The ALVINLEEART.COM DIGITAL COLOR CHALLENGE has been concluded and we have come to terms with the five finalists by our board of judges. There were a plethora of submissions to review and after much consideration and many great entries later these are the pieces of work that we found were not only well executed but stood out from the crowd. We want to thank you all for your generous submissions and hard work put towards this contest, it was greatly appreciated! Three of these finalists were actually featured earlier during the competition and still remained in the running for the grand prize. Congratulations for making it on to the voting session, your work speaks for itself! We apologize for the delay of the announcement of our finalists but as you can understand we had hundreds of submissions to review and as the deadline drew near the competition grew more intense. It was a difficult decision to make as we butted heads, argued for specific submissions and debated for days but I hope you are pleased with our final selection.
Vote for your favorite submission now!
NOTABLE SUBMISSIONS:
These are some submissions that we felt were above average and definitely worthy of being noted. These were all very well done and just barely made the cusp of our final five. Here they are for you to see!
Jorge Maese
Fifi Xu
Ryan Burt
Laura Galiffe
Andrea Errico
Muhammed Ansar Ali
Neeraj Menon
Stephen Hetrick
Claudia Madez
THE FIVE FINALISTS (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER)
Color Challenge Finalist, Danny Araya
Danny Araya
Silver Spring, USA.
http://danielaraya.deviantart.com/
Color Challenge Finalist, Raineiro Cobos
Raineiro Cobos Castro
Bogota, Colombia.
www.raineiro.com
Color Challenge Finalist, Nala Fontaine
Nala Fontaine
Montreal, Canada.
http://nalafontaine.deviantart.com/
Color Challenge Finalist, Seth D Jones
Seth D Jones
Shepherdsville, USA.
Color Challenge Finalist, Fabian "Monk" Schlaga
Fabian “Monk” Schlaga
Kassel, Germany.
http://monk-art.deviantart.com/
Jorge Maese
Fifi Xu
Ryan Burt
Laura Galiffe
Andrea Errico
Muhammed Ansar Ali
Neeraj Menon
Stephen Hetrick
Claudia Madez
October 12th, 2009 at 2:47 am
Had Fifi Xu been a finalist, I would have voted for her!
After giving a vote to Fabian (has a cool Korean Hanji-paper feel to it), I looked through the Notables and WOW.
Fifi’s looks just GORGEOUS.
October 12th, 2009 at 2:56 am
I would’ve picked Fifi Xu, too.
October 12th, 2009 at 3:03 am
UPDATED: Notables are now draggable and in full resolution.
About Fifi Xu’s entry: We had a long discussion about her entry and we came to this conclusion. Unfortunately Alvin wasn’t very fond of the colors depicted in the piece, overall her submission was very well rounded and displayed a lot of her talent, but in the end if wasn’t entirely the direction Alvin was looking for.
October 12th, 2009 at 3:10 am
Congrats to those who made it! I’ll definitely be up for the next challenge (definitely plan my time for it better than I did for this one). My vote has been cast!
Thanks again, Alvin, for this awesome oppertunity.
-Tamtu
October 12th, 2009 at 3:13 am
HEYYY congrats to all participants, its such an honour to be on the notable submissions :d im very happy n_n thanks to alvin and all the crew!
NOW, VOTING TIME
DDDDDDDDD
October 12th, 2009 at 4:07 am
FIFI XU !!! YEAHH!!
October 12th, 2009 at 4:18 am
I really like Monk, I think is the best in finalists (anyway, compliments to all). But, I really love some work in “notables”
October 12th, 2009 at 4:18 am
I think that Andrea Errico should have been in top five fo sure.. Must say that I’m little disappointed those finalis. Only 2 out of 5 are right (imo), Danny Araya and Monk.
And my vote will goes to Monk.Really nice piece overall! Stunning colors
October 12th, 2009 at 5:08 am
Oh sad, I didn’t get the final. May the best win.
October 12th, 2009 at 5:13 am
I’m shocked Jorge Maese wasn’t a finalist. wow! I gave my vote to Monk. He’s the clear winner here.
October 12th, 2009 at 5:28 am
I liked Cassie Fuertez the most, she had some nice tones
October 12th, 2009 at 5:56 am
had to vote for Monk!
his is just the best overall IMO
has a really nice almost kind of a movie poster kind of feel to it
very top notch
[i really dig Seth Jones and Laura Galiffe's as well]
nice job!
i only wish i made enough time to do an entry of my own :\
October 12th, 2009 at 6:12 am
Fabian Schlaga has my vote!
October 12th, 2009 at 6:28 am
not a fan of a few of the finalists, there was better submissions in the above average section for sure.
October 12th, 2009 at 6:41 am
vote for Seth D Jones !
October 12th, 2009 at 9:16 am
I’m not one then too bad!
October 12th, 2009 at 9:22 am
Oh well… I’ll just have to try harder next time.
Thanks for the opportunity Alvin, and to all of your staff and judges.
October 12th, 2009 at 10:17 am
I really think Fifi should havr made the finals.Those colors rocked.
October 12th, 2009 at 10:40 am
I really liked Stephen Hetrick’s allot and believe he should be top 5..but in the end the Monk man went beyond the call and really knocked it out of the ball park…stunning colors Fabian!!
October 12th, 2009 at 10:58 am
Updated Daniel Araya: made an error and posted the initial submission instead of his latest revision. Very subtle changes though…
October 12th, 2009 at 11:41 am
Yeah I liked Fifi Xu too!! But fabian was the best of the finalists.
October 12th, 2009 at 11:41 am
Well, maybe next time.
This certainly was a good experience.
It’d be nice tho if jury could write down exactly *why* they’ve chosen these submissions over the others? The fact that they stand above the rest isn’t good enough imho. Just to be fair to those who didn’t make it and worked equally hard on their pieces.
Also: voted for Monk.
October 12th, 2009 at 11:48 am
fifi xu top 5 for sure.
October 12th, 2009 at 11:54 am
As both Alvin and I has stated, this has been a tough decision for us. The final five was deliberately chosen by the judges (including myself), and specifically by Alvin. Keep in mind that Alvin had a “vision” for this piece, and those 5 finalists made Alvin tingle the right way. I agree that some of the above notables are very well done, infact, there were a lot of other submissions that were eliminated even from the Notables that were also well done, but fell off due to position.
@Michael Rayner: I know you don’t agree with some of this, I know you have a right to voice your opinion. However, some of your comments you made should have been kept to yourself. It would have been better if you talked about why you felt some of those pieces were better to you. Unfortunately, your post was moderated until Alvin approves of it.
