MTG Salvation

This week was a free-for-all.

ForD Spiral Le_Gambit a_passer_bye Watza Striking Dragon Spanglegluppet Krashbot Icefire Topher Silver Majra Craven Charlie Donaldson psionicblast Echo

Voted, I thought a lot of the entries were very good, so it was a tough choice.

I voted for Spiral because his avvy was great - I had to check to see if it was really under 40 kb - and his wallpaper was something I would use. Topher because it was wellmade, although the colors aren't my thing. And Charlie's because It was supa-fly and is currently my background.

I voted (of course) for CharlieD and Topher, because their work is absolutely brilliant! I really like them submissions My third vote goes to ForD. That's some chill stuff as well, I think no Hendrix fan would be ashamed to use your submission!

Of course, the set based on magic is winning.

In order of awesome-ness (ok, I don't usually do this, but these are such fantastic entires....)

1) Charlie Donaldson. Totally blown away, man. You deserve to win this one, imo.

2) Topher. Excellent graphics/colors.

3) Echo. I don't know why you're not getting more love; the wallpaper is awesome and the banner is particularly juicy.

I really wanted to vote for Krashbot as well. If I had one more vote to give , it'd be yours, but your avatar is what kept me from it. I'm not diggin' the colors/animated effect, but your banner and paper are sublime.

Really great job everyone.

Charlie Donaldson: Really explored the contest, straying away from the common magic theme and bringing it home. #1.
Topher: For sublime skill and really bummin me out when you posted your stuff :xd:. #2 only because CD just always rox my sox.
Craven: Does it need to be said? These three just completely made me NOT wanna compete, even tho I really, REALLY was trying. I just couldnt make the time, sadly enough. Awe Strike has some of the best art, IMO, and I love Craven's Interpertation.

HM: Me. Because Im using my wallpaper.

Watza, yours actually is very good--don't feel bad man. I agree; zero votes seems a bit ridiculous for a set that good.

@Watza: I also like it, but one has only so many votes...

Wow! This is gonna be a close one!

I tend to refrain from voting if I'm in the top 3, but there are some amazing entries this week. I might just have to break that habit.

Charlie, Topher and Striking Dragon get my votes.
I always love Charlie's Vectors (although, I am getting a little bit tired of similar shapes).
Topher's just looks fantastic.
Striking Dragon because I think it's not getting enough credit. Given time, I could've made something similar to topher or Charlie, but Striking Dragon's is very unique and looks a lot easier to do than it really is.

HM to Spiral. It would've been better if the brushes near the top were lighter. It looks to divided. Bad use of pos/neg space

My votes go to:

Echo for a very nice Asian set. It's just... so flavorful! I'd like to give it a 9 for style!

I liked the A-Passer-Bye set because of the fusion of styles. A hand-drawn Optimus Prime with the rendered TF logo. Just amazing, with the composition, colors and all. Great job! I'm using it as my wallpaper now.

Last but not least, Krashbot. That Circu is the most evil of badasses. Color is just perfect, and it was my favorite ever since you posted it.

Also, I would like to tell CharlieD, Spiral and Spanglepuppet to BE ORIGINAL! It's three wallpapers with a copy-paste a lot of icon-shapes to fill a wallpaper. It's hard to remember which one belongs to who, and it's just not original. And for Tophers, I don't think he should win this contest. Yes, he is a great photoshopper and I respect him for that. But he's using the same trick every single contest, and still getting away with the first prizes.

Anyway, good contest. I just couldn't find the time for a very very original idea, but I'll be joining the next contest and some day I'll use the idea.

Quote from flappy

And for Tophers, I don't think he should win this contest. Yes, he is a great photoshopper and I respect him for that. But he's using the same trick every single contest, and still getting away with the first prizes.

I appreciate your respect, as I pride myself in being adept at photoshoppery, but I'd like a bit more detail on how I'm using the same trick for every contest.

For reference, here is a list of my winning entries:

I do tend to have a certain style, but what artist doesn't? Lately, I've tried to extend that style by learning Fogatog's border style and using more brushes. I'd like to practice Charlie D's border and vector style, but school has really prevented me from having the time. Also, its kind of hard to have a different look every week when the contest restricts you to M:tg artwork. This week was a nice departure from that, but I couldn't resist using new artworks before the Time Spiral Rumor season came to a close.

I'd like to see some constructive critisism on this subject, since I think it's obvious that I'd like to expand my horizons.

