GFX Artist 2002 Awards
01/29/03 @956 | Dave | comments (14)
Almost a month into 2003 and with memories of the year past fading quickly we decided it was about time to present our first annual Best of the Year feature.  While we doubt anyone creates art for the purpose of receiving awards, hopefully the runners up and winners can get some satisfaction out of our humble choices.  It should also go without saying, but as with many awards, and art itself, picking a "winner" is a highly subjective affair and is certainly biased towards our own tastes.  We also probably missed some worthy candidates, but this is a first time affair for us after all. 

Runners up and winners are presented in the following major categories:

• Digital Artist (2D)
• Best Community Site
• Best Forums
• Best 3D Site

Awards are presented for the following minor categories:

• Artist to Keep an Eye On @ GFX Artist
• Worst Trend of the Year
• Person Who's Website is Most in Need of an Update
• Best Gaming News Website
• Whatever Happened To?

2D Digital Artist of the Year

 

Runners Up (not in any particular order):

Craig Mullins: The original digital artist, Craig first started gaining prominence (online anyway) with his moody work on Bungie's revolutionary Marathon series.  His visceral ultra detailed work appeals to hordes of gamers and artists alike, and his reputation has continued to grow since the launch of his website Goodbrush.  Since then he has firmly established himself as one of the top digital artists having worked on handfuls of games and movies.  Stunning artwork, a continued presence on forums such as Sijun, and an interesting sense of humour make him a worthy candidate indeed for Digital Artist of the Year. 

John Liberto: It would be easy (and a huge mistake) at first glance to dismiss John Liberto as a simple clone of Craig Mullins.  After all, their work does bear a certain resemblance and they both share the same loose sketchy style and an uncanny ability to create vivid detail with a minimal amount of brushstrokes.   Look a bit closer though, and you'll realise that this kid has a freakish imagination and can design and paint like hardly anyone else.  The fact that he's barely out of his teens is either soul destroying or inspiring depending on your point of view.

Seung Ho Henrik Holmberg: The subject of a recent interview at 3D Festival, Henrik made the move to digital painting because of a growing frustration with the 3D process.   After making the transition to 2D, Henrik worked for the prestigous effects house The Mill, before going freelance as a conceptual designer and matte painter.  Oh yeah, did we mention he's only 22? 

Winner:

Linda Bergkvist: In a digital art world where guns, robots and gore are the norm, Linda's beautifully rendered depictions of somewhat androgenous figures in scenic fantasy settings stand out as a breathe of fresh air.  Despite an almost unparalleled amount of criticism and personal attacks, a generous portion of which are aimed at the adrogenity (is that a word?) presented in her work, Linda continues to solider on and stun the community with her beautifully rendered paintings.  Ignore the detractors Linda! 

Best Community Site of the Year

 

Runners Up (not in any particular order):

Deviantart: Try summarising what DA offers and you'll have a problem.  The simple fact is Deviantart is big.  Freakishly big.  And this is at once both its greatest strength and its biggest weakness. A technical marvel, it allows users to showcase every creative outlet available from cell phone art to poetry, to sell their prints and actually make a profit, and to discuss practically any artistic topic under the sun.  Unfortunately, the sheer depth of the site can be intimidating and its enormous size has resulted in it loading very slowly at times. Still, if you're not exploring this community, you're missing out on a lot. 

GFX Artist: Hey, what can we say? Nominating your own site is a perk of running your own site. In all seriousness though, we feel that in the last year we've created a pretty good site, and hopefully laid the groundwork for a fantastic site. Our population continues to expand and diversify, the talent in the galleries grows daily, the elite section is working well, and our tutorial links are widely lauded as some of the best on the net. On the downside though, the news coverage has been spotty and not always timely, unique content such as interviews and tutorials has been sorely lacking, and the forums have yet to materialise. 

Conceptart.org Forums: Well maintained and run, sporting regular competitions and assignments, as well as some truly fantastic artwork, the forums of Jason Manley and Co. are well worth hanging out on.

Epilogue: Epilogue's byline proclaims it as "Fantasy and Sci-Fi at Their Best" and browsing through the galleries, you'd be hard pressed to find reasons to disagree. Yeah, it's not quite the online version of Spectrum, but the editor's picks are always worth browsing, and the artist interviews and tutorials are a treat. 

