Udon Entertainment recently announced a new opportunity for professional, semi-pro and aspiring manga artists and illustrators: The DarkStalkers Tribute Art Contest. 2009 marks the 15th anniversary of this Capcom video game franchise, and to celebrate, Udon is pulling together a full-color art book tribute, and they're looking for artists working in a variety of styles to send in their interpretations of the characters from this horror / fighting game.
2008's Street Fighter Tribute book, which celebrated the 20th anniversary of the rock 'em, sock 'em fighting game included work from over 300 artists from all over the world. Udon debuted the Street Fighter book at San Diego Comic-Con 2008, and made it widely available for sale a month or so later. I flipped through a copy at SDCC and thought it was a very nice package that showcased a broad array of moods and styles, ranging from serious / action-packed illustrations to more light-hearted humorous takes on arcade warriors Chun-Li, Ken and Ryu.
Now Udon is looking to give DarkStalkers the same kind of tribute. Here's some of the details from the contest page:
- Art should feature characters from DarkStalkers games only (no cross-over characters from other Capcom games or other comics / manga characters)
- Artists can use characters from the DarkStalkers franchise including Night Warriors- Darkstalkers’ Revenge, Vampire Hunter 2 and Vampire Saviour 2 (The complete list is on the contest info page)
- All content must be teen-friendly (PG-13 equivalent) - No nudity and no extreme violence/gore (a little bit of blood is okay).
- Multiple entries are welcome, as are collaborative efforts -- but all artwork must be original, and created by the credited artists.
- Artwork should be 8-1/2" x 11" or if larger, should be able to be scaled down to 8-1/2" x 11" size.
- Initial submission of artwork should be sent as a low resolution JPEG file that is no larger than 200 kb
- Deadline for initial submissions: March 1, 2009
"Stylistically, we want artists to show us what they can do. We don’t need you to draw or paint just like the Capcom artists in order to win (though if that is the style you choose, that’s okay too). Realistic, anime/manga, super-deformed/cute, comic book style, abstract, animated, graffiti, pixelated, you name it... we’re open and excited about receiving all kinds of different original artistic interpretations."So what do the winning artists get for their efforts? Here's the dealio:
"Winners of the Darkstalkers Tribute art submission contest will have their illustration included and credited in the Tribute art book being published by UDON and will receive their own free copy of the book once it’s released."While this means that winning artists won't be receiving monetary compensation or royalties for their illustrations, this contest does offer a good opportunity for up-and-coming creators to get their work in front of an audience who might not otherwise see their work. It could also be an excellent portfolio piece that might help open the door to other, more lucrative opportunities. So take all this as you will, and maybe give this contest a shot. Perhaps you'll be bragging about your page in the DarkStalkers book at this summers' San Diego Comic-Con.
Image credit: © CAPCOM / Udon Entertainment
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