How Room8ers Were Challenged to Art Battle on Fire, Water, Air and Earth

Have you ever wondered why people say “culture makes the place”? We at Room 8 Studio know that culture sets the tone for the entire workplace and can be a great driver for talents who want to come not to do a job but to create success! We acquire extraordinary, passionate, and creative individuals to build team unity through care, excellence, and reliability to fulfill this goal. When it comes to “ART BATTLE” – an internal contest for our artists – we take it as a perfect chance to set the atmosphere of total freedom and show off individuality in art styles.

ART BATTLE 2018, called Elements of Nature: Fire, Water, Air, and Earth, started on June 5 and lasted till September 10, when the judges announced the winner of the contest! The contestant’s final artwork was supposed to embody one of the selected elements of nature fully. It was one of the most rigorous criteria for the jury to evaluate and award the artwork. We held the battle in three stages; after each step, the board voted and selected the winner. Besides, to receive mentorship, guidance, and timely feedback before the winner is chosen, all participants submitted their progress as separate assets to the company’s file transfer software each Monday.

Anilya Larmina, the wisest judge, beautiful lady, and Senior CG Artist at Room 8 Studio, said: – “For me as an artist, the central aspect is the description of the task, how they perceive it offers perfect realization or solution in return. It was the keystone when I made my decision about the winner. Despite my workload, I was always eager to share my energy and attention equally with each team member who required my mentorship, regardless of extra time. It was difficult initially, but I took it as an opportunity to level up my impartiality and critical thinking soft skills. Firstly, I analyzed it myself, starting with the basic principles and the emotional component, laying out all the pros and cons to give even more inspiration for the further improvement of the work. Sticking to such an approach, I tried to feedback on each artwork to retain its individuality and set the most promising direction for it as the final result regarding the concept art, composition in detail, and digital drawing or painting as a single picture. But, to sum up, I am delighted that best-of-breed professionals cooperate with our studio, and frequently it was enough to cheer up with “everything is cool, go on!”

The first stage was about creating a Concept of a Character or Environment. Our winners are 2D Artists: Evgeniya Sagay, with her Phoenix Knight, and Nadezhda Teterina, with The Passenger. – “I knew that I would choose Fire from the very beginning! But the idea with the Phoenix Knight – no. It was not that easy to participate in this battle because of limited time frames. Artists need to excel organically rather than forcefully and always tend to polish their masterpieces repeatedly. The most pleasant surprise was when coworkers chose my artwork as the concept for 3D modeling and illustration. Special thanks to the jury for their assistance and guidance and the guys who supported me. The ART BATTLE provided a valuable yet zingy experience!” – shared Evgeniya Sagay.

It was a prerequisite for participants in the Second stage to use the First Stage finalist’s concept art to achieve and practice alignment between concept art, illustration, and 3D modeling! Our winner is Karina Khoroshaylo, a 2D Artist, with her award-winning illustration Land of Reborn. “ART BATTLE is always about motivation to grow, improve and show off your skills, and learn something new. It is directly reflected in my artwork based on the Phoenix Knight Character Concept Art! It was a highly immersive experience and a great challenge because the concept was inspired by the Asian stylization, which I hadn’t worked with before. Of course, the vision of the composition and the story changed several times! Anilya’s comments helped create the final illustration greatly. The artwork appealed to me, and I discovered it every week from a new angle that led me to use not standard choices regarding the palette and renders. I am grateful to the girls and Room 8 Studio for the experience – I plan to be involved in the Concept Art Stage next year!”

Dmitry Koval, the wisest judge, the cutest fellow, and 3D Art Director at Room 8 Studio, said: – “I expected a bit more engagement from our 3D Artists. But due to a huge scope of projects for the world’s most renowned titles at the contest, I understand why they did not show off any finished works. In the process, I tried to help all the participants but kept in mind that artworks were personal, not project-related, so it was necessary to give freedom to their ideas rather than ready-to-use solutions. At the concept art stage, I paid attention to the development of the concept and its relevance to the chosen theme, and whether the character or environment is clearly defined through the elements of nature. Also, as Anilya mentioned, it was important to apply basic knowledge of anatomy, composition, and color to complete the work regarding the idea and its professional implementation. Therefore, the best feedback was, “Everything is cool, just keep digging!” Of course, it was necessary to help more purposefully showcase the work in the best possible way at later stages. I would like to wish everybody to continue with self-development and stay hungry for new obstacles, becoming the best version of themselves every day!” 

In the third stage, all the artworks were submitted to Artstation for public voting by the team members and the professional ArtStation Community. And the winner of the 1st Prize of ArtStation Community Choice is Diana Homutina, a 2D Artist with her unique yet awesome Pigeon Wizard!

Again, thanks to our winners who won prizes – iPad Pro for each to unleash their creativity for the full potential – Evgeniya Sagay and Karina Khoroshaylo.

And, special thanks to the judges and the whole team for all efforts, time, dedication, support, and likes on social networks! Be sure; we will make it even more fabulous, loud, and open for all artists from the broad community willing to join ART BATTLE 2019! And, don’t forget, we are looking for extraordinary talents who share our passion for creating visual content and technology, ensuring our partners with the best gaming experience for their players.

If you are one of them – apply to join our team! We’d love to hear from you and discuss the opportunity that fits your life.