F-Art Battle 2011 - the year in review

Well, it hasn't been a full year, but this year's F-Art battle has come to a close. There have been a lot of drama as usual and an unexpected end so instead of having a usual vote thread, I decided to use this time to make a post looking back at this year and refreshing our memories of some of the great art that came out of this.

For me, I've enjoyed coming up with the themes for each month, especially some of the more unique themes. I looked at this competition as a way to challenge the artists each month and have them stretch in ways they wouldn't always think of if they were just doing art for themselves. The downside was that while I wanted to include more people and include some extra bells and whistles with the points, following the rules to the letter became an issue. This was probably the biggest failing of this year's contest. But while the competition may have suffered, it did allow for two great artists to participate that wouldn't have been allowed to otherwise. And for me, that made it worth it.

And with every month-end post, I'd like to feature the art that was submitted for this month. Since there is no voting, I'm putting these in posting order as usual. This final month's theme was Ouroboros.

Darth Delicious


Liz


And not only that, but as a measure of good faith, Liz also went back and contributed for the months she wasn't a part of. I'll highlight those pieces along with the links to those months.

January's theme was fire, it was the first month of the battle and I decided to host it on a whim more or less so the first month's theme was picked due to my love for fire as seen with my many Burnt Matchstick characters. I may have selfishly picked this theme in the hope that I might get a free piece of art out of the battle, which I did get one. It was also the start of the controversy where I decided that I should be allowed to enter the battle myself as the pieces were voted on not by myself, but by the forum members. But I was the sole judge for determining elegibility which was questionable for my late, unfinished entry.

This month also included Henri's favorite entry - Inferno


Liz's make-up entry


View the rest of January's art here

February was another month with a fairly simple theme, I chose the theme ice as a compliment to January's theme of fire. I was also disappointed by the number of artists joining this year - it was the lowest amount of all the previous years. So I tried inviting other artists who were posting at the time. Most of them turned me down, but one took me up on that offer - Darth Delicious, who would end up sticking with it almost all the way to the end.

This month had Techbot Alpha's favorite piece.


And while I had decided to remove myself from the competition, this also had my favorite piece made for the contest.


Liz's make-up piece


View the rest of February's entries here

March was the first month with a twist to it - each piece had to include a secret message within it somewhere. I had hoped to include it as a game for the voters to play by guessing each secret message, but only a couple people participated and both of them were also artists. It was really amazing to see what kind of puzzles and tricks were used in all of the pieces.

This also included Airhead's favorite piece.


and Tartyrsause's favorite piece.


and also Defiance Jone's favorite piece, after it was finished.


Liz's make-up piece


View the rest of March's entries here

April's theme was another fairly straightforward theme, off-duty and included another example of my "bending" the rules where I allowed a couple entries after the deadline, though in this instance I don't recall anyone having any problems with that decision. But also this is where I allowed Liz into the contest who had been aware of the contest and had wanted to enter, but had forgotten about it. There were also several people who had to drop out of the contest at this point, and I was aware that Lousy Day would have to drop out soon as well. It may have been a bad decision, but I decided to favor art over rules.

View April's entries here

May's theme went back to another "gimmick" where I again wanted to involve the voting audience, who apparently just wanted to stick with voting as again I only received a couple entries and again they were both from artists. The theme was "anonymous" and I left the artist's names off of the entries for voting and they also had to incorporate the abstract theme of "anonymous" into their piece. This could have also been a more controversial decision when I allowed Lady Judgement to enter with the intent that he would continue, but he decided rightly so to just stick with this single entry which I now think was for the best, especially if the guessing contest had taken off as his entry would have been a surprise wildcard.

View May's entries here

June's theme was back to a standard theme and the start of the eliminations portion of the battle. I chose the theme Tarot and was glad I did because for me, it was my favorite month of this battle.

This month had Liz's favorite piece with her additional in-game style Tarot cards.


View the rest of June's entries here

July's theme was another great month with a special prize - a trailer by Samuraiko for the winning movie poster combined with a description of said trailer. This was yet another month with some controversy. This was the closest month ever for voting and with the combination of an Early Bird point and a single disqualified vote made for a bit of drama and ended in the withdrawal of Battlewraith.

This month had Darth Delicious's favorite piece.


View the rest of July's entries here.

August's theme was another fairly simple theme inspired by the signature story arcs that have just started their release recently. Some great speculation in the entries and we'll eventually see if any of them came close.

View August's entries here.

Again, I'd like to thank everyone for their support throughout this contest and while it was stressful at times, I did enjoy running it. I'd like to end with a couple questions.

What do you think was the best theme? What was the worst? Did you have an overall favorite piece? Was there any specific part that I did differently with this contest that I got "right"?

Oh, and I almost forgot that I wanted to show the progress of the top 3 artists in a little thumbnail collage of all of their entries (not included Liz's extra pieces).

Liz


Christopher Robin


Darth Delicous

Tons of awesome art

Great summary Bubba!

My personal favourite theme was the filmposter. I loved it. And that's not because I won that one, but because I had the most of fun making that piece.
Another one I liked was the "anonymous" theme. It was quite a challange to try and draw outside your usual style (even though I didn't have one at that time *giggles*).

I'm also very fond of the Early Bird system, like I stated before. Eventhough the exact system didn't work 100% properly this year, it will sure have potential for next year!

CoH Fan-Art Sale still several slots open!

Read my in-game stories and check out my DeviantART page.
- coXso - It was a memorable time filled with art!

man I really love Liz's art style.

I love clip shows!

What do you think was the best theme? What was the worst? Did you have an overall favorite piece? Was there any specific part that I did differently with this contest that I got "right"?

Best theme, prolly the most challenging, Anonymous. So many varied styles and themes in one month.

An overall favourite piece out of the competition? Don't think I can make that call because I have a top 2:
Airhead's Anonymous - the most clever entry of that month, brilliant execusion
Battlewraith's Movie Poster - amazing presentation, reminiscent of the classic Star Wars posters.

Having not participated in past f-art battles, I can't speak for how you challenges were different from years past. I have to say I loved and hated you for the extra challenges on months like Anonymous and Movie Poster. That's a good thing.

i know i dropped out early so i don't really count, but i enjoyed the months i was a part of this. Bubba, you're a star for taking this on, i wouldn't, lol. You made changes midway that caused a **** load of controversy, but you did it at every point so that more artists could participate in the comp, that's the right track imo? Salute and thanks for the opportunity to compete

As a dedicated lurker in these contests (I don't dare vote) I deplore how they seem to end with such drama, every time. I hate the eliminations, regardless if they're self-imposed. Every time, the Host seems to come under fire for something someone sees as improper.

Bubbawheat, You did a superb job and seemed to handle everything with aplomb, or at least with dignity. Actually, this recap post is an excellent idea! Show the artz in a positive light, focusing on the growth and skill and FUN we had this year, not to mention the occasional 'oh wow!' or 'LOL'. Remind us why this is (one of) the best part(s) of the Forums.

Let's do it again!

Be Well!
Fireheart

I'd like to see the next one have like a 6month open submission window where artists who find the contest late can jump in and be competitive so long as they catch up on the entries before the first elimination month. But the trick is to find the right balance of letting late comers enter late and still be viable, yet rewarding those who were in from the get go and entering each piece on time...

I'd also like to see the final vote not be between a final piece by each artist but perhaps by their entire gallery of entries, or perhaps even just their chosen 3 or 4 which they think best represents them.