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View Full Version : Iron Painter 4 FINAL: WINNER ANNOUNCED!


supervike
01-31-2008, 05:45 PM
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.

matty1001
01-31-2008, 05:53 PM
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.

Sculpta the squig
01-31-2008, 05:55 PM
I'll be back!

Squig

EricJ
01-31-2008, 05:57 PM
man, close, that's much like losing the championship game in overtime

and I'd like to say Nathan is a wimp :D

Congrats to you both, and amazing final battle!

Skya
01-31-2008, 06:03 PM
Oh my god, I won by half a point. That's insane! Thank you guys, this competition has rocked.

demonherald
01-31-2008, 06:08 PM
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....

Morf
01-31-2008, 06:13 PM
Congratz to both of you!

Thryth
01-31-2008, 06:45 PM
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.

YoungWolf7
01-31-2008, 07:26 PM
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. :)

Hinton
01-31-2008, 10:01 PM
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.

goblyn13
01-31-2008, 11:57 PM
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 ;)

Wren
02-01-2008, 12:35 AM
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.

lauth81
02-01-2008, 03:23 AM
congrats Skya!

there have been some truly stunning pieces in this IP.

Ritual
02-01-2008, 05:00 AM
Bloody hell, that was close! :o:

Since it seems it was my doing that Skya won (as Eric had DH as a winner with .5 and Nathan was a wimp :p: ) 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:

http://www.wyrd-games.net/photopost/data/537/StainedGlassTiriel.jpg

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...).

Morf
02-01-2008, 07:13 AM
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!

supervike
02-01-2008, 09:25 AM
I think the thing I love most about the Iron Painter is the way it still holds onto its roots as a 'community builder'.

skrivanek
02-01-2008, 09:30 AM
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

Duende
02-01-2008, 09:36 AM
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!

Ritual
02-01-2008, 09:44 AM
...hard-working and underappreciated judges...

We should be treated as rock stars, damnit!! :hmpf:

r2-j1
02-01-2008, 10:23 AM
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.

Wren
02-01-2008, 10:40 AM
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!)

Frustrated Father
02-01-2008, 12:49 PM
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?

Ritual
02-01-2008, 01:05 PM
No, it was me...

slidedog
02-01-2008, 11:48 PM
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.

Coneman
02-02-2008, 01:27 AM
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.

demonherald
02-02-2008, 11:28 AM
No, it was me...
seconded

Bexley
02-02-2008, 05:48 PM
Well ... lets see, FFIII is over Feb 25th, then some voting and snorting, soooo ... what .. middle of March?

Hm. I've been itching for another try since my Epic Fail in round three, but that's squarely in the middle of Painting Stuff for GenCon season.

Wren
02-02-2008, 08:37 PM
Last year I tried to enter an IP during con season (we attend board game as well as mini-related cons, so it starts up for us in Feb) and it didn't go so well, so I would probably pass on joining this one as well and just enjoy watching the insanity from the sidelines.

Bexley
02-02-2008, 08:59 PM
(we attend board game as well as mini-related cons, so it starts up for us in Feb)

Starts? You mean, there's an off season, and nobody told me!?

Wren
02-02-2008, 11:02 PM
lol. There is an off-season when the vacation time and money runs out, which for us is usually right after Gen Con. ;->

supervike
02-02-2008, 11:31 PM
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?


Best kept secret of Iron Painter....I do little of anything! The judges and painters do the hard work!

EricJ
02-03-2008, 12:16 AM
man, I can't believe that Gencon already feels like it's right around the corner!!

Although, we need to have a little break, as I think with the popularity and level that the IP took this round, wyrd may have to take a moment or two to figure out something really nice to get together to support the next one... *evil grin*

Bexley
02-03-2008, 04:06 AM
lol. There is an off-season when the vacation time and money runs out, which for us is usually right after Gen Con. ;->

Lucky. PAX is right after GenCon, then there's the ACD show, then Essen...