Just to recap on some of my comments about the final 5. Now keep in mind that these are my own comments andNot Alvin’s comments.
Daniel Araya: All the characters look fantastic in this. The great: I particularly like the skin tones; Dudley’s very strong shadows around the brow, Ryu’s overall complexion, Akuma’s ferociousness and the overall lighting of the entire piece. There is a certain realism in this one and that’s what makes it so strong. The not so good: It’s a little plain as an entire piece and lacks overall punch, we wondered how it would have felt if Daniel used a stronger more exciting palette.
Raineiro Cobos Castro: I know most of you don’t like this piece at first glance, but this piece was highly regarded in Alvin’s eye. The great: It takes tremendous skill to pull this off with only 2 tones, especially if you analyze where the light is coming from to render each character. Because of this, this is why it made it to the finals. The not so good: Because of the direction that Raineiro chose with this piece, it’s also it’s biggest problem, it doesn’t appeal to everyone and sells itself short to those that can’t see it’s true brilliance.
Nala Fontaine: The great:The colors Nala used and the creative idea to use the fire throughout made this piece look spectacular. The overall execution on this piece was it’s best value, and that is why it’s here. The not so good: the character and understanding of lighting was Nala’s weakest points, some characters look flat, a little too soft with the airbrush and some lacked contrast to make them pop out more ie; Yang, Akuma, Dudley, Remi, Ryu don’t look their best compared to other finalists.
Seth D Jones: Seth’s piece was obviously going for the Street Fighter IV look, and we like it. The great: the heavy blacks, the monotone feel to it with exuberant colors on the shoryuken flame vector pattern. Some of the characters looks simply awesome; Oro looks like a beast in the night, Sean with his massive pumping fist, Elena and Ryu with a very smooth sculpture look.The not so good: We wanted to see more from the background, which simply looked like a circular gradient, it would have looked more interesting if there were some sort of cloudy mist or ink pattern behind ie; Cassie Fuertez.
Fabian Schlaga: The great:The overall direction with the fine art approach; paper texture, noise effect and the watercolor effect on the shoryuken patterned tips as well as the smoke at the top was a nice touch. I absolutely like the how some of the characters look, Urien’s expression with his wrinkled face lines, Ibuki’s softness and lighting contrast, Oro’s skin texture, Makoto’s hair, Twelve’s purplish glow the list goes on. The bad: Some characters look too overly saturated with color; Ibuki is too blue, Dudley is too purple. Ryu and Alex and Sean are a little flat and bit too yellowish and would have likely looked better if they were colored the same color palette as Elena, Makoto, and Hugo were. I also felt the shoryuken flames had a bit more effects than it really needed.
Anyway, those were some of my comments during the judging. Would love to hear some of your comments and critiques, especially if you disagree! Notables as well..
October 12th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
congratz all
October 12th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Monk did an amazing job, his piece really stands out amazingly. Though I have to say all the other entries look great aswell. Shame I wasn’t able to paint my entry, no time found. Wish I could have made it.
Also, on a side note, I think people seem to have underestimated Raineiro Cobos piece. If its in the Top 5 then it must have something that caught the judges eye and be above all the other pieces that didn’t make it into the top 5. I really like its simple look, framed by a light blue silhouette and having highlights due to Ken’s flaming dragon punch. I never thought that such simplicity could make it so far and look so great.
October 12th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
It would be nice to at least confirm receipt of submission. Considering some were sent tips of how to arrange their work it stands to reason to at least you hit ‘reply to all’ with a ’submission received’ email.
An auto-reply would have been good too…
October 12th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
@Istebrak
You had a good submission, almost made it to the notable round. The green/blue halo effects you used was a little over the top.
@Sagi Agreed. We should have set up an auto-responder, however, we couldn’t because of the way our email was set up for the submission and contest form. However, we did receive your submission though. Your submission was similar to Istebrak, too much use of effects; Ryu’s Fireball, Akuma’s eye, Sean’s fist pump with electricity, Chun-Li’s blurred kick. Where as the background flames and overall character skin colors were too raw, you should have focused on refining them instead of the effects.
October 12th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
@ Site Admin
would it be too much to ask what was the opinion about it? just for my own sake
October 12th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Although I’m pretty bummed I didn’t place in the final five, Congrats to the finalists. I’ve cast my vote for Monk!
October 12th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
again alfred and alvin sorry if i offended, Im very sorry.
but if you look at monks submission is very similar to jorge maese and stephen hetrick’s submission which are in the vision that alvin is looking for is it not? its strange that they didn’t make the top 5, many others think so too.
Im sorry its just very disappointing to see a no contest in the top 5
its a no brainer who is going to win. monk is a more known artist who has a bigger fan base and attends comic cons. maybe there should of been no voting and alvin just choosing the winner, 1st 2nd and 3rd
Im sorry to the other artists who are in the top 5 for offending you also. you guys put a lot of work into your submissions and they are great.
October 12th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
I agree with Sagi. I think it would of been nice to get confirmation that our submissions were retrieved. I just have a feeling some entries didn’t go through, even though you guys claim you got them. How would we know you got them? Exactly! Next time confirm that you received everyone’s entry.
Congratz to the finalists, and I hope everyone had as much fun with this as I did.
October 12th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
That’s my worry, too… Monk has a huge fanbase which is likely to go vote for his piece no matter what. A talented but unknown and shy artist won’t get many votes at all. That has always been the problem with such votes
October 12th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Well I do agree that fanbase has a huge, pull. However, his talent and skill is also a reason why he such a fanbase. Much like Alvin does…
October 12th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
@Michael Rayner: I agree with your comments. That is why Jorge Maese & Stephen Hetricks pieces are a Notable Submission, which means that Alvin acknowledges how good they are and had positive things to say about them. I’m not so sure you realize how highly he views them already compared to the approximately individual 200 submissions(minus revisions) we received. We chose only 15 of the best pieces here.
October 12th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
It still makes a huge difference if an artist doesn’t cover popular topics and mostly does niche work… You can have the greatest of talents and still only what, a handful of pageviews.
This issue came up on Deviant Art countless times. Popular votes are usually little more than a popularity contest, it’s sad but it is true. That’s why I’m still very worried about this
I just hope the final verdict will be based more on Alvin’s own choice rather than the vote.
October 12th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
since Admin Alfred asked for our opinions here’s mine.
(absolutely no intention to flame,rant or anything, but here’s my 2c)
First off, the finalists should have been done anonymously to avoid fan-base. This can be achieved by clearly stating in the rules about disqualification if uploaded in any site. Even though stylistically you could attribute to an artist, it will still be not so obvious for the most.
