In a riot of pumpkins, magic, and phantoms, an exceedingly talented array of artists rose to the FGT3D Pumpkin Mage Challenge - a Halloween-themed CG contest hosted by Fox Renderfarm from Sep. 20 to Dec. 4. Their digital masterpieces breathlessly merge the macabre with the aesthetically mesmerizing, building a whimsical world of the Pumpkin Mage for us.
After the selection by our juries, we are now pleased to announce the winners of FGT3D Pumpkin Mage Challenge! 3 Professional artworks and 3 Student artworks were picked and awarded. Congrats to all the winners!
The prizes are provided by our awesome sponsors, including The Gnomon Workshop, Graswald, E-on software, C4Dzone, CGboost, Evermotion, RenderHub, Raysync, Rizom-Lab, iCube R&D Group, 3DModels, InstaLOD, Style3D and more. Special thanks to them! They are all the best in their fields, and we recommend everyone their services/products.
Thanks to every artist for participating in FGT3D Challenge. Hope to see more stunning 3D works in the next contest. Join our Discord community. Stay tuned!
Winners Announced
Professional Category
1st Place: "Shooter" by Ako Ghadermarzi
TITLE: Shooter
CAPTION: On Halloween night, the "Pumpkin Shooter" with a lazy pumpkin head and a unique gun protected the town from spooky creatures with enchanted pumpkin seeds. The town's residents slept soundly, Knowing they were safe.
WHAT OUR JURY SAYS:
Serhii Antropov: This is a very nicely done picture with good colors and an interesting character in action.
Miho Aoki: This is very dynamic, intense and scary! The image looks like it's captured a moment of the pumpkin in action. Colors, lighting and texture are well done, too.
Tom Grimes: Not sure why a mage needs a gun, but the drama and action of this image made it my first choice!
Izzy Kalli: Ako's submission is an excellent demonstration of skill, with a notable depth of field that effectively accentuates the sinister expression on the pumpkin. The inclusion of fire emanating from the pumpkin's eyes and head adds a captivating touch to the overall composition.
2nd Place: "Tales of Uncle Pumpkin" by Andrey Oliver
TITLE: Tales of Uncle Pumpkin
CAPTION: Uncle Pumpkin is a wizard gardener, and this year, he received a new visitor - his little nephew! He wasted no time in showcasing his magic and sorcery. Uncle Pumpkin has the most beautiful plants in the region and can't wait for his nephew to grow up, and become both his apprentice and best friend.
WHAT OUR JURY SAYS:
Frank WANG Yefeng: I think achieving success in this competition hinges on a well-executed character design. For the first price, I appreciate Andrey’s distinctive character design which makes the image look lively. The cinematic composition adds an imaginative layer to the narrative in the image. The placement of props around the character enhances the richness of the overall composition. The practical lighting effects, especially the clever use of pumpkin eyes and candles, are commendable choices. Additionally, the volume light from the moon shines into the scene through the window, adding a touch of enchantment to the overall picture.
Samuel Winter: I love the overall style of this, it’s very unified, as in nothing seems out of place. The colour palette is wonderful, it fits the style really well and ties the scene together. The lighting does a great job of conveying warmth, and is utilised in such a way, as to pick out the details of our main subjects, especially as it’s contrasted with the colder tones of the background. Great stuff!
Izzy Kalli: I appreciate the cohesive visual style of this artwork by Andrey. The clean and stylized aesthetic is maintained consistently, featuring vibrant textures and impressive modeling skills. Noteworthy details, such as the volumetrics enhancing the rim lighting or the attention to hair/fur on the clothing, highlight Andrey's keen creative attention to detail.
Serhii Antropov: I love this cartoon style that makes this work stand out from the rest.
Miho Aoki: The room looks like a secret basement room, with vines adding to the magical and mysterious feeling. The glowing lighting and the colors contributed to the mood of the image. I noticed the inside of the character's dress emits a glow, too. That's a cool detail!
3rd Place: "Spooky Pumpkin" by Joonho Bang
TITLE: Spooky Pumpkin
CAPTION: Ready for Halloween?
WHAT OUR JURY SAYS:
Samuel Winter: The minimal nature of the background works really well here, as it helps draw the eye to the details of the main subject and foreground elements. The material choices for the main character are nice, and offer a stark contrast against the luminant cauldron fumes.