Wren
02-03-2008, 12:02 PM
I'm guessing whether you think it's lucky is the difference in perspective of whether you do it for a job or for fun? We know a woman who goes to 12+ cons a year. As an attendee, she doesn't make or sell games. A lot of board game cons are little private weekend things that don't cost a lot of money, but it's still a decent amount of time driving and money on hotel rooms. Interestingly, she hardly owns any games, she spends her hobby money on attending cons. (Which works cause she's also lucky enough to live in an area with a huge board gaming group so lots of the other club members do the game buying.)

My husband would LOVE to go to Essen. We have friends who go every year, so we can at least usually get a few of the new releases if we really feel we have to have them right now, but I know he'd like to have the whole board game overload experience. Me, I think it sounds like too many people, and if I'm forking out the cash to go to Europe, I wanna see Europe. (Or go to one of the big mini-related cons. ;->) PAX seems like something we'd enjoy, I'm not familiar with ACD. We've never yet gone to DragonCon, Origins or Board Game Geek Con. Our first con of the year is in 2.5 weeks, ack!

Hinton
02-03-2008, 12:07 PM
I know I'm looking forward to GenCon and already making plans to attend.

Bexley
02-03-2008, 10:48 PM
ACD is a retailer show, so you'd not likely go unless you were a retailer or a manufacturer. (You may well be one of those; but if you weren't, it would explain why the show wasn't on your radar.)

Sadly, I don't actually get to go to many Cons, but my primary job is making displays and prototypes, so I participate in the crazy deadline frenzy beforehand. The season never really ends for me, but on top of that, I don't actually get the fun of going, except for GenCon, when the whole company goes.

Wren
02-03-2008, 11:14 PM
Ouch, that does sound pretty sucky, to be stuck with all the frantic prep but not much of the fun of the con itself! :-< Given how busy the FFG booth always seems to be at Gen Con, that's probably not so much fun, either. Hope your job has some good perks to make up for it!

I used to work part time as a sales clerk in a game store, but then I realized that I was probably losing more money buying things with my discount than I was making with my very crappy wages, so I stopped. One of the honchos who worked at a local distributor (now defunct) would come in and talk about Toy Fair and a few of the others they went to, but I guess he either didn't go to ACD or didn't have any stories to tell about that one.

Bexley
02-03-2008, 11:40 PM
If you're demoing a game, and you enjoy the game, it's fairly fun. Unless you're very hungover. You just have to eat lots of cough drops to keep your voice from going out, unless you're used to not only talking eight hours a day, but trying to talk over all the other noise for eight hours a day. I'm looking forward to it much more this year, because of the stuff I get to make for it, and because I'll actually get to meet a bunch of you (I started frequenting this forum after GenCon last year) in person.

Not to mention, I suspect there will be some new Wyrd releases to pick up.

Wren
02-04-2008, 12:37 AM
I'd enjoy meeting you also. My husband LOVES FFG stuff, so we'll definitely be by the booth. I like FFG stuff too, of course, but he's like an addict and checks by the booth area several times a day. We had press passes last year to do some articles for Knucklebones magazine and got the deluxe tour from Jeremy (Stromberg, might be spelling that wrong, he was very nice and patient.) I'm grateful to those of you who put in the effort to demo, it's helped me to decide about a lot of games. We've gotten to know enough people that work at booths that I try to carry mints to offer for sore throats. I don't think my voice would last a day nevermind all four of that treatment!

Frustrated Father
02-04-2008, 12:42 AM
Talking at GenCon ... whewboy! Ask anyone that got to talk to me for any amount of time after the first day and most of them will tell you that I had the tape recorder voice (Welcome to Wyrd, we've got a booth special this Gencon. If you buy .... damn, I still remember it all) and my voice was shot.

I did try my damndest not to flip everyone off this year though after Eric pointed out, after the fact, that I kept giving everyone the bird as I was pointing out miniatures in the cabinet.

Bexley
02-04-2008, 03:00 AM
Jeremy is a goof. A giant waste of space, with terrible hygiene to boot.

(Also, I've known him since the fourth grade, and get to publicly smear him whenever possible. :D )

If he brought you by the Mutant Chronicles demos (he brought many many press people by, as we were debuting the figures for the first time at GenCon) then we may very well have already met- I made the terrain pieces, and was chained to one of them all weekend.

