supervike Posted January 31, 2008 Report Posted January 31, 2008 Whew! The latest and possibly most competitive incarnation of the Iron Painter is now over. Right to the announcement, as I know you all are waiting on pins and needles! THE WINNER OF IRON PAINTER FOUR: SKYA This knockdown dragout went right to the final judge, but in the end the Champion retakes her Crown!! Congratulations to both of you on a fantastic finish! The winning margin: a MEASLY .5! Final Score (double checked with my fingers and toes) Skya 57 Demonherald 56.5 Sorry Men, you do NOT rule here!!! I'll work on the prizes and get those all doled out, as well as announce some RANDOM IRON SCHMUCK Winners soon! Don't go away yet folks!! The breakdowns right away are as follows: Ritual: Here goes then (for the last time for a while)... demonherald: theme: 5 technique: 4 overall: 9 comment: Kudos for doing such an ambitious entry! Theme-wise this is as good as it gets. Technique-wise I feel you may have aimed a little too high for what the time frame (from when you had the parts you needed) allowed. Many things are of your usual high standards, but there are a few short-comings as well. The horse looks a bit rough as if either the paint has gone on a bit thickly or you didn't have time to prep it properly before painting. Also, my eyes are drawn to the two planks the minis are mounted on and the fact that they look different than the others, both colour and texture wise. You should perhaps have used the thicker wood for all planks? These are not major flaws, but in this situation they must be taken into account due to the extreme high standards of both entries. Thus, I've knocked off one point each at technique and overall. But, you still get a very high total score from me as this is indeed a worthy entry of this final round of this quite remarkable competition. Skya: theme: 4.5 technique: 4.5 overall: 10 comment: I really like the atmosphere of this one. Truly beautiful! The idea is a good one and original for the theme, although I have to knock off at least half a point to establish that I think demonherald's theme idea was perfect. Technique wise, this is of your usual high quality when it comes to the painting. I do notice that the hands, which I suspect have been modified or re-sculpted (at least the one holding the dolphin's fin), look a bit shapeless and that you have tried to fix it by the paint job. The paint job does make it look better, but I still can't help noticing it. The composition is excellent and I think this is indeed one of the better pieces of this competition. FRUSTRATED FATHER: Hrmmm, you know, I've said it before that judging these competitions is difficult, sometimes for the time but almost always due to the pieces and the painters involved, particularly when we get two top class painters going head to head. In this final round of judging (thank gawd!) I've decided to take the cowards route and give top scores across the board as quite frankly I hate the idea of either of the contestants being knocked out of this and more to the point, I think they both equally deserve it, though on different levels and reasons. Noel's is painted very well and the subject matter is one that you don't see too often and is just flat out stunning, particularly in how everything is laid out and it seems that she is swimming along with her dolphin. The base is beautiful and really carries that underwater feeling to the point where I've been looking at it for some time going 'yup, know what that is, ooh, cool ...'. I think the colors are outside of Noel's norm too and if anything I'd like to encourage you to do more pieces like this cause they just rock. Rob's is the one where I opened up the picture and just started laughing which is something that I appreciate because I end up bitching and bellyaching too much in this job sometimes! The painting on this one is just a touch below what I know Rob is capable of though still stunning, but more to the point, I believe I'll have to say that if anything, he takes the points with telling a story, bringing humor and just flat out creating some fantastic bases - this man is a master at that in particular and seems to be able to tell a story immediately. Love it. So, fives and tens across the board from me and believe me, well deserved and no one goes away from this as a loser. I also have to also give a hats off to those that participated in this contest and making this a fantastic competition and in particular to those of you that decided to tough it out and kept at it in the 'I think I can' categories, plugging along and showing that you've got Iron despite what the judges say. Big nod to Sue who managed to go out in the first round by being paired with an 'Iron Killer' but kept at it the whole time through and kept everyone encouraged and interested! Thanks again for everyone who has participated, whether as a contestant, onlooker, judge or contest running guru. I have to admit that I'm already looking forward to the next one ... EricJ: Here it goes: Demonherald Theme: 5 Technical: 4 Overall: 9.5 Notes: