The Cyberpunk 2020 contest was hosted by MattePaint.com. It tasked artists around the world to create a photo-realistic environment DMP using MattePaint assets. It spanned a 3 week period with set weekly briefs and rewards to push and test the artistic talent of contestants.
With 2020 drawing to a close, we joined the world in celebrating the release of Cyberpunk 2077 and hosted our most popular contest yet! 251 projects, 399 updates and over 5,000 reactions later, we have our winners!
? Drumroll, please! ?
1st Place - Paola Muñoz
? Personal Favourite
Josh Durham, James Vincent, Stefan Bernscherer & Tamas Gyerman
? Best Composition
James Vincent & Tamas Gyerman
Congratulations to Paola Muñoz for scoring first place! This piece unanimously blew away the judges with this empty but cluttered space which draws your eye straight down to the Robot Character. No wonder it was awarded so many personal favourite awards!
Judges Comments
James Vincent
This is a bit different from the rest of the images, it is one of two that went with a vertical aspect ratio. The artist used the architecture to the left and right to frame the character which I think is very smart. There is only the central character in the image which is running so it draws the viewer into the scene, It also allows the viewer to interpret the concept of the image. What is the robot running from is are they being viewed through the lens of the person and or object following them. Although its a vertical aspect ratio the scene has a very cinematic feel.
Josh Durham
The amount of clutter and chaos really captures the claustrophobic lifestyle present in Cyberpunk cities!
2nd Place - Stephanie LaRusso
? Personal Favourite
Conrad Allan, David Luong & Nick Marshall
? Best Composition
Conrad Allan, David Luong & Nick Marshall
? Best Technical
Stefan Bernscherer & Fabio Palvelli
A round of applause to Stephanie LaRusso for her 2nd place win! The contrast of high-tech cyberpunk with the forgotten lower class is perfectly formed here. Scale is ever present in this piece and really enforces a feeling of insignificance in a huge, futuristic world. Congratulations Stephanie on a stunning piece!
Judges Comments
Conrad Allan
Absolutely exceptional submission. The composition immediately draws your eye in. It leaves you wanting to know more about the story, the place and the people.
The worlds of high-tech and slums is beautifully combined here. You really get a sense that humanity has divided and the rich portion of society have simply built over the top of the forgotten. This is two cyberpunk theme's in one image and stunningly emotive. The only drawback in this image is how commanding the highways are. You can't help but feel lost in the blackness of the underside of the highways. They are a necessary part of the image, but could have been a little more detailed. Stunning work Stephanie!
David Luong
A striking graphic composition that hit me immediately. The silhouettes of the overpass are strong, and the the shadow details are just enough so that they aren't crunchy dark, but exposed for the top building lights as to not blow out.
I'm a sucker for strong silhouettes and exposure and this one really struck me with it's expansive space and composition.
Nick Marshall
This painting has a really great graphic read without sacrificing the integrity of a believable environment design. The dark shapes against light create pockets of interest, and the sweeping lines of the elevated roads draw your eye through the image. It's really well put together and feels like it could drop straight in as a shot in a movie.
The compositional qualities are partly what keeps me coming back to this painting, but there's so much to love in here. The balance of the high tech against the squalid slums is quintessentially Cyberpunk, so it hits the brief on the head. There's clearly a lot of care and attention gone into the design of this world to marry those two contrasting elements together and the end result is of a really high quality. I spent a long time just letting my eyes wander through all the little slum streets enjoying the details. Really beautiful work.
Stefan Bernscherer
I picked this because of the coalition between the scale of the small, what I would call slums in the bottom of the image, and the mega structures and bright lights in the BG that draw the eyes first. Beautifully done!
Fabio Palvelli
I think this is one of the best executed works, it is more of an establishing shot rather than a main shot and this is the reason why I did not pick it as a winner, still the light is incredibly well balanced and it gives you the right mega structure sense of scale that one would expect from a cyberpunk scenario. Well done!
3rd Place - Adrien
? Best Technical
James Vincent
3rd place goes to Adrien! Your portrayal of layers and depth impressed us here. The central road feels like a layer ontop of the earth. The monolith was a clever way to draw the eye and spark questions. Great work!
Judges Comments
James Vincent
As a architect I find this image really exciting and well executed. The coloring and details are insane for this type of scene. It has a cyberpunk inception feeling with the buildings turned horizontal. The sphere leads the views eye through the image. This is would have been my top pick but was looking for a image that had a little more story to it. The technical work and details are amazing though.
Watch the Winners Live Stream
Make sure to check out our live stream reveal with our Judges!
All Our Finalists
Head over to the contest page to see the progress of each submission in detail!
? Cyberpunk Contest Entries
One last big congratulations too all our winners and finalists! We hope you'll join us for the next MattePaint Contest. To everyone who entered, keep at it and we're certain your submissions will be in the finalists in future!
