If you don't make it to the finals...

[Brandon Hanvey]

If you don't make it to the finals, will you still do the assignments?

If you do, there will be a thread for a "play-at-home" CBI on the Artist and Writer Showcase forum.

[luv2pencil]

Well after about a day of weeping or two, I would definitely make the attempt to do the assignments. I'm sure important people will be watching this too and if so, it sure beats waiting months for the next convention season.

[pencilmachine]

that would be fun and actually smart for people to do because alot of people will still be checkin out the thread to see what everyone is doin thats playin along.so alot of people will still check your stuff out and exposure never hurt no one.

[Keith Dotson]

As much as I would like to, probably not. I just have too many other commitments. I can set them aside if I were to get in but otherwise I just can't afford to.

I really do hope to get in the finals though because, and I don't mean this in an arrogant way at all, I really feel like I can do a good job on this.

Keith

[mytymark]

yep! the "play-at-home" concept should be fun. and at least it will allow aspiring artists to build a better portfolio...oh, and like what luv2pencil mentioned, the thread could surely attract important people...

if not, who knows there might be a special "twist" in the CBI finals round concering the "play-at-home" players:)

[Justice41]

I already have the hollow points loaded.

[Nick Pitarra]

If I don't make it into the top 10, then I'll just keep doing what I'm doing...drawing pitches,doing commissions,going to conventions for pro crits,going to college(art education major), and keep entering every talent search that pops up...in recent years the Dark Horse New Recruits Program and the Wildstorm Talent search...this is my first time entering CBI and if I don't make it...I'll probably follow along and do the assignments that benefit my portfolio the best. I'll try and revamp my stuff and enter ChesterQuest by the end of the year.

I think alot of us aspiring artist look for acception from the comicbook industry...I know I do. But I'm 25...alot of guys entering are older...some younger...all are incredibly talented,eventually something is going to click and we'll realize that making comics isn't climbing a mountain or achieving a dream. It's in fact very tangible...it's the paper on your art desk..its your pencil. Talent searchers are inspiring...they tempt one's ego...competitions are fun...they get alot of people interested and they almost always have a "make a wish come true" type grand prize. I just hope all of those that don't make it realize that they still have a sick amount of talent...and if they don't get accepted into ComicBookIdol, they can just as well pick up a pencil and make there own comics. I know I'd buy stuff from 80% of all the entries I've seen...everyone of these guys has a unique gift...some people are more polished and comfortable with there styles...some are still rough and learning...so I guess to recap...I'm just reassuring myself and all those who might not make it....that talent searchers aren't the be all end all. And if you don't make it ...then you don't make it. Everyone here has the talent to make comics. Period.

Good luck guys,
nick

P.S. It sure would be nice to make it though.

[icarus]

If I don't make it into the top 10, then I'll just keep doing what I'm doing...drawing pitches,doing commissions,going to conventions for pro crits,going to college(art education major), and keep entering every talent search that pops up...in recent years the Dark Horse New Recruits Program and the Wildstorm Talent search...this is my first time entering CBI and if I don't make it...I'll probably follow along and do the assignments that benefit my portfolio the best. I'll try and revamp my stuff and enter ChesterQuest by the end of the year.

I think alot of us aspiring artist look for acception from the comicbook industry...I know I do. But I'm 25...alot of guys entering are older...some younger...all are incredibly talented,eventually something is going to click and we'll realize that making comics isn't climbing a mountain or achieving a dream. It's in fact very tangible...it's the paper on your art desk..its your pencil. Talent searchers are inspiring...they tempt one's ego...competitions are fun...they get alot of people interested and they almost always have a "make a wish come true" type grand prize. I just hope all of those that don't make it realize that they still have a sick amount of talent...and if they don't get accepted into ComicBookIdol, they can just as well pick up a pencil and make there own comics. I know I'd buy stuff from 80% of all the entries I've seen...everyone of these guys has a unique gift...some people are more polished and comfortable with there styles...some are still rough and learning...so I guess to recap...I'm just reassuring myself and all those who might not make it....that talent searchers aren't the be all end all. And if you don't make it ...then you don't make it. Everyone here has the talent to make comics. Period.

