The Redshirts Fan Art Contest Finalists: Vote For Your Favorite!
Posted on May 24, 2012 Posted by John Scalzi 51 Comments
UPDATE: POLL IS CLOSED.
I’ve finally had a chance to look at the entries for the Redshirts Fan Art contest, and holy crap, there was some magnificent stuff in there. It was difficult to narrow it down to a final five entries for you folks here to vote on. But narrow it down I and my Jury of Awesomeness did, and here are you five finalists. At the end, you’ll be able to vote in a poll to pick your favorite. The poll will be open until noon Eastern Time, Tuesday, May 29. Please vote only once, but of course tell everyone you know to vote.
The winner will receive $250 plus an ARC of Redshirts, the 2nd place finalist will receive $100 plus an ARC, 3rd place will receive $50 plus an ARC, and 4th and 5th place will receive ARCs too. So everyone who is a finalist gets something (in the case of a tie for 1st, the 1st and 2nd place money will be split between the top two vote getters. In the case of a 2nd place tie, the 2nd and third place money will be split. In case of a tie for third place, what the hell, I’ll give them both $50).
And now, here are your finalists, in alphabetical order. Click on the picture to be taken to a larger version of the image!
FINALIST #1: DESIREE KERN
FINALIST #2: NATALIE METZGER
FINALIST #3: NATHANIEL PAYNE
FINALIST #4: ELIZABETH PORTER
FINALIST #5: TROY ZIMMERMAN
These are all fantastic.
Now:
Remember, vote only once! I don’t envy you the selection process you will have to make.
To the finalists: Congratulations and good luck! And to everyone who entered the contest: Thank you. You are all awesome.
Quick note:
Vote in the poll form. Comments in the comment thread don’t count as a vote. Thanks!
It’s hard to pick between my two favorites.
That’s the way it’s supposed to be!
The poll will be open until noon Eastern Time, Tuesday, May 25.
Tuesday, May 25th?
A minor point, but May 25 is Friday. I voted anyway.
#4 looks how I’d feel if given a Red Shirt and #5 is how I’d act.
Fixed the date. It’s the 29th.
Desiree Kern’s is far and away the best of these. It’s not played for laughs like most of the others, and there is just so much symbolism in it. Elizabeth Porter gets my #2 vote for her conveyance of the dawning awareness that Something Is Deeply Wrong Here.
The list of names is in a different order than the list of pictures. That can be confusing to people who just think “I like the first one” and go down and select the first option in the poll (which is not the same person) and you’ll get bad data. It really should have the voting options in the same listing order as the pictures. Just FYI, thanks.
Dave:
The poll randomly generates the order with each instance. I don’t mind assuming people will pay attention to their vote.
Oops, minor edit, the first picture and name option really DO match up, but the other 4 don’t. I think this might actually make it even more confusing.
May suggest that the poll options be in the same order as the final drawings themselves? I know it SHOULDN’T be confusing, but as my ADD kicks in at inopportune times…
Very cool submissions
Oh, random order? My bad, and explains my oops edit. But I stand by my opinion that matching order would be better. The random thing is great for preventing some bias, but not in this case.
Great stuff all around. I picked Desiree Kern’s ’cause it hit me as so wonderfully neo-classical,Crisis-on-Infinite-Earths dead serious … until I looked at the bottom panel. Then I smirked.
@Phil Stracchino – I think Kern’s entry is best, but not because it isn’t funny. If you look at the lower half of the image, it definitely *is* funny! Which perfectly undercuts the melodrama of the top half!
I think Nathaniel Payne’s is by far my favorite! I could almost hear the voices! Amazing job by all…
All excellent. Hard choice. Not surprised mine’s not among them.
Maybe just put a heads-up in the main text that the poll randomizes the order of names?
Hilarious! Thanks for running this, it made my day! And it WAS a hard choice, so kudos to the entrants and your short-listing.
Awesome work guys. It was a hard choice, but I narrowed it down to one to vote for. Good luck!