Secondly, if Alvin had a ‘particular’ style/theme in mind, it would have made it a better competition to see everyone dwelling for that theme, more then having 3/4 of the entries out just because they didn’t match his idea…
As for this style – If Monk’s met the requirments of Alvin’s vision, most probably so should J.Maese’s entry. I’m sure it would have been a tougher competition between these too. I love monk’s entry, but I prefer Maese’s. Mainly because it has cleaner colours and more sharpness.
Come to think of it, out of the 5 finalists… 4 where already known to Alvin
3 where featured in the other blog entry
and the 4th one was used even earlier in his DA journal and this site’s Blog “banner”…
So only Monk is left as a “new entry”
October 12th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
*edit* sorry the 4th one might look similar, but its somewhat different; still 3/5 weren’t that new
October 12th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
I agree with some of the others that Monk will probably win by a huge margin… but that’s because his entry rocks, not because he’s popular.
(Guess who I voted for.)
And either way, I think that everyone should stop complaining so much about the final five… all of the finalists are great/unique in their own right, so can’t we all just be happy for them? Personally, I’m just grateful for the fact that this contest motivated me to push myself and improve my coloring skills; I’ve never worked so hard before on coloring a piece. I think that everyone who had the ambition to enter this contest should give themselves a big pat on the back!
Congrats & good luck to all the finalists as well!
October 12th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
@Sagi: Anonymously wouldn’t have worked at all. First of all, Alvin wanted this to be an open contest to begin with so that everyone gets their proper recognition from beginning to end. Secondly, this is the internet, fanbase will still appear none the less and there is no controlling any of the submission information outside of this site.
Alvin never had a style in mind, just look at the 5 finalists. None of them are anything the same.
J.Maese’s was barely edged out from the final 5, which is why I placed it first. The only thing that didn’t go for it was that it looked too “generic” like a typical comic cover. Nothing wrong with that at all, but Alvin wanted more! Although Monk and J.Maeses are very similar in overall execution, the level of detail is not.
3/5 just happened to be featured, it just came this way and although we would have liked to uncover more gems, it so happened that the few in the beginning were diamonds already.
October 12th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
sure – you can’t make everyone happy; but maybe 5 finalists out of 200 (or 400?) submission are way too little…
for the next time
October 12th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Wow!Its great to be noted among such great entries.
Could I get some critique on my piece?So I could do better next time?
October 12th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Whoa! Michael. I know we had a discussion about this contest, but don’t over do it man. We just gotta let this slide my man. Nothing is going to change Alvin or the Admins mind about the contest, we just gotta except what decisions they made. Just looking out for ya man. No sense starting a UFC cage match lol.
October 12th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Neeraj Menon: Alvin really liked the ink splat and your punchy style. Definately in the top 10 entries. The only thing was that it suffered the same fate as J. Maese, as the rendering of the characters were a little a simple side and a little too much the typical comic coloring style. But that’s just Alvin’s opinion. I think you are a great colorist, and a great entry! Keep up the good work!
October 12th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Admin do you mind giving me 2 words on mine too? (i asked you before w/ no reply :’( )
October 12th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
@Sagi: It’s up top
October 12th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
gee i missed it XD
thanks a lot! at least i know what went wrong
October 12th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
@Michael Rayner: Why the heck would we want to rig this? That does not make any sense. We only posted what our judges felt was right, and we apologize that you feel indifferent about it.
If you want to elaborate on why you feel a certain entry deserved any better, than post your critique in detail as much as I had above about the finalists. We welcome the commenting and critiques in a constructive manner.
But shouting out unnecessary comments and accusations will never change a thing. So refrain from posting such accusations, conspiracy theories etc..
However, that is not going to change Alvin’s opinion (who holds the gauntlet around here), and won’t change mine either. Heed this warning or earn yourself the boot from this site.
October 12th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
@Site Admin – Alfred
I know this might be a lot to ask, and if it’s going to start a trend then please delete this comment if you feel the need.
This was the first time I’ve entered a contest like this and was wondering if there was anyway I could get some sort of critique from the pros who do it so I can know (partially for my own egos sake):
1. How far I made it.
2. What I can do to improve.
Like I said I don’t want to start a trend of you getting asked for 400 critiques so if it’s too much to ask (Or if mine simply didn’t even stand out enough to be remembered) could you please shoot me an email and delete this comment?
October 12th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
WOW! I’m happy to be in the notable submissions! I knew I was up against some real professional talent out there. And this piece was certainly a challenge for me. So I’m very happy Alvin and the rest of the judges thought it deserved to be featured in the Notable Submissions. Thank you!!!
Hope there’s another color contest. I’m down for another challenge
Had to vote for my buddy, Fabian. His work speaks for itself.
Also liked Andrea Errico!
October 12th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
#
Neeraj Menon
I agree also, I really liked the ink splat stuff! I just couldn’t figure out how to get it to work right. (did you use a special brush setting or just do it and scan it in?)
I think my back ground was the main failing in my piece.
October 12th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
@Michael Dains: Do you really want to know? There’s a borderline between constructive criticism and de-constructive criticism where we make comments about your art. Especailly, when it’s mostly negative.
EDIT: Sorry got you mixed with you and Rayner! LOL Don’t want that to happen…
October 12th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
@Cassie Fuertez: Very good work Cassie! Alvin liked your overall composition, very nice ink effect. You might want to work on the muscle, anatomy, lighting, and try and get definition in those areas. Your entry look a little muddy in those areas ie; Ryu’s fingers, Seans arms etc., and felt like you were using the effect to hide them. But keep up your good work though, and your DA page is impressive.
October 12th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Congrats to everyone who made it in the notable and the top five! A huge thank you to Alvin, Alfred and everyone involved in the contest, this was a great opportunity. My opinion is that some of the top 5 are not my favourite, but each person has a different opinion, and i respect that. What i can see in the ones that made it is that Alvin is not a penciller who goes nuts if the colorist paints over his pencils, i mean, there are some pencillers that go really mad if the colourist does something like that, guess i learned i can be more risky, colourwise, next time. Good luck everyone!
October 12th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Was that constructive/deconstructive comment aimed at me on accident? Because I’m willing to take criticism on my work at this point because I’m sure it will help me improve!
October 12th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Err not on accident, I meant was it supposed to be aimed at me!
October 12th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Screw it. What was the deal with mine? What seperated me from the rest?
October 12th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
@Site-Admin Alfred
Hey thanks for the critique. You totally nailed my weak points. I will definitely work on it!!!
