The other day, on the Muddy Colors blog, Dan Dos Santos posted a wonderful post about a recent painting that was created by Petar Meseldzija depicting Eowyn fighting a Nazgul. I’ve fallen in love with Petar’s work since seeing it in person as IlluxCon, and I’ll agree with Dan – check out Petar’s awesome blog for more insight into his process as well as some detail shots on this piece.

Now, going off and reading about Petar’s process, and oggling his wonderful image was a wonderful little trip, but Dan upped his ante and laid out a feast of ‘Eowyn and the Nazgul’ interpretations. Swing over to the blog and see all of the lovely samples (I’ve shown a few in the opening header), but make sure you’ve got a few minutes to spare . . . you’ll need it!

I spent a little time chatting with Dan about the post, and during the course of the discussion I had an inspirational flash. This is such an amazing scene in the book, and it is obvious that a lot of artists have had a blast depicting the scene – so I was wondering if the ArtOrder community would have some fun doing the same thing. Would you be interested? Would you be more interested if I told you I was trying to pull together a really cool panel of judges to over see the effort?

If you are up for the challenge. Keep reading . . .

The Eowyn and the Nazgul challenge
There’s nothing complicated about this challenge – review the scene in the book, and create your own interpretation of the scene..

The format of the piece can be either vertical or horizontal format (or even square, if you want). The submission for judging should only be 2000 pixels on the longest side. Please do not send the high rez version unless requested (my poor email will expire).

Medium:
There is no limitation on medium. Traditional, digital, sculpture, 3d, etc. – let’s pull out the stops and have a little fun.

WIP:
Looking for feedback, or crits on your work-in-progress? Don’t forget to jump in the ArtOrder forum and get involved. I’ve created a new Eowyn and the Nazgul WIP discussion in the forums.

Parameters for judging:
As always quality is a major player in the judging as well as fulfilling the art order, but this time you are also going to be judged on the innovation of your interpretation, and the storytelling of the piece.

Judges:
Muddy Colors – Dan Dos Santos, Jesper Ejsing, Eric Fortune, Justin Gerard, Donato Giancola, Arnie Fenner, Greg Manchess, and John Jude Palencar
Matt Stewart
Petar Meseldzija
Greg Hildebrandt
John Howe

Petar decided that the ArtOrder community should be truly rewarded for submitting their work to the “famous and fearsome Muddy Colors judges” and has added a signed and number Giclee print “The Legend of Steel Bashaw – The Escape” to the mix.

Rewards:
Please note, I didn’t call these “prizes”. These “rewards” are not for the winner of the challenge. The winner simply gets a lot of pride points and a lot of promotion. Aside from the opportunity to produce a portfolio piece for yourself, we’ve got a few more potential rewards to add to the mix.

These rewards will be provided as stated:
• Dan has confirmed that several pieces will be selected for crits and paintovers by some of the Muddy Colors gang. They will choose the ‘winners’ based upon their own set of criteria.
• Donato Giancola has offered a large print of his ‘Eowyn fighting the Nazgul‘.
• Eric Fortune has also offered a limited A/P print (image to be announced)
• Dan dos Santos has offered a limited giclee on stretched canvas (image to be announced)
• Petar Meseldzija has offered a signed and numbered Giclee print “The Legend of Steel Bashaw – The Escape”

All prints will be awarded at random. All participants in the challenge are eligible.

Requirements
• .jpg format, maximum quality setting
• no larger than 2000 pixels on any side
• Adobe RGB profile
• File should be named with the artist name as you want it displayed.
example: “Jon Schindehette.jpg” or “Gonzo.jpg” if you use a “tag” for your credit lines. If you submit more than one submission – name the files sequentially. Jon Schindehette_01.jpg, Jon Schindehette_02.jpg.
• Go into File Info (in Photoshop) or the equivalent for your imaging software and edit your meta information

Document title should be the artist name as you want it displayed (credit name)
Description should include (at minimum)
• Artist name
• URL of your portfolio or blog

If you want to improve search returns, include Keywords in the ‘keyword’ section

Deadline
Sunday, May 15th, 2011
Midnight, Pacific Standard Time

Submissions
All submissions should be mailed to jon@theartorder.com, with “Eowyn Nazgul challenge” in the subject line.
You can submit as many submissions as you would like, but each submission must be submitted individually.

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Current Challenges:
Eowyn and the Nazgul challenge – May 15th, 2011

Got questions, or want to see a discussion on a particular subject? Drop me a line at jon@theartorder.com, and put “Question” in the subject line.

Gotta referral? Seen a new face, or seen an old face that is doing something new and exciting? Then send me a link to their website, and tell me why I should go check ‘em out. Remember, this is a referral program – not a self promotion program! The genre doesn’t have to be limited to fantasy and sci-fi either . . . Send your referrals to jon@theartorder.com, and put “Referral” in the subject line.

Portfolio Submission? Don’t forget that you can also send your art submissions to Wizards of the Coast at ArtDrop@wizards.com. Please make sure that your submissions do not total more than 5Mb, or your email might get bumped.