Iron Avatarist: Pet me... PET ME I SAY!

[Crimmy]

Welcome to a new edition of...
Iron Avatarist

The judges in this Iron Avatarist contest are:

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm112/Thecrimsonmage2/Egbert-small_zps0bfd525c.png http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h287/serpentine16/Avatarables/Serpentine/Serpentinepoleav.gif http://i1065.photobucket.com/albums/u389/Aether_Elemental/Avatars/elementalh.png http://i.imgur.com/YAiTBPl.png
(Crimmy / Serpentine / Elemental /Rain Dragon)
(Final lineup subject to change - If any of you want to draw instead just let me know.)

Our theme this month is...
Pet me... PET ME I SAY!

Ah, nothing like a beautiful afternoon, going out for a walk with your pet wereshark. The skies are blue, with that beautiful twilight tint, the neighbor is riding his Goldfish Rex and-- ohh, eugh, EWWWW, who would leave this on the floor?! Hey, you! Yes, you, the idiot with a centaur, if you're feeding him the same you're eating, at least clean up after it!
------
Pets. We know the usual, cats, dogs, komodo dragons.
Then there are the exotic: dragons, ogres, a silent goat.
Which pets would the cast of OotS have? Which ones would be the best match for each of the heroes and villains? How do they interact with them (or with others' pets)? Remember it's not just the OotS cast.

There’s a catch, though. We have an extra challenge.
This is a tough one: "Backstory"
Try to make more than one image for your actual entry. You're making an image of Xykon and his beloved, Boneweiler dog? How did they meet? What made Xykon adopt him?

Remember: All artwork must be your own. Do not take, alter, or use any of the The Giant's art. Thanks.

Categories
There will be a First through Third place award for each of the following:

Best Avatar (any avatar-sized submission)
Best OOTS Avatar (any Order of the Stick based submission smaller than 360 x 360)
Best Scene (anything larger than the above)
Best Rookie Entry (if you haven't won in a contest all your entries automatically fall under this category, along with the main category)
And, as always, the Best Overall award.

I’ll personally make a special trophy for any kind of awesometastic entry in the form of a Crimms’ Choice Award, which may be anything that I find particularly great, funny or incredible.

Rules
1. Every entry must include a bolded introduction as to what category you are trying to enter in.

2. Every entry must include an italics introduction as to what your entry is.

For example:
Best Avatar
MitD's lovely Aberration (It's called Jorge)
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm112/Thecrimsonmage2/aberration-small.png


3. Only the avatarist who created the avatar may submit it.
However, you may submit old creations as long as they have never been entered into an Iron Avatar Thread before. It does not have to be something made specifically for this thread.

4. All entries must be posted by February 15th at 23:50, Central Standard Time.

Good luck!

[Crimmy]

Artists required for Official Iron Avatarist Banner.

[Savannah]

Question: is the Backstory challenge required or optional?

[Crimmy]

Question: is the Backstory challenge required or optional?

Like my first IA, it's purely optional, just a little added challenge in case you feel like doing it the hard way.

[Serpentine]

Hey Crimmy, "Rookie" ended up being anyone who hasn't won anything yet, not just anyone who hasn't entered. You changing that?

[Elemental]

Could I have a judging position if it's not too much trouble?

[D.KnightSpider]

We really only have five days to create a submission? That's... a significantly small allowance of time. :smalleek:

[Cuthalion]

We really only have five days to create a submission? That's... a significantly small allowance of time. :smalleek:

That's the other challenge he didn't tell us about. The next contest is going to end on the Leap Day which doesn't even exist this year.

EDIT: Entry

Best Scene
Isn't it cuuute?
http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/335/d/a/dragon_with_mage_by_cuthillius-d6wergd.png

Best Scene
Everybody should have one of those...
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/400x213q90/600/cpo6.png

[Crimmy]

Rright, so that date was changed because silly me.

[The Succubus]

I may have an avatar idea for this. You're looking for something small, furry and adorable, right?

[Eldan]

I may have an avatar idea for this. You're looking for something small, furry and adorable, right?

If you're thinking of peacock spiders, I had that idea first! :smalltongue:

[Crimmy]

If you're thinking of peacock spiders, I had that idea first! :smalltongue:

If it's dropbear spiderchickens... it's gonna be more awesome.

So yeah, I really really wanna see how you tackle things like pet personalities (you know, like cats being... cats, and dogs being friendly and all that).

[D.KnightSpider]

... Maybe I'm just dense, but the only date that I see still says Feb. 15th. Is there a new due date?

[Rain Dragon]

... Maybe I'm just dense, but the only date that I see still says Feb. 15th. Is there a new due date?

