Results of the artwork contest 2019 – Places 51+ (Part 1)
Our special Sandra and Woo and Gaia artwork contest 2019 ended on Sunday. Today, I'm showing you the first half of all the submissions that didn't make it into the top 50. I worked very hard in the last days to be able to present you the first results already. There are some very interesting pieces of art among these entries, so you should definitely check them out. In a couple of days, I will post the second half of all submissions outside the top 50.
Show your support by visiting the artists' websites and/or writing a comment in the comment section of this blog post! Many thanks to all artists who participated! I love to see my characters in all these different styles and situations!
To our gold and diamond patrons: As usual, I will later offer a convenient download archive containing all submissions in their original size.
 by aileennakama[Artist's comment: I decided to draw Faye and Lilith because my artwork was inspired from the flashback from chapter The Tower in the Sky where Faye was the one who coaxed Lilith parents to allow her to attend the academy and thus I put Faye in the front and Lilith the back. Faye acted as her guardian/shielding/defending Lilith.] |  by Akidead (website)[Artist's comment: I was really deeply moved by Vivi's bravery and self-sacrifice in The Way Back Home, so I knew I wanted to draw her. My idea for this was to show her as strong and elegant at the same time, accepting her role to lead her people but still remaining herself.]I like the design of the circular cut-out. The color composition is also done well. |
 by Amelia [Artist's comment: This one is based on Polly from strip 93. I always thought Cloud and Sandra riding together would have been adorable! Watercolor and Pencil.] Very cute. |  by Amelia [Artist's comment: I based this Book of Woo Style drawing off of the Chinese legend of the Red Thread of Fate that connects the people who are destined to be connected. The code is the same as the one used in The Book of Woo and roughly translates to: The Red Thread of Fate She-Who-Talks-With-Spirits knew that she had to connect her people and the human world. She used the red thread of fate to give Woo two soulmates, a human friend and a raccoon lover. He connected the worlds and saved us all.] I like the idea of an illustration in the style of the Book of Woo. But the composition would have needed to be a bit more elaborate to make it into the top 50. |
 by Ashkuto (website) [Artist's comment: A drawing of Viviana and Ilias kissing each other when Viviana asked him if she can kiss him again. I thought it was really cute!] It's interesting to see your characters drawn in completely different styles. |  by Askia Enrico ReederI have to say that I don't really get this comic. Is Cloud playing as Eldor? If so, what's the meaning of the game over screen? |
 by Breja [Artist's comment: Winnie-the-Woo - A simple sketch based on one of my favorite illustrations for Winnie the Pooh by Ernest Shepard, with Sandra in the place of Christopher Robin and Woo, obviously, taking the place of Pooh.] Breja also submitted a second drawing on top of this sketch. I'm considering to put it at place 50, but I'm still undecided. |  by clingydreamers (website) [Artist's comment: I wanted to have a dynamic close-up illustration of my favorite character in Sandra and Woo. I hope you like it.] This is a very nice piece of pixel art. But since Shadow has a rather generic character design, he usually looks like a random fox without further context. |
 by crozneo (website)Booooooooobs! I think Vel turned out best. |  by Cuthalion |
 by DarkDanDesigns (website) [Artist's comment: A somber piece. I wanted to illustrate Lili and how lonely she must feel considering everything that has happen since Elder took her, like she has stepped into a world that is beyond the perception of the rest of the cast. I also wanted to try the idea of making her robe a flat strong crimson red to really call the eyes to her in the piece.] I don't know. I like the experimental style, the colors work well together, and the drawing technique is clearly professional. This drawing should have easily made it into the top 50. But somehow the overall impression just isn't really convincing. Sometimes it's hard to say where the error is. Maybe some of you feel different about this artwork and would place it higher. |  by Darryl Heine[Artist's comment: Woo is holding up a sign to celebrate 10 years of Sandra and Woo artwork contests.] |
| -I'm reconsidering the artwork scheduled for this spot for the top 50. - |  by Dreamango |
 by Elzerei (website) [Artist's comment: Before their adventure to the Forbidden Corridor, Lili decides they need a little vacation away from reality.] |  by Fredy Siloy [Artist's comment: Angels on the Beach - This is my sexier and adult version of the Sandra and Woo characters. The illustration is showing Ye Thuza and Sandra at the beach, wearing sexy bikinis during their vacation. They're having fun and the boys surely like what they see too.] I have to say that Fredy's entries in the last years were more creative. He also kinda botched the character design this year, especially Sandra looks more like a cross between herself and Larisa. |
 by FxAditya (website) [Artist's comment: I just redrew the scene where Faye went to meet Xarlaxe.] The competition this year was so fierce - due to the increased prize money - that even this very competent drawing missed the top 50. I think the huge size of the dragon is conveyed very well. |  by Garnet-Frost (website) [Artist's comment: I decided to draw page 82 of the Monster arc of Gaia. I was going to draw the earlier pages with Lilith being in prison, but there was something more appealing about the Monster arc, so I went with referencing that page with this art piece.] I like the interesting design of the background, but I'm not as fond of Lilith. |
