7th Anniversary Fan Art Contest—Results Are In! (05/16/2009)

[Shade]

I think that the piece that won the Mythril prize is rather good. They've controlled their color scheme nicely, and the "lack" of focal point seems intentional. The way theyv'e places all of the figures in a circle, with breathing room in the centre and around the edges, and used the gazes of the characters as a directional tool, lets you follow the flow around the room, from figure to figure. It is clever and well executed.

The 1st place cake one is adorable, just wonderful.

Grats to all the winners and hope everyone who submitted had fun.

[Max™]

Spoiler: show

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/top...imgs/im005.jpg

Who takes full AF Sam + Dnc + Mnk + Pld to Aery... and wins?

You got shafted, Yvonne. T.T

I loved the Goobue and Chocobo ones, incidentally.

[Deelo]

Girl Power, loved it

[Shade]

I'm not suggesting that the judges hated Westerners, but I do kind of wonder if there was any sort of latent bias to support Japanese style art over "deviating" western styles. Seems like most of the winners are done in various types of Japanese styles.

I dunno. You might be surprised at the influence anime/Japanese style has had on "western" artists. Especially in the fanart community. In fact, with fanart it is unusual (and refreshing) to see something that isn't heavily anime influence. Just how it goes. It would be interesting to know which artists were JP and which were NA, but I don't think there was any intentional culling of styles.

[ringthree]

The red does. If you take out the red, the image loses focus, quite a bit. Basic color theory given the earthly tones.

The reason why I'm comparing the two is the use of action and interaction between the characters. While it's given that the artist in the mythril piece does have a set style and foundation, his use of space also causes the characters and overall piece to suffer from lack of focal point. Had he changed the composition's view instead of a basic isometric view, it would have been stronger and professional (I'm pretty sure he isn't an amature either). When comparing the two pieces, one person clearly does have an idea how to set the characters and composition. The other just had to rely on aesthetics.

Also keep in mind that just because something looks perfectly airbrushed, doesn't mean it's superior. It's the content of the illustration and design that makes a piece stand out. I'm sure everyone's tastes in art isn't the same, but perfection and style doesn't always dictate quality, but the content presented. I'm just pointing the merits of the other guy, since both pieces do share common themes. Seated/Standing figures interacting with one another in an enclosed structure.

I understand your explanation, the problem ultimately is that, no matter the mitigating factors, the level of the two isn't comparable. There are too many errors in dimension and proportion which really undermine the aesthetic.

[Zilong]

Yeah, I submitted this one - FFXI 2009 Entry - Rock On by ~PolishTamales on deviantART

A friend of mine did warn me about using the Rock theme since Square might misinterpret it as other properties such as Rock Band or Guitar Hero. Though, it could be Sundi as one of the judges ...LOL, but oh well, grats to my friends on Deviant Art.

There is something that makes me wonder about the judging though. Do they necessarily judge base on technique and execution or primarily on content presented in the work?

There's another artist on Deviant that did a similar piece to the Mythril Prize one. While the Mythril one did set up a nice color palette and style, there's nothing in that piece that has a strong focal point. In a similar piece, the artist may not have such a soft color palette, but there's a focal point. The artist intentionally put the WHM in the middle so the red color would visually balance out the piece. On top of that, there's quite a bit of action in it. Interaction between the characters gave it more of a charm in my opinion than the Mythril Winner, but then again, who am I to judge on good art?

Both piece had its charm and all, but the mythril prize winner is definitely superior IMO.

Sucks that yours and your friend didn't make it and all, but you really chose the wrong entry to rip on, since that's probably one of the better one this year.

[Stromgarde]

Spoiler: show

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/top...imgs/im005.jpg

Who takes full AF Sam + Dnc + Mnk + Pld to Aery... and wins?

You got shafted, Yvonne. T.T

I loved the Goobue and Chocobo ones, incidentally.

There's also a summoner there for the AA rotation!

[Yvonne]

Both piece had its charm and all, but the mythril prize winner is definitely superior IMO.

Sucks that yours and your friend didn't make it and all, but you really chose the wrong entry to rip on, since that's probably one of the better one this year.

I do agree that in terms of craftsmanship, the Mythril is hands down solid for a fanart entry and when compared to the other artist, has fluent experience with the manga style. The reason why I pointed it wasn't out disillusion spite towards the artist or ripping him blindly, but I just felt that the composition was handled without much care given the style. Like I said, had the artist had time or thought of another way of arranging the camera/view of the shot, it would've been spotless. The isometric overview does nothing for me, especially with huge open gaps of space.

I felt the Cupcake one was definitely a wild card out of all the entries, but SE did hinted they were more interested in 3-D art from the recent fanfest. If it wasn't for the Cupcake, I'd much rather see "Like the First Morning" or "Idyllic Advance" take the top honors this year. While First Morning may come off a bit cliche, it's very open to interpretations, which is something that separates it entirely from other entries. Not only for it's flawless execution, but everything was handled professionally. Idyllic Advance just because I can clearly see this used as a marketing image or even used on a FFXI CD cover. It's cute, it's simple, charming and just an overall good design.

Then of course when I look at other entries like "Selbina Bound"... yeah. Well played SE.

[Zilong]

pixiv also has its share of decent entry that doesn't get picked, so I really have no idea what's their criteria of judging

http://img11.pixiv.net/img/dant/4296861_m.gif

http://img16.pixiv.net/img/redsolo/4298559_m.jpg

[deivi]

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/top...imgs/im002.jpg

just one thing that bugs me about this one; the mithra don't have tails

[Sanjiyan]

Glad I didn't waste my time on a piece this year.
Incredible entries.

[Almalexia]

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/top...imgs/im002.jpg

just one thing that bugs me about this one; the mithra don't have tails

DISQUALIFIED.

[Apelila]

Spoiler: show

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/top...imgs/im017.jpg

I liked this one, have no problems with most of the others (#2 looks pretty, but there's better ones that have the same theme)

[Shuemue]

Tarucake is a worthy winner imo

[Knightfell]

Spoiler: show

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/top...imgs/im029.jpg

This one is fucking awesome.

Thought that one was rather cute.

The Galka one above was nifty as well

[Thar]

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/top...imgs/im025.jpg

Final Fantasy IX? lol

[Deelo]

Spoiler: show

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/top...imgs/im017.jpg

I liked this one, have no problems with most of the others (#2 looks pretty, but there's better ones that have the same theme)

omg, the galka one rocks

[miokomioko]

Goobbue is now my background. So good.

[Kipling]

The second prize one is just adorable, the mithras and elvaan girl look so cute.

However, the taru fishing one is amazing as well, haha.

[Kerberoz]

If Buranchi is who I think he is, then that guy should of submitted his "other" art. Would of loved to see SE's reaction to that. Elvaan x mithra go.

Pretty sure it is him, lol