Welcome to Gaia! ::

Moonblossom's avatar
  • 300
  • 250
  • 0
User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.


Thank you everyone for participating! Please keep an eye out for the awards ceremony date, it will be posted here!


If you know me already, you're probably thinking "Oh god, Moony! Not another one!" But I absolutely love having art contests. I find it really fun and exciting, and I support a little bit of friendly competition.

A lovely friend of mine was nice enough to give me some of his items when he decided to leave Gaia, and I've had a few other things floating around my inventory for quite some time now and I realized they'd make nice prizes. I'd much rather get something I enjoy (art) and give lots of people the chance to get these items, than just do something impersonal like vend them.

This contest is going to run slightly longer than my usual ones, due to the large number of categories, and the value of the main prizes. What are the main prizes, you ask? First prize will be Horns of the Demon! Second place will win the lovely Golden Laurels! There are also full 2006 and 2007 letter sets for third and fourth places, and plenty of smaller category prizes to be won.

The contest will start today, Thursday, January 31st and run to July 1st. There may be an extention of a month depending on interest closer to the end date.

If you have any questions that are not answered by reading the first page, please ask in the thread before entering. It pains me so much to have to disqualify entries or whatever because someone misread or misinterpreted the rules. crying
Moonblossom's avatar
  • 300
  • 250
  • 0
User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.


Ahh, the interesting bits! What's an art contest without lovely prizes? There are plenty of nice ones to be won here, so read on! Please not these are the minimum prizes, I may be adding more or increasing each level's value as time goes on, if I find I can afford it.

Please note, the estimated values were accurate when I set this thread up. At this point, they are much much higher.

Main prizes:
User Image First place will win a gorgeous pair of Horns of the Demon, current estimated value is approximately two million gold, based on Marketplace values.

User Image Second place will receive sparkly and mythical Golden Laurels, current estimated value is aproximately 1.4 million gold, based on Marketplace values.

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show. Third place will get a full set of 2006 letters, that's a lot of item choices! The value for these is fluctuating pretty seriously, but at time of calculation they're worth just under one million gold combined, as per Marketplace values.

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show. Fourth place will get a full set of 2007 letters, that's also a lot of item choices! Again, the value for these is changing every day, but at time of calculation they're worth around 380,000 gold.


Theme Prizes:
There are also some smaller prizes for specific avatars and categories. For more detail on the avatars, please check the next post! For me to be able to give out a prize for each of these, there will need to be at least three eligible entries per category. All of these are also eligible for the main prizes.

User Image Best Modinatrix avatar will receive a Whip of Fire, worth just under 70,000 gold.

User ImageBest Snow Fairy avatar will receive an Oculus Magica, worth around 84,000 gold.

User Image Best Couple (myself and my friend Twistex, see details below) will receive a Dark Halo, worth around 135,000 gold.

Style/Media Prizes:
Last are the stylistic/media categories. You can draw any OF MY AVATARS for these, it's the style or the method that matters. Not any avatars at all, they must be ME. I am surprised I had to clarifiy this, but there you go. sweatdrop Sorry for any confusion. gonk

User Image Best Chibi will receive an adorable Grunny, worth around 24,000 gold.
This one should be pretty self-explanatory, whichever chibi I find cutest or funniest will win.

User Image Best American Cartoon style will receive a shiny and powerful Flame Sword, worth around 29,000 gold.
Graphic pop-art or superhero comic style is something I really like and don't have enough of. It can be more the typical shiny DC/Marvel superhero style, or something more gritty and dramatic like more story-driven comics, like most of Vertigo's collections.

User Image Best Art Nouveau Style will receive the beautifully artistic Masterpieces, worth around 15,500 gold.
If you're familiar with the Art Nouveau movement and enjoy that aesthetic, this is the category for you. You can read up on it here if you'd like to know more.

User Image Best Real Media will receive a pink box, yours to sell or open! Worth around 50,000 gold.
Anything done primarily with pens, pencils, ink, etc is eligible. A bit of colour correction/straightening in image editing software is fine.

User Image Best CG will also receive a pink box, yours to sell or open! Worth around 50,000 gold.
Anything done primarily with software. Scanning in a sketch and then colouring it on the computer, or drawing it straight in with a tablet, both are acceptable.

User Image Best Wallpaper will also receive a pink box, yours to sell or open! Worth around 50,000 gold.
I love to set art I get as wallpaper. My screen resolution is 1280 * 800 pixels, and I like having the image balanced to the right of the screen, but that's not necessary. Obviously the art here has to be your own, it's just that if you choose to make it an acceptable size for a wallpaper there is a chance of winning an extra prize. Please do not submit things that do not contain original art of my avatar that you have drawn. You can submit your art as a separate piece and then enter a wallpaper using it afterwards if you'd like.
Moonblossom's avatar
  • 300
  • 250
  • 0
User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.


For an art contest, you need to know what to draw, right? biggrin

To start off with, here's my base avatar. You can use either the one using the Wildflower hairstyle, or the avatar edit made by the lovely and talented Anlina as a reference.

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.
A few things to note, Moony's eyes are grey. Not blue, not green, not brown. Grey (or gray if you're feeling argumentative).

