Category Archives: Character Design Challenges

Honourable mentions this week go to DiCatriz ...great posing...subtle but effective background...

and to AMS...great costume elements and loads of attitude.

And now to the winner.

One of the perks of doing these contests is clicking on a link and being unbelievably surprised by the content. Maybe it is a pose you never thought possible, or an item used in a new or inventive way. But sometimes what opens up is just pure joy!

This is as effective as it is adorable! Please join me in congratulating  rossoftheyear.

Thanks to all who entered.

Your Character Design Challenge this week is to design a one of a kind Luchador.

There is no limit on number of entries this week. Please follow the instructions below for naming your files.

Rules for posts, contests, and challenges: Original characters only, no copyrighted characters, no characters based on copyrighted characters, no characters based on RPG’s or other games. The characters must be your own design and not based on any character that might be copyrighted in any way. I have the right to delete any post that I believe crosses this line without warning. Only post characters that have been created solely using Hero Machine, and that you know for certain have never been entered in a contest before. If you aren’t certain, don’t enter it, because I’m not going to go back through all of the contests and check.

All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like the HeroMachine :,ImageShack, PhotoBucket, or whatever);

• Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
• Please name your filesas [your name]-[character name].[file extension] before you upload it. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his “Bayou Belle” character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.

Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this).

This contest will close on Sunday, April 2^nd at 9:00am Eastern

To commemorate the first day of spring, your Character Design Challenge this week is to design a mythical being that personifies the spirit of spring. Could be a sprite, faerie, or elf or perhaps an orc or troll is more your style. Please keep a text version of your character as we may revisit it later.

Save the text string of your character to a file using the "Save as Text" option in HM3 and pasting the results into Notepad or Text Edit or Word or an email or whatever you like.

You must include examples of masking, highlighting and shading. In addition there should be no background included…just the character.

There is no limit on number of entries this week. Please follow the instructions below for naming your files.

Rules for posts, contests, and challenges: Original characters only, no copyrighted characters, no characters based on copyrighted characters, no characters based on RPG’s or other games. The characters must be your own design and not based on any character that might be copyrighted in any way. I have the right to delete any post that I believe crosses this line without warning. Only post characters that have been created solely using Hero Machine, and that you know for certain have never been entered in a contest before. If you aren’t certain, don’t enter it, because I’m not going to go back through all of the contests and check.

All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like the HeroMachine :,ImageShack, PhotoBucket, or whatever);

• Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
• Please name your filesas [your name]-[character name].[file extension] before you upload it. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his “Bayou Belle” character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.

Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this).

This contest will close on Sunday, March 26^th at 9:00am Eastern.

Note to self...vehicular contests?...not so popular...

Not a lot of entries this week, but I have never been this conflicted between two contest entries before.

On one hand there is Kellkin's car.

Creative use of items, nice colouring, solid, literal appoach to the brief.

And then there is SprocketSauce's Colossus.

Also creative in item use and beautifully coloured, this is a less literal approach, but there is something very powerful in this image.

So after much thought the win goes to SprocketSauce, with a huge high five to Kellkin for these great examples of what HM3 can do.

Great job this week folks!

Honourable mention goes to HermanSmellville

And the win this week goes to Christi S for this remarkable entry.

The pose is amazing, and the colours/highlighting and shading are top notch.

Please join me in congratulating Christi S on the win, and thanks to all who entered.

Yes you!

Your Character Design Challenge this week is to create an original superhero based on your own name using the Superhero Name Generator in the link below.

Simply visit the link, type in both your first and last name, select a gender (male, female or neutral), then generate the name.

http://superhero.namegeneratorfun.com/

There is no limit on number of entries this week. Please either copy and paste or screen cap your assigned character’s description and include it in your posted entry.

Rules for posts, contests, and challenges: Original characters only, no copyrighted characters, no characters based on copyrighted characters, no characters based on RPG’s or other games. The characters must be your own design and not based on any character that might be copyrighted in any way. I have the right to delete any post that I believe crosses this line without warning. Only post characters that have been created solely using Hero Machine, and that you know for certain have never been entered in a contest before. If you aren’t certain, don’t enter it, because I’m not going to go back through all of the contests and check.

All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like the HeroMachine :,ImageShack, PhotoBucket, or whatever); Please follow the instructions below for naming your files.

• Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
• Please name your filesas [your name]-[character name].[file extension] before you upload it. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his “Bayou Belle” character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.

Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this).

This contest will close on Sunday, March 12^th at 9:00am Eastern.

Your challenge this week is to create a character you might find in a classic western movie.

Sheriff, bandit, bartender, undertaker – anything that saddles your horse.

Please follow the instructions below for naming your files.

Rules for posts, contests, and challenges: Original characters only, no copyrighted characters, no characters based on copyrighted characters, no characters based on RPG’s or other games. The characters must be your own design and not based on any character that might be copyrighted in any way. I have the right to delete any post that I believe crosses this line without warning. Only post characters that have been created solely using Hero Machine, and that you know for certain have never been entered in a contest before. If you aren’t certain, don’t enter it, because I’m not going to go back through all of the contests and check.

All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like the HeroMachine :,ImageShack, PhotoBucket, or whatever);

• Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
• Please name your filesas [your name]-[character name].[file extension] before you upload it. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his “Bayou Belle” character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.

Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this).

This contest will close on Sunday, March 5^th at 9:00am Eastern.

Classic With A Twist challenges are fairly straightforward. Basically you are charged with taking a traditional character and introducing a new and original take on them.

Your challenge this week is to take the classic Grim Reaper and add your own original twist. Perhaps your reaper has a steampunk vibe, or maybe your reaper is re-imagined as female. It’s up to you, so just have fun with it. There is no limit on number of entries.

Please follow the instructions below for naming your files.

Rules for posts, contests, and challenges: Original characters only, no copyrighted characters, no characters based on copyrighted characters, no characters based on RPG’s or other games. The characters must be your own design and not based on any character that might be copyrighted in any way. I have the right to delete any post that I believe crosses this line without warning. Only post characters that have been created solely using Hero Machine, and that you know for certain have never been entered in a contest before. If you aren’t certain, don’t enter it, because I’m not going to go back through all of the contests and check.

All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like the HeroMachine :,ImageShack, PhotoBucket, or whatever);

• Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
• Please name your filesas [your name]-[character name].[file extension] before you upload it. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his “Bayou Belle” character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.

Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this).

This contest will close on Sunday, February 26^th at 9:00am Eastern.

Eighty years ago today, Arthurian comic strip character Prince Valiant made his first appearance.

Your challenge this week is to create an original Arthurian character. Could be a knight, wizard, peasant, nobleman … whatever floats your boat. There is no limit on number of entries.

Please follow the instructions below for naming your files.

Rules for posts, contests, and challenges: Original characters only, no copyrighted characters, no characters based on copyrighted characters, no characters based on RPG’s or other games. The characters must be your own design and not based on any character that might be copyrighted in any way. I have the right to delete any post that I believe crosses this line without warning. Only post characters that have been created solely using Hero Machine, and that you know for certain have never been entered in a contest before. If you aren’t certain, don’t enter it, because I’m not going to go back through all of the contests and check. 

All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like the HeroMachine :,ImageShack, PhotoBucket, or whatever);

• Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
• Please name your filesas [your name]-[character name].[file extension] before you upload it. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his “Bayou Belle” character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.

Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this).

This contest will close on Sunday, February 19th at 9:00am Eastern.