“Your Night City” Illustration Contest - we’ve got the winners!

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Last month, we launched our first official Cyberpunk 2077 Illustration Contest, and we have received LOTS of incredible submissions from all over the world. Our jury went thoroughly through more than 1.500 submissions centered around the outline of V's iconic jacket. Picking our favourites was no easy task - we were blown away by your creativity and imagination!

But now, without further ado, here are the winners:

1ST PLACE - By Julien G.



2ND PLACE - By Iida K.



3RD PLACE - By Jakob V.



On top of that, we would like to award three additional prizes:

HONORABLE MENTIONS

By Rahul S.



By The Magnetic Cat



By Nise L.



Congratulations to all winners, and thanks to everyone who participated in the contest - your artworks were truly incredible!
 
Julien Gauthier really did some nice work of art,
especially the lighting and mirroring seen in the puddles,
a blink of vivid color that is so rare in the dystopian dark futuristic streets seen in the poster.
the 3 others do look unique and beautiful so I'd Imagine it must have been
very hard to decide, I would hadn't known which one should win because they
all look beautiful
 
I love them all! <3 Amazingly talented people, you should all be proud.

Magnetic Cat is my fave; reminds me of a Cyberpunk Tiny Tina!
 
Congrats to all the winners. Every work is astonishing, it's hard to tell which one is better!
If I didn't know there was a template (↓) to submit, I would've thought everyone drew an illustration as they liked. :cool:
contest_template.png
 
I wonder how many people would have even bothered participating if they knew that big names like Julien Gauthier participated too, leaving others zero chances from the beginning. That guy literally works at AAA movies as a senior artist.
 
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I wonder how many people would have even bothered participating if they knew that big names like Julien Gauthier participated too, leaving others zero chances from the beginning. That guy literally works at AAA movies as a senior artist.
Same on Artstation and basically every competition has only one category regarding participants... Beginners swept off before start.
Also, they give zero thought about content, only how it looks, how well polished the picture is - substance? What substance?
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Will anyone take a moment to notice how there is NOTHING cyberpunkish, nothing futuristic going on the winning picture? Not that I have any problems with it and I love all of them.
It's a boring bus stop.
It is a fancy, barely futuristic bus stop with a barely futuristic car.
Sorry. I think there's a lack of ...a lack of a lot of things here.
The use of the template is genius and it looks awesome but that's it.
Take a look at The Magnetic Cat's work: I don't even fully understand what's going on there, not because it's not well represented but it IS futuristic! A lot of bits and parts attack the viewer and there's even a little story going on AND woah, they are trading HEADS!
The picture is well-thought, thorough and exciting in content!
Ja? -Jaaa...
 
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Same on Artstation and basically every competition has only one category regarding participants... Beginners swept off before start.
Also, they give zero thought about content, only how it looks, how well polished the picture is - substance? What substance?
Post automatically merged:

Will anyone take a moment to notice how there is NOTHING cyberpunkish, nothing futuristic going on the winning picture? Not that I have any problems with it and I love all of them.
It's a boring bus stop.
It is a fancy, barely futuristic bus stop with a barely futuristic car.
Sorry. I think there's a lack of ...a lack of a lot of things here.
The use of the template is genius and it looks awesome but that's it.
Take a look at The Magnetic Cat's work: I don't even fully understand what's going on there, not because it's not well represented but it IS futuristic! A lot of bits and parts attack the viewer and there's even a little story going on AND woah, they are trading HEADS!
The picture is well-thought, thorough and exciting in content!
Ja? -Jaaa...

I'm 100% with you. I've submitted my entry and I wasn't picked, but if I had to choose one "to lose to", then it would've been Magnetic Cat's. Not only it's "futuristic", but it's also funky and it has its very own distinctive vibe: Good job.
As for the winner, I'm not entirely sure I want to share my opinion about using 3D renders as a base for drawings, so I'll just go "congratulations" for the sake of the fair play, I guess.
Just my 2 cents.
 
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I'm 100% with you. I've submitted my entry and I wasn't picked, but if I had to choose one "to lose to", then it would've been Magnetic Cat's. Not only it's "futuristic", but it's also funky and it has its very own distinctive vibe: Good job.
As for the winner, I'm not entirely sure I want to share my opinion about using 3D renders as a base for drawings, so I'll just go "congratulations" for the sake of the fair play, I guess.
Just my 2 cents.
How do you know he used 3D?
 
How do you know he used 3D?

They looked at the picture. ...

...Okay, I am meaning to say how very evident that is. If you work with/on digital illustrations for a while, you can tell these things straight away.

Here are some clues for you and others:
0., (It is "photo bashing" on top of a 3D scene to be precise. And don't think in 3D 'models' but basic shapes and a simple scene and such.)
1., First off, the scene looks perfect, all the angles, architecture, props - everything lines up perfectly as they resemble the real world almost "too good". There are no playful areas or anything. Yes, one can achieve this via following perspective but how every little detail aligns on this picture - it is a dead giveaway.
2., Look at the streetlights. I knew it straight away when I looked at that big light on the left. Not that it's impossible to draw at all but that is how a 3D render looks. Big ups if it's not actually.
3., Perfect reflections everywhere. Everywhere. Except on the people.
4., Second huge giweaway: the contrast between the "hand drawn" people and the rest of the picture.
5., Everything looks just way too organized in general, borderline rigid.

