I got home from work and the contest had already ended (as had the debate) so I know my work stands as it is, but for my own peace of mind I'm going to continue to work on it.

Soooo.... How's the smoke look now. It's still thick, but I think it's getting to look more realistic.

At 10/16/08 02:25 AM, Occluded wrote: Soooo.... How's the smoke look now. It's still thick, but I think it's getting to look more realistic.

Are you able to blur the edges of it, a bit? At the moment it looks rather like a trail of goo.

Also, I don't really get what is with the lighting on the bottom of the smoke; where's the light for that coming from?

occluded the smoke is still very chunky look at where it hits, its done better at that end. the smoke dispenses and there thin layers of gray smoke which makes it look very light. the rest of the smoke trail is very thick and solid doesn't look like smoke at all.

I think it'd help ReNaeNae alot if you guys made a list of your favourites, think of all the hard decisions she has to make! D:

Well, anyway;
1. LiLg. I like it, I think it'd be especially great as the cover art.
2. UnderARock. Everyone loves toast. Especially melting eyebrow toast!
3. Myhatisblue. It's just a great picture!
4. Savory. His name sounds tasty. And I'm hungry.... oh, and the pictures alright too.. I guess.
5. Me. 'Cos I'm super cool and couldn't be bothered regigging the background. Also, this is a joke.
The real 5. MiddleFingerRings. Because I have no idea what his name means!
6. poxpower. Because I have a secret crush on him and he'll never know.

No homo.

7. TurkeyOnAStick. Do I need a reason for this?
8. Nightwayfayer. You should have given them white vests! >:(
9. DooDooMeat. What the hell is DooDooMeat?
10. Occluded. It's hot.
11. Picanjo. I love this pic, alot.
12. Jagondudo. Could use a bit more work, but I still like it.

They're in order of appearance. Not the months I want them on :) Anyway guys, you should all make lists aswell.

Seriously, no homo...

ohman i missed this..
and next is the halloween contest.
won't you give me back my patience and will, anyone!

didnt get past my sketch for october. all dem movies i planed to feature came out in october.

anywaays :D

At 10/16/08 06:54 PM, PieLover61 wrote: 12. Jagondudo. Could use a bit more work, but I still like it.

Sorry, it couldn't use more work, I was looking at it wrong. Good job!

At 10/16/08 06:54 PM, PieLover61 wrote: I think it'd help ReNaeNae alot if you guys made a list of your favourites, think of all the hard decisions she has to make! D:

Well, I'm not sure the judges are going to want to have to deal with public opinion as well as trying to choose the 12 best entries, but, I'm in favor of people listing their picks because it makes the artists feel appreciated - and even if you don't get chosen, it's nice to know that someone thought you belonged on the calendar.

My list, since I didn't actually post usernames before:
1.
BR - really colorful and looks like a lot of time was put into it - plus it's one of the only entries to showcase P-bot in all his glory.

2. jagondudo - a really good example of why multimedia artwork still kicks ass over digital stuff, plus lots of different (but highly recognizable) Newgrounds characters are showcased.

3. nathanielmilburn - was one of the best at the outset of the contest, and remains one of the best at the end - very clean style with good use of textures and maybe the best overall when it comes to capturing the "feel" of a series.

4. Myhatisblue - best Madness entry, hands down.

5. Savory - creative use of angles and good job of putting the characters into an interesting setting.

6. poxpower - combines Castle Crahsers with Newgrounds level icons and just an overall good composition.

7. Grigoro - one of the best of the holiday-themed entries, plus fairly interesting subject matter.

8. Bluebaby - excellent montage of characers and really makes me wish I could draw like that.

9. TurkeyOnAStick - I like the digital painting effect, but attention to detail is what really makes this one stand out.

10. Pikanjo - the best Tankmen entry, hands down.

11. sucho - Another Day belongs on the calendar, damn it! This is head and shoulders over all the other Christmas-themed entries, with lots of little details that make you take a second look and a very stylish rendering of Blue Rabbit.

12. UnderARock - good use of almost a monochromatic pallete, and captures one of my favorite moments from one of my favorite series.