…Whoa, thanks for checking out my dA. That really means a lot
October 12th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
@Ron Edwards: LOL ok, last free comment for the day. Alvin disliked it straight up front, and it ended at that during the judging. Overall if I were to critique it; great palette, nice warm colors and background. The major thing were the skin tones and the shading / lighting, all the characters were overly smoothed without reason and lighting was inconsistent: Ibuki, Remi were almost like flats. Infact, most of Alvin’s intended lineart were changed which is probably why he didn’t like it.
October 12th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
If it’s mostly negative could I have it in a less public format then?
I’m serious about trying to get serious about this and would like to know what I can do to improve.
I’m not a pro by any stretch of the imagination.
October 12th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
@Cleverblue: I like your entry very much. I actually prefer the reddish tone part (test2) more then the “black” one
October 12th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
congrats to all
well done, all great colour an style
October 12th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
@Mikey D: No prob. Check your inbox in a few minutes.
October 12th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Holy crap what a slap in the face! lol. Oh well, I know it looks good so whatever the case. I don’t regret making the decisions I made at all. Next time around if another contest is held I’ll try to refrain from drastically changing the lines.
Thanks for letting me know
October 12th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Hey thanks for the earlier post about what you liked and disliked about featured pieces! And I’d love to hear one for mine too, similar to Mikey D’s when it comes to questions, even if it’d be harsh (and sorry again for posting the wrong file, OTL). I can wait, thanks for your time!
And this whole discussion seems even more heated than the voting, lol!
October 12th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Congrats to those who made it!. I still need to practice, lol.
October 12th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
@Cleverblue: thank you so much for appreciations. I hope too there will be another contest.
October 12th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
@Ron Edwards: Seriously, I thought was was being gentle. LOL Anyway, don’t take it the wrong way, your piece was far from the worst, and it has good things going for it. On further inspection, Akuma looks as though he’s your favourite character out of the bunch and I could tell you were going nuts with him(unfortunately everyone else wasn’t nearly as good). He looks the best in the piece and almost looks like a 3D render, but that aside, you can do that on your own artwork, but as a colorist it’s best never to do something like that.
October 12th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Hey Alfred, just wondering, mine did ok ?
, I hope it’s not in the “worst” pile, heh.
October 12th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
@Nixu: thank you so much for the appreciation.
@Alfred an Alvin: Hey guys I’m glad for the five finalist, but at the same time I’m a bit displease to not be in the final. I respect the choose of Alvin and I’m sure he choose those who have the best idea and impact but I would like to have some critics or know what you think about my work. What I should do or what I did wrong.
By the way thank you again for give us this opportunity.
Andrea Errico
October 12th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
@Cheungkinmen: Two words. Too dark. Your shadow cuts were big and too intrusive and blocked characters definition. Half of Chun-Li’s and Ibuki’s face is black. The weird part was that there’s so much shadow but very little highlight cuts. Your color palette was limited (dark). Not in the worst pile though…
October 12th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
@Andrea Errico: Ok really last one for today. Andrea, there’s no much of anything wrong with yours. I guess it was just a little too busy. If you pull yourself back from the piece, and look from far, it gets really busy and you can’t really focus on any particular character. A little less of the paint splat effects. That’s where you have to make a judgement, comic art needs to have some appeal from far and needs to look catchy…
October 12th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Akuma was actually one of the few I spent the least time on actually. But I did try to do him justice as he is my favorite one. You’re right about that lol.
Gentle? You’re kidding me right? Just saying Alvin didn’t like it right off the bat just crushed my heart man. Literally. I spent 2 weeks on this thing and to just look at my work like that is a huge insult to me. It wasn’t easy getting up everyday spending hours upon hours on this. I almost wanted to give up at times, but I just kept pushing it to the best of my ability.
October 12th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Hey Alfred,
I just wanna thank Alvin and yourself for having this contest. I had a blast coloring this piece and it gave me an opportunity to try out some new things.
Like most people, I don’t necessarily agree with some of the final choices, but there are a few really good ones in there. I particularly liked the two toned one by Cobos.
If you get a minute, I’d love to know what you and Alvin thought of my submission and if you had any pointers for me. Thanks!
-Chris
October 12th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
@Edwards: I’m only calling it as I see it. I tried to be as gentle as possible but I’m sorry if you feel crushed. I realize that some of you put your heart and soul into this, which is why I’ll likely be more cautious on the critiques from here on in. The biggest no-no was the fact that you started changing the line art, ie; Urien’s face(chin especially).
Anyway, I think I dove to far into this critiques stuff, so I’m gonna back away gracefully from doing anymore of these. Alvin likely won’t be doing anything like this, and don’t take my word for it either. It’s my opinion, and doesn’t reflect Alvin or any other comic artist who may see it completely differently.
October 12th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Nah, it’s all good now man. It was kind of a sudden hit type of thing, but I’m over it now. I just gotta respect the decisions. I know it doesn’t necessarily mean that I didn’t do good with it. It just preference from the head honcho himself lol
Ok, I’m done talking about it. You guys won’t hear from me anymore unless it’s about something else.
Again, thanks for responding to my b****ing and moaning lol
October 12th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
thanks for having the contest, and i feel honored to be in the notable submissions, very good art over here, maybe i did a very traditional, coloring over the entire piece, i was aiming for a street fighter clean look, but hey maybe next time, congratz to fabian did a tremendous job, and he already knows it
October 12th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Hey All!
Haha, I love it! Let the debating begin! Well, let’s just set the record straight so that all of you are not arguing until the cows come home…
In terms of the Final Five, each of these were rewarded not only for their execution but also their creative approach and originality. With that aside it also had to be consistent. If they were to attempt a specific style, it had to be done with conviction. Not only good in some areas, but solid throughout the entirety of the piece! If you take note, the Final Five all standout from the crowd and done so without many visible “mistakes” in their work. I think most importantly of all the colors had to compliment, not compromise the line-work of the piece. If the contestant were to compromise the linework, it better have been for good reason in my eyes. Subtlety is also often highly overlooked and I quote DaVinci, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Note that many, if not all of the Finalists did not try to overdo a said style and kept it looking natural and easy on the eyes, thus in my opinion a higher form of refinement in their work.
In terms of the Notable Submissions, it’s quite an achievement to be here as there were hundreds others that did not make it! You were the reason we were late in submitting our finalists because we were debating, and considering much like you guys are doing now for which to remain in the final vote. In the end, it came down to overall execution, refinement, subtlety, skill level and consistency. It wasn’t because you didn’t do a fantastic job already to make it this far, it was probably one little minor or noticeable gripe (a finalist did not possess) that was like a thorn by my side that I couldn’t shake loose! Some of you were also barely squeaked out of the Final Five. In fact, we were sitting with Final Seven for quite some time which included both Andrea Errico and Laura Galiffe. In the end, I went with my gut instincts and these are the Final Five that I felt were most deserving, perhaps some remained because of personal preference but in my mind that’s what made them even more worthy!
