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It's coming along nicely, Blackthorne.

One thing that stands out to me is that the BG looks like a stage set. I think it's mainly because of the "shadow" that goes from the top right corner in a big arc to the bottom right. You know what I mean? The darker part of the sky that blends into the darker part on the side of the building. Makes it look like the sky is actuall a wall that forms a corner with the wall of the building.

I like the flowing lines of your sketch very much, it gives the picture a lot of movement and make it dynamic.

One thing I have to point out, as a sometime guitar player: all the fingers of the left hand in your sketch come up over the top of the fret board. Usually the tips of the fingers are used to press down on the strings. If you look at your reference picture, it looks like the ring finger and pinkie are pressing the strings.

The only time all the fingers would extend over the fretboard is if the guitar player were using a slide, one of those metal or glass tubes that slide over your pinkie (usually), and make a bluesy sound.

I like the legs too, they're nice and flowing.

actually, escargot, you should get your facts right. My parents are getting taxed 52% right now.

Wow, I do have my facts wrong. I would really like to know why they pay so much taxes. On average, people making more than $200,000 pay around 7% taxes (because they can afford accountants who trick out all the tax loopholes for them). Hats off to your parents, they are making a much higher than average contribution to the good of society!

One of my best friends growing up Europe had a dentist as a father. His father paid almost 75% in taxes; they still had a huge house and the newest BMW every year, and vacationed in the most expensive spots. Even though he was always complaining about taxes, he didn't seem to suffer much.

Last night, a thought occured to me: Bush keeps saying that lower taxes are good for the economy. But isn't the opposite true? If you can work less and be less productive to earn the same amount of money, because you're not paying so much in taxes, what's the motivation to be more productive? Wasn't that the big argument against communism? So lets have really high taxes so that people are properly motivated to be productive and get the economy going again!

Okay, I'm not 100% serious about that...Ã, 

Okay, dark, you have my voteÃ,  8)

I also hope you guys now know what I meant about taxes. Kerry is singling out and abandoning people making over 200k.

Bush likes to say that Kerry is "raising" taxes on the rich, but really all Kerry wantsÃ,  to do is bring their tax rates back to what they were before Bush slashed them. Even before Bush rich people paid ridiculously low taxes, compared to what they pay in most countries; they actually pay the same or lower percentage than middle income people. Many countries tax the rich at over 50% of their income, and I think they should -- if you make that much money, you should contribute a lot to society, and really that's what taxes are all about. Not about some kind of "burden".

I am only american. I am no match for the dry wit and sarcasim from England and other European countries.

I am both American and European by citizenship (okay, Europe is not a country...) and I've spent a lot of time in both places. Most people in the world used to look up to America, even if they didn't admit it out loud because they thought America's self-absorption was a little weird. But since GW took over, America is the laughingstock of the world, even if they don't (always) laugh at her out loud (that could be dangerous). And Americans now feel like they have to say things like "I am only an American".

Let's hope that someone (maybe Kerry) can bring America back into the world community, not neccessarily as the leader of the world (like Kerry said at last night's debate), but as a country that acknowledges that its own self-interest is best served when it listens to other's points of view and doesn't force it's distorted view of reality down everyone's throat.

[Most Artistic Use of Nudity]

Now we come to the only entry to win in two categories, Most Artistic Use of Nudity and Most Creative Spelling. The winner -- Mr_Frisby!



Okay Frisby, I think you should have also won Best Backstory, but your entry was disqualified from this category on a technicality: Since your entry is a calendar page, this implies that your object of desire is one of many, instead of THE one. Also, I would really, really like to know what is a "nudy swim suit calendar"? Forgive my ignorance, for I have not seen the future with my own two eyes

I really wanted your entry to win, frisby, given the photorealism and all, but as it stands, you have won the coveted Dictionary for winning in Most Creative Spelling. And as for your prize for the Nudity category, just look in your new dictionary under "ploughshare". That page contains a portal to a place where you will be given plenty of opportunity to develop even more artistic uses of nudity....

Finally, we come to the Official Winner of this sprite jam - Damien!



Very evocative, very minimalistic, very well done! It makes me shudder to imagine what made the scratches on the post she is holding on to, and what they might mean. And those eyes...

Congratulations for winning the sprite jam, Damien! You know what your prize is...

[Most Mysterious Smile]

Moving on to Most Mysterious Smile (aka the Mona Lisa Prize) -- the winner, of course, is Rincewind!



For his seductive and suggestive portent of Armageddon, with that incredible little curl of a smile, Rincewind wins a lipstick! I enjoyed your backstory too. Good work!

Next, we have Funkiest Entry with a Psychelic 60's Pattern -- congratulations Pesty!



I must say, your snakelady has the cutest nose and the most seductive jawline! And your backstory has all the stuff of great 60's TV scifi. Very classy work. For winning in this category you receive, how could it be otherwise, a lavalamp!

Best Costume, hands down, goes to big brother.