Underdog Pick: TargetX2 - I still really like this concept; I don't think it'll win because there aren't really any Newgrounds characters in it, but, it deserves some honorable mention or something.

So those are my reasons for my picks - hopefully I didn't totallly screw up the html tags, otherwise this is going to be a mess of a post...

Yeah, I like that people are posting their picks... it makes fighting for certain ones that much easier!! Gives me some ammo! ;) In the end, it's the users that will be buying these, so it's nice to get a feel for what you all want!!

Tags removed because of an error massage..

Ok, I guess it wouldn't hurt for my input on all of this. But, what would I be to not pick my own work?

1 http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/17713000/ng bbs48f6b0c13efbf.gif No labels, or any other types of markings, so, it leaves it open for any month. Also, everything, yes, everything was done in flash. I don't have photo-shop. Everything from the characters to the background was done completely in flash, no on-paper drawing. I gave madness a new style, and so it doesn't seem too dated. I threw Stanford in there at the last minute. I have my reasons for Tricky's look, and why some other character's weren't included.

http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/17616000/ng bbs48e6a1cf952a1.jpg I just liked this one.. But.. it's kinda breaking the rules? The rules state for your own work, not how well a program can render an image for you... it's kinda.. unfair?..

2 http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/17594000/ng bbs48e347f99289d.gif It kinda speaks for itself.

http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/17617000/ng bbs48e6cbb3a6e4c.jpg Sorry for not being able to say exactly what it is that I like about these works, but they kinda speak for themselves.

3 http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/17635000/ng bbs48e957d6bd012.jpg This is an ok picture. I like it, Tricky, and Hank are drawn in the style of the illustrator. But, he not only drew it in his own style, but drew it with a new concept, unlike me. I just did it in my own style.. Didn't want to make him too unfamiliar. There are a just two things I don't like about this one, though.. For one, it tries to draw you into the background too much, instead of the characters. Also.. does Hank remind anyone of Eustace, from Courage the cowardly dog? That makes me think of Cartoon Network, not Newgrounds.. But, regardless, it's still a nice pic. I just don't like how the background is the main focus.

4 http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/17652000/ng bbs48ec50e79b28b.jpg This is another one that I liked. With foamy..

5 http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/17658000/ng bbs48ed60de09ae7.jpgThis is one of the best ones.. Although.. I wish the ice-dude could have had another weapon.

6 http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/17668000/ng bbs48ef6a4a1a2de.jpg awesome... 'nuff said.

7 http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/17677000/ng bbs48f0e06a421e6.jpg This one didn't have any weird colors, everything comes together nicely.. Although I have no idea what's going on..

8 http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/17699000/ng bbs48f485051aee6.jpg I like this one, but, there are too many colors in this one, and it's way too bright. I like the picture, but, not the colors.. Some of the contrasts seem a bit off to me, and it could have maybe used a bit darker tone..

9 http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/17707000/ng bbs48f5e3205fe45.jpg Awesome.. This one's another good one.. but.. Nothings happening in the background.. they're just.... there.. If there was something going on in the background, to give us something more to look at, it would be great..

10 http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/17710000/ng bbs48f66da723089.jpg This one, unlike the previous, has something going on all over the picture, and like the previous, it's nice, smooth, and clear, just like the flash movies we have here at newgrounds. Style feels nice, clean, and familiar.

11 http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/17711000/ng bbs48f681fd8e11e.jpg This one is nice, although it does seem a bit incomplete. Even-so, if the artist finished it before being requested of the 300 DPI picture, it'd be much better.. Hope he's reading this post..

12 http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/17705000/ng bbs48f558b304ee3.jpg I like this one.. and.. don't like it at the same time... I like how the artist tried hard to make this a kick ass image, and it is, but.. c'mon, how many other holidays have been portrayed by the ones I picked? What makes Christmas so special? Not everyone celebrates it, and it could seem as though Newgrounds thinks highly of this holiday, and only this holiday.

These were just selected in order of how much I liked them going through the pages. If you've noticed, the list is actually made of 10 that I think should go on the calendar, and two others I thought deserved some appreciation... I'm not saying anything directly to the judges, it's their decision, I'm just paying my respects to the authors who did very well in my opinion.

