The Semi-Finalists: Self Portrait Competition!

Hello there citizens, I'm here to report on the results of our latest exciting competition. I'm sure it's felt like a simply eternal wait for all of you who sent in your entries!

Kent and I have spent lots of time looking through them all, and  we've chosen what we feel are the top 5 in each of the three categories. Our 15 lucky winners have all received 2000 Gold, and the top award in each category  (chosen by you, voting below) will each win an additional 3000 Gold! Voting closes midnight SWT on the 3rd of February, so get your vote in today.

By the look of the entries, I think we can confidently say that a lot of fun was had. It may even have encouraged some of you with little or no art experience to embark on a new and rewarding hobby. Kent and I would like to thank all of you who entered the competition, we've had a ton of fun judging it!

Which 3 artists will you choose to vote for?

It's with a true sense of relief that we now turn the competition over to the wider SmallWorlds community to choose the winners in each category. Kent and I found it tremendously difficult choosing the top 5 within each, so we're awfully pleased it's not up to us! When you see the talent displayed below, I think you'll agree that it's a very difficult choice.

With 15 talented artists to talk to and very limited space, we decided we would not seek comments from the semi-finalists, but we will be conducting in-depth interviews with the three lucky category winners when voting closes.

'Best Painting' Category

This category is for the painting experts. What we said was: "Painting skill will be paramount in this category. We are looking for an excellent likeness of your SmallWorlds avatar, and a great picture as a whole." Here are the five we selected from the many excellent entries:

The Five Semi-Finalists - Best Painting

Best Painting Semi-Finalist 1 - Viola Fats

Best Painting Semi-Finalist 2 - Tunococ Coconut

Best Painting Semi-Finalist 3 - Mrs Jassy

Best Painting Semi-Finalist 4 - Sleiya Ajiyeh

Best Painting Semi-Finalist 5 - Kota Phillips

Most Creative Entry Category

These entries were judged on 'the whole picture', with emphasis placed on the background, as well as the placement of the avatar in the picture. Points were awarded for creativity in this category, as you'll see from the winners below!

The Semi-Five Finalists - Most Creative Entry

Most Creative Entry Semi-Finalist 1 - Idda Ratherbehome

Most Creative Entry Semi-Finalist 2 - Gothik Man

Most Creative Entry Semi-Finalist 3 - Joe Schmoe the 2nd

Most Creative Entry Semi-Finalist 4 - Ryo Yogashiva

Most Creative Entry Semi-Finalist 5 - Christine Knight

Best Use Of Color Category

This category was aimed at less practiced artists. We encouraged entrants to make their painting bold and colorful. We looked for paintings where it looked like the artist had a lot of fun creating it, choosing paintings that made us smile!

The Five Semi-Finalists - Best Use of Color

Best Use of Color Semi-Finalist 1 - Ibenezer Twilightlover

Best Use of Color Semi-Finalist 2- Natalie Pratt

Best Use of Color Semi-Finalist 3 - Frost Rose

Best Use of Color Semi-Finalist 4 - Diogo Lus

Best Use of Color Semi-Finalist 5- Lalaina Jameson

Cast Your Vote before 3rd February!

We'll leave the poll open until midnight, Wednesday 3rd February SWT. Do make sure you get your votes in before then; tell your friends and get them to vote too! I'll be doing a followup report, complete with interviews with the three category winners in the week following. I can hardly wait to see who wins!

Finally, we'd like to offer our congratulations once again to the 15 very talented finalists above. Good luck to you all. I'm so looking forward to meeting the three citizens choice award winners.

~Honesty Blaize