Frank WANG Yefeng: Again, I really like this distinctive character design. The seamless interaction and movement between the character and the foreground objects are remarkably convincing. The skilful depiction of the magical fume spilling out of the container showcases the author's exceptional rendering skills. Furthermore, the captivating color scheme employed in the image contributes to its overall fantastical atmosphere.
Student Category
1st Place: "The GrimPkin Mage" by Arnel Añana
TITLE: The GrimPkin Mage
CAPTION: The Grim Pumpkin, the undead who became immortal.
WHAT OUR JURY SAYS:
Tom Grimes: Excellent detail, composition, and lighting, with the "no humans" sign a nice touch!
Izzy Kalli: Arnel's submission clinches the top spot in my view, with a decent composition. Considerations for improvement could involve adjusting the focal length or bringing the pumpkin mage closer for enhanced prominence. Exploring textures in more detail and incorporating rim lighting could further enhance the overall effect. Nevertheless, it stands as a robust submission in the student category.
Samuel Winter: It's all about the character in this piece for me, a good amount of effort has gone into the flourishes on the clothing.
Serhii Antropov: Good job with the character concept and I love the little details in the scene.
2nd Place: "Mortal Grin" by Elena Kiseleva
TITLE: Mortal Grin
CAPTION: In the spooky moonlight, get ready for a scary surprise on your way home. Watch out for its creepy stare in the dark night!
WHAT OUR JURY SAYS:
Miho Aoki: The image has a great atmosphere and lighting. The warm orange lights in the background make the cool color fog and glow of the pumpkin look more mysterious and eerie by contrast.
Frank WANG Yefeng: This artwork excels in its composition, color palette, material and texture utilization, and rendering techniques. The artist adeptly places the pumpkin head at the visual focal point, and at the same time demonstrating a keen sense of balance with the environment. The execution is of consistently high quality across all aspects.
Samuel Winter: I like the composition here. The contrast between the lighting in the subject, the environment, and sky works really well. The environment has good details, and the volumetrics in the pumpkin eyes is a nice touch.
Izzy Kalli: Elena's submission is quite appealing, with the pumpkin harmonizing well with the backdrop of dead trees. The unconventional use of blue emanating from within, instead of the traditional orange, adds a distinctive touch. Overall, it's a pleasing submission and a commendable job.
3rd Place: "The Halloween House" by Ethan Romano, Clément Montbarbon, Pauline Mercat, Maxence Parlati
TITLE: The Halloween House
CAPTION: It's Halloween! And this night the dead are waking up and taking control of the world! That's what happened to this pumpkin farmer who got revived in front of his house! Unfortunately, his 3 dogs got also reincarnated as murlocks that's why the skeleton is now getting attacked!
WHAT OUR JURY SAYS:
Frank WANG Yefeng: I selected this artwork as the third-place winner because of its use of a variety of richly rendered elements in the composition. It is evident that the artist invested considerable effort in crafting the elaborate costumes and props for the characters. Additionally, the inclusion of the flaming particle element at the bottom of the image adds a dynamic dimension to the overall composition.
Miho Aoki: It looks like a scene from a strange story: a skeleton with a pumpkin head is attacked by fish-like water monsters. The pumpkin head looks as if it's caught off-guard, and more water monsters are coming out to attack the pumpkin. A cart loaded with harvested pumpkins is on the left, which probably belongs to the pumpkin character. The image makes me keep observing the details. While many aspects of this image, including the image composition, are not perfect, I'm struck by the unique idea and the details the artist created for this scene.
Serhii Antropov: Overall a well done scene with interesting characters.
Izzy Kalli: Ethan's submission stands out with added character and elements in the scene. Despite this, it lacks a clear focal point, with attention drawn to the pumpkin house rather than the mage. The narrative involving the fish biting the skeleton bones of the pumpkin mage's arm adds an interesting touch. Improving the composition to center more on the mage could enhance the overall impact, but nonetheless, it remains a great submission.
As the leading cloud rendering service provider and render farm in the CG industry, Fox Renderfarm has always been committed to the CG community. Our FGT3D competition will continue next year and it's a challenge we are looking forward to your participation!