If I were to choose two more.. Maybe the guy who said he wouldn't win (for the lulz). And maybe someone else that did well, but didn't break the rules, just so that people who don't have the skill of others will still try, and not feel out-done by others.

I tried not to chose ones that required obvious licencing, like the Ernie, and Bert picture.. And.. how does it relate to newgrounds? Without the blocks overhead, it doesn't. Others I stayed away from were things with labels, and lettering, or, I tried to, at least.

Hope I made no mistakes in all of this.... I bet I did though..

One final thing.. The site is Newgrounds, the calendar is going to have newgrounds written all over it, and maybe even a tank.. Why would someone want to open up the calendar to see more newgrounds logos, and perhaps maybe even another tank in the picture? There's no need for that.

Good luck to the judges, and everyone else, rather your work is trash, awesome, or half way decent.

12 http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/17705000/ng bbs48f558b304ee3.jpg I like this one.. and.. don't like it at the same time... I like how the artist tried hard to make this a kick ass image, and it is, but.. c'mon, how many other holidays have been portrayed by the ones I picked? What makes Christmas so special? Not everyone celebrates it, and it could seem as though Newgrounds thinks highly of this holiday, and only this holiday.

you bring up a damn good point, one i thought about too but at the end i just didn't see how i could make it work without aligning the gift to some holiday. it should be considered though, especially since so many good pictures are non-holiday or even non-month aligned. it could feel out of place.

also, why isn't anyone including this in their picks?

http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/17697000/ng bbs48f41cbd81b02.jpg

its an incredible picture, clean execution, very good representation of the characters, interesting angle and these are important groups to the history of newgrounds. even if you don't like some of the 'spam' its still a part of newgrounds nonetheless. good for any month

At 10/16/08 11:40 PM, sucho wrote: also, why isn't anyone including this in their picks?

http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/17697000/ng bbs48f41cbd81b02.jpg

its an incredible picture, clean execution, very good representation of the characters, interesting angle and these are important groups to the history of newgrounds. even if you don't like some of the 'spam' its still a part of newgrounds nonetheless. good for any month

I love it. Very nice detail on orange clock particulary . And an excelent ilumination considering all the characters are over and below the light source.

Zekey would be proud

At 10/16/08 11:40 PM, sucho wrote: also, why isn't anyone including this in their picks?

http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/17697000/ng bbs48f41cbd81b02.jpg

its an incredible picture, clean execution, very good representation of the characters, interesting angle and these are important groups to the history of newgrounds. even if you don't like some of the 'spam' its still a part of newgrounds nonetheless. good for any month

I LOVE YOU! I was getting all depressed cause i wasnt getting mentioned, and then you, sucho, the one who did the kickass charlie the unicorn/penicorn pic came and said my entry was awesome! You just made my day! I can go to sleep now : )

At 10/16/08 11:44 PM, Lalo wrote:

At 10/16/08 11:40 PM, sucho wrote: also, why isn't anyone including this in their picks?

http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/17697000/ng bbs48f41cbd81b02.jpg

its an incredible picture, clean execution, very good representation of the characters, interesting angle and these are important groups to the history of newgrounds. even if you don't like some of the 'spam' its still a part of newgrounds nonetheless. good for any month

I LOVE YOU! I was getting all depressed cause i wasnt getting mentioned, and then you, sucho, the one who did the kickass charlie the unicorn/penicorn pic came and said my entry was awesome! You just made my day! I can go to sleep now : )

shucks, you gave me the reds. seriously though - i think you posted it right before or after mine and i was impressed and crestfallen all at the same time, stiff competition, its such an epic picture.

At 10/16/08 11:44 PM, Lalo wrote:
I LOVE YOU! I was getting all depressed cause i wasnt getting mentioned, and then you, sucho, the one who did the kickass charlie the unicorn/penicorn pic came and said my entry was awesome! You just made my day! I can go to sleep now : )

That's the same way I felt untill I got a comment in my userpage, lol... There's so much work out there that people just aren't noticing it because of the time you posted in the thread, you just had some bad timing, that's all.. And, I said the one thing that stopped me form picking yours is the flash logo.. (copyright thing) also, a few characters I didn't knw... But, other than that, I liked it..