No, it used to say January 15th though.

Also, if nobody else wants to, I would like to help judge this IA.

[D.KnightSpider]

.... Derp. *facepalm* Apparently, I don't know what the present month is.

Anywho...

GET IT OFF!
Best Scene
http://i.minus.com/ibafelW71hEwzn.png

[Crimmy]

Also, if nobody else wants to, I would like to help judge this IA.

You got it.

[Crimmy]

*Quick look*
*Nothing new*
:smallfrown:

[Cuthalion]

Has nobody volunteered for banners?

[Crimmy]

No, I'll do them it seems. Once I get my asdfgfhdasgdjasgdjhg tablet fixed.

[Domochevsky]

Yeeeaaahhh... guys, I don't think the Iron Avatarist is gonna regain its full glory any time soon. Maybe the format and/or premise needs a overhaul?
Personally speaking I feel no compulsion to enter anything for this one, as the topic doesn't interest me (and I got plenty of other things on my plate). :/

[Crimmy]

Yeeeaaahhh... guys, I don't think the Iron Avatarist is gonna regain its full glory any time soon. Maybe the format and/or premise needs a overhaul?
Personally speaking I feel no compulsion to enter anything for this one, as the topic doesn't interest me (and I got plenty of other things on my plate). :/

I was considering an older theme, but that's not the best tbh. Like, for example, another OotS on Broadway, or Erf...

[Mauve Shirt]

I'm drawing something, don't end the contest without me!

Yeah I don't know what happened to make IA lose its appeal to the young folk... I mean, I got more involved with Real Life and it affected my ability to participate. But what happened to everyone else? :smallfrown:

[Crimmy]

No, I'm not ending it. But I sure as hell would like to see more participants.

[D.KnightSpider]

*places $.02 on the counter*

I have a few suggestions on, maybe, why the IA isn't doing so well, if anyone's interested.

The first is the name. It's extremely vague and misleading on two counts. The first is that it doesn't actually tell anyone what the purpose of the thread is or that it's a contest. I realize that it's a play on 'Iron Chef', but I didn't make the connection between 'Iron Avatarist' and 'Iron Chef' until someone pointed it out to me. The name certainly didn't entice me to look in the thread.

The second reason that the name is misleading is because it has precious little to do with Avatars. Most of the works submitted are much too large to be used as Avatars. That's entirely fine and there's nothing wrong with that. But when you put 'Avatars' in the thread title, most people are going to assume that it's an Avatar-art-dump or something. I know that I did.

Can I suggest the sacrilege of changing the IA name?

I'd also like to suggest that the categories be overhauled. I guess that it's nice to have multiple categories, but most people just go straight for 'Best Scene' because most ideas are going to require more than 160 x 160 pixels. I dunno. Just a thought. If you overhaul the name, then it might be worthwhile to just overhaul the content as well.

The third idea is one that's been brought up multiple times. The theme for this round, honestly, I don't find to be very good or interesting. It doesn't really excite the imagination. I'm sorry that I can't be of more help in this area because I don't have any organized thoughts on what would and would not be a passible theme.

The initial tight deadline didn't help either, as I was far too busy that weekend to get anything made.

[Crimmy]

IA has been it's name since I remember. AFAIK, it begun with that name. Iron Avatarist is a pretty concise name, and I don't know what would work better, Avatar Contest in the Playground? Not so sure I'm keen on that name. It's up for debate, I suppose.

And that's your mistake, sorry D. It's not about avatars (Since it's not Iron Avatar) but about the guys who make them (Avatarists), the fact that you were misled by the name (and it not being about avatars) was kinda your thing. I understood perfectly the first time I saw the title back in, oh 2009, that it was about the guys and not the avatars

The Name of each contest is supposed to be a small humoristic phrase or sentence related to the contest (in this case, pets). I can go for a boring: IA: The Pets of the OotS Cast but to be fair it's about more than just the pets of OotS. And just saying "Pets" is kind of... boring.

The Categories might need changing as well, yes, but the fact that making avatars is still a thing, and the avatars here are always 120 x 120 is a challenge. Making a great piece that can fit in a 120x120 square is something amazing and not entirely impossible. I've done it, I've seen other do it, and I most certainly think it's completely possible, so no.

The Theme is usually here for people to do something that hasn't been done before. If you've checked the site, you'll notice the old "IA Hall of Fame", in which our very own, brilliant Serpentine has put together the trophies of all contests past. It would be kind of cheap to repeat contests, so I naturally have to come up with new themes. I brainstorm and keep a list of all the theme ideas I come up with and finally make a choice of which theme has the most potential and won't be completely simple. Maybe the teme isn't tickling your buds but as it also has come up before, if you guys vote for a theme, it's gonna be broken. The point of the contest (magically, also the point of Iron Chef) is that you come here prepared with your wits, and start working with what you have as a theme. Not preparede beforehand with the theme itself. So there's no way to actually suggest a theme that you guys will find interesting without breaking that.

