2011 Anime Beta Sketch Awards : Brainstorming

[cutiebunny]

Now that the consensus is to have a Sketch Awards this year, it's time to open up a brainstorming session.

Do you want to keep the same categories as in 2010? If you want any changes (or just to vent those frustrations), please do so here.

Here are the categories and types of art that were accepted last year -

(S) = production sketch, (H) = Hanken, (MS) = Model Sketch, (P) = Painting (must be on paper), (A) = Autograph, (Ill) = Illustration, (St) = Storyboard, (Sh) = Shikishi


Accessory - Emphasis on what the character is holding, using, swinging, playing, aiming. (S)
Action - Scenes of action, movement, motion. (S)
Background - No characters allowed. (S)
Children - Youth, babies, kids. (S)
Comic/Manga Art - Original art from comic artists and manga-kas (P, Ill)
Creature - Animals, monsters, pets, catgirls, demons. (S)
Cute - Adorable, precious, toothache inducing. (S)
Death/Dying - Characters in the final throes of death, or those that have already passed away. (S)
Fan Art - Made by you or another artist. (S, P)
Female - The fairer sex. (S)
Funny - Laugh out loud moments. (S)
Group - Art of two or more characters. (S)
Hanken - Art used for merchandise or other non-production special circumstances. Hankens are not allowed in any other category except hentai. (H)
Heroic - White knight saves the day. (S)
Insanity - crazy, nuts, psychotic, loony (S)
Joy - Extreme happiness. (S)
Male - Boys, men, guys, bishonen. (S)
Outfit - Best dressed, emphasis on clothes and costumes. (S)
Rage - Mad, angry, extreme agitation. (S)
Robot - Our mechanical friends. (S)
Romance - Kissing, hugging, cuddling, anything non-explicit. (S)
Shikishii/Signatures - Original signatures and/or artwork drawn by industry artists. Only the artist's signature and accompanying sketch are allowed for submission, all other images must be cropped out. (P, Ill, Sh)
Shocked - Stunned, horrified, utter dismay. (S)
Sorrow - Tear-jerkers, sadness. (S)
Special Effect - Power bursts, transformation effects, etc. (S)
Tranquility - Characters who have found their inner peace. (S)
Vehicle - Cars, boats, planes, bicycles, et cetera. (S)
Villainous - Archenemies, evil scientists, meanies, wicked bad guys. (S)


Optional Categories:

Animated - Short sequences of animated artwork. (S)
Hentai - Sexually explicit & nude. All pairings welcome! (S, H)
Settei - Characters, items or scenery. Settei are not allowed in any other category. (MS)
Storyboard - The initial draft of how the sequence should run. (St)
Worst - The ugliest, most poorly drawn sketch you own. No random body-part submissions, please! (S)



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CB's suggestions:

Since hanken is a category that is perpetually short of entries, I was thinking of also allowing artwork that was used in as a screenshot on a DVD back cover or trading card. If you own artwork from the exact screenshot that was used in this merchandise, that would technically make it a hanken. The stipulation would be that, if a user does choose to submit artwork that was not designed to be a hanken but was used on official packaging/merchandise that it must be an exact match to the packaged artwork and the submitter must cite where the artwork was used (ie. "Gurren Lagann Carddass set 2 card #5" or "back cover of the Japanese Oreimo DVD vol. 2")

In regards to shikishi and comic book artwork, is it mandatory that the signature of the artist be included in the scan? I ask because, in some cases, artists request that their signature is not include so as to cut back on the possibility of countefeiters copying that item.

[JWR]

I would have no problem going with the catagories as listed for I think they have been well discussed and voted upon in the past contests.

As far as Shikishi I would think that if the artist requested their signature not be displayed then that should be honored. I would also consider covering over any writing that might identify the owner of the piece such as if one was made out "To Joe" using myself as an example.

[animeobsessed]

I think two descriptions for categories should be revised if they are going to stay as they have been in the past and a question on one other category.

First, Accessory - it states a character is holding, playing aiming, etc an accessory which leads you to believe the character or a portion of the character is in the sketch; however, some winning entries have been the object without a character at all.

Death/dying - states the character is dying or has already died; however, if you know the story line of some of the winners the character was severely wounded, but never actually died.

For Accessory, the description should be revised to reflect if character has to be included in the sketch or not and maybe the Death/Dying should include very close to death. I think it would be hard for the person accepting the entries to know every story line to identify if the character died or not. The accessory category can go either way with or without a character in the sketch, but the description should reflect which the category is reflecting.

Also, can there be more added to the Tranquility description or is sleeping the same as finding inner peace, b/c that's what some entries look like. I have trouble with what really fits in this category. Maybe it should include a time of relaxation, meditation, or something on those lines as well as inner peace.

There's my two cents worth.

[cutiebunny]

I like your suggestions, AO. I had been thinking about the same thing in regards to the object category for a while since there are so many objects that aren't being held.

I have no problem with changing the description on the Death/Dying category as well. Perhaps "Injured/Death" would work better?