Those are all fabulous choices! Seriously. I had a hard time choosing which one I liked the most.
Goodness, these are all amazing! Kern and Porter could both be book covers. Actually, Zimmerman’s could as well. Tough choices here.
Great work finalists, congratulations!
Awsome art!!
Hard choice but Desiree Kern got my vote. Would love to see it done in stained glass hanging in the Church of Ultimate Sacrafices.
wow, this is a hard vote! may I suggest putting the individuals in the voting section in the same order as their pics? I almost voted for the wrong person.
never mind I just saw the explanation …. is it to much to ask for you to have hit refresh until all five people were in the correct order? :)
They are all amazing. Was a very hard decision to make but I finally picked one.
Kern’s entry is very good. If the subjects resembled Wil Wheaton and Felicia Day (the red hair got me looking) it would be awesome.
i liked Desiree Kern’s the best!
Wow! I do not envy the Jury of Awesome the hard choices involved in narrowing things down!
I think I do envy them the chance to have seen all this cool stuff early, though. Nice job, finalists!
They’re all good, but I love Kids Next Door, so . . .
Hat’s off to all the great entries that got chosen! Fan-tastic!
Number four reminds me of Col. Young from Stargate Universe. Wonder if that’s on purpose.?
Uh, John? I think I accidentally voted for Pat Buchanan.
Troy’s critter, I believe, escaped from the set of the latest Star Trek movie; it bears a distinct resemblance to the whatever-the-F that chased Kirk across Hoth.
Voted.
I have to add my voice to those that voted for the wrong person – please match the poll to the list. Or at least WARN us that the poll is doing that so we can make sure. All randomizing the poll is going to get you is a random winner, I’m afraid.
“I don’t mind assuming people will pay attention to their vote.” – but I imagine the finalists probably do – I know I would.
FARK. I’m sorry. Not aligning the poll to the list is damn just not right.
Meh, not enough Ice Shark in any of them.
I kid, awesome work people, very hard to choose.
Shout out to Natalie Metzgers entry though, I know who I’d pick for the graphic novel adaption.
Why are there so many positive threads these days? I thought this site was about teh Hate.
Seriously, either Metzger or Kern would work for me. Payne don’t hurt either. (What, people don’t watch Swayze movies anymore?)
You know, they’re all excellent! It was a hard choice!
Not sure why the whining about the poll order. Red the names & select the name of the artist you think did best, its only 5 names to read.
OTOH, I think it might be better not to show the current results, it might encourage people to freep the poll. – I know all we do here is bitch, right John? 8-{D
Waiting for a full transcript of the Gnarfol Incident.
1) Wow, these are pretty great. I was very split between Natalie Metzger and Troy Zimmerman. Both awesome! I went with the Metzger because I feel like the composition and sense of style are a bit more cohesive and unusual. Also, one of the aliens is proffering a little pink toy as bait.
2) The names on the poll aren’t in the same order as the pieces of artwork and I wonder if that will end up confusing other people?… I almost scrolled down and clicked the second name because I assumed it corresponded with the second finalist. (Also a lovely piece of artwork! Ha. Mucha and redshirts.)
And/or it’s already been addressed. That serves me right for being all “I won’t read comments; I’m going to get to work already.”
Troy Zimmerman = 1st
Elizabeth Porter = 2nd (close)
Natalie Metzger = 3rd
Desiree Kern = 4th
Nathanial Payne = 5th
Voted for ELIZABETH PORTER, her work is very nice, hope she will win!
I love the running fat guy in Zimmerman’s picture.
I wish I had talent so I could enter contests like this. Haven’t decided which one I’m voting for yet…
Zimmerman’s made me laugh. I sympathize with the poor fat guy and it also reminds me of the adage, “you only need to be faster than the slowest runner.”
These are all great! My favorite thing about Zimmerman’s entry is it looks as though there are three species of alien horror pursuing the pathetic humans. Creativity is awesome to behold.
Natalie Metzger. I loved her overall composition and her narrative details, especially the anglerfish bait-bunny.