Moony's "normal" ears are never exposed. She nearly always wears her portable stereo headphones. If the headphones do not suit her outfit or the theme of the picture (dressy, fantasy style, etc), she will have elf ears, or her hair should be covering her ears.

Her body type is based very much on mine, tall and curvy. My measurements are 34F, 28, 40, to give you an idea. I know those sound kind of fake >< But on someone nearly six feet tall, they're not as ridiculous as they sound.

Unless there's something else specified around her neck, it would be nice if she was wearing her pearl necklace. It was a joking but sweet gift that I almost never ever remove. Also, if her elf ears are visible, she's usually got on pearl earrings, the simple round ones. They were another gift <3.

As for her hair, when the Wildflower style first came out it was very similar to my RL hair, and I absolutely had to get it. Currently it's in a sleeker bob, but Gaia's got no appropriate styles, so I've been playing with it. I've got an avatar edit that is more suited to my current hairstyle. So please feel free to use either of the two hairstyles, or a combination of both.

For outfits, you can either draw directly any of the avatars below, or use them as inspiration to come up with something original. I like slightly eclectic clothing, kimonos, saris, cyber-goth clubwear, elegant gothic lolita, wa-lolita, and casual outfits consisting of jeans and slightly dorky t-shirts (Nightmare Before Christmas, Tinkerbell, Mario mushrooms, etc). Glasses are optional and appreciated but not neccessary, as I wear them sometimes but not all the time.

Here are the avatars for the category-specific prizes mentioned above.

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show. Modinatrix Moony
Think "Sexy dark superheroine" for this one. I like it when people experiment and get creative with this outfit. A few things to keep in mind though are that it should be either leather or vinyl, very slick and hard, but still very sexy. Nothing lacy or frilly, please. Moony's body type is quite curvy, think buxom pinup superheroine, not lithe young girl. If you can find a way to include my pearl necklace on here without it looking too girly or out of place, that would be fabulous!





User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show. Snow Fairy Moonblossom
This is a very fantastical and pretty and sparkly outfit, should look very shoujo/magical/etc. Pretty and sensual is good, but not blatantly sexy. Anything icy and wintery is good here, surrounded by snowflakes, etc. Have fun with the theme! Her eyes should be icy blue, but still friendly and gentle, not cold and harsh. She has elf ears that are mostly covered by hair, but sometimes the tips peek out. If you're drawing her ears, she wears sparkly dangling earrings shaped like snowflakes. Also, please remember to include the pearl necklace.






User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show. User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.Moony & Twisty
To just call Twist my best friend would be doing an injustice to whatever it is we have. He means more to me than nearly anyone I know besides like, people I'm blood related to. We're great friends, we're shameless flirts, we're something I can't begin to describe. We should be drawn having fun and goofing off, sitting around talking (note, Twist pretty much -always- smokes while he's talking, so if you draw this sort of thing, please include a lit cigarette in his hand or whatever), being silly and flirty, maybe drinking too much and getting a bit raucous (toga party, anyone?!). A bit of flirty horsing around would be funny, but please keep in mind we're friends first and foremost, and keep Gaia's content rules in mind. We're far more likely to be teasing and raunchy than gushy and sappy.
Please note that the avatar outfits shown here are just examples, but certain accessories are important to me. Twist's cigarette, as mentioned before, is pretty much a staple, and the pearl necklace on my avatar was a silly gift from him a while back so it should definitely be included in this piece. Also, his eyes should be blue, I realize that's not totally evident in the avatar.

You can also put my avatar in a t-shirt with something like Jack Skellington, Tinkerbell, or some random cute animal or something on it, and if you wanted to put Twist in a black t-shirt with a green Nicotine molecule, or a black-sleeved white jersey-style t-shirt with this logo on it that would be amazing. As for the style of this one, anything goes but I have trouble picturing Twisty as a cute chibi most of the time, unless it's some evil bitter little chibi. ;P

Lastly, since we are friends IRL and these avatars are based on us, if you happen to know us IRL or know what we look like (someone who isn't me tends to be secretive with photos) you can use those as reference/inspiration, for things like hair colouration and tattoos and whatnot. That would be very cool smile



Miscellaneous Avatars for general artwork:

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show. User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show. Oops! You just caught Moony in the tub! eek redface This should be cute and flirty. The slippers are optional, and the chickie on the head should be a rubber duck, and does not need to be on my head.









User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show. This would be a prime candidate for some lovely real media, maybe in the Art Nouveau style. Feel free to take some liberties on the outfit, so long as it's flowy and romantic and not modern-looking. The lute can also be left out, use the other image as a dress reference in that case.














User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show. Vampire Hunter Moony! Should look bad-a** and a little sexy, but gritty. Scratched up would be good too.










User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show. This one's a classic. Stripper-nurse ahoy! You can either make the outfit separates, or one dress with a very plunging neckline. Feel free to be creative.









User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show. Darling, ruffled, and beribboned. The parasol and fan are entirely optional here, as I know they prove difficult for some people to draw.








