Hello! As promised, I am making a thread to commemorate and share the entries to the AFF contest I ran over the previous month. I'm still deliberating winners, but one thing I think we can all agree on is that it's pretty baller to enter into contests, regardless of skill level, so I'd like for all the entries to, in a nice clear thread, to get some form of appreciation. I will be reviewing these as they came in, irrespective of category or artist, and also provide a link to the artist's fimfiction userpage beneath the piece.

Let's begin.

TheMajorTechie, 'Unnamed SweetieGiraffe Pic

The first entry to the contest is this unique depiction of Sweetie Giraffe, a creature often depicted smaccing, or lasering ne'er-do-wells. The piece's position within the contest may very well be considered contentious, but as of this exchange:

TheMajorTechie Am I to assume this is your contribution?

HapHazred
sure, we can go with that lol

I think we can dispell eighty percent of doubts on the matter. Regardless as Sweetie Giraffe is a bit of a recurring concept on groups like TWG and TSSPB, so I think of it as being uniquely historical to include. Sue me.

ZettaiDullahan, Rules Category Entry

This piece is a very nice entry depicting a particularly handsome looking character in a position of power that, honestly, I feel speaks to me on an especially personal level. Note the intelligent use of dark shadows beneath the eyes that feeds into the internal struggle the character must feel at all times, or else is indicative of a lack of coffee. Also the slight tilted angle of the lines; perhaps suggesting an unhinged state of mind? We may well never know.

It's a lovely piece and very impressive that it was done in a shorter amount of time.

Uz Naimat, Rules Category Entry

This piece depicts several books stacked atop one another, topped by both Twilight's crown as well as a particular gavel used by Twilight during an episode of the show (a fact I was needed to be reminded of; my prop recollection capacity is, apparently, limited), with the text on the spines reading out the names of the category as well as the name of the group. It is both aesthetic and pragmatic, considering the intended final use of the piece, and the colours and style reminiscent of the show itself.

Very nice.

Uz Naimat, Group Forum Category Entry

In a similar vein to the artist's previous entry, the Group Forum entry also heavily utilises both utilitarian text as well as show imagery and props, with this one leaning into more of a down-oriented view of a council room, a room that is both a place where free-flowing discussion would take place, and that is in addition filled with evidence that it has, detailing multiple papers and notebooks filled with notes and scribbles; clearly a brainstorming session has taken place here. Very fitting for a Forum entry.

Cyonix, Main Image Category Entry

This one is one of my own personal favourites, and I think much of that comes down to the creative use of magic depicted in the piece by the artist. Here you can see a unicorn levitating a bucket of multicoloured paint directly onto the cover of a book, sans brush. The motion of the paint looks dynamic and colourful, and the lines and shading are clean and defined; a very professional looking piece indeed.

Somehow despite having magical control over the paint, the character depicted has still managed to get patches of it on their coat. A messy pony, it seems, which also adds in a splash of personality I feel.

Very nice.

Uz Naimat, Main Category Entry

In a break from the trend featured by the artist previously, this particular piece is purely word-art, featuring for each letter in the word 'ART' a different pony from each of the most recent three generations of MLP. One detail I like is that each style of drawing is noticeably different for each generation; notably Twilight in the middle appears to have elements of screentones, whereas Sunny appears to be coloured in in block colours only. The backgrounds are also all unique to each gen, with the third gen one being blurry and patchy, fourth gen being more geometric, and fifth being a blurred colour gradient layered horizontally.

Shaslan, Main Category Entry

Another one of my personal favourites and also another to follow the trend of including multiple gens of pony, this piece shows Twilight and Sunny painting together, surrounded by artistic supplies. The piece is exceptionally colourful despite using a transparent background, as the glow from Sunny's horn and wings appears to light up the upper portion of the piece, making it quite bright, especially against a dark, fimfic background. It pops very nicely in night-mode especially.

Very nice.

bahatumay, Forum Category Entry

Here we get to see the use of ponies in vector form, very close to how they would appear in the fourth generation of the show, using can-phones to communicate. I actually rather like this since it makes me think of how forum communication works, online over vast distances; messages are sent, wait to be received, and then you check to read the response. I find it fitting.

Nice.

bahatumay, Rules Category Entry

Continuing the method of using vector style pony models, we see an entry combining two early entries; one including that same handsome pony we saw earlier as well as a vector rendition of Sweetie Giraffe, presumably about to laser a ne'er-do-well to death with its eye-lasers; I especially like the detail of its absurd neck not fitting in the frame. Very Lovecraftian.

