Prizes
Prize contributors will also have a say in judging since they're contributing something out of the goodness of their hearts and I feel they should have a say in who they choose to award their talents with. I also ask that if you want to judge/submit a prize that you not enter the contest for the sake of remaining objective. And since a bunch of users' entry will depend on the prizes, here's what we've got in the pool so far:
1st Place
A year's premium membership, 300 dA points; 3 full fledged drawings; a one-shot story (if interested)
1 Drawing
300 dA points; Half body drawing with some shading
1 full drawing
1 fully colored drawing with person* and background
1 Full Sketch
2nd Place 2 fully completed drawings
Portrait sketch
1 waist up colored drawing no background
3rd Place 1 fully completed drawing
Portrait sketch
1 sketch drawing (if by hand with shading if on computer just inked)
*
doesn't have to be a person can be a animal or person/animal or an animal or demon or anything elseRules
-Content must depict at least one character from my story Undertaking Life.
-Credit me Gretchen Bergaus AKA SuirenShinju and link this journal in the submission's description.
-Visual art only please. Nothin' personal to my writer friends but I'm very fickle when it comes to my babies. No one knows them like I do because they don't know the ending of the story which is attributing to certain elements of the characters. (Plus it's hard to weigh a drawing against a work of writing since the criteria is different)
-I'm looking for original work! You can use references of course, but let's not just trace or copy someone else's work. You won't improve as an artist by drawing that way any how. (I speak from experience, plus it just helps avoid hassles)
-Note me with your submission; Don't worry if I don't comment on the piece right away. I'll reserve my opinion and judgement until the contest is over.
-You can do more than one piece if you want. The more the merrier XD Each piece will be judged individually anyway.
-I try to make UL have everything from comedy to violence to romance to adventure... so pretty much any kind of mood for a pic will be acceptable.
-No yuri/yaoi pairings. None of my characters in UL are homo or bi, so we'll have none of that.
-Deadline is
11:59 PM on June 30, July 31, 2013 (You have plenty of time so take it to do your best work)
-If you know you're gonna enter, copy and paste this statement
"I am entering the Undertaking Life contest" in this journal or any subsequent journal pertaining to the contest so I can register everyone.
-FAVORITE this journal to help get the word out. You may not be interested, but a friend/watcher of yours might be.
Helpful Links
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#Undertaking Life has a group
undertakinglife.deviantart.com… Please join if you haven't already.
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Undertaking Life SoundtrackSince I write by picturing the story playing in my head like a movie, there's of course music to accompany it. I also wanna explain and defend a few choices so let's start with songs about individual characters first.
Remy
"Bitch" by Meredith Brooks is Remy through and through. The main lyrics that hit the nail on the head were "I'm a bitch, I'm a tease, I'm a goddess on my knees. When you hurt, when you suffer, I'm your angel under cover. I've been numb, I'm revived. Can't say I'm not alive, you know I wouldn't want it any other way." That's Remy. Can't explain it much more than that. XD Other songs I like for her include "Stuck" by Stacie Orrico, mostly the hating having a guy on her mind part, "Miss Independent" by Kelly Clarkson mostly for the solitary woman image the song provides and how that image is corrupted by feelings, and "Fighter" by Christina Aguilera because it depicts a woman's struggle for strength after being betrayed by a man (in Remy's case, it's her f
Where I talk about songs the story identifies with. Listen to a few if you get stuck or need ideas.
Useful Information
-Regular "zombies" in these stories aren't flesh eaters. That's pure George Romero. My zombies are soulless beings that simply tear the living limb from limb when they get their undead hands on ya. Look up more on the Voodoo practice of making a zombie to understand my zombies a bit better *slight spoilers if you're able to figure out what I'm hinting at* They also have strong senses of smell and physical strength, but decompose like regular corpses. The speed of decomp depends on the weather and environment which is why they stay in cold, dark places and don't venture out during the day. The sun is bad.
-Conscious zombies like Loki and Lori are rare and appear more human because they don't decay like the others, move normally, and they have their conscious and "soul" still in tact. They're still sensitive to light and don't function well during the day. They don't need to eat or sleep, but as you know, Loki does enter a "dead" state of sleep during the day to conserve his energy. And they aren't immortal, just harder to kill.
-Despite Lori being a conscious zombie, her coloring makes her look like a sickly human. This is because she dyed her hair back to black after it bleached out and she uses makeup to hide the dark circles around her eyes.
-I haven't designated specific makes of guns for Remy's arsenal, but a generic looking pistol is what I draw her with usually. She prefers dualies, but uses a rifle too. She does have a shot gun, but it's not her usual weapon of choice.
-Reading the story will be of great assistance. It's available in my gallery as well as the Undertaking Life group.
BONUS! Here are some rejected story ideas!
-Loki originally cannibalized other zombies. He'd eat a bucket of zombie fingers like fried chicken.
-Remy was a mama XD She was either a single mother trying to get home to her kid, or she was pregnant and trying to get home for the sake of protecting her child. Scrapped because no way Remy woulda let herself get pregnant.
-Remy's past was a lot more dark and violent (killed her father in cold blood after he raped and beat her).
-J.C. was foxed-faced XD But that was way too anime-esque.
-Lori's flirtations with Loki were a lot bolder.
-Andy tried to rape Remy since he was tired of a cold, dead girl (Loki saved the day). This idea was too cliche and quickly scrapped.
Roster