People may like your work, but they may not always say it, that's why you must be confident enough to know your work is awesome, without anyone elses say so and also, it doesn't hurt to remind them you're still around... Yeah, it's good, but, the copyright issue is the main reason I didn't pick it..

At 10/16/08 11:19 PM, Maverick-10 wrote: 12 http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/17705000/ng bbs48f558b304ee3.jpg I like this one.. and.. don't like it at the same time... I like how the artist tried hard to make this a kick ass image, and it is, but.. c'mon, how many other holidays have been portrayed by the ones I picked?

Well..your number 7 pick has a New Year's theme, and, not all cultures celebrate that at the same time, so, assuming that would go on either January or December, that would make the calendar seem just as Western-oriented as a Christmas scene in December would.

As to your other point about how it would look if that was the only holiday in the calendar art, the fact that there were a lot of Christmas themed entries seems to suggest that if Christmas was the only holiday that Newgrounds represented in the calendar, that it wouldn't look that bad at all - since apparently a lot of users really wanted to see a Christmas image.

I'd prefer not to see holidays represented in the calendar for the simple reason that they don't have much to do with the culture of Newgrounds itself. Personally, I think that the rules should have stated "no holiday themed entries" because I got kind of tired of seeing lame Christmas themed stuff.

That being said, if you were only going to choose one holiday themed entry, I think you'd have to go with sucho's, just because the quality is so good,

At 10/17/08 12:35 AM, johnnycancer wrote: Personally, I think that the rules should have stated "no holiday themed entries" because I got kind of tired of seeing lame Christmas themed stuff.

Er...lack of lameness being the other reason why I would choose sucho's. Wanted to clarify that.

At 10/17/08 12:16 AM, Maverick-10 wrote:

But, the copyright issue is the main reason I didn't pick it..

Copyright issue? that flash logo is used in many parts of this site. Also, its an old logo, and no reason to "not pick it", you could just have said it was a nice piece but tought the logo could violate copyright rules. whatever, sorry for being bitchy :P

At 10/17/08 12:42 AM, Lalo wrote: Copyright issue? that flash logo is used in many parts of this site.

Oh, I thought he was referring to the Barney lookalike that was hiding in there. If the problem is the flash logo, then yeah, that should be pretty much a non-issue.

At 10/17/08 12:35 AM, johnnycancer wrote:

At 10/16/08 11:19 PM, Maverick-10 wrote: 12 http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/17705000/ng bbs48f558b304ee3.jpg I like this one.. and.. don't like it at the same time... I like how the artist tried hard to make this a kick ass image, and it is, but.. c'mon, how many other holidays have been portrayed by the ones I picked?

Well..your number 7 pick has a New Year's theme, and, not all cultures celebrate that at the same time, so, assuming that would go on either January or December, that would make the calendar seem just as Western-oriented as a Christmas scene in December would.

As to your other point about how it would look if that was the only holiday in the calendar art, the fact that there were a lot of Christmas themed entries seems to suggest that if Christmas was the only holiday that Newgrounds represented in the calendar, that it wouldn't look that bad at all - since apparently a lot of users really wanted to see a Christmas image.

I'd prefer not to see holidays represented in the calendar for the simple reason that they don't have much to do with the culture of Newgrounds itself. Personally, I think that the rules should have stated "no holiday themed entries" because I got kind of tired of seeing lame Christmas themed stuff.

