What a magnificent year it’s been for the art competition! A swarming flock of entries blessed our castle halls here at the Stunlock Studios crypts, filling our eyes and hearts with beauty and terror befitting of the immense talent of our kindred kind. This competition had the most entries of any art contest we’ve held to date, and the competition was as fierce as ever! Let it never be said that the Vampires of Vardoran take their artwork any less seriously than they take their bloody hunts.
For this contest, the Stunlock Jury consists of Johan Wahlbäck (Art Director), Johan Aronson (Senior Concept Artist), Viktor Blomqvist (Senior Concept Artist), Johan Ilves (Marketing Director), and Jeremy Fielding (Community Manager). After input from marketing and art, we’ve come together to pick these ten exemplary artists and their submissions.
In light of the incredible level of entries this year, we’ve included far more special mentions than any year before. It was extremely difficult to narrow our selection down as is, so even if you weren’t featured today, please know that your work was seen and appreciated by all of us here at the studio.
Those Special Mentioned that are featured here today will be sent an Eternal Dominance Pack DLC to be used as they see fit.
By Oryx
By нехапохае
By João Passos
By Jun
By Aaryn
By Valeria
Here’s a reminder of our prizes for our 10 upcoming finalists!
The Grand Winner will receive:
Tristan the Vampire Hunter Plushie
V Rising MERCH PACK
1x V Rising Hoodie! Choose either the Tarot Hoodie or the V Rising Hoodie.
Note: These are only currently available in small, medium, and large sizes. We can’t offer XL or XXL sizes due to stock shortages. Apologies!
3x V Rising T-shirts (Tarot, Blood Magic, & V Rising)
V Rising XL Male Vampire Throne Mouse Pad
V Rising Mug
V Rising Key Chain
V Rising CLAN PACK
4x Copies of V Rising for you and your closest clanmates.
1x All current and future DLC for you to lord over them.
Two Runner Up Finalists will receive:
Tristan the Vampire Hunter Plushie
V Rising T-Shirt of your choice (Tarot, Blood Magic, & V Rising)
V Rising Mug
V Rising Key Chain
Eternal Dominance Pack DLC
Seven other Finalists will receive:
Dracula’s Relics DLC
Sinister Evolution Pack DLC
Eternal Dominance Pack DLC
These pieces displayed an outstanding and diverse range of representations of Vampires, exemplifying the many different ways players imagine themselves and their fellow bloodsuckers in our setting. Major factors in judging were execution, composition, concept, and how easily we could picture these existing in the world of Vardoran.
These next seven finalists exemplify all of these ideas, and the expression of their imagination shines through in their works in a manner we could not help but take note of. In no particular order of ranking, these are our seven finalists!
By Arwyn
By Tan Yan Hwei
By Puck
By CynicalStith
The next two pieces are our Runner-Ups! We hope each of them will take good care of their crypt-mandated Tristan Plushie.
This piece was 3D modeled and concepted in a way we could easily picture as an NPC merchant or V Blood, but clearly has a flair and perspective indicative of the artist! Tosun the Blood Merchant strikes a balance between dark, grotesque, and humorous, not often seen in the Vampire fantasy. With his network of blood bags and the legs hanging out of his coffin carrying bag, this piece was wonderfully creative, charming, and incredibly well done!
By Tamim Sarah
The style and pose of this piece combine to create an evocative character. Framed in elegance, magic, and delightfully scraggly avian critters, this is a Vampire that we would very much like to get to know. Though we highly suspect that if we were to try, we’d end the evening with those long fingers wrapped around our throats. This piece is both beautifully excessive and yet artfully restrained. A truly impressive piece, so full of emotion.
Each year, the decision to declare the Grand Winner is a significant one. It often requires lengthy deliberation among the judges, leading to intense and heated discussions. This year, we received one entry that absolutely blew us away in its effort and execution. With more entries than ever and a level of competition that has only increased, our Grand Winner drew us in like a dark enchantment.
The Grand Winner of the V Rising Original Vampire Art Contest, my courtiers.
The Wolfensohn Backstory is an animated 3D puppet show that tells the story of a trio of benevolent Vampires, their little wooden doll visages recounting the tragic tale of three sisters who defied their undead nature, and for their efforts, met a grisly end. Or did they? (Bum bum bum.) The nature of the Vampire is one of duality, and though your journey through V Rising can be a savage and brutal one, many don’t see themselves that way! Who truly can fault them if they want to befriend a tasty snack or two? I don’t get it, but to each their own.
Perhaps on their next return, our sisters will have wised up a bit.
This entry had everything! A story, beautiful colors and compositions, a unique style, and a strong and confident show of talent that we could not help but reward with our Grand Winner place in this year’s competition! The staggering difficulty of this task cannot be understated, and we are well beyond impressed. Undoubtedly, our Pierre has 100% Artist Blood running through his veins, and I, for one, hope he shares.
What an incredible competition it’s been! Thank you all for your breathtaking entries and the lovely tales that accompanied them. We read every single one. These artworks that represent, to us, the way our own art has touched each of you are a reflection that we find both invigorating and humbling.
For us, Vardoran is a world of horror, yet also one of beauty and wonder. In your artwork, we saw the full spectrum of the V Rising Vampire experience. Clans gathered together. Cruel amusements. Violence. Gardening. Mourning. Peace. Tortured, thoughtful moments. Longing. In these Vampires, we see a world of emotions, and we also see ourselves.
So thank you for a window into your soul, Vampires. We promise not to do anything untoward with it.
For now!
V Rising is available now on Steam!
V Rising is also available on the PlayStation 5! Get it here!
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Lots of love and a pint of blood,
/The Marketing Team