"I Wish I Was Kryptonian" Art Contest Entries - Thread Two

WOWZERS!
What an array of talent.
This is going to be hard to choose.
I got some work ahead of me.
Quite a selection of characters.
Some I would have never thought of.

I commissioned a Super-Lois. But the artist appears to have sent it to me last night, and did not send it to the contest, which is disappointing.

I didn't notice he'd sent it to me until after the deadline. I got it at 11:36 PM...

*sigh*

The field of entires looks quite strong. I'm very impressed at the turnout in both numbers and quality.

That is an amazing turnout, both in quantity and quality. I am super-impressed. Kudos to everyone involved in putting this contest and the entries together.

Wow.

Well this is going to take some thought, a difficult choice to pick a favourite. Great collection of art, thanks to all involved

Oh stellar! I'm glad that he got it in! I didn't see it the list and I thought he'd missed out.

Glad to see at least one Lois got into the contest....

Thank you to all the persons who did their pic-post and to the team that organized this contest.
SHTL

Wow! I have no idea how I am going to vote for a top three with so many worthy entries. This is going to be tough.

lfan wrote:

geekseven wrote: That is an amazing turnout, both in quantity and quality. I am super-impressed. Kudos to everyone involved in putting this contest and the entries together.

Wow.

Thanks, I'd be remiss in not specifically thanking the following people who greatly helped out with this:

Fats: for helping with administrative decisions and for working out the technical specifics with the voting poll
TwiceonThursday: for helping promote the contest with his cache and network of commissioned artists
Argo: for helping write a lot of the fun little "bios/descriptions" that accompany the images

And of course, thanks to all the artists (and sponsors) who graciously donated their time, effort (and cash) to help make this contest a success!

Thanks so much to everyone!

ElF

And thanks to all the members who made donations to the site, so that cash prizes could be offered as an incentive. I certainly think my own donation has paid off!

Great submissions, with lots of variety in subject and style!

I was struck by the number of Disney-inspired entries (8 drawings, 5 characters). I've written super versions of some old Hanna-Barbera characters (Jan from Space Ghost, Sheera from Mightor, and Daphne from the Scooby-Doo franchise), but I never thought of giving a Disney princess the same treatment. A couple of these entries have definitely got me thinking about possible stories ...

argonaut wrote: Great submissions, with lots of variety in subject and style!

I was struck by the number of Disney-inspired entries (8 drawings, 5 characters). I've written super versions of some old Hanna-Barbera characters (Jan from Space Ghost, Sheera from Mightor, and Daphne from the Scooby-Doo franchise), but I never thought of giving a Disney princess the same treatment. A couple of these entries have definitely got me thinking about possible stories ...

I would love to see your Frozen story.

My Thoughts on the entries:

1. Lana Lang by KKR222- Love the rich shadding on the colors of the peice-this is a very strong vibrant peice of comic art. like the details on her face, how confident she looks how free-this feels like classic superman art. Could use a little more action but good.

2. Zelda by VexyFate - This...well isn't my favorite but partially to my own biases. This feels a bit washed out, the shapes a little two angular-though i do like the action of the design. It does however look a lot like the very old CDI zelda cartoons-which you know points for that, as i can respect that.

3. Batgirl by Fradarlin- Really great use of perspective in this drawing how there at an angle-it kind of reminds me of an Alex Ross painting, especially batgirl. This is a fun design with fun artwork, that has a good sence of the dramatic and the well place. Supergirl face is a little less defined then Batgirl, but its a good picture.

4. Catwoman by MRO16- This to me at least is a very good Catwoman drawing. Nice line work, nice framing, and i do like the shading here. That said...i am not really seeing the kryptonian stuff. I realize the steel bar thing...but to my mind that could juse be a rope thats been colored differently. Its a good peice of art but not sure it really works for the contest.

