Final Six - Going Down In History

Round Opens: Wednesday, November 16, 2005 Submission Deadline: Friday, December 2, 2005 at 11:59pm PST Reader Voting: Monday December 5 - Thursday, December 8, 2005 Winners Announced: Friday, December 9, 2005

The Challenge Six artists are still in the running for the title of OmniArt 2005 champion, but only three will make it through this tough challenge. OmniArtists, your penultimate task will take you on a trip through art history. For this round, you will emulate one (and only one) of eight periods from art history as recent as the 1950s and going back as far as pre-historic times. To do this, you are going to pretend that you are an RPG fan artist living during one of the following artistic movements. The subject and style of your entry should reflect those of other artists from the movement you select. You may base your entry on one of the following eight well-known periods in art history: Pop Art (1950s - ) Read about Pop Art on Wikipedia Short for "Popular Art," this style was started as an opposing movement to more elitist art movements. It drew its subjects from popular culture such as advertising, consumer products, and comic books. Famous works in this period included Andy Warhol's "Campbell's Soup Can" (1964), Roy Lichtenstein's "Thinking of Him" (1963), and Robert Indiana's "Love" (1973). Surrealism (1920s - ) Read about Surrealism on Wikipedia Rational thought and normal life have no place in surreal art. Expression through imagination and raw, untamed creativity were the cornerstones of this art movement. If there's one period in art history that's sure to make a person stop and think, it's surrealism. Some well known surrealist pieces include Salvador Dali's "The Persistence of Memory" (1931), Rene Magritte's "The Son of Man" (1964), and Man Ray's "La Fortune" (1938). Cubism (1907 - 1920s) Read about Cubism on Wikipedia Another radical art form, cubism can be seen as broken glass on canvas. Cubism employs a mix of geometric, artistic, and analytical methods to portray scenes in a highly abstracted form. The most famous cubist is also one of its founders: Pablo Picasso. Some of his cubist works include "L'Accordéoniste" (1911), "Femme en chemise assise dans un fauteuil" (1913), and "Musiciens aux masques" (1921). Art nouveau (1890 - 1914) Read about Art nouveau on Wikipedia In stark contrast to cubism, art nouveau pieces are highly ornamental and decorative featuring lots of curved lines and often based on the form of plants and animals. Works from this period include Aubrey Beardsley's "The Peacock Skirt" (1892), Alfons Mucha's "Dancel" (1898), and Edvard Munch's "The Dance of Life" (1900). Impressionism (1863 - 1890) Read about Impressionism on Wikipedia Impressionist artworks are characterized by loose and visible brush strokes and more attention paid to light and movement than to the details of subjects. Some important works in this period were Claude Monet's "Impression, Sunrise" (1872), Paul Gauguin's "Les Alyscamps, Arles" (1888), and Camille Pissarro's "The garden at Pontoise" (1877). Baroque (1600s - 1730s) Read about Baroque art on Wikipedia Baroque art most often depicted action and drama using intense colors. Baroque artists sought to capture a scene at its most pivotal moment. Mythology and religion were the most common subjects of Baroque art. This era produced such pieces as Federico Barocci's "Aeneas' Flight from Troy" (1598), Caravaggio's "The Taking of Christ" (1602), and Peter Paul Rubens' "The Adoration of the Magi" (1624). Ancient Egypt (3000 - 1000 BC) Read about Ancient Egyptian art on Wikipedia The art of ancient Egyptians is characterized by precise representation of its subjects using simple lines and shapes with flat areas of color. Egyptian art often depicted gods, goddesses, and pharaohs and employed images and hieroglyphs to tell epic tales. Paleolithic (c. 300,000 BC) Read about Paleolithic art on Wikipedia The most well known prehistoric art can still be found in the form of vast murals on cave walls. They rarely depict the human form and instead focus on large animals such as bison and deer. The Rules Please be sure to include the art period you select in your submission e-mail. Except as specified above and in the Official Rules, all other normal fan art submission guidelines apply. Please be sure to include "[CONTEST] Artist Name - Title of Work" in your submission e-mail's subject line. All entries should be submitted to fanart@rpgamer.com by 11:59pm PST on Friday, December 2, 2005. Please note that we cannot accept entries after this deadline for any reason. For confirmation that your entry was received, please include an automatic read receipt request with your e-mail. OmniArtists, please pay special attention to the Additional Rules for the OmniArt 2005 Finals. Reader voting for this round will begin on Monday, December 5, 2005 and run through Thursday, December 8, 2005. The results will be announced on the final day of voting at 8pm Pacific Time in Fan Art's IRC channel (RPGamer IRC FAQ | RPGamer Java IRC Client) and the next day on RPGamer.com. The three contestants with the most votes will advance to the Championship Round; the other three contestants will be out of the competition.