Meh, this is a Magic: the Gathering forum. I do suck at photoshop in a lot of ways, but I have been visiting graphics forums for over a year and a half (now quit...enough), and well, there are a lot of the same old things. Topher and a few others are good enough to bring something different to these contests. Anyway, I have no idea what I just typed, and onto what/who (you know who you are robots!) I voted for.

I like a smooth, sleekish, proffesional look to borders, text, and the general thing.
Okay, Topher - I see no problems, apart from the pinkish-overlayed brushes do obstruct and stand out a bit...
Le_Gambit - Smooth, nice banner, nice theme, nice avatar. Just, maybe the banner and wallpaper could use a border.
Charlie Donaldson - Not "real" vector (of course you would have to have the file as an .svg or .swf for that, but...), but nice. I don't particularly like nice bold shapes being blurred, that's a downside, but it is vibrant, and you have a nice use of a splatter brush, text and shapes.

Charlie Donaldson, very impressive. The use of color and structure in such a stark and yet soft combination is impressive. Some of the strokes left me wondering how you did them. You must have a great photostockpile of really just be adept with the mouse.

@Topher: I think that the accusation could be leveled that you tend to gild the lily. Your work is very impressive, but I guess it's the kind of display that leaves one wanting something categorically different. "Wanting" is the wrong word. I suppose that it just becomes tiresomely active while pointing at real skill that would super-rock out something that was less busy. You have developed a style, but I think you'd be awesome if you stepped outside of it and broke some of the rules you're following.

Quote from wamyc

@Topher: I think that the accusation could be leveled that you tend to gild the lily.

Its a lotus, duh...





But in all seriousness, thanks for the suggestions.

Woah, choices:

Charlie's is just flat-out amazing, definetely should win.
Topher's uses the best blending I've ever seen, even if the color scheme is hard on the eyes.
Echo's banner is nice and abstract and gets my vote.

But everyone did an awesome job. HM's to ForD (I'm a huge Hendrix fan), and to Spiral (your wallpaper made me do a double-take. Maybe if you'd posted it last or something, the coolness factor might've made me vote for it.)

Quote from flappy »

Also, I would like to tell CharlieD, Spiral and Spanglepuppet to BE ORIGINAL! It's three wallpapers with a copy-paste a lot of icon-shapes to fill a wallpaper.

How is that not original? If anything, its very original, cause I didn't use Magic art or some random art I found on the web. And how can you say they're the same? Spiral's, Charlie's and mine and completely different. The only similarity is that they're remotely abstract.

Spangelpuppet, there really isn't any thematic variation in your array. By the time you get to the poster, you're already tired of it. I really do like it as a banner, but having the other two be so similar just isn't interesting enough.

Finding a way to vary the theme while maintaining the unity of the evocative feel is the path to tread.

This topic of conversation ends NOW. I don't want to see another post talking about how offended you are that someone doesn't like your artwork. I will give out infractions. Seriously, folks, how hard is it to read contructive criticism without taking it personally? For that matter, how hard is it to take it personally without raging about it publicly?

Charlie - Infraction for trolling.
Topher and Flappy - Yellow cards for troll-feeding.

All the responses to this topic will be deleted. Don't let this happen again.

Quote from wamyc

Spangelpuppet, there really isn't any thematic variation in your array. By the time you get to the poster, you're already tired of it. I really do like it as a banner, but having the other two be so similar just isn't interesting enough.

Finding a way to vary the theme while maintaining the unity of the evocative feel is the path to tread.

Heh, I suppose, but I wanted the avvy, banner, and wallpaper to look similar...otherwise I may well have just used an avvy, a banner, and a wallpaper that I'd previously made...

Quote from Watza

That's against the rules

That it is... But what if he made it for the contest in advance? The week 50 discussion went on for a decent amount of time. Also, it'd be hard to prove that he'd made it prior to the contest if he never showed it to anyone. That's why I like creative themes.

Also... Sorry Nex3 and everyone else who had to put up with the feeding of trolls recently.

Overall, I'd say that each contest entrant is an awesome shopper. Any criticism has to be taken in the context of being one of the better shoppers on this site.

I've learned something about design from seeing each of the entrants.

Quote from Topher

That it is... But what if he made it for the contest in advance? The week 50 discussion went on for a decent amount of time. Also, it'd be hard to prove that he'd made it prior to the contest if he never showed it to anyone. That's why I like creative themes.

Also... Sorry Nex3 and everyone else who had to put up with the feeding of trolls recently.

This is the reason why Nex didn't do a Time Spiral week here; I told him I had already shopped a banner in anticipation.