Ok, this was honestly my first entry in the IP that literally made me laugh out loud, which gained you an extra .5 in your overall. Thematically this is great and another great interpretation on your part and the construction of the scene just fits your idea. Technically you paint isn't outstanding, and looks like it would definitely have benefited from a little more time, so you get marked down there, but I also feel overall scene construction and skill at building a complete story into the piece brings you back up there. Great work, and until I saw paintminions in the "I think I can" category, which also did, I hadn't really had a piece genuinely make me laugh Skya: Theme: 4 Technical: 5 Overall:9 Notes: Paintwise this is clearly the superior of the two, and your scene construction is really great as well. Thematically it's nice but I don't feel as inspired as what I see in Demonheralds or Paintminions, it just didn't have that little last wow factor that made you think about just what was going on and enjoy the interpretation of the theme. Overall I thought these two were really on par with one another, but in different ways and from the start knew I was probably going to judge them no more than .5 different, and in the end, it was really the fact I was laughing at his which created that slim slim margin for me. That's it! Amazing work finalists and everyone who took part, and whoever the winner is, it is WELL deserved. Quote
matty1001 Posted January 31, 2008 Report Posted January 31, 2008 Flipping eck! This really has been a stunning IP. Well done to both the finalist for getting such high scores. And those comments really show how hard the judges had to think about the entries. Quote
Sculpta the squig Posted January 31, 2008 Report Posted January 31, 2008 [austrianaccent]I'll be back![/austrianaccent] Squig Quote
EricJ Posted January 31, 2008 Report Posted January 31, 2008 man, close, that's much like losing the championship game in overtime and I'd like to say Nathan is a wimp Congrats to you both, and amazing final battle! Quote
Skya Posted January 31, 2008 Report Posted January 31, 2008 Oh my god, I won by half a point. That's insane! Thank you guys, this competition has rocked. Quote
demonherald Posted January 31, 2008 Report Posted January 31, 2008 I agree Nathan.....hee.hee.....nice one Skya....I agree with all comments....an extra day or two would have made a whole load of difference....still it's been a blast and sorry fellas the ladies keep it...I have a funny feeling It won't be the case next time.... cheers all Judges cracking and unenviable job.... Vike for the whole shebang,.. competitors for just producing some amazing stuff all round.. Nathan for hosting (and being a coward). And Skya ,Wren, Dragonforge, Morf, Stubbdog and paintminion for making sure I kept on my toes and didn't have one easy round..... now see you on the Femme Fatale Field..I will go lick my bruises...finish the decorating ,,get well and catch up with my work.... Quote
Thryth Posted January 31, 2008 Report Posted January 31, 2008 Congratulations Skya. And... Ego saved! I can now say that I was eliminated by the winner. Thanks to SuperVike and the judges. I enjoyed the contest. Quote
YoungWolf7 Posted February 1, 2008 Report Posted February 1, 2008 Auuuuuuugh! Not another .5 point win?!?!? I can totally relate DH. We'll get you next time Gadget! Next Tiiiiime! Congrats to all who showed their iron in this process, even the judges. (Except maybe Nathan for that final judging pass.) It was a pleasure to participate and I'm looking forward to the next one. Quote
Hinton Posted February 1, 2008 Report Posted February 1, 2008 Well, congratulations, Syka. You proven once again that the guys just can't measure up to the ladies. Well fought, DH. Congrats to everyone that entered, stuck it out, made it through the rounds and those that kept going in the "I Think I Can" section. Thanks to Vike for overseeing the competition and thanks to Nathan for letting us have this competition here. Quote
goblyn13 Posted February 1, 2008 Report Posted February 1, 2008 Congratulations to both of the Iron Combatants, and I still think it should have been a tie and actually made them have to fight till first blood in the Barter-town Arena Quote
Wren Posted February 1, 2008 Report Posted February 1, 2008 Congrats Skya! While I was personally soundly defeated, I'm happy to see my gender continue to reign triumphant. ;-> Congrats to demonherald, too. You gave a knock-down, drag-out fight every round of the way. Quote
lauth81 Posted February 1, 2008 Report Posted February 1, 2008 congrats Skya! there have been some truly stunning pieces in this IP. Quote
