Iron Gelatomettista Champ - Jim Lee!

First off, thanks to everyone who voted in one of our closest and most-hotly-debated challenges yet! Both sides brought their "A" games and the final result could've gone either way, but today, Jim took home the title 101-86. Take a bow guys and for everyone interested in owning one of these two gorgeous pieces, please keep checking back for a time and date when the CBLDF puts them up for auction.

Secondly, hope everyone enjoys JJ Kirby's colors over Jim's winning piece above. He wanted to show some love for Cloak & Dagger too.

Later this week, we've also got our next Iron Gelatomettista challenge lined-up with a fresh, new challenger to the blog. But before we get to that, here are some comments from Jim on drawing against the clock, followed by Francis' reply:

Got to tip the hat to Francis...he's a battler. And has the makings of a great Iron Chef Gelatomettista-Killer...and what are those qualities? Well, the secret to these 1 hour challenges are imho the following:

1--you got to have a sketch style. You can't simply expect to use the style you use for published covers and interiors for a quickie like this. Not that you have to draw poorly or sketchy--just that the time constraints force you to strip down your style to the bare essentials. And Francis has this. Check out his sketches vs his Gelatometti pieces vs his published work. His style through and through...just different levels of detail and clarity fairly unseen by the casual viewer. That's why I think Jeff Campbell lost in his previous challenge...he was bringing his pro high finesse high polish style to his piece and didn't finish the image he had in his head.

2--Need a creative hook for viewers to latch onto. Each image an artist creates has to say something. Yes, we don't have words but we have faces, gestures and composition. And even in a static, single image, we have storytelling. A piece is not just a drawing of a character...it's a visual interpretation of a character's personality and life story and the more the image presents and represents that, the more the image engages the viewer. Fans often overlook this when they talk about why certain artists are more popular than others but it's this quality that separates those who draw the pictures from those who live through them. Francis brings that storytelling as well.

3--Have to strength under pressure. Doing a live, online challenge like this can mess with your head...it's the closest to participating in a sporting event you will find while holding a pencil. The only thing more intense would be to do it in front of an audience at a con which I have done too. Doing it online is a fraction less intense but still a lot of fun if you have confidence in what you can deliver in an hour. That's why you see the guys with more experience under their belt do better in the long run.

4--You got to be fast...I've had the pleasure of attending smaller cons with Francis, once at Essen, Germany iirc and also at Angouleme, France and the 'Pul is as quick a draw as they come.

Kudos again to the Toronto Kid...we're gonna duke it out tonight on Halo3 too I think. The contest truly never ends heh.

-

Jim Lee

Thanks for the kind words Jim! That means a lot!

I was blown out of the water when I saw your piece, it just goes to show how much I have further I have to go.

This was a huge battle for me for many reasons. I've been a big fan of yours since I was a kid, so the fact that the master entertained a battle with a student was good enough for me!

Till next time Jim!

Francis