Talent Competition Winners

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moonretealoud#1487 wrote:

At least 4 entries don't meet the competition requirements (be in the The Last of Druids or Keepers of the Flame leagues).

Specifically, the Vaal Orb Keycap (this orb was added back in 0.1, not to mention how easy it is to use a 3D printer).
Crochet (a long-standing monster).
The Crowbell (a boss introduced back in 0.1).
Baby Brutus Pet (a pet introduced over a year ago).

Were there really so few entries that we had to accept those that didn't meet the requirements? What's the point of these requirements if they can be ignored?
Then it was possible to nominate art with Zana.
I didn't expect to see myself included. I'm not even upset for myself, but for the other participants whose work went unnoticed.

Well... Congratulations...

As the artist behind the Vaal artisan keycap, I feel compelled to defend my work.
The keycap itself has been hand sculpted/crafted from it's various iterations. Nor do I use AI. The ONLY 3D printed component (which you can see at the base of the first cap) is the mold system (a tool) which I use to cast these caps/sculpt in resin. The second cap uses three different caps, cut up to shape and put together. Further clay sculpting was done to the third cap, then became the final sculpt (forth cap). The brown color things you see are Monster Clay which I use to hand sculpt upon previous iterations.
If you look at the imgur gallery and the close ups, you can see the minor details that 3D printing cannot replicate and the human imperfections.

Sure, there many artisan keycaps you can find online that were 3D printer and/or hand painted, but I am not one of those artists. I take great pride in my work because I put great effort into them.
https://imgur.com/DjSgiBd
https://imgur.com/a/vaal-orb-artisan-keycap-mfc-pbU2vmq

and Congratulations all participants - from one artist to another, I appreciate the effort you put into your craft.

ahhhhhhh mini Tul made It, thanks! big hype :D
congratz to all other participants as well, good stuff seeing other arts included for this one with banger tunes and animations showcased alongside 2D/3D creations

see y'all in 3.28 for mystery Maraketh-sandey-timey stuffs~

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mfmunh#2350 wrote:

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moonretealoud#1487 wrote:

At least 4 entries don't meet the competition requirements (be in the The Last of Druids or Keepers of the Flame leagues).

Specifically, the Vaal Orb Keycap (this orb was added back in 0.1, not to mention how easy it is to use a 3D printer).
Crochet (a long-standing monster).
The Crowbell (a boss introduced back in 0.1).
Baby Brutus Pet (a pet introduced over a year ago).

Were there really so few entries that we had to accept those that didn't meet the requirements? What's the point of these requirements if they can be ignored?
Then it was possible to nominate art with Zana.
I didn't expect to see myself included. I'm not even upset for myself, but for the other participants whose work went unnoticed.

Well... Congratulations...

As the artist behind the Vaal artisan keycap, I feel compelled to defend my work.
The keycap itself has been hand sculpted/crafted from it's various iterations. Nor do I use AI. The ONLY 3D printed component (which you can see at the base of the first cap) is the mold system (a tool) which I use to cast these caps/sculpt in resin. The second cap uses three different caps, cut up to shape and put together. Further clay sculpting was done to the third cap, then became the final sculpt (forth cap). The brown color things you see are Monster Clay which I use to hand sculpt upon previous iterations.
If you look at the imgur gallery and the close ups, you can see the minor details that 3D printing cannot replicate and the human imperfections.

Sure, there many artisan keycaps you can find online that were 3D printer and/or hand painted, but I am not one of those artists. I take great pride in my work because I put great effort into them.
https://imgur.com/DjSgiBd
https://imgur.com/a/vaal-orb-artisan-keycap-mfc-pbU2vmq

and Congratulations all participants - from one artist to another, I appreciate the effort you put into your craft.

I don't have anything against you specifically. Regarding the 3D printer, I'll explain why I thought so. The factor of human imperfection and the addition of small details may not be the main, but the final part of the work. That is, 80% of the work could have been created on a 3D printer—the basic shapes and proportions, with the fine details refined using tools like a soldering iron, an abrasive, or a scalpel. This is more difficult than simply printing a part, which requires more skill.

