I'm hosting the S.N.A.P.E. artpad contest this month at snapeartcontest

If you'd like to join the fun, follow the link to read more about December's theme.

http://community.livejournal.com/snapeartcontest/19988.html?view=59156#t59156

The contest is open to everyone. Hope to see you there!

Why do I update my LJ so infrequently? Basically, because I'm lazy and unfocused. My mind is on other matters right now, but I still check in once or twice a day and try to keep up with the posts.

I don't have any stories to plug, and I'm too shy to discuss my personal life, so what does that leave?

But I feel like I'm doing you a favor by not updating when I don't have anything interesting to say. Isn't it better that way?

Since I'm here, however, I'll take this opportunity to remind you that the_bitter_word is hosting this month's S.N.A.P.E. contest, so why not mosey on over and submit an entry?

Decisions, decisions. I lost sleep over this last night. It’s incredibly difficult to select a winner when all the entries are of such high quality. The artwork is amazing and the use of color, considering artpad’s limitations, is truly impressive.

In making my decision, I had to bow to my perverse sense of humor and award the prize to the painting that presented Snape in the setting I would have least expected: on broomstick, buzzing by the window behind the guests in lunafish’s Late Arrival (title provided) based on Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper.

Here is a list of the other excellent entries:


_grainne_’s The Son of a !@#** based on Magritte's The Son of Man

penguin2006’s
No kissing! based on Klimt's The Kiss

the_bitter_word’s Two Tahitians and a Slytherin (title provided) based on Gauguin's Three Tahitians

sylvanawood’s Got milk? based on Franz Marc’s The Yellow Cow

seaislewitch’s Snape's Aversion to Ava's Aviary based on Lady with her Pets by Rufus Hathaway

penguin2006’s
Van Gogh's Ungrateful House Guest based on Van Gogh’s Bedroom, 1888

lunafish now has the daunting task of judging the April contest, hosting it, and selecting the theme. The mystery prize will be revealed to the winner by private email.

A special thank you to everyone who entered and a sigh of frustration that we will never be able to see sigune's and anaxarette's entries that disappeared due to the whims of artpad.

A friendly reminder to submit an entry for March’s S.N.A.P.E. contest. Artpad seems to be behaving again, so that is making the painting process easier this time around.

The contest is extended through Monday, April 3, and the winner will be announced on Tuesday, April 4.

Walk-in!Snape

I’ll be hosting this month’s contest, so my friends only LJ will have to go public for this entry only, since I certainly don’t want to discourage anyone who is not on my flist or who may not have an LJ account from entering. So please, if you are too shy to enter yourself, spread the word to anyone you think might be interested in participating. I must stress that artistic talent is completely unnecessary. The purpose behind this is only to have a laugh and a good time.

( Walk-in!SnapeCollapse )
The Hits of Highly Improbable CDs are burned and good to go, and as soon as the programs are completed, I’ll be mailing them out, hopefully before the end of the month.

I do apologize for updating so infrequently, but I can’t think of anything interesting to post. I still owe a few memes and I’ll try to find the focus to complete them eventually.

It’s time to announce the winners of the Snape Art contest for July. sigune was the creator of the theme for this round and also the judge.

( Sigune speaksCollapse )

This weekend is the one-year anniversary of my signing on to the Internet and discovering that I was not the only woman in the world who spent too much time thinking about Severus Snape. I never knew there was such a thing as fanfiction. Seriously, all I intended to do was google the name “Professor Snape" to see if I could find a T-shirt. After reading OoP, I wrote a silly little poem for my own amusement called My Snape Escape. Learning that Snape poetry already existed, not to mention song filks, came as another startling revelation.

I began lurking at Fiction Alley, and by early August, I was writing my own story. Only a handful of readers at FA seemed to be following it, so I was convinced it was a flop. In September, I stumbled across Sycophant Hex and lurked there for about a month to see if I was Occlumency-worthy. Before then, I had no idea all the remarkable things “my" Snape had been doing down in the dungeons!

This has been a highly improbable year for me, and one that I never could have predicted. But enough reminiscing. On to more important matters.

sigune has selected the theme for this month's Snape Art Contest and will be the guest judge. Because she will be traveling and unavailable until later in the month, the contest runs through the end of July. This will give all of you more time to work on your paintings and allow you to take a break to read that book that's coming out on the 16th. Remember, you may enter as many paintings as you like, and absurdity is much more important than artistic ability. Click below to read what Sigune has to say.

( Snape Art Contest for JulyCollapse )

As promised, it is time to announce the winners of my first (and hopefully not my last) Snape Art Contest.

