#lisf

beefing with gods

FOR REALLL

I was about to mourn for my failed Jeffertober challenge (I still wish to write all these prompts even if it’s not Halloween month anymore), but then I remembered about that case where a Jefferson prequel fanfiction won a Life is Strange Fans contest, but the prize, a fully illustrated comic version of the fanfiction, never got delivered to the winner/public -- “fall 2016″ came and went by, we’re at fall 2018 now, and still no signs of it.

We’re excited to announce our Life Is Strange Environmental Art Contest!

This is a Fan Art Contest. Submit concept art style pieces, either in 2D or 3D, depicting an environment from the world of Life Is Strange that we haven’t seen before. This might be an environment that we either know exists in the world but we never saw in the game (such as Warren‘s dorm room or Max‘s house in Seattle) or could potentially exist in the world of Life Is Strange.

There will be a Winner in the 2D Art category and a Winner in the 3D Art category, with a prize for each.

FRIDAY MARCH 3RD – FRIDAY MARCH 31ST

MAIN PRIZE: Dontnod Entertainment will be providing Life Is Strange Art Prints, signed by members of the team. There will be 1 Art Print for the 2D Category Winner and 1 Art Print for the 3D Category Winner.

We do not yet know what these Art Prints will feature or who will be signing them. Details will be revealed at a later date.

RUNNER-UP PRIZE: A $50 Steam Voucher will be awarded to 1 Runner-Up from either the 2D or 3D Category.

PRIZE DRAW PRIZE: 1 Winner will be chosen at random from all entrants to receive a rare Life Is Strange 2017 Calendar.

We’re delighted to announce that Michel Koch, Co-Director & Art Director of Life Is Strange, will be a Guest Judge on this Contest. No pressure!

The remainder of the Judges will be Staff of Life Is Strange Fans. All entries will be judged using the ‘Borda Count’ method, which awards points based on how each person ranks them. The Winners are determined by the entries that receive the most Total Points.

Yes. 5 entries from each Category will shortlisted. We do not yet have a date for when the Shortlists will be announced due to the availability of Guest Judge, Michel Koch. However, we expect the Shortlists and Winners to be announced within around 2 weeks of the closing of the Contest on 31st March.

Your Art must depict an Environment that fits within the world of Life Is Strange. So please don’t bother submitting amazing fantasy or hard sci-fi pieces as they won’t be eligible.

You can submit 1 entry each to both the 2D and 3D Categories but you can only win (and only be Shortlisted) in 1 of them.

You may use ‘photobash’ or photo manipulation techniques to produce your concept art in the 2D Category. It does not have to be drawn/painted.

For 3D, please do not make excessive use of existing assets from either Life Is Strange or any other games. The majority of the models should be either modelled by yourself or obtained from 3D content marketplaces.

You can include some characters in your scene if you want, but they must not be the focus. This is an Environment Contest and in environmental art, figures are usually only included (often in low detail or silhouette) purely as a reference for scale.

The Contest closes on Friday March 31st. Any entries submitted after this date will not be eligible.

2D ART

3D ART

Our Staff Artist Mai created this depiction of Brooke‘s Room as an example. Here’s a quick breakdown of the kinds of details we’re looking for in your entries.

EPHEMERA: Posters, postcards, photos. Details like these can tell us a lot about the character this environment is connected to. What bands they like, what sort of personality they have, etc.

ACCESSORIES/HOBBIES: Similarly, accessories such as the iPod dock, books or the box for Brooke‘s drone tell us a little bit about their hobbies and interests.

LINKS TO OTHER CHARACTERS: The ‘Go Ape’ pamphlet on the floor connects Brooke to Warren. Any item in your environment could tell us about any number of characters. Maybe Nathan‘s trademark red jacket is hanging on the back of a chair in your interpretation of Courtney‘s dorm room, suggesting that she either borrowed it off him one cold night, or he stayed over…

MOOD/LIGHTING: The time of day you set your scene is important to create the right mood or atmosphere. The style and/or colour of the lighting in the environment can inform us about the state of mind of the character who usually inhabits it.

EASTER EGGS: Easter Eggs, i.e. obscure or easily-missed references, are a fun way to keep the viewers of your piece interested as they try to discover them. The box of salt on Brooke‘s desk in this scene is a reference to her ‘salty’ character trait. Your Easter eggs can be a little more subtle of course. And you don’t have to include any at all, but it might be interesting to see how many fans can spot them.

Here is just a selection of websites that might help you with inspiration, resources and tutorials. If you have some suggestions of your own, please let us know in the Comments below and we’ll add them to the list.

2D ENVIRONMENTAL ART

Concept Art World

Feng Zhu Design

Raphael Lacoste

Alex Ruiz

3D ENVIRONMENTAL ART

Gnomon

CGCookie

3DMotive

3DTotal

BOTH

DeviantArt

ArtStation

CGSociety

CubeBrush