FEBRUARY CONTEST

Hopper12 · 3 Mar 2018, 01:46

@chip-valecek Thank you for putting this together- it is SO much easier to see now!

April S. · 3 Mar 2018, 15:43

@eli Thank you so much!

Johanna Kim · 3 Mar 2018, 19:41

@jessica-jolicoeur Thanks so much, Jessica! I did spend a lot of time and thought on this concept and illo. And I'm always grateful for any suggestions for improvement.

bloodycnidaria · 6 Mar 2018, 03:50

@lindasilvestri LOL this is amazing

nasvikdraws · 6 Mar 2018, 18:04

All look great. Great array of styles and topics. Good job guys

lindasilvestri · 7 Mar 2018, 06:28

@bloodycnidaria Thank you!!!

12 Mar 2018, 17:29

@johanna-kim Kim, I really like your illustration a great deal. It's got so much of "everything" that makes a story fun to read. The art is a perfect solution, IMHO. Congrats on coming in second place! -T

MOO · 13 Mar 2018, 05:27

Congratulations to the winners! All of those chosen were so good!

Zavellart · 13 Mar 2018, 17:49

I don't think it's fair to only have one judge, just saying. Too subjective. I'm honestly not too happy with this month's results.

Jason Bowen · 13 Mar 2018, 18:30

@adameverafter Try not to see it as a competition, see it as prompts to create your best work for your portfolio. We are all winners haha... no seriously

evilrobot · 13 Mar 2018, 18:55

@adameverafter I wouldn't take it so personal. The level of skill and dedication of a lot of members of SVS is super high.(these ARE going to be future illustrators of children's books and some of them already are) It's pretty hard to expect to place at the top. I look at who places and then use that to try and figure out why? Concept, skill, a combination of both. I then use that to try and improve on my next one. But for the most part it's about doing the best work you can and getting a great portfolio piece.
(For the record I thought the winning piece was pretty darn cool...)

Chip Valecek · 13 Mar 2018, 20:21

@adameverafter Lee has an extremely hard time having to judge all the art that comes in. So many different styles and subjects. Yes it is just one person that is picking, yes most of the pieces are in a traditional style each month. Back when they did the 3rd Thursday contests there was more of a variety of styles that would win each month. But that is also because their were 3 judges picking and each of the judges had their style they liked. But isn't that how all contests are? The more judges, the bigger the variety. Take in mind what @evilrobot said, look at the winners, see what they are doing and keep at it. I have been doing these contests for months, as well as the third Thursdays. Have I ever won? Nope. Is it frustrating? Yeap , but each month I look at why and try my hardest to improve on that.

Lee White · 14 Mar 2018, 02:52

@adameverafter I hear ya and appreciate the feedback. Any contest is going to be at the mercy of the judges and the reason I judge this one is that I came up with the idea of running the monthly contests as a way to keep some of what we were doing before. It's just something I like doing and something I hope you guys like contributing to as well. There is no way I can pick a winner without someone thinking that it shouldn't have won. That is the nature of contests I guess. Even if we had 10 judges we still have to pick someone to win which means someone else won't like the results we came up with.

In terms of style and content, I have taught thousands of students and guided them through all sorts of styles. I started out as a very realistic oil painter which many people don't know about. All I taught for the first few years was portrait and figurative drawing and painting. I minored in Entertainment Design and industrial design at school and taught a lot of that stuff too. So in terms of judging, I'm pretty open to any style and appreciate them all. In this month's contest winners and honorable mentions we had graphic styles, rendered styles, painterly styles, pencil, watercolor, digital and everything in between. The only thing that we don't see too much of is traditional art, but that would be perfectly acceptable if someone wanted to submit that. About 95% of our students are digital to some extent.

There is no way any results would make everyone happy, but we do the best we can. You can always list the ones you think should have won as well. Your opinion counts and you should feel confident knowing that there could have been any number of winners. I just have to make a decision at some point which is the nature of contests. Someone wins and a lot of people don't. But ultimately I hope everyone is getting portfolio work out of the illustrations they are submitting. In the end it's not really who won that matters, it's did you get something that you like out of it. If you did that, you already won no matter what the contest results say. : )

Kat · 14 Mar 2018, 12:51

Lee, I think you do a great job judging the contest that you run. You've got to be a bit overwhelmed by the number of entries, and how many are great work. I really like that there are several Honorable Mentions included, so there really are multiple winners each month. And I also like that you make a statement about why each piece was chosen. It's helpful to those of us who don't win, if we are willing to listen and learn. So, thank you!

Jason Kilthau · 14 Mar 2018, 14:08

I hope to one day be chosen as well but I know I definitely have a lot to work on. I like the contests/challenges more because if I am ever in a month where I don't know what to create, I can look to the monthly challenge prompt.
Also I think it's super awesome to see what the prompt is and just see how many different pieces come out of it. I hope they don't stop regardless of who is top 3 and the honorable mentions!

Zavellart · 21 Mar 2018, 03:20

@lee-white not trying to be nit-picky or take anything away from the winners. Obviously I know not everyone can win and will agree with the results. It was just a little sad to me this time around that my piece and Johanna's piece were overlooked and not even mentioned when so much work and detail went into them and were both very inspired. So fine, I'll stand up for them and get that off my chest. I don't need the validation because I know my piece was a triumph whether or not everyone got it, though maybe I should put it up for critique somewhere. Again, not trying to be disrespectful.

RHirsch · 21 Mar 2018, 04:23

I haven't been able to enter a contest for some time here, but a few thoughts from me: any art contest that's run for free on the personal time of the judge is a good contest. Whenever we enter, we of course all hope we'll win or place, and quite naturally. When I started entering contests, I would get crushed much more easily - it's hard to put your work out there and face rejection repeatedly. I had to switch my mindset. Entering contests, for me, becomes less about competing with the other entrants (though it's a part of it), and more about competing with myself. Did I hit the concept? Did I submit a clean entry I didn't rush on? Am I proud of what I put out there? Is it better then what I did last time? Did I learn something from it and can I grow from there? Competition in this business is stiff, and any work we do to push ourselves to grow, to try something we hadn't before, can't fail to help us in the long run. So let's have fun and take some chances, worry less about the outcome and more about figuring out our process. Congratulations to all entrants for putting yourselves out there. Thanks Lee, and happy creating.