Hey everyone!
I haven't been saying much but it's about time I piped up! I'm going to give a bit of feedback on each miniature but bare with me through my overview first. Firstly I think the competition went really well! We had some great and very generous prize support and 19 entries that you guys lovingly laboured over. You should all be proud of your work no matter how well you did in the poll, there isn't a bad entry amongst you. The winners should be especially proud of their efforts as this was a really tough competition.
I do feel like I need to stand up and take something on the chin though: the theme was a mess. This is all on me, I put serious consideration into it but a lack of experience bit me hard. I naively thought the vagueness and scope of the theme would encourage creativity and get more people involved, in actuality it I think it was overwhelming for contestants and skewed the voting. Don't get me wrong here, the winners more than deserve their accolades but there were entries that got far less votes than they deserved because the theme wasn't clear to the voters. I hope those that put in a lot of time to embracing the theme don't feel too burnt that this wasn't really acknowledged. I'm hoping to run the DPC again in future if you'll all have me but I'll do so with lessons hard learned. I have had a long think about the entire process now and I know how to avoid the pitfalls I stepped into this time. I also have ideas to streamline the process and make the whole thing easier and better, I'll be sending a private message to yakface to discuss these ideas. If he likes my ideas I'm hoping to give the DPC a bit of a makeover and maybe we can get something a bit more regular going. While I'm on the topic, I'd like to give a big thanks to yakface, and legoburner too, for hosting this awesome opportunity for us all.
Okay, so moving on, my individual feedback is almost here but first here are just some general thoughts on how I voted. I very much focussed on theme for my own votes, it quickly became clear that most people were voting based solely on painting(my fault, see above) so I wanted to balance that a bit with my votes. I started by choosing those who I felt had most embraced the theme firstly and then I further refined that list based on which entries I felt were technically more proficient. I won't say which entries I voted on but I decided on six favourites, two of which ended up winning prizes. Don't get me wrong though the other winners had beautifully painted entries and definitely deserve their achievements, I'm just giving a different point of view here since I have an interesting vantage point.
Right, onto the bit you actually want to read!
Entry 1 -
Knightley - PanOceania Knight Hospitaller
This entry is classic Knightley, it's the crisp and, well, the white we all know and love!
As always execution is technically wonderful and it's nice to see you working on even smaller details than your Grey Knights allow. If you haven't checked out his blog you should do so, you'll also see what I consider to be the reason this entry didn't do better! What's the reason? You painted it to be part of your Grey Knight army!
They are beautifully painted well above tabletop and I'm still amazed at how many you have painted to that quality but I do wish you had worked outside the box on this one. The level of this competition really requires entrants to push the envelope of their capabilities and strive for something really difficult. I think you know this though and I'm really glad you took part, I hope you join us again in future and that next time holy really go for broke and show us the amazing things you are capable of.
Entry 2 -
Marco_Emerald - PanOceania Knight Hospitaller
I really enjoyed this entry and found it on par with Knightley's, and not because you used the same miniature!
Where this fell down for me was the colours, it's a personal preference but I found the miniature too busy for me to digest properly. Based on this I think that you would have done much better with a different colour scheme and the same level of execution.
Entry 3 -
junex - Yu Jing Keisotsu Butai
Congratulations on winning the Judges Choice Prize! The decision was made to award you this prize as we felt your entry had not only embraced the theme fully but was technically excellent, presented well and was overall ticking the most boxes in each category. You should be very proud!
If I was forced to pick a hole in it somewhere I'd suggest that the miniature sinks into the background quite a lot and could use some pop. However! I can also see this as a positive aspect pertaining to the theme where the miniature is partly camouflaged into the dangerous terrain. As you can see this is one of my personal favourites, there is always space for each of us to improve in all aspects but I wouldn't pick out anything in particular here.
Entry 4 -
bbb - Ariadna Para-Commando
This is a nice entry that picks up points in all categories but I think the issue here is that the miniature doesn't pop. Particularly when it comes to voting you need to get people's attention and this miniature does a very good job of blending in. This might have been rectified by having more contrast between shading and highlights.
Entry 5 -
bou - PanOceania Jotum
Another winner! Congratulations on coming in fifth! I would really have liked to see more effort put into the theme here and I think the black was a little on the flat side but your award is very well deserved. As always, your painting skills are brilliant, your technical ability astounding. I think, if you had, had the time, a diorama base and maybe a second miniature would have skyrocketed this entry up the poll. I hope we see you again next time, it's always exciting to see what you come up with!