User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show. The cake is not! a lie. Cute sexy wench delivering your cake wink The costume should look kind of, well, costumey. Like a swiss waitress/french maid type of thing, with ruffled panties under the skirt and whatnot. A pinup-ey fake innocent expression would be awesome here too.










User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show. Just a cute, casual, kind of preppy outfit. Not exactly something I'd wear IRL, but it sure looks cute on my avatar!











User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show. Possibly one of my newest favourite outfits. Feel free to play up the Steampunk aspect of this avatar by getting creative with the accessories and details.








User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show. Hee hee, Moony's gone to Hogwarts and been sorted into Ravenclaw! Practicing her spellwork, and possibly having it backfire. Whoops. Please use the Wildflower hairstyle for this, not the one posted in the image.










User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show. Glamourous, tipsy, and possibly flashing some scandalous underpants. Moony's been hanging with the bad crowd!
Moonblossom's avatar
  • 300
  • 250
  • 0
User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.


Boo, rules. The boring part of any contest.

1. ) Entries must be your original work. It may seem silly that I need to state this, but you'd be surprised. sweatdrop Please note that this also means no eyeballing/tracing other work. I realize no pose is original, but if I find that your artwork has been clearly copied from something else (or it gets brought to my attention somehow), the entry will be disqualified and the case handed to an impartial moderator of the art forums for review, since blatant copying is not tolerated on Gaia. Please be prepared to show some sort of work-in-progress if it's requested, to ensure the art is original. This is not necessary and I won't demand it of everyone, but if an entry makes me suspicious, I may ask to see a preliminary sketch or half-coloured version.

2. ) Collaborative works are allowed, but it's up to you to determine ahead of time who wins the prize. I will not mediate arguments about this.

3. ) No drama. Please. I've got enough of that as it is. No making me feel guilty about not having big prizes, or not selecting you as a winner. No insulting the entrants, not everyone's on the same skill level. If you make an a** of yourself or make anyone feel unwelcome, the posts will be dealt with.

4. ) You can enter as many times as you like, but each entry can only win one single prize. Ideally each artist can only win in one category, but if someone presents me with two absolutely amazing separate entries, there is a slight chance they might both win.

5. ) Please keep all entries within Gaia's content guidelines. No sexualized or full-frontal nudity in obviously sexual situations will be accepted, blatant violations will be handed to an impartial moderator to be dealt with accordingly. Artistic nudity will be accepted in the case of the bubblebath entry, so long as no nipples or genitals are visible.

6. ) Please post all submissions here. If it's been a few days and I have not acknowledged your entry, PM me. But wait a bit first. I'm a busy and distracted person, and I may not have time to sit here and watch the thread like a hawk.

Please use this form to submit entries. I won't intentionally ignore entries not using it, but it just makes my life a lot easier to look for a standardized format and will help ensure entries don't get overlooked:

Quote:

*** LOOK! AN ENTRY! ***
Artist name:
Link to entry:
Comments:


[color=indigo][b]
*** LOOK! AN ENTRY! ***
Artist name:
Link to entry:
Comments: [/b][/color]


7. ) All media and styles are welcome. If you're more comfortable drawing with a pencil, ink or crayons or something, please do not let that discourage you from entering! There's prizes for all media!

8. ) One set of minor edits will be allowed. If, for example, you forget something I mentioned as an important detail, or got the colour of something wrong, I have no qualms about updating your entry. This does not mean you get an entire re-do if something is seriously screwed up and you notice several weeks later though. sweatdrop If you're unsure, just ask me smile
Moonblossom's avatar
  • 300
  • 250
  • 0
Moonblossom's avatar
  • 300
  • 250
  • 0
Moonblossom's avatar
  • 300
  • 250
  • 0
Moonblossom's avatar
  • 300
  • 250
  • 0
User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.


Mm, delicious ugly link banners. [Q], I hope you're happy. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU RUSH ME crying

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.
[url=http://tinyurl.com/2rbsof][img]http://tinyurl.com/352lln[/img][/url]


User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.
[url=http://tinyurl.com/2rbsof][img]http://tinyurl.com/36nevu[/img][/url]






User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.

User Image

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.


User Image



User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.


User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.


User Image


User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.

User Image

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.


User Image



User Image



User Image
Since I work on top of my original work, if you would need to see proof that it was my original, a photo of me holding my sketchbook (photo in view) along with a note like "HEY MOONY THIS IS MY ORIGINAL BISH" would suffice?
Moonblossom's avatar
  • 300
  • 250
  • 0
Yeah, for sure. Odds are I won't need to ask for it though, it's only in cases where it's really fishy or obviously full-on traced/copied from something else.

3nodding
Moonblossom's avatar
  • 300
  • 250
  • 0
Still busy reading everything, but I'll enter for sure ^w^


User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.

Moonblossom's avatar
  • 300
  • 250
  • 0
Awesome biggrin Thanks!
Let the lurking begin domokun
Moonblossom's avatar
  • 300
  • 250
  • 0

Quick Reply

Submit
Manage Your Items
Other Stuff
Get Items
Get Gaia Cash
Where Everyone Hangs Out
Other Community Areas
Virtual Spaces
Fun Stuff