BACKGROUND BLITZ: Return of the cliché! [OVER]

[ildu]

Idea - RyanTimothy. I think this entry easily went the farthest to portray the topic. TheJBurger was close, but the first thing I thought when I saw his was some kind of future starfleet congress. There was really nothing to specifically indicate villainy.

Atmosphere - TheJBurger. RyanTimothy was close with the clarity of storytelling in his entry, but I just liked TheJBurger's cinematic take on his, so I went with him. It comes across as storyboard art for some deepspace-related film/animation.

Design - RyanTimothy. Well, design is a bit questionable, since there was some tracing involved in RyanTimothy's entry. Truthfully speaking, it kinda raises questions about the design skills of the artist (don't get offended, I'm just speaking professionally ). Nevertheless, his image looks the best and the ribs alone (which I understand were not traced?) deserve due merit.

Composition - RyanTimothy. Composition-wise I think RyanTimothy's is the clear winner. It's got a very dynamic layout (thanks to the great ribs) and clear layering of areas. Perhaps a foreground could've still strengthened the depth and the cave atmosphere. I absolutely love the overlapping of the ribs on the left side, and I'd love to see the scene in a game some day.

Functionality - RyanTimothy. I don't see anything particularly wrong with the functionality in this piece. On the contrary, I'd love to see the implementation of the walk areas and the transitions between the midgrounds. The other entries were a bit lacking, so I chose this.

Technique - TheJBurger. Tracing is a bit of a no-no for me, Ryan, and I went with TheJBurger. Even if you composite a scene yourself, tracing only restricts your own design-skills from developing, so I wouldn't advise it. It also won't fly at all if you plan on doing art commercially. Still, the vote is no pity-vote for TheJBurger, who's style in this piece is great, and who would've gotten my vote anyway. It's just a tad undetailed and unrefined that makes it loose points in my eye .

I'd vote for Ryan as well, but i'll go for Jburger. Sorry Ryan.

So... you're giving all 6 votes to JB, or...?

This kind of thing kinda irks me. Single votes skew the whole process, usually due to the votegiver being too lazy or unaware to distinguish between categories. Of course, it's everyone's prerogative to give the votes they give, but one should learn how to follow rules, or at least specify if he or she is voting someone exclusively or just being braindead.

[Stupot]

Idea.  Ryan Timothy.  Original but suitably cliche all at the same time.  I like it.
Atmosphere. TheJBurger.  Wonderfully paranoid and sinister.
Design.  Close, but... TheJBurger.  I love the details.
Composition.  Ryan Timothy.  Lovely frame, great positioning.
Funtionality.  Cat.  Nice space, obvious exit.
Technique.  TheJBurger.  Great style. Brilliantly executed.

[brokenbutterfly]

Idea: TheJBurger, it really looks like a cool, evil place.

Atmosphere: cat, now that's a creepy cave alright! Reminds me of old cartoons with the cliche scientist villain.

Design: Ryan Timothy, among all the nice stuff, I think the transparent skull is great! So is the ship afar.

Composition: Ryan Timothy, everything is where it should be, I like how the lantern is hanging on the ribs... even though I don't know how it manages to do that.

Functionality: TheJBurger, can't you just picture evil masterminds at work there? Walking around, pulling out their hair, plotting the destruction of the world...

Technique: TheJBurger. If this is unfinished and messy, I wonder how much cooler the real thing can be!

[Akatosh]

As promised, my votes.

Idea - cat. A clichéd villain lair beyond measure, but in a good way. I'm sorry for the other entries, which were also good in this respect, but TheJBurger's was a bit too original (now that's something you don't read too often!) and Ryan Timothy's was just... I don't know, not villain-lair-esque enough. Can't put it into words any better, sorry... it's just giving off the best "vibe" of sorts in that respect.

Atmosphere - TheJBurger. No discussion.

Design - TheJBurger. It's huge, it has a world map on the wall and a projection of a globe on the table... not much more explanation needed here.

Composition - Close call, but I guess I'll go with Ryan Timothy here. Everything just sort of... fits.

Functionality - Ryan Timothy. Calls for rather big character sprites at a high resolution, but overall, I think this is the most functional entry.

Technique - Close call again, but this time TheJBurger makes it. It looks a little blurry at parts, but I guess we can just chalk that up to "style".

[Akatosh]

Alright, and with that, we close the voting. Congratulations, TheJBurger, and thanks to cat and RyanTimothy for participating! Start a new Background (or Mockup) Blitz as soon as you like. I'll try and knock up a few trophies later on, when my PC starts behaving more predictable again.