Entry 6 -
motyak - Yu Jing O-Yoroi Kidobutai
It's always nice to see a nicely painted
TAG but I think as an entry this needs a little work, work that you are entirely capable of, I'm sure of that. The photography let's down your entry quite a bit, as I'm sure you are aware. You don't need a lightbox right away but the Dakka Photography Articles are worth reading to pick up some tips, I think you'll be surprised how massive a difference it makes, it would definitely have won you more votes. I believe you've put effort into capturing the theme on the base but again the photographs hide this. Apart from that I think you did a really good job though!
The large panels of colour on the
TAG could have used breaking up so they weren't quite so flat too, something to consider for next time.
Entry 7 -
Raqui - Yu Jing Sun Tze 2.0
A well deserved second place, sir! I would have really liked to see the theme adhered to in some way but I can't argue with the level of painting. This is technically painted to an extremely high standard! Apart from the theme, I found that the colours didn't appeal to me personally but that's just a matter of personal taste.
Entry 8 -
bantha_beast - Combined Army Drones
I really liked the drones here and the set up of the diorama. I get the impression that they have just drifted out of the dense alien jungle. As much as enjoyed the paint job on the miniatures themselves I feel like the diorama didn't do them justice. The ground has some nice detailing and water effects but is quite flat overall and the plastic plants let you downs bit. I think that because fish tank plants are so obviously fake people are automatically put off by them, sadly I think they probably did more harm than good to your votes. So next time I think the main consideration to make would be to get your basing up to the same level as your miniatures.
Entry 9 -
Victor.Drellings - Ariadna Para-Commando
Congratulations on winning Victor! And a well deserved win it was.
I think the key here is that you struck a balance between what the voters were looking for and what the judges were looking for. Not only that but you produced an all round excellent entry, you captured the theme, told a story and executed a really lovely paint job. What more could we ask? I think another string to your bow is your presentation which has proven to be a deciding factor in the public votes.
Entry 10 -
Century1 - Ariadna War Correspondent
This is definitely one of my favourites, it's a beautiful paint job and it captures the Infinity universe and the theme very well. Apart from possible being one of the entries burnt by my mistake I think that it was hurt in the poll because a lot of the voters won't know about the Infinity universe and the WarCors. For those of us that know the background, this is an extremely cool entry. I also think that you could have done more to present the details better which were wonderfully painted. I am sure many of the voters don't open up the images for a better look so you would really have benefited from some close ups.
Entry 11 -
weetyskemian44 - Mercenary Valerya Gromoz
We discussed your entry a little in your blog but I'll expand on it slightly now. I think the presentation might have been improved overall and I know you weren't happy with your photographs. You mentioned that you wanted to depict that she had just stopped to take in her surroundings in a moment of peacefulness. I think you could have captured that more successfully had you had more time, building up the shrubbery a little thicker and taller plus adding a backdrop of a tree and bushes would have created a sense of peaceful seclusion. Again if you had, had more time it would have been a nice addition to have her holding a flower or something to move her away from the assumption that she was in combat of some kind. With even more time it would have been really cool to see a bigger piece with someone lurking in the shadows, preying on her. Since you suggested you might repaint her, it could be an opportunity to add things as well!
Overall I really liked your entry though, it was a nice break in pace and it adhered to the theme well.
Entry 12 -
Estetioeslaostia - Haqqislam Ghulam Infantry
Another winner! Congratulations! You painted your entry up wonderfully but I would really have liked to see you represent the theme much more. I think your presentation and the painting on the face were the key factors to your success. Really nice job!
Entry 13 -
Albreck - Combined Army Treitak Spec-Ops
A well deserved winner too! Again, I would really have like to see you embrace the theme but you did a lovely job on the painting and presented your miniature excellently. It's hard to say more since what you've done is so nicely executed but if you enter again in future, and I hope you do, I would just suggest you do more in capturing the theme given. A diorama base like Victor's could well have got you a win!
Entry 14 -
Alathia - Ariadna Intel Spec-Ops
I can see you really pushed yourself with your entry which is awesome and I always try to do the same when I enter a contest.
I think future improvements will mainly come down to practicing these techniques. I also think you could use some experience in colour theory as the miniature fails to 'pop', as we always say, and the colour of the base clashes quite heavily with the other greys. Keep at it and you'll keep doing better in the polls!
