Pure Gold - Sabin's 40M Contest ~ OVER ~ Winners Posted~!

[Alexandrea Zenne]

domokun

[Katherdante]

Mecromace

*does the page 100 dance*

*(is a chibi cat girl) clings to mecromance - hopes to sait her art pangs by being close to an artist*

gonk heart <--- (is an underfed art whore currently - it is like drug withdrawl)


xd heart rofl *skitters up to the top of your head and makes a nest out of your hair* heart heart

[mouselet]

heart

[mouselet]

heart

[Sabin Duvert]

Kimaya - I've tried Corel Painter only a few times, and it's been a headache for me as well. But admittedly it's primarily because I haven't sat down and forced myself to learn the ins and outs. But I'm comfortable with PSP... >>

That's good for practicing with the application that you force yoruself to use it for a segment of each of your pieces, but if it persists on being more of a headache even after you use it for a bit mayhaps it just doesn't mesh with your techniques? *shrugs* I'm all for learning new media styles and programs, though, in principle >>

It is a pity about the forums, though - it really is a lot slower than last year when Kamiki and I ran our last big contest.

Aliena - I usually block in base colors with the hard brush, and then go do detailwork with the soft one >>

Chimera - *bows* I make it my duty XD


Mouse - heart !

[Thornshield]

This is my first ever entry to an art contest (since I'm a writer), so I wouldn't know about the lack of traffic in the forum recently.

However, a few friends in other contests have been saying it's rather poor as of late, because some who don't win are bitter over their losses or think they have no chance when they see a particularly good piece already submitted. I think they should try to use contests as an opportunity to improve, not merely for the prizes.

Oh well, hopefully you'll get more submissions soon. And be careful for pranks today!

[x~Berserker~x]

Thornshield

However, a few friends in other contests have been saying it's rather poor as of late, because some who don't win are bitter over their losses or think they have no chance when they see a particularly good piece already submitted. I think they should try to use contests as an opportunity to improve, not merely for the prizes.

For me, when I see a particularly good submission in a contest it's often a great "challenge" to me, the challenge being to "beat" (mind the "s) that piece. Of course that's bullshit, because there's always the matter of artistic preference on the contest holder and the way they imagine their characters. Both of these things are "wild cards" as you can be the best artist there is, still you are no mind reader.

If you experienced a few losses, than it's always bitter. Rejction does hurt to a certain degree. I recently read an interesting article about that. For artists often their art is something very personal for them, something they associate with closely. So it does hurt to lose.
... then again I'm a very compettetive person (did I spell that right?).

When my art loses against a piece most of the time that's no big deal for me, because in most cases I can say that the piece actually is better than mine. If not than I still know that my style is not everybody's cup of tea, and I probably didn't capture the character very well.

There was only one time I was really hurt, because several pieces rnked a lot higher than mine, that were - as far as I'm concerned - far below the level of the artwork I submitted, one in particular was clearly a beginners artwork. I swallowed it down, thinking that the contest holder probably had their reason to chose the other pieces over mine, and haven't entered this person's contests again, as for me it was clear that neither that person nor me got a lot out of that.
On the other hand I once won a contest that (IMHO) I didn't deserve to win. Or I liked another piece better than my own, to put it another way.

I think it takes a lot courage to still go on and try yourself, to push yourself to create something better. Also a lot of willpower and maturity is involved. I don't mena to sound supersticious, but after all this is a site with teenaged target audience so the maturity is sometimes lacking.

But you are right, that for a beginner it's rather discouraging to see good pieces submited early. I personally prefere when they're submitted early, as I can see what I'm "up against". But as I said I'm a rather competetive person.

For me contestst are just that - contests. I enter "higher" (as in bigger prices) contests mostly not for the prizes themselfs, but for the competition. Especially if I had some experience with the contest holder and think that s/he is a fair judge. 3nodding

/rant

@ Photoshop and funny functions we don't know much about:
Both on actions and channels I've read a couple of tutorials, I just never saw how I could use them to improve my art, that's why I've forgotten most of it. ^^;

Lately I found myself using only a very small selection of brushes in PS. I've made quite a few nice brushes, btu they're all specifically for "..." (like the brush with the many pints for fur, I guess, it's a rather popular concept wink

My main brushes look like that:


@ Vectors:
I like vector art and I envy everyone who's really good at it. To me it's always so tiresome to work with vectors. Even before I start a piece I get this nasty feeling of "oh my that's gonna be a workload!" gonk , which always successfully prevents me from creating something worthwhile, or finishing at all.

@ Painter:
Maybe I should try to use it more often. Or at least try to follow a couple of tutorials, but everytime I try that program, I get so very frustrated so soon, that I simply quit. sad


*looks at everything she wrote*

My, my ... ain't I talkative today eek rolleyes

^^;

[Thornshield]

*reads through the whole of 'serker's post*

For a Berserker (and a human of course), you show a great deal of intelligence and maturity 3nodding

You've got a great mindset there, and competitiveness is definitely needed in this dog eat dog world. *makes a mental note to stalk Berserker in case he needs any art done in the future*

Oh, I think my post earlier was a bit structured wrongly, so just wanted to clarify that it wasn't my friends that were discouraged, it was they who told me about other people being discouraged.

[mouselet]

Personally, I like entering contests that I think I have a fair chance of winning something in. That, or contests with characters I really like (say a certain Anju).