5. Lana Lang by Fraim Brothers- ahh the fake 60s comiccover-- its a trope thats been used a lot and a fun one. This has good design of it(like how big lang is compared to superboy), and the arangment and text bubbles feel true to life....however i guess my problem with it is that the blacks aren't black enough, and the colors aren't sharp enough. Offset printing in particular was just about forming strong colors-and for a picture of strength there a little indistinct . As a peice of art its fine. for what it is not doing ti for me.

6. Ariel by Nippy13- like the use of scale here. The shark is very big, but not giant-its a lot bigger then Ariel but not so big she looses all scale-and i really like the look of terror on the sharks face. compared to the slightly devious grin on Ariels.. I like how they obviously did the supergirl stuff without super selling the hand-shes flying in the air, but not in a sterotypical way. I was going to critituqe i think a bit for feeling as if the characters feel a little detached from the background-but that actually kind of works for it to as it feels like its cels on a background as in animation. So its a good peice. My only ding in the end is i think the motion lines on the shark feel perhaps a bit much.

7. Daphne by TGK- like the dynamism of this design, the linework in the background, the look on daphnes face, the angles of her body-this is a clever well done design. It shows her in charge.

8. - Lara Croft by Archsider.This looks a lot like the Top Cow style design for Laura Croft, which works for her i think-its not necessairly the character but its the idea of the character-that said i am not sure i really like this one-and the thing that gets me about it is the one thing that might make this popular-this is the only design that emphasises her muscularity to an unrealistic extent. Part of this is done to any kind of proportion or design it makes it fell...well not great.

9. Elastigirl by Inspector97-There are several CGI characters people made but this is the only one from pixar-and pixar moves ahave an intresting relationship with light and shadows, that really emphasis the plascity of the design. I bring this up becuse this really captures the look of the incredibles in 2D- i like the white specular highlighting a lot. Its a well done clever little peice that manages to capture the characters as well and the kind of feeling of the incredibles as a superhero domestic comedy from about 1965.

10. Lana Lang by KKR222- of all of KKR222 design this may be my favorite-the same things i said about color and shading apply, its a bueatiful peice of art-but it also has a better sence of action-and also framing. Wonder woman is in this picture-and the exact right amount of her to-just like the arm wrestling bit. Really sold the design and how its done.

11. Princess Leia by Rock Baker - Despite being a character from Star Wars with the powers of superman--the thing this reminded me most of was Good Girl art. This has the feel of something from the 40s and 50s as a pinup on a wall. And thats not a bad thing. A good postion if the geometry is a little wanky, and a goood momment for the character and design. Slave Girl Leia is a classic of the genre and finding her like this is well done.

12. Zatanna by CK Russell- Zantanna is a character from the world of entertainment and the circus-and what i liked about this one is it has the feeling of those charactures you buy from the midway. its a clever little peice that benefits from looking as if it was done quickly-theres a speed and dynamism to the design, the slightly off propotions and shape that works for it.

13. Lana Lang by KKR222- This maybe my least favorite of KK designs-we get the sence of speed but lana feels a little to static and serene for it. Its one thing for something to be effortless another for it to seem sleepy. But still KK has a really good use of color shading and line work that really do sell this picture.

14. Cinderella by Jamil - this feels the most litteral of the deisgns-this feels like a lot like a suprergril kryptonian stuff. and as a supergirl drawing its not a bad one-its got great use of color shading linework, etc-this could be a pannel from a DC comicbook. That said...well where is cinderella-from the name you can see a bit in the face, and you have the bow in the hair...but apart from that....well it doesn't really read as the character from the movie.

15. Marceline by G. Woronchak- This is perhaps is a time to state my bias. I don't particuarly like the trend of making realistic Adventure Time characters(which to be fair, is something the show itself has done) making Jake et all real humans takes away from the cleverness of there designs and how its implimented. That said this is a solid art peice. The background itself is in particular spectacular, Marceline is well done to with a sence of menace and power-but well...like the last one it doesn't feel very adventure timey to me.

16. Anna by Tokio92 -this one as compared to the last two actually does a really good job of combining both of its genres. From the clever skirt to the positioning this feels like both a design from Frozen and A supergirl picture-and that really works for it. Its a fun little picture with a great expression on Annas face that is sly and well done. Good coloing good line work- great design.