It was very difficult for me to select a winner because it was so much fun watching all of your pictures paint themselves on playback. larilee was my co-judge, and her advice was to declare everyone a winner because all the pictures were very entertaining. I agree, but I decided it would be best to adhere strictly to the contest rules. Remember, the main purpose of the contest is to make me laugh and promote general silliness. The drawings that demonstrate the greatest artistic technique won’t necessarily win, but then again, they might, if they also happen to be the silliest. It could go either way. It’s a highly improbable world, after all.

So, this is my roundabout way of saying that laughter appeal was the main thing being judged. Next, keeping to the theme, which was Snape posing as the Mona Lisa, with odd canon details included, along with the option of a funny hat.

Well then, with that in mind, here are this month’s “winners”. (We’re all winners, really, aren’t we? We had some fun and had the opportunity to take our minds off the serious side of the Potions master.)

Winner: Why Dumbledore Trusts (Mona) Snape by Sigune

sigune, your prize in lieu of a poem or a horrid song filk of “Mona Lisa”, is the opportunity to select the theme for next month’s contest. Fawkes perched on Snape’s head was a clever way of working in the hat option and an unexpected canon detail. A very humorous explanation of why Dumbledore trusts Snape.

Joint Runner-Up (tie): Untitled by Perselus and Calimari, Anyone? By Grainne

perselus, your drawing wins for coming closest to the look of the real Mona Lisa and for a background cameo by The Boy Who Might Not Live If Snape Drops The Rope! Send me a private e-mail if you would like a poem, and if you’d rather not be subjected to my drivel, you will maintain your reputation for good taste. :-D

Please have a look at how brilliantly perselus paints Snape as the Mona Lisa when her talent isn’t hampered by the limitations of ArtPad: Perselus’ Real Mona Snape

, your calimari made me giggle because you saved the funniest part for last and let your artwork unfold in a humorous fashion. You certainly know how to bait Snape with squid. You don’t win a darn thing, because you recently won a poem in the Jarvey-naming contest, and I’m too lazy to write another. But if you really want one...

Second Place Runner-Up: Everyone else. Yes, I know I’m a wimp, but I did enjoy them all. Next month I shall try to be more discerning, but I may fail. Have patience with me. I’m new at this.

Thank you all for entering and I hope to see you back for next month’s contest. Please urge your friends to drop by and enter too!

Here are this month’s entries in no particular order, so you won’t have to hunt through the thread to view them:

Contest Submissions:

Calimari, Anyone? By Grainne

Why Dumbledore Trusts (Mona) Snape by Sigune

Untitled by Pinkcorsair

Untitled by Perselus

Mona Snape…Uh? by EllieK

Snape Receives Award by SeaIsleWitch

Mona Snape No. 2 by Sigune

Mona Snape No. 1 by Sigune


Others. (Paintings contributed that were not intended for the contest, but only to have fun experimenting with ArtPad.)

Wicked by EllieK

Makeover!Snape by Grainne

Slytherined!Snape by Grainne

To Snape with Love, by SeaIsleWitch

Naughty Liz, by EllieK

Sigune Discovers ArtPad


I hope I didn’t leave out any of the links, but if I did, please notify me and I’ll add them. Thanks for making me laugh!

Have you ever dreamed of having your fanfiction illustrated? Not everyone is lucky enough to have friends who are talented artists, but do not despair! Now you can do it yourself! But you say you have no artistic talent? Bah! You’re not going to let a little thing like lack of talent stop you, are you?

Good. I’m glad you are willing to listen to reason. Where would the world be if only talented people were allowed to draw? If I can be courageous and illustrate my own story, so can you! I am about to show you how you can tell a story with paint, as well as with prose.

Accio Vocalion's Artwork!

I found this on sniv’s LJ and couldn’t resist trying it.




SNAPE ART CONTEST

PURPOSE:

To make me laugh and promote general silliness.

RULES:

You may only enter your own work. You may not ask a child to draw something for you. No cheating, now!

You may enter as many times as you wish.

The contest is open to everyone. I am hoping sigune might consider contributing something. She may find the concept foolish, but I bet her offering would be amazing.


THE THEME:

Paint a picture of Snape posed as the Mona Lisa. He has the hair and the proper coloring, so you’re already halfway there.

Bonus points for including the following:

1. Odd canon items worked into the background.
2. Placing an odd canon object in Snape’s hands (not a wand).
3. Do you think Snape would look good in a funny hat? Go for it! Just because Leonardo da Vinci didn’t put his subject in a hat, doesn’t mean you can’t!


PRIZE:

Greedy lot, aren’t you? Can’t the fun just be in the doing? The winner and/or winners will receive a poem. A discriminating winner may elect to refuse a poem. In fact, that might be for the best.

DEADLINE:

Submissions must be received by midnight, Pacific Standard Time on June 13th. The winner and/or winners will be announced on June 14th.

Good luck!

You may create your paintings here. It is against Art.com's policies to upload pornographic material, so please keep all of your submissions in good taste!

If you would like to view the real Mona Lisa for inspiration, click here.