Hope you can live with the decisions of the judges and I. There is a reason they are here and not the others. If they are in the Final Five they are there for good reason! Now enjoy the contest and vote for your favorite submission already! Geez!
October 12th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
@Alfred: Ok, thank you for the reply! Have a nice evening (I guess is so in your country).
October 12th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
@Alvin: no problem, is a contest and I just ask some advice
Thx a lot for beeing patient and replying us all.
October 12th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
@Sagi – Yea, I was having trouble deciding. But most of my buddies were for the third one. Thanks for taking a look at my blog!
@dson50 – Hey, thank you
@XaVoR85 – Surething!
October 12th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Wow! the final ones are so shiney! Well done to everyone who made final five and honourable mentions! Also, I didn’t think the critique given was harsh at all, in fact I’d have loved to have mine critiqued too!
I’ve seen critique that slaughtered, but this is critique helps to point out the flaws and stimulates creative growth ^^
I’d like mine to be critiqued if you guys have the time! Really! I’m used to critique (my lecturers throughout my life were A LOT more harsh by millions XD so I be super grateful if you could hit me with it). I’ve learnt to deal with it-seriously! When I look at my piece in comparison with the finalists and I can see that it doesn’t “pop” but I can’t for the life of me figure out why? @__@ Even a couple of words about it would be nice, I’m still a beginner in terms of colouring so I’d welcome any/all crit (please?)
On to my two cents on my fave of the finalists!
I like Fabian “Monk” Schlaga’s piece the most, because of it’s creative use of textures and blending of flame out of focus, I also like that it used the flame to create different colours, in fact it reminds me of washed out printing or water colours, maybe even sepia tones?? The spread of the flame being added was also a great idea!! (the flecks of flame spray I mean) and really brings it together! I hope this one wins! (also I have to mention that me opinion is without bias in terms of “he’s popular at the cons” because till just now I’d never heard of him *I fail… epically when it comes to knowing the people to know* so that theory doesn’t apply to me.) Good luck Mr. Schlaga!!!!
Thanks for hosting such an amazing competition! I’ll be sure to enter your next one too XD – already entered the Tribute books competitions for Darkstalkers and Street Fighter previously so I hope you’ll get used to seeing my name… EVERYWHERE XD. Strangely, I feel like I improve a ton with each entry into your comps! So thankys! ^^
October 12th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
congrats and best luck to the 5 finailsts!..ill have to work a lot more on my colors next time, keep up the great work!
October 12th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
hey great job to all the finalists and honorable mentions, there are truly some gems in there! To the finalists good luck although I think we know who the winner might be and well deserved also!
It’s been a huge honor coloring this piece and although there’s some disappointment for not making the cut, it does nothing else but push me forward and keep at it. I mean after all I just started doing digital coloring like two months ago, so I can’t beat myself too much.
Now, and I’m totally jumping on the bandwagon here but if you guys are still up for it, I would really appreciate some critique on my piece. See what worked, what didn’t and what did it lacked that didn’t made it.
Again thanks a lot for the opportunity and the great honor!
October 12th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Whoa! if we keep this up, guys, Alvin’s going to be giving people critiques all night!
…but if you DO have a moment to spare, I would really appreciate a bit of concrit on my submission… not so much personal preference (obviously Alvin did not like mine off the bat, that goes without saying), but more of an objective critique of how I could’ve made it better for a ‘comic colorist’ portfolio?
I’d also totally be up for critiques from anyone else who reads this! (just click my name to see my entry) We could all do a critique exchange or something
October 12th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Nice work all, hope to see something like this again in the future Alvin!
October 12th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Fabian definitely got my vote, it’s the most unique of the bunch. I especially like how he degraded the ends of that swirl graphic, quite stunning actually.
I think the concept behind Raineiro’s submission is intriguing but in my opinion suffers due to the lighting on the characters being too soft, if that makes any sense.
That’s my two cents, of course my abilities pale compared to any one of these guys, kudos to all of them.
October 12th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Incredible!! I only wish I was able to finish out(wasn’t able to work the backgrounds, texture flourish or finish the halo backlite).
I’ll come back stronger next time, mos def!!
I am in shock I made it, all that belly-achin for nothing. Though I feel for those who didn’t get confirmations.
Congrats on other finalists, superb work with great time and care put into each. The polish is just phenominal.
Monk, great texture, color and effects! I’d vote for you if my measily piece wasnt so laggin in the polls, lol. great work!
Fontaine, I’m in love w/ your flame wisps- perfectly executed.
Cobo, awsome and bold direction that is simple but obviously does the job.
Araya, great colors and I def like the blue textured background.
Thanks everyone for your support!!
-Seth
October 12th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
@Site Admin – Alfred
Thanks a lot for the critique!I’ll make sure my next piece stands out!
October 12th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
Ok guys..we have a little detail about this contest here,.all we know alvin here and his art..and paintings are amazing we fans. but.. seriosly..they are better works on this contest was great to see in the final list.. some of you guys know some talented people around this contest and its ok but,,hey alvin you truly master of the universe they are more talented painting on this shit to be on the list no works looks like unfinished like Raineiro Cobos, in obseravtion this most incomplete palet color looks like unfinished work,.. but hey you are the master of the universe..we are fan of you work.. dont forget that but man cmon.. seriosly?
they are people realy talented people who read the faq and the rules on this one challenge you made to try to do they best work, an this dude looks like never read this one. seem like no to be on the finalist.
in other way– they are a guy (Seth D Jones SALAMANDROS ON deviant.) who send the material LATE. cuz the “mamon” seems never read the rules FAQ cuz forget the mail who the send his work, this is a joke seriosly . and sending later..and you choise his work for the finalist.. cmon man. seriosly we love you work but here we are seee you need more respect for truly work and respect for they people who read serioly the FAQS. youre faqs man.
for this one, this guy post here the detail. of his forgot thing mail:
((((~salamandros Oct 3, 2009, 3:16:13 AM
hey alvin, thanks for the color challenge opportunity! i have a question though, i sent my file in before midnight to colorchallenge@alvinleeart.com which it said in the contest rules. i later found out in the web FAQ there was another address. by that time, it was too late. did your admin accept ones going to the colorchallenge mail address??
P.S.
ALVIN WE love you work seriosly
October 13th, 2009 at 12:22 am
Great job done everyone! I totally respect the decision made the judges and kudos to them for putting in the hard work reviewing so many submissions! We should most definitely give them credit for that.
Voted casted!
Glad to see so many great submissions. They are indeed deserving.
