s just such a big part of my life and has had a big effect on it, mostly for the better, I’ve lost over 50 pounds in 2 months (see my character Drought for how that feels LOL). It had been 80 pounds but now that is cooler and I’m not sweating as much off daily it’s fluctualing about 20 pounds every couple of days that I go in and take off 10-18 pounds … depending on what I’ve gained and have to take off to get back to my “dry weight”.
That and being weak some days SO cuts into my HM3 tine LOL But as I always say “I am in great shape for the shape I’m in.”
I am so very happy and proud to be on this site with so many artistic people.
If I share a little too much personal info, it’s because I feel at home, and that I have made new friends.
Yeahh, mention! Many thanks as always, and congratulations to all as always.
I thought PuaUa will win, hmm… I wasn’t far off.
@Cliff, they’re supposed to look like gods… sort of. Let’s say demi-gods.
“PuaUa” is, goddammit, awesome!
Congratulations MScat, well done! Everyone is certainly keping the bar pretty high for these competitions.
Cliff (15) there is a clue in the image itself. If you look behind the character at the background, you will see 4 squares. Let me just say that there are 4 squares that you do not currently see as well as 3 circles that are not visible. Would you like me to do up a recepe to demonstrate?
I don’t know how it keeps happening but the LEAST favorite of my entries often end up as finalists when the ones I like better don’t. Go figure :).
Congratulations everyone
Late comment is late.
Belated Congratulations to Mscat! I love the shiny spookiness of your ‘Oya’ piece. It’s so shiny and cool someONE(not naming names here)may or may not be nicking that effect for a future piece *shifty eyes*
And an all around ‘Great Job!’ to everyone, the competition was fierce and produced some really fine pictures! 😀
Thank you for all the compliments for my little ‘Rain Blossom’, even with her wonky leg (I tried, I tried *sobs*).It was frustratingly, pain in butt, fun.
@Cliff(15) Thank you for you really kind words and I hope you’re feeling better and doing well….And it totally does looks like a female Rayek doesn’t it?! XD