That being said, if you were only going to choose one holiday themed entry, I think you'd have to go with sucho's, just because the quality is so good,

i don't care if i sound kiss-ass, i've gotten more traffic in this one contest than in the years i've spent on deviantart. if that's all i'm left with after this contest i'm on frickin' cloud nine. i can edit out the stocking and holly, and even make the penicorn on the charlie more child-friendly while i'm at it, but that'd be a dick move i'd think...no pun intended... the deadline's over

anyway, i think another day needs to be represented, but i wasn't the only one that drew it

http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/17714000/ng bbs48f6f1f9c557a.jpg

that's got more ng packed - goodness into it, and its bipartisanly non-holiday so there.

true about the increase in traffic thing....had no idea so many people liked foamy and germaine. It seriously has more hits than my entire gallery XD

for a Brackenwood entry I'd go with Beastkid's, it's so clean and true to the characters. Could use some more detail though

At 10/17/08 01:01 AM, Savory wrote: true about the increase in traffic thing....had no idea so many people liked foamy and germaine. It seriously has more hits than my entire gallery XD

for a Brackenwood entry I'd go with Beastkid's, it's so clean and true to the characters.

i agree, love the addition of hairy popeye arms for bitey, it seems so fitting.

At 10/17/08 12:35 AM, johnnycancer wrote:

At 10/16/08 11:19 PM, Maverick-10 wrote: 12 http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/17705000/ng bbs48f558b304ee3.jpg I like this one.. and.. don't like it at the same time... I like how the artist tried hard to make this a kick ass image, and it is, but.. c'mon, how many other holidays have been portrayed by the ones I picked?

Well..your number 7 pick has a New Year's theme, and, not all cultures celebrate that at the same time, so, assuming that would go on either January or December, that would make the calendar seem just as Western-oriented as a Christmas scene in December would.

But, not just one, like the Christmas themed entry. There's people around the world that celebrate the new years, all across the globe.

As to your other point about how it would look if that was the only holiday in the calendar art, the fact that there were a lot of Christmas themed entries seems to suggest that if Christmas was the only holiday that Newgrounds represented in the calendar, that it wouldn't look that bad at all - since apparently a lot of users really wanted to see a Christmas image.

Dude.. I'm not a judge.. Maybe I forgot I picked the new year picture.. So what, it's an opinion and recognition to the artists...

I'd prefer not to see holidays represented in the calendar for the simple reason that they don't have much to do with the culture of Newgrounds itself. Personally, I think that the rules should have stated "no holiday themed entries" because I got kind of tired of seeing lame Christmas themed stuff.

That being said, if you were only going to choose one holiday themed entry, I think you'd have to go with sucho's, just because the quality is so good,

I was just giving my opinion about what I thought about some of the entries. If you've got a problem with my opinion, stop reading my post, and go about your business.

At 10/16/08 11:40 PM, sucho wrote: also, why isn't anyone including this in their picks?

http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/14/17697000/ng bbs48f41cbd81b02.jpg

its an incredible picture, clean execution, very good representation of the characters, interesting angle and these are important groups to the history of newgrounds. even if you don't like some of the 'spam' its still a part of newgrounds nonetheless. good for any month

yeah I really hope this one gets included into the calender, it's one of the most well done pieces that I've seen in this contest, good work lalo.

Liaaam, Kuro, jagondudo, and PolishMatt Thanks for the outside eyes. Even if it doesn't look like I'm doing what you think needs to happen. That it looks wrong in your eyes is an indicator of something. My first version with the thin wispy smoke was wrong. After looking at pics of smoke online I went thick. I think it's the right move, but yeah it looked like goo. The lighting - if you look at the figure you see it there too. In my mind the sun is setting off to the right. I thinned out the smoke a bit. Enough so you can see the buildings a bit through it.

Anyway... how's it looking?

At 10/16/08 06:54 PM, PieLover61 wrote:

10. Occluded. It's hot.

You, sir, are obviously a man of taste and intelligence. And I thank you for your consideration.

The rest of you are all just big stupid doo doo heads.

I've been keeping an eye on the '09 Calendar Art thread for a while, and I can see that most have put in a great amount of effort in their work.

It'll be tough to decide who will come out top. I gave a shortlist to Kuro a while ago and it looked like I thought every second picture was amazing. :D

Best of luck to everyone.

No one likes my simple one?

</wrist>

LOL I'll post my picks later, I got stuff to do. Nice entries guyzzz.

Why dont i see anything about my work here??
i know the PARODIES one might be abit OFF when it comes to copyrights, but wth....what about the rest??

I think to be the 7th, its good too))
Thank you guys.