(P.S: I see some people asking for critiques here, so i was wondering if I could have some feedback as well? But it’s totally fine if the admins are too busy.
Can totally understand that 
)
October 13th, 2009 at 12:37 am
My apologies to those responsible, not wishing to be insightful I must say …
Something doesn’t make much sense …
Obvious that the finalists, with the exception of Monk, are below (some of them a lot) of the level shown by the participants listed in the section for “remarkable”.
Which is not very consistent, Is not the idea that the best runners are in?
I refer to technical shortcomings, too soft gradients, unique light sources that harm the individual reading of collage, unique shade temperatures to all persons in the collage, whatever.
I think the competition is unattractive “in sport terms” in such conditions.
It would be much more appropriate and interesting that in the group of voting were the best profession and level. (George Messer, Andrea Errico, for example.)
Really gives the impression that it is easy to unfairly left one participant
October 13th, 2009 at 12:41 am
thank you very well said!
October 13th, 2009 at 12:46 am
@admin: pity you wont be givin any other critique, i was goin to ask if you could critique my work because i think its very important comming from one of the judges or alvin himself, but i do understand and i think u guys picked some good ones…im quite honoured to be just featured, i might work harder next time! we all should do.
my vote is for Monk, not because he’s the most popular, i think its a really god entry, great colors and it really stands out from the other 4, plus, the textures make it look really really cool
my second one is the one of dANNY araya, ibuki’s part looks pretty cool n.n
October 13th, 2009 at 2:00 am
These entries were amazing…good luck to the finalists. Means I’ve really got to work hard if I want to improve my skills.
@Site Admin-Alfred Is it possible to get a critique as well?
I know you must get asked a lot, but this was my first real digital painting and I want to know how I did.
October 13th, 2009 at 4:35 am
Hy, im a huge fan of your work, and i love everything related to street fighter, so thats why i was eager to know the finalists, of this contest, and really i feel a little dissapointed, as i see no contest on this “contest” , also i find it very disturbing that i watched your pages days, ago and i found a comment by salamandros a.k.a Seth D Jones saying that he didn make it on time, and sent the mail to another mail, i find it a lack of respect to the guys who made it on time, and check out the rules of this contests, i like way better some of the notable submissions, than some of the finalists, hope it will be better next time
October 13th, 2009 at 7:33 am
@Coshito
yeah, it would of suckd big time if people cheated their way in. But that’s, of course, not what happened.
I actually did make it on time. With question, I asked about which mail address I should of sent my piece to. As in the ‘faqs’, there was a different submission address than in the ‘contest rules section’. I actually sent in my submission 10:30pm 9/30 to the one stated in the contest rules, not FaQS section. Thats why I was going all crazy -becuase i didnt get a confirmation, becuase the rules werent clear. Sorry if thats confusing
October 13th, 2009 at 8:12 am
Nala did some fantastic work. Voted.
October 13th, 2009 at 9:58 am
Congratulations for the Alvin Lee and your team and all those people who participated in the contest.
Hey Alfred i would like to have a critic of my submission, I want to improve my skills ^^
thanks very much
October 13th, 2009 at 10:25 am
First off, thanks again to both Alvin and Alfred for hosting the contest and putting up an opportunity like this. I had a lot of fun working on this and quite clearly so did a whole lot of other people. I’m more than honored to have made it to the finalists as well and I’m sure the others feel the same.
I voted for Seth’s piece, personally I love his take on it. I’m not usually one for pieces with a more airbrushed look, but in this case it works awesomely. The softness doesn’t detract anything from the individual shapes, or from the piece as a whole at all in my opinion. Also I love color palette, the really cold blue shadows are a nice touch.
If Jorge would have made it to the finals it would have been a tough call for me though, would have probably voted for him then. In general there are some truly great submissions in the runners up category though; Fifi’s, Cassie’s and Teben’s (Stephen) pieces I really enjoyed too.
Addressing any potential hard feelings: public polls are always a popularity contest in one way or another, but I like to think the voters were smart enough and had the common sense to decide based on the images themselves, and their personal opinions thereof, instead of anything else.
Lastly, of course I’d like to thank anyone that voted for me so far for the support. It means a lot to me and I’d absolutely invite you all to my house warming party if I ever had one. :]
October 13th, 2009 at 10:30 am
@ Admin-Alfred or Alvin..
I would like to know did u even got my submission.. http://nixuboy.deviantart.com/art/Street-fighter-tribute-entry-138650020
Cuz I didin’t got any confirmation mail.. And if u guys dit got it would it be too bad to mail me back what u liked it and what u disliked.
I would really appreciate ur anwers.
Thanks
Niko Metsälä
October 13th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
@anotherartistithaway: Your post ended in our spam catcher, I had to approve your post.
I think you are overreacting… seriously.
My response: Alvin and I truly believe Raineiro’s entry was very creative. Infact and I’ll quote Alvin: “I would be comfortable if this peice won (the contest), it’s that good.”. I’ve analyzed this piece for hours and even pulled this into Photoshop to look at the details up close. The cool thing about it is that each character actually has some color within, ie; Ryu’s head band and gloves has a tint of red, Q’s hat as well as Hugo’s shirt, Alex’s hair & Sean’s gi has a slight yellow tone etc. It’s very very subtle, but very cool that it’s actually there. Ontop of that, the light blue tint is very detailed and accurately added to the piece, which shows adept levels of light and shadow (despite how low the levels were). I can’t convince you once you feel negative about it, art is very subjective and personally there are lovers and there are haters to every piece of work. We so happened to see the beauty of it in what some others could not. I admit, when I first saw it I didn’t know what to think of it, but it grew on me…
Raineiro – Alfred Experiment
I’ll post up my version of Raineiro’s peice right here, and perhaps this might enlighten some of you. Basically I made some color modifications and contrast/level adjustments aiming for a warmer and slightly brighter hue, no addition layers or brushes were added to get this effect. After the modification, you can clearly see some of the color separations etc.
Courtesy of Raineiro of course, and I hope he doesn’t get upset about it.
As for Seth, prior to the end of the contest, SETH went berserk and literally spammed both our emails being afraid that he would have missed the contest. When infact he had already submitted his entry multiple times. We actually received his first submission on Sept 30@10:35pm, and then subsequent ones before and after the deadline.
October 13th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
hy Alfred i would really like to know what did Alvin think about my submission?
