JUDGES:


How judging worked in 200 words or less: After looking all of the entries for a couple hours, I managed to narrow it down to thirty. I gave this list of thirty to ~Dhevil-Hunter and ~The-Other-Molly, who were each told to pick their favorite ten. This narrowed the list down to eight. ~one-t-only and I then sat down together and meticulously analyzed each one, which cut it down further for five final entries. From these five, the two honorable mentions were chosen. The remaining three were sent to =Yuritsuki to see, and from those three she chose the first place winner. The other two placings were decided by myself.
This was an INCREDIBLY difficult decision to make. In fact, discussing the final three entrants (before sending them off to =Yuritsuki), all of us nearly got into a big fight about who should win!

PRIZES UPDATE!
Because all the winners were so spectacular, I decided to go ahead and draw a prize for everyone who won!
Honorable Mentions will now receive a headshot pencil drawing of their designs.
Third Place will receive a full body pencil drawing of their persona.
Second Place will receive a full body inked piece of their persona.
And First Place will still receive a full colored piece of their persona, along with one black and white piece of their choice.

will be making artwork for all the finalists. Ain't that exciting! She's a wonderful girl, she is.

And now, without any further ado, the Contest Winners!!!



HONORABLE MENTIONS!
Ultimately, it was impossible to narrow it down to just one Honorable Mention, so we gave it to two upstanding entries we thought were deserving.


By
Sanpiper's design is especially interesting to look at because of the combinations of simple design elements into one creature make it appear deceptively complex. Her color choices within her persona were also mind boggling -- who would have thought deep purple with bright neon green would actually look as cool as this?! What I personally really like about Sandpiper's entry is that the longer you look at the persona, the more details you notice, like the stripes on her legs which initially blend in with the rest of her purple arms, and the fact that her nails are also a neon green. Sandpiper was also one of the few fuzzy dragons submitted to the contest, which makes her extremely cuddle-able, despite her frightening needle-like teeth.
Sandpiper wins Honorable Mention because of the seamless combination of innocent elements with frightening, animalistic ones.


By
Milo's was really great given how different it was from every other entry. Where everyone gave us especially beautiful or frightening dragons to see, Milo gave us a tank with the goofiest expressions. It was also interesting to note that his expressive trait was purposefully lacking, a concept that dominantly tied in with the rest of his design. This dragon manages to accomplish something very few other entries were able to do: to be both intimidating and very friendly at the same time... the best of both worlds!
Milo gets Honorable Mention because of his unique approach to the contest challenge.


THIRD PLACE!

By
Arkturium's entry is really spectacular for many, many reasons. The main and most dominant one is her complete mastery at designing a character that simply appears complex and interesting, but in actuality is a combination of simple and easy to draw patterns. Take a closer look at the colored patterns on her face and tail. At a glance, what appears to be an intricate interweaving of shapes is actually just two bands of colors.
Similarly, what we really liked about this design was the choice of colors and how you could really get a feel for her nationality (Good Ol' Australia!). This really does look like a dragon you'd come across in a land Down Under.
Also, those colored toenails are such a wonderful detail.
Arkturium wins Third Place because of her deceptively easy to replicate design, her color choices and the general feel of her persona.


SECOND PLACE!

By
The colors on Dragonrise's just absolutely wowed me, but what earned this entry second place was not only color choice but the specific personal meaning behind each of them. The combination of the Western/Eastern Dragon designs was a recurring theme in many entries, but Dragonrise's solution to such a challenge was easily the most successful. You can really see the influences of both cultures, but they come together seamlessly.
Finally, the pure simplistic nature of the design really wins me over. Lots of entries had a ton of fun patterns and textures, but the simple patches of rich color really appeal to the eye.
DragonRise wins Second Place specifically because of the personal meaning behind each vivid color choice and the approachability her persona exudes.


FIRST PLACE!!!

By
There were a lot of reasons why we really liked Kelly's, but =Yuritsuki sums them all up quite nicely:
"I like all 3 of their designs, but KJanuary's is by far the most intriguing. Her design and description stands out, and the little details make her quite interesting ( even though she is described as not interesting )

I also feel that out of all the others, this one feels the most "natural". As I've come to understand, the aim is to create a dragon persona, rather than a dragon fursona. And with KJanuary's dragon, I feel the persona sense strongly.

I'm also particularly attracted to the atmosphere around KJ's dragon. It has a somber sense of fantasy, and perhaps even symbolism pertaining to the true artist. I adore her false wings, and her fire quill is absolutely beautiful. I love every aspect of this design from the brim of her mouthless snout to the very tip of her long tail. It's the simple and undertoned features, that in fact make her the most interesting."

Congratulations to all the winners!
Again, I can't stress enough how difficult this decision was to make. Everyone deserved a prize, not only for their great designs (seriously, NONE OF THEM were lacking, and I don't just say that.) but also for your enthusiasm concerning the contest. It would never have gotten as big as it did if it wasn't for you guys.
One thing is for sure, though: If I had entered this contest, I would not have won. I'm not even kidding.
THANK YOU ALL SO VERY, VERY MUCH!!

Also, because these people need some kind of attention for making the final decision so dang difficult...
The Eight Finalists:

(These were the people from which ~one-t-only and I struggled to find the winners. I wanted every one of these people to win!)


Now, time to get to work on those prizes!