It's hard, sometimes, to see how good other people are and to know that I'm a raw beginning in most things digital. That's why most of what I do tends to be a bit...different. It's also why it's hard for me to tell if I've improved much. ><;


Vector art, on the other hand, is something I can enjoy. I mean, once I get the basic shapes made, I'm happy (if happily frustrated) to tweak them again and again and again. My only problem is that I tend to go for a more simplistic look overall, and that's not always what my teacher wants. ^^;

Hmmm. *rummages around* I've got some good pieces from class last year, if anyone wants to see them. ^^;

Another hmmm. Maybe I should see if I could manage to do some vector art for this contest. > wink

[Thornshield]

Being a non-artist, I can't tell the difference between the types of art. Actually, I can, but just can't put a name to them. So care to show me what vector art is mouselet?

[mouselet]

Thornshield

Being a non-artist, I can't tell the difference between the types of art. Actually, I can, but just can't put a name to them. So care to show me what vector art is mouselet?

XD Vector's just a different way of making art, really. And it resizes well. It's very good for logos. I'll find something simple. sweatdrop

[x~Berserker~x]

adding to the rant above:

If you really think about it art for an artist is like a coin, it has two sides. On one side your art is something enormously personal and private. It's a bit like your essence is flowing into the works, so it's really hard to have your art judged in any way, or to show it at all. You wouldn't wanna dance naked in front of people, if your not used to it, now would you? And just like you'd rather dance naked in front of a bunch of strangers, instead of loved ones you'd rather have your art judged by "anonymous" people, or people that you've gotten used to judge your art.

I rarely show my stuff to my RL friends, because I know, that most of the "that's nice" I'm getting does not only sound disinterested, but also is. It's like dancing naked on the table or confessing deep feelings for someone and you're balantly ignored.

On the other hand art for an artist is a product and as such you do have a fair distance to it. It's something that can be judged by people, regardless of who they are and that can be rated and more than anything it can be improved. It's something you work hard for to make it better. Something you want to make in professional quality, something that is better than the product of others. Come to think about it, it's really a lot like dancing naked on the table.

In the end you can't see any aspect individually alone. Because it just doesn't work that way. If you are too concerned with the personal aspect you will not get anywhere with your art and if you focus too much on the "product" part, you'll loose yourself eventually. And the world's hard enough as it is, it's important to still know your own flag.

At least it's that way for me ^^;;;
Through all this I often loose focus as to why I'm actually an artist. But I think that's ok. When you forget for a moment what it's actually about, but it does enlighten you in other ways or even improve what you do it can't be bad. You just have to remember yourself every once in a while.

Thank you, Thornshield, for the kind words on my attitude ^^ It's been always my intrest to gain as much insight to life and the aspects thereof that concern me (and even those that don't) as possible.

I actually spend a lot of time educating myself and thinking about such things. Maybe too much. My friends say I'm delusional.

And I did understand you right ^^ I was just generally speaking, that this trend is something that can be understood. ^^
I mean when I first started drawing more seriously and really trying I was mainly doing it, because my two closest friends were really good at it. I saw them doodling comics in class and the like and I was like "I want to be able to do that" (they were excellent). I nver expected to even get this far, as until then I was declared 100% talentless (kind of made up pretty good the lack of talent with skill, didn't I? wink ). And I still remember being discouraged very often, because my stuff simply wouldn't look only remotely as good as their's.

So I was just saying I understand why people (in general) would think that way. Not everbody is born with such a dead stuborn nature as I. ^^ The more mature attitude came along with gaining inside by failure. ^^

Kind of funny actually. Many so-called "art-experts" claim nowadays that the art of a child is perfection when it comes to art, because it's supposed to be raw emotion and uninfluenced. While many people strive to reach a more enlightened and mature way of thinking these people claim the opposite as a goal.

Sometimes I think they are right. Because knowing and understanding the world does not neccessarily make you a happier person. Ignorance is bliss, they say, and in many ways they are right. (genrally speaking, not exclusive to art)

But after all, the question is what you expect from yourself. If all you want is a peaceful happy life, not really bothered by such matters that's fine. However I feel that there has to be more. Though I have to admit, it hasn't made me a happier person.

Some lessons life tought me I could've lived without. I'd surely have a much more drastic mindset and be quicker to judge, but I really could live without the insight. Sometimes knowledge hurts. wink



eek I really should stop spamming Sabin's thread with things better suited for LJ or the like. eek

Don't mind me rambling ^^ sweatdrop

[mouselet]

Fwah! Stupid web not supporting CMYK. ><
Anyway, finally got something uploaded.
*shouts at RGB* You can't kill this one 'cause it's black and white! scream

Quote:

Motif Project

[Thornshield]

@Berserker: Wow, that was another long post, though don't feel the need to stop, I aint a LJ user so I crave such intellectual rants.

Although I'm not sure who I would dance naked in front of, I understand what you mean by not showing work to people close to you. I almost never reveal that I'm a fantasy writer, mainly because there's a large sentiment that fantasy is for dreamers and kids (I get that from my parents quite a bit, specially my dad). And when it comes from other people, you can get the best criticism.

And I have to agree wholeheartedly with the rest of your points, glad to know we have similar thoughts on the subject.

@Mouselet: Ah, then does this count as vector art?

http://tinypic.com/view/?pic=spz0qe

[mouselet]

Thorn: I'm not really sure. ^^; What I know of the definition of vector is that it doesn't get pixely when it resizes. >>; Kind of sad, since I've been using it for over a year.

EDIT: Found a good explanation.
http://news.deviantart.com/article/12990/