At the same time, I think that, despite the presence of a Vaal temple, the Vaal orb doesn't quite meet the contest requirements. After all, they could have just as easily drawn any boss whose appearance was reused in the new league, or said, "Well, I played with Cleave in that league, so here's Slayer's art with Cleave."

I wish you continued success; any questions should be directed to the organizers.

Thank you so much <3 I really enjoyed seeing everyone's amazing entries, I admired how much variety there was! I'm so grateful to those who liked my entry :) this really made my week. I had wanted to post the timelapse of creating my piece but couldn't figure out how to embed it in my post, but I hope everyone stays inspired and keeps creating incredible work! this game is really inspiring and I look forward to what comes next!!! Thank you again for placing me!

So, now the PoE 2 developers should give the artwork to a merchandise shop (to ensure hassle-free shipping). This would also help the artists gain more recognition. Payments should be distributed proportionally to the artists in the form of old PoE 1-2 support packs once a year. High-quality printing, of course. The artists should sign the poster (a postcard is sufficient):

@moonretealoud#1487 The Vaal Keycap is great, I'd buy it immediately.

My only comment about the PoE team is that there should be a few more prizes. Seriously, 1 armor or footprint, etc., is too little.

Hello, sorry to be nosy about it, but the Plant Druid entry feels heavily assisted by AI. There's the general composition of it and while I am myself an enjoyer of rim light, the usage of it in the piece is to a crazy extent and intensity that you can see on the generated images. Considering that the background features a dense forest with a tree obstructing the moonlight, it should not fall on the showcased characters this much and from this angle as well.
Then there's the werewolf issue, I'm also a fan of creature and monster design and while at the first glance it seems very impressive, even if you take the specifically shown in PoE2 wolves and druid's werewolf form it starts to show cracks. You don't need to be an expert in beast anatomy to see that wolves have bat ears here (which may be an artistic expression, but I doubt there was a need for it to push the enemy design in a way that contradicts the common lore), the wolf on the left with full hand/paw visible only has 4 fingers which shouldn't be the case be it a wolf or a human turned wolf. Teeth quantity and position is all over the place, along with at some places not aligning at all with the dent, or dent going over the frontal/side lip like on the foreground, and despite every single one having an open mouth the lip stretch on the edges differs from straight exaggerated line to a curve.
The werewolf further back has his left frontal leg weirdly bent compared to the right, and from this angle the body exudes the feeling of being teardrop shape, with such pronounced back and chest but no visible spine or pelvis, while the back leg indicates where it should be and at the same time showing that it's structure is unlike what you see on any canine because of the elongated bone. and hopefully the line going parallel to it is a weirdly placed tree on the background and not a leg on the right side because otherwise that would solidify the insectoid feel that the creature's stance gives off.

I'm saying all this because while you can clearly see the paint brush texture on the artwork, there have been cases of people using software to have as they called it 'AI underpainting' that has everything on the ready with composition, lighting, anatomy, hair, even background to just go over it with the painting program tools and call it a day.
I'm not exactly condemning the winning artwork to be AI-generated as it was stated in the rules that these are prohibited, nor am I suggesting with 100% certainty that it was made as I think it may have been made, it is more of an inquiry for the original artist to maybe explain some of the shortcomings I have noticed and pointed out here, because as something that has taken a prized place, I feel the need to look at it and learn why has it left the other entries that I liked in the dust, what kind of superior quality has pushed it on the pedestal, or simply should I get inspired by the skill difference, but there's nothing to be talked about if the entry has used the tools I refuse to use even if it would help me achieve better industry-standard art which is more favorably looked at by the general public in the west.

Once again sorry for such an extensive post cherry picking and pointing the inconsistencies and explaining as best as I can, but I feel like it's completely fair to do so in such scenario and if the artist is legit though and through then there's no animosity that should be felt from this post not should the artist feel it if they got 'called out' unjustifiably. I'd be happy to read a reply and maybe the artist could also see some of these shortcomings and note them for future growth.