Entry 15 -
Von Skyfury - Yu Jing Oniwaban and Aleph Achilles
I'm really happy with the way you embraced the theme wholeheartedly and set up a cool story in your diorama. The plastic plants really hurt you here I think and although you've done a good job of breaking up the base something about all that flock is quite off putting at first glance. And first glance is probably all you get from most of the voters who drop by, again this is a situation where presentation is a key factor in grabbing people's attention and getting you their votes. Apart from that I think the painting and colour choices could be improved by practicing. I've said it many time before but I really think you should get a blog rolling, you have a really good output and it would be nice to see you improve over time and get advice from the great Dakka knowledge base. Really nice entry, mate, keep at it!
Entry 16 -
Arakasi - Yu Jing Aragato Senkenbutai
Obviously you've had a lot of feedback between your two threads and I'm really not going to be able to add much more. I think you were heavily stung by my mistakes in the theme, probably more than most. I think the biggest issue was presentation though which you are addressing well already. The picture is extremely saturated(Is that the right word?) which really washes out your details which you clearly laboured over intensely and it ruins what is actually a much more delicate paint job. I think the colour palette could be improved even in the new images as the elements could use a little more of that ellusive 'pop' we all crave. I think of your entry as a soup, I'm really enjoying it but I can't seperate all of the exciting elements that went into it. Or maybe I'm just hungry!
Anyway, you put in a tonne of effort, I love what you did and you are addressing the issues that stung you. There is no doubt in my mind that you'll nail it next time.
Entry 17 -
jah_joshua - Ariadna Para-Commando
I'm a big fan of this piece and I know for a fact the other judges are equally hugely impressed by it. Because of that I can really only address what went wrong in the polls. If you could have got the public votes you would have been a big challenger to the winners. Like Arakasi I think you were the two worst hit by my vague theme and I'm really sorry about that, there is nothing you can do about that. I think two or maybe three of those images would have been enough, plus a couple of close ups to present your model in an eye grabbing way for the voters. I think that's all you really needed to grab more votes in the end. I was particularly impressed with the way you captured the theme in a relatively small area. All round a very impressive miniature that you should be extremely proud of.
Entry 18 -
marco kodayo - Yu Jing Domaru Takeshi "Neko" Oyama
This entry has quite a story behind it that I touched on earlier. The entrant really struggles with English which was the first hurdle. He emailed me a
WIP which he had begun working on about a week before the competition, it was a mindblowingly cool, sure fire winner but obviously I couldn't accept it. I managed to get that across to him and about a week passed before I got another email saying he had managed to get another miniature sent out to him, which had been difficult since he is posted at a military barracks on an island somewhere, he included a new
WIP of this miniature and again I new we had a winner on our hands. After that I didn't really hear much until the competition deadline was coming around. I got an email with 10-20 really huge images of the finished piece, another language barrier issue where the rules had been misunderstood. I advised what was required and the current entry arrived a couple of days later but it was less than 50% of the required size. I also found out that he didn't really have access to a
PC often or for long, there was only about a day left when I asked for a bigger image and he couldn't do it in time. I said I'd hang on as long as possible and I'd stretch it to fit if I had the time before posting the poll. Obviously that's what happened in the end and it hasn't gone well for him. I'm not going to analyse the entry because obviously the presentation killed it. I really hope the entrant comes back to posts up more, larger images as this is really an astounding piece of work, as was the first piece he did.
Entry 19 -
ProfessionalAmateur - Haqqislam Djanbazan
This is a really cool entry but I think the issue was it's simplicity. The colours, while well painted, are bold and unrealistic. I understand the idea of him being camouflaged but I think the colours are actually too similar, the base would have benefited from a slightly more realistic paint job. If I remember correctly this is a cast resin base, it is possible that this is off putting on a subconscious level as the mind recognises a lack of natural shape that you get from flock or sand. I think the trick with a camouflaged entry is to get the whole thing to jump out while allowing the miniature to recede, I think this entry is missing that element that makes it explode off the screen, possibly something that could have been found with a different paint scheme. What you did was really well executed and enjoyable so maybe all that's required next time is more planning.
Okay so that's me folks. I hope my humble little opinions are of use to someone and maybe give some insight into what it takes to put together a winning entry or improve your work for next time. I really honestly, enjoyed everyone's entries and I hope you come back and join us for the next one.
My apologies one last time for the mistakes I made with the theme, I've learned a lot from this competition too as I'm sure the entrants did.