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Strange Sights Story Contest WINNERS!
Okay, let me just say up front that deciding on the winners for this was HARD. Sometimes when you host a contest you get more Quantity than Quality, or you’ll get more Quality than Quantity. In either case, it makes judging simple. This time we had almost as much Quality as we did Quantity, and narrowing it down to just three was pretty hard for all three of us.
A special thanks to my judges and . I couldn’t have done this without you.
And now, without further ado:
First Place
Take it on Faith by Enaka
All three of us loved this story. It caught our attention from the first sentence and held on tight to the end. The characterization of Archie is very good (though I never would have thought of him as an “Archie” ). He comes across as both mischievous and wise. I, personally, also felt that this story touched on something that I try to get across with all of my art: that just because we can’t see something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. That sometimes we need to believe that there is still magic in the world. “proof” is something that we must find within ourselves.
First place wins: 6 month subscription to DA, plus one medium sized (around 10" or 12") print from my gallery, and a journal feature. Your winning entry will also be linked from my original deviation. Also, one 12"x18" print from LouisaGallie
Second Place
Frost Bitten by HiddenRelevance
This story had such an original voice that it won all of us over. Additionally, this kind of voice is very difficult to pull off, but we all felt that HiddenRelevance managed it admirably. I loved all the little touches to this, the frenetic pacing, the hints of humor within the madness. Overall, incredibly well done.
Second place wins: 3 month subscription to DA, plus one small print from my gallery, and a journal feature. Your winning entry will also be linked from my original deviation.
Third Place
Mistletoe by cwicseolfor
This story had such a quiet reverence that it gave (still gives) me shivers. There’s something in this short story of a quiet encounter in the woods that I felt wholeheartedly captured the character I was trying to paint. It’s deceptively simple, more description and narration than anything else, but also a whole story on it’s own, with nothing left wanting.
Third place wins: one small print from my gallery, and a journal feature. Your winning entry will also be linked from my original deviation.
Honorable Mentions
I decided that I wanted to give two honorable mentions—because they were both exemplary and so close to being the top three that they deserved it. I wish I could give prizes for these two, but they will both be linked back to the original deviations.
Worthwhile by Pinkatron2000
We all very much liked this story. The unique voice of the crow, the description of the king, and the surprising end flowed very well. An excellent interpretation of the painting.
A Fractured Fairy Tale by bloodrose83
This story, at over forty pages long, is the longest submission to the contest. We’d have overlooked that if it hadn’t been so good. That the author managed to pull such a complex story from a simple painting is admirable. I would have liked to see more with the Goblin Gang, but the story is unique and interesting as is.
Congratulations to all the winners, and to everyone who participated! If you participated in the contest and are a subscriber, I’ve made a special stamp just for you! Just add the thumb code to your journal or shoutboard.
First, second, and third prize winners will be contacted about their prizes shortly.
Please check out all the other entries!
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My Tutorials:
Referencing from Photos 101: Figure Reference
Time Lapse Speedpaint: Nocturne
Painting Ears
Extracting Images in Photoshop
Soft Focus Backgrounds in Painter
Blending in Corel Painter
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Commission Status: No commissions until February 2008
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Proud member of:
I'm at the end of my rope
You all may have noticed that I've stopped posting artwork here. Part of that is due to the fact that my output has been drastically reduced thanks to a job that takes most of my artistic energy and doesn't leave me a ton of time for personal projects. Part of that is due to the fact that I've turned my spare time artistic efforts toward a writing project that I hope, someday, to publish in one form or another.
But a BIG part of it is this: I'm so, so, so tired of being ripped off.
For the second time in the last week I'm having to file a DMCA, this time with Amazon.com, because some asshole has taken something I made and is selling it on a
Updates and things
So, it's been awhile since you all last heard from me. Over a year ago now, by my previous journal entry, and I left you all on a bit of a cliffhanger. So, over a year later, I suppose I should let you know how things are.
Computer Situation
In November 2012, I went through an experience I hope no one ever has to go through. In a perfect storm of trouble, my hard drives and backups were all destroyed in a single day. And because life hated me that day, my cats knocked a glass of water onto my laptop and damaged it, too. I lost ... pretty much everything. With the exception of a few things I'd had on a USB drive and what we could get off the
Let me be a lesson to all of you...
The Saturday before Thanksgiving I had the perfect storm of computer related failures.
In less than the time it takes to say "oops" I lost my main computer hard drive, and one backup drive.
It was an accident. Utterly ridiculous and completely unforeseeable. My husband, who is an experienced IT director with years of IT work under his belt, was upgrading my computer. There was a tiny wire where a wire shouldn't have been. It got cut. Add power. Presto: instant short and boom. Gone. Poof. Up in smoke.
My second backup drive looks like it survived. It has, as best as I can recall, nothing on it but my oldest files. I think everything on it m
Sept. Character Portraits and LiveStream ?
Character Portraits
So far my character portrait specials have worked out well. At the moment I have two left to finish up, as we head into September. Interest has been slow, but steady, so I'm not sure if I should continue this a bit longer or try something else. I'm going to leave one slot open for now, but I'm willing to entertain suggestions for other deals, specials, or ideas anyone might have. What do you think?
Character Portrait Special:
Cost: $100 (normal cost for this would be about $185)
One character per portrait, shoulders up
Simple background
Final digital file suitable for personal use: printing or game avatars, etc.
© 2008 - 2024 MelissaFindley
Comments11
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Congrats to all the winners - really much deserved!
And thank you for the amazing contest, it was actually so much fun taking part and reading all the other entries!
And thank you for the amazing contest, it was actually so much fun taking part and reading all the other entries!