17. Harley by G. Woronchak- i have always really loved the classic Harley Quinn design-its one of the best peices of work that Bruce Timm ever made-and its well done here. it captures both the ease of the line and the deceptivily simple compositions of most of the frames of the animated series. A good well done little peice Like the upisdie down Joker Face. thats something you would see in the animated series.

18. Tinkerbell by Sonia- this is another design that gives the character more muscle-but here its done well and with proportion and a fair amount of subtly. i had to enlarge the picture to really see it clearly-but when its done its done well. i love the sence of proption. shes lifting a cannon ball which for a 1 pound fairy is pretty damm impressive. Like the arty airy design of the peice as well.

19. Anna by Tokio92 - the second Anna picture by Tokio this has another good use of a character in a classic supergirl pose-but this makes good use of dynamism in design. if you told me this was a frame in an animated film i would belive you and that is a good thing in my book. clever well done use of design and characters- there is something amazingly cute about the design of her face in the utter pleasure she gets from her powers-that makes her look great. There is a lot also going on in the background from the village to the bay to the forest that really is a lot of well done design that should get a mention.

20.Daphne/Velma by KFour9- This is a well done example of what you may want to call american manga. This is a dynamic powerful picture with a lot going on it. This feels sexy and powerful at the same time.

21. Mary Jane by T. Persi- This is a well done peice of art-the use of water media really sells the kind of dreamy but stillpowerful look of the character and the design-do like the eyes and how it all goes together. That said i can see why the line work isn't quite there, but it feels if it could use a little bit more defenition. But its the kind of peice i wish more of was done.

22. Anna by Fradarlin - i have said before and may say agian. Frozen was totally a superheroine movie and was also totally the most sucesfful movie made last year. I bring that up becuse of the three frozen pictures this one most made think of that-there is a dynamism that feels action packed and strong but at the same time it feels like Frozen. This is a compliment to it. Good line work capturing the Disney CGi Ashethic and also comicbook action.

23. BloodRayne by EvK - agian to state bias. I have never been a fan of this kind of quasi cranyon style drawing-especially the face looks just weird to me. That said this does have a sence of scale and does make good use of the design ashetic of bloodrayne and its Stakepunk kind of look. Like the giant monster device especially cause its hard to figure out..what the hell is it. But i think i might have liked it more without the little subpannel.

24. Rapunzel by XPlotter -Haven't seen the movie rapunzel, but know it has a big following--i do know that it makes great use of the new disney ashetic of "Yeah we have watched a lot of disney movies so lets have some fun with it" kind of style..and thats what i am getting. This feels like a classic disney princess...AS SUPERGIRL. The line work shading color etc all feel like something from an old fashion disneymovie-and i like that of it mixed with her flying..and most importantly smiling.

25. Lara Croft by E. Matos-this feels like classic comicbook action pannel of her being a badass who punches people--implicitly you. You know what you did. Thats always been the strength of Lara croft as a character-shes a badass, but a kind of badass and it gets that. this is loudest angiest and most in your face of all the pictures and i salute it for it.

26. Rapunzel by G. Michelli - This picture gains a lot from simple the medium of picture- the background that looks like an old picture, but doesn't quite cover the frame, the way that the characters where medieval style supergirl suits and cleverly robin suits-really sell the picture. this does a great job of making rapunzel bot the character from the romensque and DC-love how it really emphasizes her abs as something from a ren faire. Good peice one of my favorites.

27. Harley Quinn by RC Larkins- I have never liked any harley Design except the original-to actually make her sexy rather then suggesting sexy to my eye doesn't quite work- that said with the more modern costume is strong here, both modern comic and anime. like the eye work which is almost chibiesque, giivng her a sence of infinite sex, infinite innocence, and infinite power at the same time. Which is the secret of Harleys character.