Snow Quill, Forum (or Main) Category Entry

This artist has provided an image of various characters from both G4 and G5 having a conversation in a grassy field, particularly including various younger members of the groups. In keeping with the artistic theme, many of them are drawing or have some crafted item. The composition I think is also quite interesting; I can't imagine it's easy to draw the characters from, pretty much, every angle around them.

Of particular note I think is the texturing of several of the character's manes, which gives them a bit of a more lively look, almost rippling.

ZettaiDullahan, Nonexistent Talent Listings Category Entry

Whilst a somewhat doomed entry given the absence of a category it was made for, I still think this piece is worthy enough to include as it was, after all, made for this contest. Whilst unfinished, I actually rather like the composition, featuring various talents on this group (I can recognise a fair few of them, even incomplete) in a police-style lineup. I'm not sure what they did to get put in that position but I'm sure it was naughty.

I do like the clean lines and sharp shading on the ones that appear complete, as well.

And that is it for the entries; feel free to discuss, chat, and enjoy. I for one am pretty happy with the line-up; we got a fair bit of variety in styles and approaches, with word-art, vector style ponies, crisp lines and lineless approaches, images incorporating text and images with no text. I'm very impressed by everyone who decided to enter, and I hope youse enjoyed yourselves.

I'll be figuring out the winners of each category soon, at which point I'll be PM'ing youse to make sure I can get you the prize cash via Paypal. Cheers, and I'll see youse around.

7743873

Regardless as Sweetie Giraffe is a bit of a recurring concept on groups like TWG and TSSPB, so I think of it as being uniquely historical to include. Sue me.

It probably is worth noting that it's a TheMajorTechie thing I tend to run with mercilessly. I have drawn Sweetie Giraffe a few times, but it was my interpretation of his character, basically...

--Sweetie Belle

Well I am genuinely surprised by the number of submissions and skill put into this contest, this certainly shows that the group is still very much active.

7743946 Indeed. I wouldn't have minded a few of the more active commissioners joining in as well but I suppose they've got a hustle to rustle, and you know I respect a good hustle.

I'm pretty pleased with both the turn-out and also the variety, although my personal dream of seeing a .gif of an interpretive dance routine will have to wait until next time.

7743948
Something like this I take it?

7743949 Yes except somehow combining the theme of a category with the rules also. Hell it wouldn't even need to be animated according to the rules I set up. Can you imagine? I can't. Which is why at the very least I would have liked to see it. The curiosity of Hap is truly boundless.

7743873
Thank you so much for your compliments! They mean a lot.

One detail I like is that each style of drawing is noticeably different for each generation; notably Twilight in the middle appears to have elements of screentones, whereas Sunny appears to be coloured in in block colours only. The backgrounds are also all unique to each gen, with the third gen one being blurry and patchy, fourth gen being more geometric, and fifth being a blurred colour gradient layered horizontally.

And yes, someone noticed! For Twilight, I was actually going for a comic-book style, hence the dots on her and the geometric background. Ooh, and the gradient for Sunny’s background is actually the same gradient that’s used in the My Little Pony: A New Generation logo.

7743873
The gruffness of your icon didn’t prepare me for how kind and enthusiastic you are. I’ve enjoyed seeing you praise the entries.

7744044 I can be mean and rough when I want to! But not, as it happens, today. I was quite lucky that there was no entry with nothing of interest to talk about, and it's clear that everyone was bringing something interesting to the table.

Many excellent works by many excellent artists! Applause for all! I should've put one in but i had an idea for a main image that i could never 100% put together nor really put pen to paper, one of those moods. Im a big fan of cyonix work, i think it has the right kind of energy to it that i wish i could have brought to mine.

7743873
👁👄👁

Awesome work all around! I especially love Shaslan's one, the colours and the pones' expressions are super playful and fun And also ZettaiDullahan's unfinished entry for the talent listings, that one looks really clean! It's too bad you weren't able to finish it, haha.

7744098
Thanks! 'S a shame you didn't manage to complete yours though!

7744300
i definitely should have done it, purely an act of shameful procrastination. However your piece and mine would have been somewhat similar in idea and yours has this fun and whimsy and just pure heart to it that i was struggling to bring to mine when i was conceptualizing it.