Good luck guys,
nick

P.S. It sure would be nice to make it though.

Definitely, one of the hardest things about any art field is learning to keep your chin up and forge ahead. I plugged away in the "fine art" field for years and finally felt beat up enough to quit. Take it from someone who has just learned to put his boots back on that one (or several) rejections should serve as encouragement for you. The whole lemons and lemonade thing.

Some of the artwork I've seen here is honestly jaw dropping. I expect the play at home thread will showcase even more heat than the real thing! I know I'll be there If I don't make it. I think it's a natural desire to show up the "man" if you don't get selected :) Hell, that's the American way!

But yes, it would be nice to get selected :D
-Charles

[Red Jack]

I did the PLAY AT HOME version the GREEN LANTERN year (last or the one before?).

It totally upped my game. And it was big fun.

I recommend it.

[warren_0]

That sounds good for kicks! I'll totally play along! Without a deadline I'm mush.

For the Play At Home I might be slipping the actual competition deadlines by a day or two because work's heating up. If, on the off-chance I made the T10, it'd be as if I had another gig - hard deadlines and all. Them's the rules, after all.

[frbarba]

its surely frustrating NOT to make it to the finals, but the opportunity to be part of this contest, showcase what i can do and compete with these high-caliber people from different parts of the globe is something ill cherish for years to come...

[Anthony ANMPH Hary]

I dont know if I will do the play at home. I can say I am prepaired to sacrifice the time and bust my butt to put out my best work ever for the contest. If I make it, great. If not, I dont know that I will have the urgency to do all the assignments.

[pencilmachine]

yeah it would be disheartening not to make it but alot of us are not going to make it and its not the end of the world.there will be another competition(hopefully) and plenty of other ways to get noticed(if you have the motivation to keep working hard).
but playing along at home is obviously not like being in the competition but i can bet alot of the people that check out the competition will be checkin out who is playing along as well.so it is still really good exposure.probably wont lead to much but still good practice.

especially for all the people who thought they should have made it, they can see how they stack up against those who did make it.

[Daniel L.]

Yeah, I'll probably do 2 or 3 assignments for fun and exposure. I do believe people and editors will check out the 'play-at- home' section because there are way more than 10 talented artists around here, and some good ones will be left out for sure.

[Jettison]

Yeah, what Daniel L. said...maybe try some of the assignments even though I'm not entering officially.

[Phil Clark]

I fully expect NOT to get into the finals, and am already planning on working my butt off on the assignments for the play at home thread. And then we will just see what happens.

[joshm]

I'm in for the ride whether I make the top ten or not. For one, drawing is fun and why not see how you do up against guys that the industry, or at least the judges, think are the top guys in this very large group of talented artists.

If you do well and can attract enough attention then it does some good for you. If you don't attract any attention, then you know you got some work to do. I know I got work to do and I'll continue with that additude even when (that's right I said when) marvel starts knocking on my door.

As an artist my only goal is to improve. I have a job and I'm not planning to quit it anytime soon, so in the meantime I'll keep drawing to improve and when I finally make it into the industry I'll try to remember these words. I don't want to look back 10 years from now and see no improvement, so let's get to drawing. :D

[Phreak SA]

I'm with Josh, play hard or don't play at all! I'll do all the ones time permits if I don't get into the finals, and in my spare time I'll persue my dream of being shot out of a canon in hope that Milla Jovovich fall in love with my success....

[juanmucho]

No tears shed here. there are too many tallented artists in this group for me to be upset about not making the cut.

as for what i'll do if i don't make the cut, I'm going to continue work on my Mucho Man book, in hopes of at least self publishing, if i can't land a publisher.

But, I will definitly be watching the competition every step of the way, and looking to it for inspiration.

[Jay Ryan]

Yeah, I'm going to do the play at home as The entries are closed and I just found out about it today, but was too late.