Ritual Posted February 1, 2008 Report Posted February 1, 2008 Bloody hell, that was close! : Since it seems it was my doing that Skya won (as Eric had DH as a winner with .5 and Nathan was a wimp : ) I wanted to explain my thinking a bit further. I started out from full score on both and then I reduced Noel's theme point slightly as I think Rob's idea was just a little bit better. Similarly, I reduced Rob's overall point slightly as I think Noel's entry simply had a little bigger aesthetical impact. Then it was a matter of scrutinizing the entries and identify flaws and reducing scores according to that. It really was that close that small nit-picking details made the difference. Congratulations to both of you, and a little extra for Noel for her second title! There have also been several extremely talented people involved in this contest who have made this a pleasure to follow (although a pain to judge...) and to Brushmistress, Morf, Beelzebrush, Paintminion, Dragon Forge etc. etc. I would like to say Thank You! To sum this competition up, this entry was probably my favourite one during the entire competition: Astonishing work on that! I'm looking forward to next season, even though I'm glad there is now a pause from judging... But, I volounteer as judge again next season (I never learn...). Quote
Morf Posted February 1, 2008 Report Posted February 1, 2008 Yes, since it is over, I'd like to say I've learnt a lot - big thanks to judges and other participants, even with stakes so high nobody forgot it should be all about fun. And thanks to Vike - good job mate on keeping it all together. My first IP, I am sure not the last! Quote
supervike Posted February 1, 2008 Author Report Posted February 1, 2008 I think the thing I love most about the Iron Painter is the way it still holds onto its roots as a 'community builder'. Quote
skrivanek Posted February 1, 2008 Report Posted February 1, 2008 Awesome job, Skya and DH. Thanks go out to everyone involved in this - it was an amazingly motivational contest. The body of work produced could easily be combined into a gallery book. Aaron Quote
Duende Posted February 1, 2008 Report Posted February 1, 2008 Congrats Skya! And even though I have no prize to send, I believe Demonherald at least has earned the Manly Man title by sticking through to the very end with fantastic entries. Hopefully, by the next IP, I'll put together a new Manly Man prize package for the longest lasting male IP painter. And a big thanks to our hard-working and underappreciated judges, and to all the other particpants! Can't wait to see the next IP start! Quote
Ritual Posted February 1, 2008 Report Posted February 1, 2008 ...hard-working and underappreciated judges... We should be treated as rock stars, damnit!! :hmpf: Quote
r2-j1 Posted February 1, 2008 Report Posted February 1, 2008 Wow a .5 difference split decisions. That is about as close as it could get. I was rooting for the female dominance of this competition to finally end, but I do have to give it up to Skya, she just knocked it out of the park in every round. Congrats! This season of IP was just plain ridiculously difficult and competitive, props to all who stepped up to the challenge. Thanks to Vike for running it, and thanks to the judges for their hard work. Quote
Wren Posted February 1, 2008 Report Posted February 1, 2008 Thanks go out to everyone involved in this - it was an amazingly motivational contest. The body of work produced could easily be combined into a gallery book. An interesting notion indeed... though I think you'd have to include several pages of the best smack to even begin to capture the feel of IP. Though to really capture it you'd have to buy the main book, then you get mailed the final chapter with the judges' results a week later. ;-> Big thanks to sv for having had the crazy idea in the first place as well as herding cats to organize it four times running! And many thanks to the judges, who while they tease us, and sometimes wound us (with the truth), had an even tougher job than usual with the numbers of entrants. As always I enjoyed seeing the range of creativity and different approaches people bring to this. There's some breathtaking technical or inspirational work that I'm going to remember a fair while, but I also want to give a shout out to the ones that gave me a good laugh - Duende's cute little dog, alizardincrimson's flu season, steelcult's pest control, Morf's Bat-Gob, Brushmistress' goblin matador, r2-j1 and Beezlebrush's sidekick entries, and more. (And of course dh's noble steed!) Quote
Nathan Caroland Posted February 1, 2008 Report Posted February 1, 2008 Well ... lets see, FFIII is over Feb 25th, then some voting and snorting, soooo ... what .. middle of March? : thud : Was that Jim that just fell over? Quote
slidedog Posted February 2, 2008 Report Posted February 2, 2008 Great contest all and Congrats to Skya. Much iron was exhibited in the months of this thing, and there was indeed some inspirational work. Don't know if I have the iron for another run, but maybe the one after. I'll be watching to be as inspired by all of your work as I was this time, and to see which new iron men and iron women show up next time. Quote
Coneman Posted February 2, 2008 Report Posted February 2, 2008 Congratulations Skya, a job well done. A well deserved 2nd to DH also. There was some amazing work this time round from all the entrants, good work all of you guys and gals. Quote
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