Wow, you all outdid yourselves in our first non-UGO event, Character Contest 80: Wrath! We have a ton of great Finalists to present, so without further ado, here are the ones I thought stood out the most for one reason or another.
No, wait, a few more ados. First, I very much appreciate everyone who takes the time to name their entries properly and to post the direct links. It makes things so much easier.
Second, I believe that dblade is generously starting a new award where he'll randomly select one non-winning Finalist for whom he will do a custom HeroMachine 3 item, which is pretty awesome. Thank you, sir!
Third, I am now in Austin and I start my new job today. I'll be doing my best to keep blog content and administration flowing at its usual pace, but please bear with me during the next week or two as I continue this major life transition.
And NOW with no further ado, your Finalists!
I loved the wide arms creating the effect of the character looming out of the darkness to embrace the viewer in Abominal401's "Imperial".
ajw put together a wonderful environment of a city in flames, with a looming demon in the skies. It's a great effect.
Alvacascus consistently brings an unusual and wonderful perspective to these illustrations, and this week is no different. I love the character design, but the real star is the way the environmental elements are cropped and arranged to bring a ton of life and interest to the composition.
AMS gives us a wonderful angry futuristic pirate. I love the colors, the item choices, and the overall impact of the figure itself.
I got a good laugh out of this one from Atomic Punk.
Blue Blazer tells a great story with this character study.
dblade makes wonderful use of color here to make certain elements pop.
FRM put together a great environment, including simple but effective touches that definitely sell the effect of a rain of fire.
Gendonesia's "Kung Fu" features a great central pose, but what I love about it is the setting, especially the lighting. The menacing figures in shadow behind the well-lite main actor are a fantastic touch.
Gurong7's "Clown Wrath" is just wonderfully bizarre.
I love headlessgeneral's composition here. The bloody letters in the background and the character's expression all work together with that composition to sell the concept beautifully.
Imp's Wrath features both a great character and composition, plus something I never thought I'd like -- a letter belt buckle that actually works!
Kaylin88100's red-dominated female fury has a ton of great touches that make for a great illustration.
Kwnnos' "Burning Rome" captures a classic "postery" feel. I made that word up. Anyway, the poster looks awesome.
Kytana wrings emotion from her composition that really hit hard.
I loved Luclucluc's background elements in "The Troll".
I like horses and I am thankful ours can neither turn into smoke nor set their hooves afire. Unlike Martian Blue's.
I can't figure how Moognation managed this "beam of light: effect but I really like it.
After a bit of a hiatus, I'm very glad MScat is back, and you can see why in this awesome illustration.
Finally, PapaKrok put together a great composition that looks like it could have come right out of a comic.
Alas, there can be only winner, and this week the award goes to an illustration that I thought had the best combination of theme, composition, and execution. That illustration belongs to ... AMS and his "Ahab"! I love his expression, his outfit, the colors, and the understated yet unmistakable rage on his face. Well done, sir!
Congratulations as well to all of our Finalists as well as to everyone who entered this week. I sincerely appreciate your hard work and creativity, one and all.
