Winter Art Challenge - Winners! by depingo on DeviantArt (original) (raw)
The winner has been chosen!
You can watch the recorded stream here if you want to...
> see all the entries and the studies
> hear a short critique/comment/tip on each one
> learn why the winners were chosen
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Third place: Phoebe Wood PhoebeWood
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Second Place: Michael Witmann 2tall4yall
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Winner: Luisa Preißler LuisaPreissler
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The other amazing participants (in no particular order)
Go and give them some love for being awesome!
Alex Arscott MarsWater
Seleia Aleynia
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Jakub Wiśniewski badbaddog
Lena LeoCandens
Ludvik Skopalik LudvikSKP
Nuriya RisingAngelss
Styles Osunde vansty
Tiago Talexior
Thilo Schön JNLN
Thank you all so much for participating! 
I hope you had fun creating your paintings and I hope it was a good incentive to start studying and improving your art! 
There will be more challenges like this one in the future, so look out!
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Original post:
As promised on livestream, here is a little challenge for you!
Create a winter/holiday themed painting that you can then send out as a holiday card!
This is a very vague theme, I know. But I want you to try and come up with something that will represent your own ideal ‘art job’ - something that you’ll have a lot of fun creating, something you can put in your portfolio, something that could be a part of a personal project or something you can send to clients (or potential clients) to give them a better idea of what kind of art you like to create.
Anyone is free to join!
The winner receives
this very comprehensive book on the anatomy of both humans and animals. I’ll ship it to you for free, anywhere in the world! (the text in the book is in German, but it’s the pictures that are the important thing anyway)
an hour-long 1-on-1 portfolio review/critique/mentoring session
a signed MtG artist proof of your choice with a personalized sketch on the back!
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Deadline - December 15th 2015
That way you’ll still have time to maybe print and send your finished painting to family, friends and (potential?) clients!
Submit by either sending me a note here on deviantart with links to your final painting and studies OR by e-mailing me at annasteinbauer -at- gmail.com
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But here’s the catch: You need to do studies alongside your painting! This is something you should really be doing as much as possible anyway, ideally for every painting, to really maximize your progress. If you’ve never done this before, now is the time to begin! Start building those good habits before the new year comes 
How to Win
The winner will be chosen based on how much work and effort they have put into both the studies and the finished painting, as well as on the progress made. Basically, this challenge is all about improving your art!
Studies
Not so sure about the pose? - Draw some gestures! Either from life or photos, using very convenient tools like artists.pixelovely.com/practic…
Can’t come up with a good composition? - Take a look at some Master artists! Analyze and study how they handled their compositions.
Having trouble with anatomy? - So many options! Andrew Loomis’ books (Drawing the Head and Hands; Figure Drawing for All It’s Worth) are a great start, as is Michael Hampton’s Figure Drawing: Design and Invention. Always supplement what you learn from books with studies from photo or - better yet - life!
Don’t know how to paint skin/hair/fur/metal/cloth/etc? - Study that material and remember the steps you took to recreate that look! Ideally from life if possible, but photo studies are great too.
Any other problems? - Get creative! Use your brain and try to figure out what kind of studies could help you with your particular issue. Look around forums to see what other people have done. If you're really stuck, feel free to ask!
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Q&A
Q: Do I have to do studies to take part in the challenge?
A: Yes.
Q: Do the studies have to be new and specifically created for this challenge?
A: Of course! The point is to improve! Please, please don’t cheat here - it’s not only unfair to the others taking part in the challenge, but also to yourself. Why would you cheat yourself out of an opportunity to improve your art? D.B.A.A.
Q: Does it have to be digital art?
A: Not at all! As long as it’s drawn/painted (and not photobashed or whatever), anything goes!
Q: Do I have to send my final painting to people as a holiday card?
A: It’s not a requirement. But the goal is to create something you’re proud of - your best work yet after all the work you’ve put into the studies - so why not show it off and wish people happy holidays at the same time?
Q: Can I submit my entry early?
A: By all means, be my guest!
Q: Why does the winner get an anatomy book? Shouldn’t the person with the least developed skills get something to learn with?
A: I’d like to think that the winner will be the person to show the biggest hunger to learn - therefore the one that would make the most out of a good book.
Any more questions? Please feel free to add them in the comments here!