Sherlock and The Phoenix Comicon

Well, after years of people telling me I should enter art contests, I've finally have. I'm sure it is no surprise that it is a contest in connection with the Phoenix Comicon. I've only been to the comicon once and it was my very first time experiencing the event, and I have to say I loved it. (Of course.) In 2011, I went with my family and friends and got to dress up as Padme Amidala, hear Leonard Nemoy, Adam Baldwin, and Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian) speak, have fun with Doctor Who fans, and peruse lovely artwork and nerd merchandise of all varieties. (Firefly and tea?! Who could ask for more: Serenitea) I've been wanting to go back, but haven't had the chance. However, in my email I get the latest Phoenix Comicon news, and it was late last month that I found out about the art contest they do annually for the comicon. You see there are different memberships for the comicon, Full Day pass, Sunday pass, Saturday pass, Volunteer pass, etc. When you purchase a membership, you get a badge to wear during the comicon, and on these badges they have all sorts of artwork. When I went, I was happy to get a lovely piece of fan art of Quorra from Tron: Legacy on my badge. So, apparently they hold a contest every year for local artists to compete and get their artwork on these said badges. I was super excited when I found out! I would love more than anything to get my artwork on a badge for the Phoenix Comicon. It may not seem like such a big deal, but to me as a fan, I love it. If there is one thing I will never lose is my love for fans precisely because I shall always be a fan myself. I've sent in my piece, then, and I shall know soon if I pass the First Stage of the judging process. This contest has three stages of judging, which is one of the reasons why I'm blogging about this now. If I get through the First Stage, then in the Second it is up to the public to vote. I will need the support of all you in that part of the competition, so I'll keep you updated on the whole thing.

Now on to my actual art piece. I would have thought up lovely ideas for Avengers or Star Trek, but I figured that they would most likely have many entries about those as well as other comic book related material. I decided then to go with Sherlock Holmes because first of all, I love it and secondly, all things Holmesian have risen to popularity. With the release of Guy Ritchie's excellent Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law version to the modern retellings in BBC's Sherlock and CBS's Elementary, everyone is crazy for Sherlock Holmes and his loyal companion John Watson. I've recently become a huge Elementary fan, so I thought it would be perfect to create a Sherlock Holmes piece. I thought it would probably be more fitting to keep it in Guy Ritchie's universe, though, with the visage of Robert Downey Jr. So, I came up with this idea:

It was a little bit of a challenge because they require you to have the art piece in two different sizes, horizontal and vertical, so I had to make sure this design worked in both. 

I actually had to recreate the smoke for the two different versions, but I think they both work well in composition and movement. I must always have movement in my piece! As for the rest, I kept with the metallic, artsy, grunge theme of Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes, with the shadowy color scheme, ink-styled drawings, and lots and lots of texture. Another thing I kept in mind is one of the things I have observed about previous badge art for the comicon which is that they usually chose art pieces with a lot of contrast and/or color. It makes sense, seeing as a lot of comic book artwork is colorful and graphic. So, with that in mind, I added in the punch of red in different elements to really draw the eye across the piece and engage the viewer. I think it came out very punchy and graphic, and I love the texture of it. I've titled this piece: Sherlock Holmes: It's Elementary. With the puff of his pipe, Holmes can solve any crime in the streets of London (or New York), and it is all just elementary. 

I hope to be able to announce more good news as time goes on. Thank you for viewing and I hope you've enjoyed this!

******UPDATE******UPDATE******UPDATE******

3-26-2013

I'm excited to announce that I have made it to the second round, which is the voting process! I will be needing every vote I can get, so please come and vote for me at:

Badge Art Contest

Here are the directions:

1. You can use your Facebook or Twitter to login, but you can also create your own unique login name with your email and they'll send you a password. 

2. You are able to vote for me every day, so it isn't just a one time voting process.

3. Voting is open until April 21st.

Thank you so much!

******UPDATE******UPDATE******UPDATE******

4-29-2013

I'm thrilled to announce that I won the contest! A shout out thank you to all who have voted for me and made it possible for me to win this contest. My artwork was used for the "Press" Badge, which is fitting. You can view the winners Here. Thank you all!