OK, I got the grades made by the judges and normalized them. The results (rounded to one decimal):
1st place: Mananarepublic
2nd place: Karelian
3rd place: Ogre_dude
4th place: snu
5th place: Silveri
6th place: Morze
7th place: Hammerheart
So, huge congrats to Mananarepublic - Heja Sverige =)
Below you can see the normalized grades (so that they are truly between one and ten) and the variance between the grades given by the different judges. In other words, the smaller the number, the more unanimous the judges were of the score.
Koodi: Valitse kaikki
Mananarepublic 8.6 0.061224489795918
Karelian 7.8 0.043036332179931
Ogre_dude 7.4 0.042022691429513
snu 4.8 0.068299378574959
Silveri 2.8 0.000548748911329
Morze 1.1 0.016075547866205
Hammerheart 0.5 0.006802721088435
From these numbers we see that the top three positions were actually very close. Another thing to note is that there was little variance in putting me on the bottom =P Interestingly enough, I would've graded the entries into the exact same order myself.
Then, the feedback.
Ogre_dude:
"This miniature shows some great blending and the NMM on the scythe is spot on. The choice of dark clothes draws attention to the pale head wich is perfect for this piece. Balancing the muted tones with spots of pinkish red is a good choice. The scythe shaft looks unworked and really deserves more attention and a lot more shading. The golden nmm details needs some sparks of pure white to make them look like metal. Would also work better against a dark background."
"If the bone had more depth to it, I think this would have done it a great deal more benefit. Very nice black and red. Though I think it looks paler on the rear because of the lighting so giving the benefit of doubt here. If it wasn't for it looking so pale, this could have been my favourite."
"The almost 'dusty' effect achieved on this mini is superb and suits it very well. Sadly the highest contrast is on the clothes and not the head, where it should have been. Colour choices are great and that is a really nice black!"
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snu:
"While displaying good blending skills and freehand as well this miniature feels unbalanced. All that red going on here and there gives a shattered appearance and makes it hard to focus and draws away attention from the elf.
Particulary impressed by the blade on the spear while the shaft looks completely unpainted (and the boots as well). Red is a strong colour and should be used carefully, it is also adviceable to have more saturated hues towards the main focus point of the miniature (wich often but not always is the face)."
"Very nice red and the freehand on the shield looks very sweet. I don’t feel the NMM at all. Looks too blue. And the cloak is too heavy with stripes. Less and larger would have been better."
"The very pinnacle of 'old school'! Makes me feel like I've been transported back into the 80s. However, back in the 80s they did not blend colours this well, not did they do such cool freehand. One amazing piece, slightly let down by a few areas not cleaned up enough. Nice simple base!"
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Karelian:
"Wow, this is really a stunning piece. The front view is almost perfect. Bold highlighting towards shoulders and face, a bit of yellow to ballance the desaturated hues and a great deep blood colour. It is really difficult to work with blood and gore without making the miniature look messy and spoil the details. This painter have suceeded. Only critique would be that I would suggest to darken the highlights just a little bit on the feet and lowest part of the cloth while on the back he looks a bit flat instead. Here some subtle highlights on the upper back would serve well to define the body volume."
"I really do like this. The gore has been a little bit over done… actually quite a bit over done. Would have preferred to see splat direction. And it’s quite amazing how he only got it on the apron. The colours, though muted aren’t dead and the flesh is great."
"Not a fan of gore and blood ... unless its a mini like this where it is absolutely required! The darkening of the blood is very well done. Looks wet, looks slimey in places, looks great! The characters attitude is captured precisely and some intelligent use of bright colours in a subdued scene. The base doesn't make too much sense, but one doesn't notice it too much as the focus is drawn to the character."
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Silveri:
"I like the overall appearance and I think it would have scored higher without the try on OSL. It is difficult to pull and needs a whole lot of more contrast. As for the light source it needs more white and more saturation. Suggestion is to study flames. They really look the other way around, so no traditional highlighting but rather start with the brightest colour as a base colour and work your way up making "negative highlights"."
"Has this been dipped? Or is it just heavy washes. I love dark miniatures, but I still want to see highlights. The staff looks like it’s not been finished. The face does catch my eye which is good for me. This looks more of a game piece standard not display Nothing wrong with that and I’m not judging it so. I’m resisting commenting on the outer edge of the base… or am I? ;)"
"With a bit more practice in blending, the artist who did this piece will become a great. I already see so many really outstanding techniques and observations happening here. OSL, atmosphere, good colour use. But, picking out details and blending must be practiced."
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Mananrepublic:
"Very smooth and impressive blending, great overall appearance. It looks a bit flat though and would need a whole lot more shading at the lowest third of the miniature. Quite good take on OSL but would need a bit of darker areas around it to make it really pop and get believable. Tip is to study reality, use a flashlight for instance and try to analyse how it works and where highlights and shadows should be applied. Good to keep the base simple yet very fitting for the Mid Nor feel."
"What the hell is this? No originality and a total lack of talent! Paint by numbers would be a test of time here! As for the base… hang thy head in shame oh talentless one!"
"What a great piece! Has the 'correct' atmosphere, a great base and professional blending and colour-use. The volumes of the muscles impress most on this. Superb!"
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Hammerheart:
"Nice choice of colours and well executed weapon. It would need quite some more highlights though, especially at the upper body and head. I also think it would be a good idea to define some details in the armour by adding either another colour or another tone of the base colour. Base should be darker to make the mini stand out."
"Very bold colours, but very lacking in any depth. The weapon needs a lot more shadow to make it look metallic. The base doesn’t impress me at all."
"This has all the elements in place to result in a great evocative piece. Nicely laid out base, great mini and well-picked colours. Yet the artist then chose to apply too much of the same colour to too big of areas. With a bit more patience, the varied elements of the armour could have been painted in different colours to create some good contrast, but that is not the case here. Sadly."
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Morze:
"A brave try at NMM. Blade needs more contrast, for NMM to work the top highlights must be pure or almost pure white and shadows should go pretty dark. Same goes for the scales and other gold details. Gold isnt really so much yellow in reality either. Best tip is t pick out a few gold items and study how they look and how light plays on them. The skin is good but the face can be worked on a bit more, a little darker around the eyes and chin and a couple of more highligts.
Try shadow red with green!"
"The skin looks rough, but I like the shades. The face hasn’t got enough detail to it to make it stand out and that is the most important part of a miniature. Unfortunately the metals are lacking depth though there is a very good start. Better than my NMM attempts."
"A strange piece indeed. Some elements that strike me as odd are ... horizontally growing grass, lemon-yellow gold and flagstone and the head of the dude blends into the body completely. The skin is actually really well done - has good lighting and colour, and while there is much skin on this mini, it isn't the only element and sadly the others have been neglected."
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So, thank you to the contestants, thank you to Manana and a huge thanks to the judges, naturally.
If anyone has any ideas on how to make these sorts of contests better, I'm all ears.
Also, if anyone within the competition or without wants to post comments on any of the pieces, in Finnish or in English, I'm sure all the contestants would welcome such feedback as well.