 by Gatekid3 (website) [Artist's comment: This isn't an entry, but just an additional Sandra as a "10th anniversary" thing and a thank you for holding these contests. I've enjoyed entering for these past few years.] Gatekid3 has two submissions in the top 50 this year. He submitted this one just as a little bonus. There is also the original small version. |  by Genesis Taylor [Artist's comment: Yuna plays make-believe with some of the characters from Sandra and Woo.] But where is the tachyon gun? |
 by Ghostmaya (website) [Artist's comment: I love Sandra's character design! Also I was inspired by your work. I wish that I will be a successful creator like you. And I hope this contest will change my fate as an artist. Even if I don't win this contest, I hope you enjoy this Illustration. And thank you so much for the opportunity.] Two very cute drawings of Sandra and Woo. |  by Ghostmaya (website)This one is apparently based on the 5th strip of Sandra and Woo. |
 by Io Jones (website) [Artist's comment: Sandra gives Cloud a heart flower.] |  by Iphled [Artist's comment: When one thinks about the fact that Viviana was also conceived during Greendew's Spring Festival and Eldor might have been involved in her birth, the question arises what use she has for him.] |
 by Isiah Bush |  by Isiah Bush |
 by Jakob Dam [Artist's comment: I've followed Sandra and Woo since early 2009, and enjoyed every new comic strip since then. I love the light tone with the occasional serious subjects. The cast is varied and everyone have their place; but my favorite is definitely Larisa, and so I chose for her to be the center of this drawing. My original idea was to have her run from Sandra and Woo, where Woo would be drawn much like Rocket (from Guardians of the Galaxy), but I couldn't make the pose or humor work. I instead chose a less cartoony drawing style which matches my preferred way of drawing better - and a pose which is more like a portrait of the three. Since I'm a photographer, poses like these come much more natural to me, and I can do them without reference. Also, this is the first time I've drawn a raccoon, and so I had to use reference images for this one. I sketched it in very much like a cat, then used the references to apply fur and see the proportions of the eyes, ears and snout. Estimated time used is around 12-14 hours. A lot of this was spent on trying different poses and compositions and re-deciding on them. The colors are picked from Copic's "Warm Greys" and "Cool Greys". I actually own these markers, but I'm not satisfied with my current level of using them, and so I chose to draw digital in Paint Tool SAI (v2 beta version) using my Wacom Intuos 4 PTK-840.] This is one of the most Russian looking drawings I've ever seen. Strangely, Jakob seems to be Danish. |  by James Young (website)I found this comic quite confusing. Maybe you can make sense of it. |
 by Jarrod Sievert (website) [Artist's comment: The cast of Gaia made to look like a tapestry or a stained glass window. I was disappointed in my entry last year so I decided to go all in. I hope I do better this time.] This drawing would indeed look really good as a real stained glass window. Unfortunately for Jarrod, I have to say that if he had submitted this piece last year, he would have reached the exact same place, the 11th. |  by Jenny ZhouThis is obviously a very competent drawing of Sandra and Woo. But something a bit more creative would have been needed to make it into the top 50. |
 by Jens Richard (website) [Artist's comment: Remoulade is something you only get in Denmark now also in Sweden. Sorry Larisa, not even Heinz can make this stuff.] This strip pays tribute to our infamous Heinz soy sauce trilogy starting with strip 468. I like the idea, and I would have put it into the top 50 if Jens would have taken four separate photographs instead of just reusing the same one for each panel. |  by Julia Lin [Artist's comment: I chose to draw San de Vertis simply because I found her character design very pretty. After seeing her in The Letter of Jael Bara (and briefly in The Tower in The Sky), I really wanted to draw something that captures her beauty and confident aura. I prefer drawing realistically so I used a combination of references from real girls and the comic character. Note: I tried to retain her features with the v-shaped chin and the same hairstyle with the ribbons and necklace. I have a slightly cropped photo and an uncropped photo (one finishes the backside of the hair but has a line in between because I used 2 papers, I prefer the cropped one).] This great portrait of San de Vertis would have easily made it into the top 50 if it had been drawn on normal paper. The lines are seriously distracting and I'm a bit annoyed by this dumb choice. There is also a cropped version. |
 by Lilli Kempf (website) [Artist's comment: Larisa as a World of WarCraft character.] |  by LivIndieArts (website) [Artist's comment: ARTIST] Here's another victim of the fierce competition this year that would have reached a much better place in the last years. |
 by LivIndieArts (website) |  by Logan Fuller (website)This was the first submission that I received this year. I really like the idea of creating a painting inspired by pointillism, but the execution is not completely convincing in my eye. The scan also appears to be quite blurry. |
 by Loup Richard (website) [Artist's comment: An animated GIF This clever comic was in the top 50 for quite some time. However, I lament the poor technical quality with the ugly word bubbles, font and aliased line art. This piece would have easily made it into the top 50 otherwise. |
Seems reality sometimes has a mind of its own. I kinda like the scholarly aspect of Woo.]