Name: Jay-Allen Ryan
Age: 31
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Link: http://bulletconcerto.deviantart.com/gallery/

[J. Torres]

I can think of at least one artist who was recruited for a gig from one of the previous play-at-home threads!

[Phreak SA]

I'm curious to see if they will pick 10 artists with a certain genre in mind? You know 10 people with Spiderman portfolios? Not that there's anything wrong with it, I'd love to see some diversity though, and that would challenge all the artists accross the board. Worth thinking about!

[J. Torres]

I'm curious to see if they will pick 10 artists with a certain genre in mind? You know 10 people with Spiderman portfolios? Not that there's anything wrong with it, I'd love to see some diversity though, and that would challenge all the artists accross the board. Worth thinking about!

Looking back, I think we've always had a pretty diverse group of contestants. I mean, just compare the styles of the two winners. We also had artitsts who ranged from "classic" comic book realism (Chris Ring) to cartoony and stylized (Frank Weber). And then there was the inimitable Martin Redmond. I think this diversity should carry over in the selections this season because of who's making the choices.

It appears to me that the judges are making picks with two criteria in mind: whose work speaks to me; and whose portfolio has the kind of material (quality), as well as the amount of material (quantity), that says they can go all the way in this competition. And who better to assess the latter than eight people who've been through the contest, right?

[Pro]

All in all it isn't the best time for me to have to crank out 3-5 pages a week, so in that sense i guess missing the entry deadline isn't the worst thing.
If my arm feels better than it does now i'll probably participate in a challenge or two for fun and exposure.

[Nick Pitarra]

Yeah...I figured the judges would pick 2 or 3 modern superhero types. 1 or 2 classic superhero types. A couple of raw indy types. 1 off the wall "never saw this shit before" type. Maybe 1 Euro guy(meaning style...not location). And 1 or 2 manga types. Giving and taking based on quality of talent in each category. So if you want to access your competetion....and you're a modern comicbook superhereo type...you've got to ask yourself is there 2 or 3 guys better than me...doing what I'm doing?

Just for organization sake...thats how I would handle it ...if I was judging. It would be to hard to go talent vs. talent with all the quality work that entered.

I guess based on that...if you could cross categories with your style...or are talented enough to change your style and keep up the quality of work. You'd have a big advantage.

~nick

[kamandi]

If not selected, I doubt I'll be able to do many of the assignments due to being a bit overloaded as it is. I will definitely follow it closely though as it should be fun.

One question about the prize though, if the grand prize winner lives in NY, where do they get flown to?

[Nick Pitarra]

Maybe you can trade your prize for one of the other prizes...like the elephant christmas game.:)

[Phreak SA]

Looking back, I think we've always had a pretty diverse group of contestants. I mean, just compare the styles of the two winners. We also had artitsts who ranged from "classic" comic book realism (Chris Ring) to cartoony and stylized (Frank Weber). And then there was the inimitable Martin Redmond. I think this diversity should carry over in the selections this season because of who's making the choices.

It appears to me that the judges are making picks with two criteria in mind: whose work speaks to me; and whose portfolio has the kind of material (quality), as well as the amount of material (quantity), that says they can go all the way in this competition. And who better to assess the latter than eight people who've been through the contest, right?

That sounds brilliant! Can't wait!!

[kamgates]

You know, I had never planned to participate in the the Play At Home. After all, I've got things to do. :cool: But some stuff has come up recently that has made me rethink that and it's got me pondering, 'ya know, I can't win, but I also can't lose.' Now I feel this could be a good opportunity to do a bunch of short projects and try some kind of new different style for each one. Hopefully it will help my art and maybe I'll discover something along the way.

[pencilmachine]

dude,it cant hurt.that is a good way at lookin at it as well.just try new things out with the assignments.also still gettin some exposure.it will definitely be worth it.

[Zakk]

Totally still stoked for this. Anything I can do to up my game, and see what the current pros are looking for in an artist is what I'm all about.