Also, I noticed that there were several sketch submissions last year that were only partially original. For example, the lines might have been drawn in a computer and printed out on a layout sheet, and then, someone colored it, making it, technically, original artwork. Since a lot of the newer shows are increasingly creating layouts and douga/genga in this fashion, do we went to include these partial originals or ban them altogether?

[irmgaard]

Also, I noticed that there were several sketch submissions last year that were only partially original. For example, the lines might have been drawn in a computer and printed out on a layout sheet, and then, someone colored it, making it, technically, original artwork. Since a lot of the newer shows are increasingly creating layouts and douga/genga in this fashion, do we went to include these partial originals or ban them altogether?

I thought those already were a no-no?

I'm not sure if my creature one (http://2010sketch.zero-space.net/displa ... 8xLmpwZw==) was one of the ones you thought was a colored-in Xerox, but I can assure you it is all hand done in colored pencil (some of you may remember when that Wolf's Rain set was up on Mandy).

The problem comes when you try and scan it. It's on the back side of very thin, preprinted (with the typical frame "box" and the name "Bones"), layout paper, and the drawing goes almost up to the top, wider than my scanner bed, so I didn't want to press down hard on the scanner lid. If I don't press down, and the drawing hangs over, I get a blue/gray shadow across the top ...but it's not really there, like it would be in a Xerox. I suppose I could make a separate scan of the top, to show that, if it's requested...

I really should have made two scans and pasted them together...but I was rushing. Sorry.

[sensei]

Also, I noticed that there were several sketch submissions last year that were only partially original. For example, the lines might have been drawn in a computer and printed out on a layout sheet, and then, someone colored it, making it, technically, original artwork. Since a lot of the newer shows are increasingly creating layouts and douga/genga in this fashion, do we went to include these partial originals or ban them altogether?

I do know that this was done with both Mushishi and Princess Tutu. In the first series, a color xerox was sometimes elaborated in marker, highlighter, and/or colored pancil, to the extent that the result is clearly an original and quite lovely work of art. I'd be reluctant to see these excluded, especially as there have been several series that have used this technique. Perhaps a "Hybrid" category, with the stipulation that the artwork submitted contain at least some original artwork?

[cutiebunny]

I'm not out to point fingers in regards to last year's awards. They're over with and done.

I don't think that we, as a forum, ever sat down and defined what exactly makes a sketch original. At first glance, it seems obvious, but when you think about it, anything with even a small pencil mark on a xerox copy or computer print out can be considered 'original' artwork. I think this should really be addressed. With many newer productions, the majority of non-background artwork, if not all, artwork is first down on the computer, and then being printed out on studio layout sheets. For example, I own over 300 backgrounds/layouts from 'Kobato' and well over 90% of those layouts were generated by a computer.

If we made a category strictly for hybrids, I could see the same problems arise as did when trying to judge the reproduction category in the cel awards. What is the judging criteria for that category? Do you just pick something appealing or are you looking for a specific feature? And, if more studios are completely going digital, is it fair to punish those who are fans of newer works by delegating their submissions to one category?

I guess I should start a topic for this...

[ReiTheJelly]

Vehicle, Special Effect and Robot usually have the worst turn out every year. Last year, these categories made it though by the skin of their teeth. Same with Comic/Manga Art and Fan Art.


Hanken usually gets a pretty decent turn out each time. Last year we had 8 entries, which is more than many categories got. I would not suggest adding production art into this category.

[iceman57]

Also, I noticed that there were several sketch submissions last year that were only partially original. For example, the lines might have been drawn in a computer and printed out on a layout sheet, and then, someone colored it, making it, technically, original artwork. Since a lot of the newer shows are increasingly creating layouts and douga/genga in this fashion, do we went to include these partial originals or ban them altogether?

I do know that this was done with both Mushishi and Princess Tutu. In the first series, a color xerox was sometimes elaborated in marker, highlighter, and/or colored pancil, to the extent that the result is clearly an original and quite lovely work of art. I'd be reluctant to see these excluded, especially as there have been several series that have used this technique. Perhaps a "Hybrid" category, with the stipulation that the artwork submitted contain at least some original artwork?

If there is a decent amount of work sounds correct to enter in "original art" category.
If this is a Xerox or a poor stand alone signature on a pencil repro (even amazing), sounds not fitting.
What do you think about.

[Cordelia]

I agree with Rei about the hanken category. I remember having problems choosing which work I want to vote for, not for want of quantity or quality, but because all of them were gorgeous. 4 winners out of 8 entries....not too bad. Besides, it would take extra effort to verify if the production artwork did indeed appear on merchandise. And I'm not sure if these production artwork can compete with hanken sketches in terms of quality, sometimes they are chosen to be featured because of the pivotal scene they depict. No offense to anyone who actually own such artwork.

[animeobsessed]

Is this moving forward?

[cutiebunny]

Since I made the poll to last 2 weeks in regards to hybrid sketches, I don't want to finalize categories until next week when the poll ends.

[animeobsessed]

Sorry...didn't know the timeline.

[cutiebunny]

No worries, it's a perfectly valid question. I was hoping that some of the people that enter the cons but never post would speak up and voice their opinions as well. That's why I've been staying quiet on things.

With AX & AM2 coming up, if anything, I might get a chance of posting the categories prior to heading down for the cons.