It's Beginning to Smell a Lot Like Xmas...

Christmas Eve (Day) here, on a foreign and somewhat archaic computer at my parents' house, with a short(ish... I'm generally not very concise) entry that I didn't think I'd be making at least for a week or so, and probably not in this form.

Miss Terious, the second place entry

Once I get back home, I'll be doing a more in depth description of my process with my actual painting, etc., but for now I'll just be talking about the results, with the added bonus of probably at least a few grammatical errors.

(Update: said description.)

This was only the second painting competition I've entered*, and it was a real nail-biter. The first part of it was a popular vote, which involved a ton more votes than I expected, and, while the gaps between entries seemed agonizing and vast, it was only a 3% spread in the top 4 places. During this, I was a bit baffled, because I saw a number of unexpected entries doing very well, and a number of strong entries weren't doing as well as I thought they would.

Miss Terious (again :P), the third place entry

Then came the period where the contest judges selected the top 3 entries, which, again, made me nervous, because the judges historically only differ from the popular vote when it's a close race.

The results were really quite surprising, though simultaneously reassuring, in that it much more closely resembled the order I had expected the competitors to line up in. In order...

I won first (!) which I was/am thrilled about, and I can't really say anything else about that without sounding full of myself, so I'll leave it safely at that.

Honorable Mention

The Miss Terious entry which placed second (above) had placed four in the popular vote, but I was pleasantly surprised to see it jump two places in to second, as I had mentally tagged that one as the stiffest competition when the competition had started.

The second (also) Miss Terious entry, which placed third ((also) above), was a very solid entry that featured some very nice thematic work, but (from what I understand), the painter didn't quite have time to refine the mini, but I expect he's quite fine with it, as the obstruction to his completion was his new child.

Nicodem received an honorable mention from the judges, which I found well-deserved, and I had been really surprised when the entry hadn't made the top 5.

The last entry I feel is particularly worth noting is this wonderful little composition, which I think was one of the most creative entries  in the competition.


Well, off to see some old friends and I'd like to (somewhat abruptly) end this post by saying thanks to the other entrants for an intense competition; along with dakka dakka, Alfndrate (don't know his real name), and the judges for running it; and finally Wyrd for supporting it, and (not to be a suck up) one hell of a fun mini game.

For more info on the competition, here's a link.

Merry Christmas to you Christians and/or consumers, and a happy New Year to everyone!

Given the short period of time I wrote this in, I haven't gotten permission from the other entrants to use their entries, which I intend to ask about... if you're seeing your entry and would like it removed, please contact me.

*not counting 2 tiny little FLGS ones way back in high school, from which I got one second place postcard-sized flyer with my name and a picture of Boromir on it and a $5 gift card...