Plus the exposure? Yes plz. ;)

[R Santos Jr]

the amount of material (quantity)
*sad panda in snow* :(

[mytymark]

yep, play at home's gonna help us all a lot in upping our game. as j, me...and a lot of other peeps already said, you never know who's watching...so better put on a gameface as well:)

btw, will it be happening here, in the comicbookidol thread...or outside...i think i read somewhere j. saying "if the mods from the artists and writers showcase thread will allow it"...that's not a direct qoute, btw...:)

[Brandon Hanvey]

The Play at Home CBI will take place on the Artist & Writer Showcase forum.

[joshm]

I just finished a page for practice and I'm hoping to harm up by the time the play at home thread starts. I think speed has always been more important to me, but I think I need to focus more on the details to show people what I can do, rather than show people how much I can do.

Oh, I'll be doing the 24 hour comic book challenge in Denver, CO this year again, which should help with the practicing.

[J. Torres]

Age and experience have obviously helped make the ten contestants the accomplised talents they are today. 2 or 3 of them have even been in other art contests that they didn't win. The race is not always won by the swift but rather who stays in it...

[Nick Pitarra]

I've lost a few...I flew all the way out to L.A. last year...just to enter the wildstorm talent search...I was picked as a finalist...got to get up on a panel with jim lee ...garza...alex sinclair...scott dunbier.........we got another assignment after the con.... and long story short ...I lost the contest. I also lost the dark horse new recruits thing as well. Marvel tryout thing too(the 2nd one).Gotten lots of bad portfolio reviews. You just keep moving ahead...being stubburn...somewhere along the way you actually start getting better too. You look back at all that old crap you drew and can't believe how bad you were. When Bart Sears was the art director of Cross Gen...I met with him (and before the review I told him to be honest).... he told me I needed to draw 200 more pages before I submitted to any major company....it was short and sweet...he seemed happy to tell me this...3 second crit after a 3 hour wait to get my stuff seen(we had to sign up and come back later).....it stung (I had other people saying they really loved my work)...I thought he was just being an ass....but I look back at those pages and man...were they bad....and man was he right. I really needed to draw ...and draw alot. I was at a point where I showed potential but really needed to plug and chug away at sequentials before I wasted any companys time. You just have to turn rejection into creative fuel. Because there is alot of rejection headed your way when your still learning and making mistakes...I know I'm still learning and still making them.

~nick

[mightyfineline]

I hate to keep saying this but somedays I wish I had been born with enough sense to be a plumber... when you're a plumber and you go in to fix a drain, when you're done the drain is either fixed or it's not. You don't have to worry about being judged or wonder whether or not the customer is going to 'like' how you fixed the drain. What we do as Artists in large part is subjective, you could show your stuff to 10 guys and 6 of them might think it's junk but if the other 4 think its the best thing since sliced bread... what does that mean? There are certain conventional things and objectives that the medium itself will dicate but how you get to that end point is up for interpretation.

Personally I think I've been very fortunate in that I've never really had a review where the person tore me apart but in a way its even worse to constantly have people hmm and hah and tell me "you're almost there" or "you're so close". I guess the point I'm trying to make is that while there are plenty who will tell you otherwise, making comics isn't an exact science. There's a world of styles and approaches out there and lots of stories to tell.

[kamgates]

Yeah, it's true, it's all very subjective by nature. I mean, just look at the volume of different people that made our individual top 10 lists. On the flip side, there were also some people who we picked pretty consistently. There are a lot of things that we as artists have control over. Part of what people like has to do with having the skill set, anatomy, perspective, clear storytelling and so on. But another part is that thing that you hear come up in the music industry. 'What makes a hit?'. I've had a couple opportunities to sit behind a booth at a convention and one of the most valuable parts of that was getting to see what pieces of art people consistently responded to. It was almost never what I would have picked ahead if time, but then I know what aspects of my style are grabbing people and what aspects aren't. I guess that's me trying to add science to the unscientific visceral aspect of what makes some artist successful. But it gives you something to work with.