Here are the places 31 to 40 of this year’s Sandra and Woo and Gaia artwork contest. The submissions are ordered from place #40 to #31. It took a few days before I was able to post this list since I was asking some of the artists for new versions with minor but important corrections. I think the quality of all these submissions speaks for itself. They would have been serious contenders for the top 10 of all past fanart contests. The quality differences in this selection are very small and almost entirely subjective. Interestingly, Powree placed nine out of the ten entries higher than me, in her personal top 30.

Show your support by visiting the artists’ websites and/or writing a comment in the comment section of this blog post! Many thanks to all artists who participated! I love to see my characters in all these different styles and situations!

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Place 40 goes to Paulo Pusung (website)
(Place 8 on Powree’s list)

[Artist’s comment: This is an iteration of my previous submission for the Gaia artwork contest 2018. I have expanded the character roster and experimented with a slightly different art style as to not just repeat myself. Hopefully, I will be able to include the entire cast next time.]

Paulo Pusung won last year’s artwork contest with a similar group picture of the Gaia characters. This year, he spent additional time for a much more dynamic composition, and unfortunately went over-the-top in doing so. The whole drawing looks incredibly busy and some characters are placed in rather subpar positions. It’s really a pity that the whole is less than the sum of its parts this time with regard to the very well drawn individual characters. I particularly like Viviana and King Savos. Powree was obviously much more fond of the drawing and placed in on position #8.

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Place 39 goes to Bárbara S. M. (website)
(Place 43 on Powree’s list)

[Artist’s comment: Proud Parent – Ars showing his potion making skills to Sia and Xis, who are cheering him on. He really was living the life as a teacher and making his son happy…]

What a cute drawing of Ars and his family!

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Place 38 goes to RimoOfArtSchool
(Place 12 on Powree’s list)

[Artist’s comment: I wanted to do something cute and colorful. For some reason, I made them sit on a map; it sounded like a nice idea. I tried to use a composition that could remind people of a comic book cover.]

I love the chibi drawings of Landon, Larisa, Cloud and Luna. It’s also interesting how the bushes morph into a couch.

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Place 37 goes to Milena (website)
(Place 15 on Powree’s list)

This action figure of Woo and Lili was submitted by my mother. I have to say that it looks even better in person. But to be fair I had to judge it by the photos. It’s also not terribly original since the scene is a recreation of a drawing by Powree.

There are several additional photos from different directions: [2], [3], [4], [5], [6].

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Place 36 goes to Narcy (website)
(Place 23 on Powree’s list)

[Artist’s comment: In Sandra’s character description, she’s concerned about the conservation of nature. Initially, I drew them in a field of golden buttercups for pure aesthetics, but halfway through I remembered the topics about climate change and other topics concerning Mother Nature. A future where the young ones and the next generations will still be able to witness the beauty of our planet and the animals to still have their home are the things I hope we strive for.]

The landscape and sky look truly spectacular, worthy of the top 10. Unfortunately, the characters can’t completely keep up with the standard set by the background. While I definitely like Sandra, I’m not completely convinced of Woo’s character design. A more serious problem is, however, that all characters look a bit like they’ve been pasted into the scene. That’s of course complaining on a very high level.

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Place 35 goes to XealXephnosse (website)
(Place 30 on Powree’s list)

A great fighting scene with some lovely visual effects. This and the following submissions are basically equally good in my eyes and the placement is almost arbitrary.

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Place 34 goes to Florencio Duyar III (website)
(Place 28 on Powree’s list)

[Artist’s comment: Ascended Asmodeus’ Assault – What if Asmodeus absorbed a fragment of Gaia’s tear and used its power? This fearsome demon lord would become nigh unstoppable.]

This drawing of Asmodeus, who Florencio mis-identified as Bahamut when drawing him, is obviously drawn in a spectacular way. However, I gradually decreased its placement over the course of the last two weeks since I just feel no emotional connection to a character who was shown only in a single panel in Shadowdancers 007. That was a rather bad subject choice, I have to say. However, Florencio also submitted another drawing that made it into the top 10, so he doesn’t need to be too sad about it.

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Place 33 goes to Guilherme “Danaki” Gabarrão (website)
(Place 24 on Powree’s list)

[Artist’s comment: Sandra, dressed as emperor, seeing herself as Queen Viviana in the mirror’s reflection, with a little teasing of magic.]

I actually prefer the alternative explanation that we’re looking at a magic mirror here that serves as portal between the world of Gaia and Sandra’s world.

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Place 32 goes to Tearu (website)
(Place 16 on Powree’s list)

I love the very colorful coloration of this piece that also shows a good deal of creativity.

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Place 31 goes to Chiyuko Shin
(Place 29 on Powree’s list)

[Artist’s comment: The Last Queen of Gaia – I was inspired by Gaia’s last chapter and I wanted to create somewhat of a cover for that chapter.]

We have seen a couple of very well drawn submissions that suffered from a rather poor composition. In contrast, this one shines with a very strong composition and complementary coloration.