FF: Cough drops, I tell ya. Indispensible, along with as much water as you can drink without having to abandon your post for too many bathroom breaks.

supervike
02-04-2008, 08:37 AM
If he brought you by the Mutant Chronicles demos (he brought many many press people by, as we were debuting the figures for the first time at GenCon) then we may very well have already met- I made the terrain pieces, and was chained to one of them all weekend.


I got the demo of the game...or at least got to see the figures and terrain. I don't recall a demo...but I know some guy with a huge noggin' showed us the goodies!

Wren
02-04-2008, 09:53 AM
@FF - That was very kind of Eric to point out the bird-flipping after the fact. Are you sure he really comes to Gen Con to help Wyrd? ;->


(Also, I've known him since the fourth grade, and get to publicly smear him whenever possible. :D )

If he brought you by the Mutant Chronicles demos [delete] then we may very well have already met- I made the terrain pieces, and was chained to one of them all weekend.


I think that is so cool when people have stayed in touch with childhood friends! I'm barely in contact with some people I knew in college, nevermind grade school.

When we were getting the Jeremy tour, we talked about Mutant Chronicles near the display cases. About 45min before close on Sunday we realized we did not have pictures of the very cool demo terrain, and started snapping before you guys packed it all up, but there wasn't really time for a demo unfortunately. You did a great job with the terrain, I really like the one with the ruins and the fountain especially.

Between this convo and badge registration yesterday I'm getting all excited about Gen Con already, but it's not for ages!

Bexley
02-05-2008, 01:14 AM
I got the demo of the game...or at least got to see the figures and terrain. I don't recall a demo...but I know some guy with a huge noggin' showed us the goodies!

I'd bet it was my huge noggin. Evan and Brian don't have fat ugly heads like I do. Well, truthfully, I can't speak to their aesthetic appeal one way or the other, due to the qualitative nature of such a judgement. However, speaking quantitatively, they do not have big dumb heads like I do, so I feel fairly safe in that assessment.

I'm very glad people liked the terrain pieces. All the positive feedback helps to keep me employed. You should all right fan mail in early April, when I get my annual review. Then, when the Wyrd game comes out, I will have money to buy it and get everyone at work hooked on it, and return the favor.

Bexley
02-05-2008, 01:17 AM
Uh... hey, wasn't this thread dedicated to some contest or something?




Hey, it was! Congratualtions, Skya! Good show. And to Demonherald as well- talk about close, eh? Inspiring work all around.

gi6ers
02-05-2008, 04:30 AM
Well done to all entrants some amazing stuff in every round.

PaintMinion
02-06-2008, 01:14 AM
Whew! Iron Painter broke my computer! The tension and rising stress caused my motherboard to meltdown on Thursday night!

So apologies for getting back here so late, but I have a new computer (microsoft.grrr.vista. GRRRR) with a bit faster mice in it's wheel.

Skya! You did it! DH! You brought the goods, man, so close!

Great job everyone, this was so much FUN! That's the reason I stayed in it for the long haul...the point was to kick my but back into higher painting gear after a year of not finishing much of anything due to cancer. It worked. I'm more motivated, more apt to jump on new ideas, less scared to screw something up. Basically, more confidence that given two weeks and a few extra days ( ;-)), I can turn out something very nice. A bit longer, and I'm looking over my shoulder for the deadline police now, but knowing I'm tuirning out something better, faster.

And I still think the I think I can's should be judged, too! I haven't anything but the one judging to harass the judges about. :-(

Thanks again guys, this was fun and agonizing, and I hope a long time before it starts up again...

LavronYor
02-06-2008, 09:58 PM
Congrats again, Skya, and to you too DH,

I too am looking forward to GenCon already not to mention the middle of March....


Iron...

Iron...

PaintMinion
02-07-2008, 09:14 AM
And for a brief bit of Off Topicness...check the Gen Con forums for details on MHE events. That's Miniatures Hobby Events. Let me know if you guys have questions, or if I should be posting Gen Con MHE news here as well?

EricJ
02-07-2008, 10:08 AM
Seems very on topic for these forums for you to put up Gencon news, feel free to start a Gencon info thread down in the news section! I know I'd appreciate it, since I don't get out to other forums much anymore