Also, from his artstation profile: "I have a 3D generalist background, capable of working on any aspect of the 3D pipeline, from the Modelling to the Compositing." - Julien Gauthier

Maybe he just has a strong, built-up routine but if you ask me (and probably others would say something similar) it is a picture based on the heavy use of 3D AND photobashing.

Neither of which has to do much with illustration or drawing and neither does it have much to do with the rest of the entry images here.

It is wonderful digital concept art and a great picture though.
 
Neither of which has to do much with illustration or drawing and neither does it have much to do with the rest of the entry images here.

This is just not true and honestly, this comment is quite insulting to artists who specialise in using 3D. Using 3D tools and 'photobashing' in illustration is not only completely valid, it is SMART. If someone has to skills to utilise 3D in art, why wouldn't you use the skill you are most proficient in?

3D illustration still requires the artist to create the mood, the setting, the style, the atmosphere. You don't just open up a 3D program and voila, a perfectly rendered artwork is made for you.

It seriously annoys me when people write off artworks because of the tools used to create them. It reminds me of the people who thought using photos in digital art was 'cheating' ten years ago. Yet now, using photos and 3D is industry standard especially in concept art. 3D renders and photos are simply tools.

Nowhere in Cyberpunk's competition did they state professional illustrators were not allowed to enter. Personally I feel like the first place winner was very well deserved. It has a mood that is very aligned with the game's aesthetic and the artist clearly thought outside the box.
 
This is just not true and honestly, this comment is quite insulting to artists who specialise in using 3D. Using 3D tools and 'photobashing' in illustration is not only completely valid, it is SMART. If someone has to skills to utilise 3D in art, why wouldn't you use the skill you are most proficient in?

3D illustration still requires the artist to create the mood, the setting, the style, the atmosphere. You don't just open up a 3D program and voila, a perfectly rendered artwork is made for you.

It seriously annoys me when people write off artworks because of the tools used to create them. It reminds me of the people who thought using photos in digital art was 'cheating' ten years ago. Yet now, using photos and 3D is industry standard especially in concept art. 3D renders and photos are simply tools.

Nowhere in Cyberpunk's competition did they state professional illustrators were not allowed to enter. Personally I feel like the first place winner was very well deserved. It has a mood that is very aligned with the game's aesthetic and the artist clearly thought outside the box.

Before anything else, I just liked to state how I favor facts vs. facts rather to opinions vs. opinions.

Valid? What do you mean? Why would anything be valid or invalid in digital illustration? It seems like you are confused about something yourself.
It is a vague way to approach things by questioning if it is "valid" or not. Who decides?

Nobody is writing off the artwork, have you not read how actually everybody (including me) likes it?
He is obviously a great artist.

You are misleading and pushing it.
Methods are not skills.
Nobody was talking about skills. You brought that up and introduced a little confusion here. Let's talk about it then.

My statement is true, see:

Actual fine arts have nothing to do with computers.
Yet, to elaborate on your opinion regarding the use of 3D in illustration, since skills are now introduced into the conversation:
Drawing on a graphics tablet has way more to do with fine arts than clicking around and making the machine generate shapes and effects.
Having programs generate already shaded objects and shapes and having them arranged via assistance of the machine does not, i repeat, does not involve actual artistic skills, anybody can do that, I assure you.
Yes, we know these are tools, thank you. Yes, the synthesizer is just an instrument. It's okay. :)

What one has to understand is how the use of 3D modelling and various digital effects and tricks affect the actual need of real artistic skills - likely, just remove the need of them.

Here's some help to wrap it around your head: Try to recreate all these pictures on paper or on a similar traditional medium, canvas, wood etc.
The task becomes much, much more difficult. Now compare these pictures keeping that in mind.

What you are right about is what a 3D artist does is creating mood (via various machine guided tools).

(Are we also talking about 3D sculpting? That should have its separate topic as that, does indeed require high artistic skills. Digital sculpting though is not represent on these images.)

There is nothing wrong or invalid about any method. I find all of them wonderful.
Considering one more graceful to the other is up to whoever is viewing.

You see, mixing up methods (the technicalities) and the individual reception of images, reflecting on them in general does not make any sense.

They, these approaches and methods (fine arts, drawing by hand, drawing by hand on a tablet, 3D) are just not the same category.
They are altogether different methods. (Mixing them is also something else.)
They should be treated accordingly, each in its own category.

Like senior artists not mixed with beginners at a large scale competition.

"Nowhere in Cyberpunk's competition did they state professional illustrators were not allowed to enter."
Yes, you are right, sadly.

That is what the discussion was about.

Source: Am artist, using traditional and digital methods, 3D modelling, sculpting and photobashing too. Love all of them.
 
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The Magnetic Cat’s artwork intrigues me a lot. It’s not 100% my cup of tea but, at the same time, I’d love to see a similar treatment for any upcoming anime adaptations, be it the Studio Trigger series or any other anime shows/films down the line.
 
Nowhere in Cyberpunk's competition did they state professional illustrators were not allowed to enter.
Yeah, that's the problem. That killed the real competition and made the contest a waste of time for around 1500 people, leaving them zero, and I mean zero, chances from the beginning to the end.

Personally, I'm not an artist at all. But I suspect barely known artists struggling to get their art noticed need the victory and the drawing tablet MUCH, MUCH more than professional illustrator working on AAA movies for years.
 
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