Winner:

CG Networks (3D Festival, CG Talk, CG Challenge): The epitome of a well run network, CG Networks combined sites blow the competition out of the water with timely news, superb forums, frequent features, heftily sponsored and well run competitions, and a whole hearted commitment to the 3D Community.  You'd be hard pressed to find a better site.  Kudos to the CG Networks team.

Best Forums of the Year

 

Runners Up (not in any particular order):

Sijun Forums: Despite losing some of it's luster and novelty, the forums of digital artist Dhabih Eng continue to attract a loyal following from pros and amateurs alike.   The growth seems to have slowed down in recent months and this combined with good moderating by Rowan Crawford has resulted in a dramatic decline in the amount of drivel and moronic postings.  Despite the migration of many artists to other forums, the continued non presence of Dhabih Eng, and a lack of unique features (where'd Draw Club go to?), the Sijun Forums are still one of the best places to show off and discuss digital work.  You only need to look at the recent propeller thread and neverending speedpaintings to see.

Eatpoo Forums: The rowdy and off center forums of Eatpoo have quickly established themselves as the place to showcase your artwork and get constructive, useful criticism.  Don't let the name phase you, this place has some top notch artists making the rounds. 

CG Talk: After a nasty split from CG Channel, CG Talk quickly regained it's feet and established itself as one of the, if not the biggest graphics forum on the net.  While the forum can be a bit overwhelming because of it's size, the sharp moderating and helpful features such as the featured threads make it a good place to share your artwork and discuss the CG theme. 

Winner:

Conceptart.org Forums: Well maintained and run, sporting regular competitions and assignments, aswell as some truly fantastic artwork, the forums of Jason Manley and Co. are definitely worth hanging out on. 

Best 3D Site of the Year

 

Runners Up (not in any particular order):

Inside CG: Featuring bi monthly articles, regularly updated news, a job board, and some well moderated forums, Inside CG, the amalgamation of Planet3DArt and 3DSociety is a solid 3D Site bookmarked and frequented by many.

3DBuzz.com: Jason Busby and his friends managed to create a nice resource site for anyone interested in 3D art . The free video tutorials cover almost every major 3D application and the solid forums make this site a must visit for every self respecting CG enthusiast.

Winner:

CG Networks (3D Festival, CG Talk, CG Challenge): The epitome of a well run site, CG Networks combined sites blow the competition out of the water with timely news, superb forums, frequent features, heftily sponsored and well run competitions, and a whole hearted commitment to the 3D Community.  You'd be hard pressed to find a better site.  Kudos to the CG Networks team.

Miscellaneous Awards

 

Artists to keep an eye on @ GFX Artist:
Nirut Tamchoo: Nirut, also known as auruster has been nominated for elite status several times and has lately ruled the top 10 with two artworks in a row. Her style has asian roots but lately transformed into something new.

Sebastian Holmer: or Tw13ve as we know him must be one of the most unlucky GFXartist members around. No one has been nominated for elite status as much as him and yet still he is among us as a regular member. The master of desaturated photo manipulations radiating rather strong and confronting messages.Worst Trend of the Year:

Worst Trend:

Hey...wait a second

Ripping GFX Artist: We had to give ourselves an award.  Unfortunately, this is one we probably would not rather have.  Ripping GFX Artist seems to have become somewhat of an epidemic in recent months, and we're not just talking cloning the design or the layout; our whole site, code and all is being stolen. 

In recent months, we've had the dubious honour of being ripped off by a warez site and a scam travel agency.   Ah well, you know what they say, something about imitation being the sincerest form of flattery. 

 

 

Person who's website is most in need of an update:
Justin Sweet:  His site went up in May 2001 with the note that it would be updated.  A year and a half later, and grown men still break down and yearn for the day.

Whatever Happened To?
Steven Garofalo and Rusted Faith: A contender for Person who's website was most in need of an update until he (and his website) unexpectedly disapeared.  What is id doing with their concept artist?  Keeping him locked up in the basement?  We don't know...do you?

Best Gaming News Website:

Runner Up:
VE3D.com: Recently revamped, updates by the minute and great features.

Winner:
Bluesnews: Still going strong after all this time.

Game That Needs to Be Announced In 2003:
Fallout 3:  Sort out your finances Vivendi and Interplay, get your arses in gear, and let Black Isle get on with a sequel to the greatest game(s) ever made.