[D.KnightSpider]

It's cool. Like I said, just my two cents.

[Domochevsky]

That was... maybe a bit needlessly defensive, Crimmy. :smallconfused:

[Crimmy]

That was... maybe a bit needlessly defensive, Crimmy. :smallconfused:

I thought it was explanatory. The only defensive part was D.'s point on how "Avatarist" is confusing with the idea of avatars.

[FinnLassie]

To be honest, the only thing I connect "avatarist" with is avatars, and the first IA thread I checked (which was the previous competition) was by pure accident, and I was surprised to see much more than just avatars.

[petersohn]

I usually have several ideas in my head, and when an IA starts, I try to find one that fits the theme. Sometimes the theme itself inspires me a new idea, but that's usually not as good. I have one that may fit this one, though it's a bit complicated so I'm not sure I'll be able to finish it. But I'll try.

[Paisley]

Guess I'm in the minority here, but I rather like the theme this time. The only reason I haven't submitted anything yet is largely related to RL woes, and that's neither here nor there.

The name, on the other hand...well, perhaps I'm just dense, but I didn't pick up on the actual meaning the first time around. I think it was a banner I saw on someone's sig that caught my attention and subsequently led me here.

[Duck999]

Hey Crimmy, "Rookie" ended up being anyone who hasn't won anything yet, not just anyone who hasn't entered. You changing that?

Since I have seen no response, could someone answer this for me?

Edit: Can one picture be in multiple categories?

[Cuthalion]

Since I have seen no response, could someone answer this for me?

Edit: Can one picture be in multiple categories?

He changed it, as can be seen under the category "Best Rookie".

And no, apart from the best rookie.

[Crimmy]

Since I have seen no response, could someone answer this for me?

Edit: Can one picture be in multiple categories?

If done correctly, yes. Example: If you haven't won any contest, all of your entries will intantly go for Best Rookie, apart from the category they're originally going for (Say, you make a normal, 120 x 120 avatar, which enters the Best Avatar category).

The Overall category is just there for judging, you can't actually enter something to it because, well, it's just for the most outstanding pieces the avatarists submit.

[Savannah]

Don't know if this qualifies for the backstory bonus, but this avatar does, indeed, have a backstory.

I adopted this:
http://imageshack.com/a/img163/1558/lilyandtiger.png
(not my entry :smalltongue:)

So my avatar became this:
Best Avatar
My avatar isn't me, but sometimes we share
http://imageshack.com/a/img231/85/lilye.png

******************

No backstory, just an old request.
Best Avatar
When druids have low charisma
http://imageshack.com/a/img713/3174/txww.png

******************

I absolutely, 100% agree with those suggesting that the name may be working against us. I never made the Iron Avatarist <-> Iron Chef connection without help, and then, when I did, Serpentine and I had an argument about what the implication of said connection was (I said contest, and therefore I wasn't interested in entering if I didn't feel like my art could compete, she said showing off skill, and therefore winning shouldn't matter when deciding whether or not to enter*). I also agree with D.KnightSpider -- I think that the name does unfairly indicate that it's all about avatars, since that's what, by definition, avatarists make. I unfortunately don't have a great alternative suggestion, but I don't think changing the name should be dismissed out of hand.

*This is from memory, so I hope I'm summarizing your position correctly, Serpentine.

[Crimmy]

Yes, it's all being considered now. I hope big changes are upon us.

For one, I will begin polls and make banners...
----
Well, the Challenge is to make the backstory image. I assume the photo is one you took, but you'd need to make it (Ootsy?) to make it parto f the challenge. How did you decide to adopt? What made you decide on this particular ball of fuzz and cuteness? That's kind of the idea.

[Savannah]

I'm not going to OotSify the original image -- it's there just to show what I did to OotSify it in the avatar :smalltongue: I don't particularly care if it doesn't qualify for the background, I just wanted to include it for reference.

[The Succubus]

I'm going to have to drop out of this round, folks. Life just got complicated. :smallfrown:

[Crimmy]

Contest closed, no more entries taken.

Also, will post an update on IA.

[Deremir]

so i just made my first avitar and i thaught this might be interesting to give a try, but it seems its already past the deadline, when is the next iron avitar challenge/event?

[petersohn]

The bad news is that it's on hiatus for a while. Details here. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=332613)