Best
October 13th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Wow Jorge, didn’t expect you would ask this…
Like I said in a couple messages before. Alvin thinks very highly of it, your skills are top notch and I’m even confident in saying that you have a career ahead of you if you don’t already. Your skill is quite honestly higher than some colorists that are in the field. It just so happened that Alvin thought that your piece wasn’t as good, as the final 5, which had nothing to do with your technical art skill but the overall package presented before us…
October 13th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
hy Alfred thankz, yeah i noticed, my problem is that i went in a more traditional direction, maybe i was thinking sf3 is more niche, ans the characters arent that famous like sf2 characters, thats why i didnt mess so much with their colors, anyway i loved to be in your contest, and i would surely love to do a collab with alvin , to redeem myself
October 13th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
I like Alfred experiment, more interesting. He adds more impact to the original Raineiro colors.
October 13th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
You know…I asked Site admin Alfred a day or two ago what my flaw was to becoming in the top 5 or the noteables. Well, he gave his critique and I just flat out took it as a huge insult, but now that I look back on that comment. It was not bad at all. I think the reason why I reacted the way I did is because I never get real critiques like that about my work, so I think it was just a bit overwhelming for me that day, but damn was that not a bad critique at all. It was completely constructive and to the point without bashing my work in a negative way.
Basically what I’m trying to say is that I apologize to my reacted response Alfred. I appreciate the critique and I hope next time I never do that again. It’s a reality I just have to face. Again, thanks for your time responding to my work.
October 14th, 2009 at 6:02 am
Good work Raineiro!! your paint got the essence of light, shape and shadows. Steps beyond of realism!!!
Ganbatte!!
October 14th, 2009 at 10:27 am
@Site Admin – Alfred
Hi Alfred, if you aren’t already tired of giving feedback I was wondering if you had any suggestions/criticisms for my piece. I entered this contest for the learning experience so if you had any knowledge to drop I’d greatly appreciate it. Thanks for the opportunity!
Congratulations to all the finalists and honorable mentions. I see now that I have a lot to learn about rendering!
October 14th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Hi, Alfred and Alvin!
I usually don´t paint. Actually, I prefer inks, that´s why my work has some inked blacks.
First of all, thanks a lot for the contest. I´ve really enjoyed it a lot
I know that a lot of people are asking you about your opinion about their own works, so if you can´t answer me I understand. But I really want to know what do you think about my piece, because it´s my first work done in painter and I want to improve
Thanks in advance!
October 14th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
Nala Fontaine!
October 15th, 2009 at 9:47 am
Hi Alvin and Alfred,
I feel really honored to be chosen as one of the notables. Thanks a lot for the opportunity. It’s been a great experience and challenging to be able to color such wonderful lineart, I hope I can have another chance in the future. Congratulations to other finalists and notables as well, you all have done very well.
Personally, I like Fabian’s work. It’s very mature both in technique and sense of art as well design. I vote for him
Thanks also for those who like my submission
October 15th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Okay… this is now more than weird.
Are you sure the voting engine is working correctly? How is it that we had a clear result at the beginning with Monk having a clear lead… and all of a sudden Danny’s percentage started skyrocketing, increased nearly tenfold and isn’t slowing down, while not even Monk is getting any increase?
Something is odd here, I’ve seen a broken vote engine before where no matter what you chose it would always register as the first choice of the list and this is looking exactly like it.
Not saying that Danny’s awesome piece doesn’t deserve such wide recognition, but come on, something is not right here.
October 15th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Even if you read the comments – a great most of people say they voted for Monk, yet his percentage is going down fast, and Danny’s went up 10% only since this morning…
I’m absolutely positive the voting engine is not doing its job.
October 16th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
UPDATE: Voting now is only allowed via IP address, once the vote is place, it will not allow you to vote again despite having different computers. The method before was through cookies which was more lenient and more susceptible to abuse. Thanks Jonster for the heads up!
For those that still want either confirmation or a personal critique, send your request to info@alvinleeart.com. I’ve decided not to place my critiques as available public information.
October 18th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
I’m sorry but there’s one finalist that bogs my mind as to why that piece is up there with the finalist considering that some of the notables are way better. and that this piece done by Raineiro Cobos Castro.
God there’s no excuse for that entry being there. even if you think the idea is good, the rendering of the image is not top notch.
Seriously you have to be high as a kite not to have that Andrea Errico piece in there instead.
that aside I’ll vote for Monk,
October 18th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
MONK COLORS ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!
October 19th, 2009 at 7:01 am
Hi I just wanted to comment on the current rise of Danny’s piece. He is a current graduate of the Art Institute of Washington. I, one of his professors, noticed that he made it as a finalist and let the school know about the competition. As a result one could see that people there liked his art. I just think that a lot of people that he knew started voting after they found out that he was in a contest as a finalist.
Just thought I would let you guys know.
October 19th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Huh. I have to admit I’ve barely been following this competition, and recently became aware of the rise. I know that I’ve had some support from people at my old school that like my work, and I’ve also gotten quite a few notes from people on DA saying they voted from me. It’s been a little strange, as if people are embarrassed to say that they didn’t vote for Monk. Contests always seem to bring up really strange issues like this, so all I can say is VOTE FOR WHO YOU THINK DESERVES TO WIN.
That’s all it comes down to! Monk’s, mine, Raineiro’s, Nala’s, or Seth’s.
I really don’t want any kind of weird stupid art drama over the internet, just keep this as fun and honest as possible.
October 19th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
How many hundreds of thousands of students does the school have, and how come the supersonic rise magically stopped the very moment I commented about it?
I’m not accusing you, Danny – it could have been someone elses bad idea of helping you out, or like I assumed first a glitch of the system itself.
The fact is Monk’s, Nala’s, Raineiro’s and Seth’s votes stayed exactly how they were. Monk was the clear winner with nearly 50% of all votes. Nala was a solid second with 16 or 17%. You were a good third with 12 or 13, Seth fourth, and Raineiro, being so controversial, had 1.
This changed over just one day… the change is just too big and too quick. And magically stopped increasing when it was noticed? Let’s say the students really did make such a difference… Mr Tillman, of course they would vote for their fellow student/graduate – loyalties of this kind have always been an issue in this type of contest. It’s human nature. Didn’t you think at least for a moment this move might be a little bit unfair to the other contestants?
Well there you go, the extra support took Nala’s second place from her.
I’m NOT saying here that Danny’s piece does not deserve it. I’m saying the vote should have been left alone to follow its natural course. If what you did really did have such an effect – then you pretty much jumbled it all up beyond repair… I still doubt, however, the difference would have been this great…
Either way, just like Danny himself said – this should be as honest (and fun…) as possible.