Okay, so maybe most of the other entries didn't have any costumes to speak of, but I don't want to belittle your entry, big brother. Your sprite really impressed me, from the shading to the realistic folds of fabric, to the dynamic swing of the hips - really first rate work. And all that in only 19 colors - awesome! For winning Best Costume, big brother wins the needle and thread.

[Best Non-Entry]

Okay, it's time to declare a winner. Just like I predicted, it was really hard to pick one winner. So in this Sprite Jam everyone wins a prize! But given the nature of the contest, and given that I'm a cheapskate, the prizes are all inventory items. So lets have a look at the entries and the prizes they have won...

In the category of Best Non-Entry, blackman wins!



Don't know if you drew that, blackman, but if you had a good backstory you could have definitely had a shot at this contest Oh, and you would have had to reduce your palette by 27089 colors...

For his practical joke, Blackman wins a whoopee cushion!

For Best Effort for Furthering Code Appreciation, the winner is Clueless!



Keep up the good work on this front, Clueless, you have squarely earned your prize, a DVD copy of the Matrix.

In the category of Sexiest Webbed Fingers, Eggie takes home the prize!



Eggie wins a diving mask. Thanks for your entry, Eggie!

 

But... why are they all green?

Photosynthesis, of course! But then again, a photosynthetic alien hardly fits our image of a bloodthirsty monster... maybe all those teeth are for defense from herbivores?

I think artistic nudity is fine, as long as its not sexually explicit (unless the artist is trying to make a strong point).
But at the end of the daym if it wasn't drawn for peoples (ahem)sexual gratification, then I think its fine.

Trying to figure out exactly what constitutes porn is a lot like figuring out what constitutes art. The best definition we have to date is "I know it if I see it." I've seen some "porn" that was very moving and thought-provoking, and I've seen tons of clean "art" that was neither. So I think if you are passionate about what you've created, it's okay to post; even if some people don't like it.

But keep in mind the rule that has been stated elsewhere in this forum: if it has nudity, post it as a link rather than an image, because some of us read the forum at work, and some of us are young enough to get in trouble if their parents catch them looking at "nudie pics"... (I think Damien's post is fine, though, because it's very subtle)

Okay, I like the second one better. It gives the eye more of a focal point around the eye of the raven. I love the fog effects as well! You might even animate them to very good effect...

The first one just draws my eye around in circles, because the two swirly clouds make two interesting shapes on opposite sides of the picture. Maybe if you took away the left swirly cloud it would feel a little more quiet (assuming still and quiet is the effect you are going for).

On the font, I'm not a big fan of the font with the crossed O, whatever it's called. It draws too much attention to itself. You might remedy that a little by making it, say, yellow, instead of white.

Anyway, just my two cents worth, disagreeing with everyone else's consensus

[The face that launched a thousand ships]

Okay, topic for this SciFi-themed sprite jam:

The face that launched a thousand ships

In Greek mythology, Helen of Troy's beauty caused a major 10-year war between two giant civilizations by making the leaders of those civilizations send their troops into battle to win her favors (yeah, favors).

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to show us the "Helen" of a future of your choice or imagining. Draw a sprite of a creature of such beauty and stunning that hordes of fighters would climb into their destroyers, stardrifters, space whales or astral projectors, whatever, and risk their life, limbs and sanity, just for a chance to tell their grand-kids or grand-whatevers that they fought in the war for this unforgettable beauty.

Things you might like to consider:

• Standards of beauty change. Fashions change. Your entry doesn't have to fit our current standard of beauty. But make us believe that your entry is irresistible to warlords and soldiers of the future!
• On the other hand, space opera cheesecake or Queen Amidala-ripoffs are of course acceptable.
• Your "Helen" could be male, female, or not human at all.
• Your sprite can be a face, a full character, or anything else you can imagine.
• You get extra bragging points for having a good backstory for your character, but since this is a sprite jam I won't judge your entry on it.
• Sprites should be 300 X 300 max, and 256 colors max.

I know this will be next to impossible to judge, but I'm looking forward to lots of kick-ass entries, and let's hope no wars break out over this!

Wow. You caught me off guard. I thought for sure Gilbot would win this one. And Frisby's Ganesh has something very charming about it. How about that animation?

This was not only my first sprite jam, but also my very first post...
Thanks you all!

I shall presently come up with an idea for the next round.

I love the cartoony style of your characters! I think they work really well together.

The reason your hooker looks like a man is because her shoulders are broader than her hips. Women usually have wider hips than shoulders (one of life's little tricks: you can often spot a drag queen by her lack of hips...)

Anyway, I tried my hand at it, and here's what I came up with:



(original on the left, my example on the right)

I gave her a much more defined waist, narrowed her shoulders, shortened the torso, and gave her breasts an outline. I also shortened her neck and darkened the red you used for shadows to bring out the shading more. I tried to slim her arms up a little too.

What are those white things above her breasts? Do I want to know? :

Not sure if that was the effect you were going for, but I think she does look a little less like a drag queen...

Minotaur pruning topiary.