28. Lois by Ellinsworth- the contest rules called for traditional painted images not CGI-and this picture looked like it violated those rules. That said it only looked it. Looking at it cloely you can see that this is 2D artwork(not that 3d is bad). This is impressive work as a construction-as compisiton its no slouch either, a good sence of showing a character who has her mettle tsted..but well is unimpressed by it. its looks like a scene from a movie. Well done well composed little image, that suffers i think only in the sence that i never got a sence that this is Lois lane-but who ever it is..well she seems like a good use of Supergirl style art. I don't wish she ws kryptonian..she is.

What a great group of entries. Congrats to everyone who was involved!

Woodclaw wrote: Well, this is my first batch of feedback. I have one big caveat: I'm no expert on colour balancing, image composition and so on. What follows are just opinions based on my personal tastes and what little I know about drawing I remmber from my high school days.

Lana Lang Triptych by KKR222

I'm going to consider these three pieces as one, since the author originally intended to submit them as a three panel illustration. In terms of execution this is one of the most impressive, the color and shading are execllent and give this piece(s) a very comic book feeling that is a very appreciated extra. I also like the fact that the author worked several different powers (including the often forgotten super-speed) always keeping the character at the center of the stage. Unfortunatly I have to detract some points because of a case of sameface syndrome. It's not that bad, but I can't help but there's nothing in the characters look that makes me think of Lana Lang instead of MJ or a generic redhead.
.

Woodclaw makes a good point. I was wondering if for voting purposes they could be considered one entity (the same could be said for Tokios Annas entries) so they don't end up splitting up the votes. They both worked very hard on there designs and i wouldn't want them to split up there own stuff.

Instead of commenting on all 28 submissions, I'll just say a few words about each of my top seven.

It's easy to see from my choices that for me, simpler is better. I can admire the skill and artistry of KKR222's renditions of Lana Lang, but they just didn't work for me as much as the "cleaner," more cartoony drawings on my list. Maybe too much realism interferes with the fantasy inherent in our genre? Anyway --

1. Lana Lang, by the Fraim brothers: Silver Age homages are right in my wheelhouse, so this was an obvious pick. The word balloons nicely evoke the Superman comics of the 1960's, and the clean lines are reminiscent of Curt Swan's classic covers. Bolder, darker colors would have enhanced the Silver Age effect, but this is a solid contender for one of my votes.

2. Ariel, by Nippy13: Of the Disney-inspired submissions, this does the best job of channeling the Disney style. As others have noted, it looks like a cel from an actual movie. I love the expression on Ariel's face, and the reactions of the shark and the seagull are nicely conveyed. I wish Ariel had been more prominent, but that's what the zoom button is for!

3. Helen Parr, by Inspector97: The Incredibles is one of my favorite movies, so this entry stood out for me. The artist didn't mimic the style of the source as closely as Nippy13, but the characters are recognizable and the gag comes through nice and clear. I enjoy images of super-women using their powers in everyday situations in the home or workplace (a possible theme for a future workshop?), which was another plus for me.

4. Zatanna, by CK Russell: Zatanna's diagonal placement within the frame and the slightly low-angle p.o.v. make for a strongly composed image. The character's theatricality is well conveyed, and the chain-snapping cleverly evokes Houdini's escape tricks and an iconic Superman image.

5. Harley Quinn, by Greg Woronchak. Although the character is not a particular favorite of mine, this drawing really stood out for me. Harley's posture -- leaning back against her prop hammer while balancing an automobile in the palm of her hand -- lends visual tension to what might otherwise have been a static image. I love the casual display of super-strength, and the "clean-line" art evokes Bruce Timm's work on the Batman animated series (where Harley originated). The Timm-style drawing of "Mistah J" on the hammer was an amusing touch.

6. Lara Croft, by Eric Matos: Though I'm not familiar with the character, I still enjoyed this drawing for its dynamic composition (you can tell there's a lot of power behind that punch) and for the expression on Lara's face, which conveys her delight in her newly-gained powers.

Okay, that's my short-list. Now to narrow it down to three ... . .