Alfred, Alvin… sorry about the mess – I just can’t stop my common sense from tingling -_-
October 20th, 2009 at 7:09 am
@mrx – gosh, im not saying that im not surprised im up there myself, but give alvin a little credit. he obviously saw something beyond technique that caught his eye. the dual tone unified the piece overall versus many others that had alot of colors that clashed cuasing distracting offbalance. At first i agree, it seemed like it was rushed becuase maybe the artist didnt have time to put in every color, skin tone or detail. i agree, it definitely wouldnt be my first choice, but i can see the strength of it. remember, alvin is a professional that comes across many elite artists day to day, he prolly deserves the benefit of the doubt.
there are many i think, in the notables, that surpassed my piece. thats only my opinion, i’m also not one judges tho.
i dont deserve to be up there obviously
October 20th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
I don’t know, I guess. Although I feel like anyone entered in a contest usually gets votes from their friends, I can’t apologize for attending a college and having a lot of friends and supporters there.
Either way, I was pretty sure from the get go (and I’m sure most people would agree) that Monk was going to win. The prizes are nice, but I’m not trying to slit some throats for them. I just entered because I like Alvin Lee’s work and I like Street Fighter. This is getting more scandalous and complicated than I would have liked, I just wanted to do some art and have some fun.
October 20th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Thanks Danny.
No, I do not agree with Salamander. Getting friends to vote is totally acceptable, however it would be best if the votes were purely of what they felt was really better and not because of a friendship. There’s no way we can moderate or control that though and we’ll have to go with the results based on an honor system.
I have to agree with you on your comments, personally I found the commenting here has been too controversial lately and I have been refraining to moderate the commenting by respecting free speech. However, it’s now coming to a borderline which it’s becoming more of a problem.
October 20th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
@Site Admin – Admin lol, i think you meant ‘jonster’. i havent commented on the friend vote issue yet, and for good reason.
October 20th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
lol thats proof that I’m completely losing it… lol carry on!
October 21st, 2009 at 8:47 am
Oh for the love of kittens…
This is why I don’t prefer popularity contests, I have never been popular. Yet for someone like me to make it this far, I’d say it’s quite a step.
I had applied what I had learned over the years, but what really made me enter this contest was the feeling that I got out of the super lineart. It got me addicted to it. Every time I left my computer, I longed to continue colouring this piece. I had to pace myself or risk crippling my hand from colouring so much. I wanted to bring out the explosion of power that was emanating from the drawing, a surge that coursed through my veins.
I still have so much learning to do when it comes to colouring, giving dimension. So much more practice ahead of me. Maybe I need to enter some more contests, I’ve seldom participated before.
Alfred,
you’ve been fantastic so far with trying to help everyone and keeping things under control.
And thank you everyone who enjoyed my entry whether or not you voted for it, and thank you Alvin for enjoying it this much. It’s been an honor to please you all.
All these entries display so much skill in colouring, congratulations to you all for your amazing jobs.
Let’s all learn from eachother!
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Fabian Schlaga for me too
October 23rd, 2009 at 10:29 pm
I vote for Nala Fontaine!
October 25th, 2009 at 10:39 am
Its obvious who is going to win now! lol, XD
Congratz to all the finalists. You guys did good. Ya did good.
October 27th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
I had to put in my two cents into this as well. Since it seems that some accusations have been flying around.
I don’t think letting my students know about this competition was an unfair advantage to Danny. The majority of the students that are at this school didn’t know about it. I did not controll who they voted for. I just said check out this competition and vote.
As far as why did the rise stop. Well…. there are only so many students in this college. Eventually it was going to have to stop. I once again did make a push for the competition. It is a public vote and well the students here are part of the public and they just didn’t know so I told them.
All in all I would like to congradulate all the finalist. You did a great job
October 28th, 2009 at 8:42 am
Que buena represenacion de Colombia
October 28th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
@ Brian Tillman
if there are any accusations “flying around”, they certainly aren’t mine. I haven’t accused anybody – merely made observations of some peculiar facts, and expressed my concern. My first thought was a glitch in the vote engine itself… Whoever said anything about accusations?
Apparently, Alfred thought the concerns were valid enough to warrant a change in the voting engine.
As for having friends vote… of course it’s okay! It’s natural – we can’t be expected to hide stuff from our friends, can we?
But letting the school know was, in my eyes, a few steps too far… you see, I’m a teacher myself – BA at teaching English (ESL). I only followed that career for one year, since I also have a Master’s in Architecture, but I do have a pretty good idea how things work.
If one of my students was participating in a contest, I definitely would NOT tell the school about it – I would leave it to them, if they wanted to do so. School pride is a very powerful factor. Students would certainly vote for their own, and in the end, the results would have no real meaning, the achievement would be hollow.
That’s why I would want my student’s contest to remain unbiased, so that the results would be of actual value to them – as a measure of real achievement.
As I said – of course inviting friends to vote is fine. I never said it wasn’t. But there’s quite a bit of a difference between that and having an entire school go vote. Regardless if you’d encourage them to make their own choice, nearly all students would always vote for their own anyway… it’s pretty obvious and to be expected. That is why I would never do so myself. And this is why I was pretty upset when it happened.
Normally, I’m very much against public votes in a contest like this as they tend to be pretty messy. They tend to turn into popularity contests, where, for example, a tracer with a ton of copied Naruto fanart in their portfolio would usually win against a far superior artist who mostly creates original, unpopular material. It’s one of the most upsetting problems on DeviantArt, for instance.
This particular vote was actually amazingly clean and unbiased – up until that moment. It’s just no fun anymore when it turns into a contest of whose school is bigger.
I was quite upset about such a turn of events, and if, in my frustration, I ended up saying something that seemed harsh to anyone – I apologize. My opinion on the school announcement, however, still stands…
October 29th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
wow.. that’s too dificult to have voted.. every finalists have story inside their color which served.. and than i’ve got 2 optional.. between Daniel and Fabian.. btw, congratulation for all finalists..
November 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
mi vote is for carlos reinero!
November 15th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
I need to know who was the winner.
I didnt see any update about the contest.
November 22nd, 2009 at 9:49 pm
hey guys, when do the contest finishes?
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:55 pm
who is the winnner?
November 30th, 2009 at 4:45 am
i haven’t recieved any notifications concerning prize distribution. i assume due to scheduling allotment, it has been delayed or i’ve missed some details concerning the five finalists. is there anyone to shed light on this? i am not too concerned, just curious.
January 2nd, 2010 at 9:37 pm
i like the big highlights in Muhammed Ansar Ali work. i think is has the most udon-look of all.
…monks is pure epic.
big up 2 all!
peace
February 25th, 2010 at 10:38 pm
[...] some of you already know here’s the winner of the DIGITAL COLOR CHALLENGE done by the very talented, Fabian “Monk” Schlaga of Kassel, [...]