The Visions of Tomorrow #mattepaintcontest was a contest hosted by MattePaint that tasked artists around the world to create a photo-realistic environment DMP using MattePaint assets.  It spanned the entire month of March, with 3 Image Packs being released for free for participants of the Contest.

The theme for the MattePaint Contest this month was 'Visions of Tomorrow'. The next decade will be critical for Humanity and we wanted participants to share their visions of what could be. We were looking for positive outcomes, potentially environments where man-made structures are one with nature, achieving a balance and to showcase the resolutions Humanity has made.

Here are our Finalists!

Diego Nicolas Agustin, Diogo Sampaio, Dumindu Hearath, Michaela Maria Wartbichler, Nicolas Hubert, Paola Muñoz, Sebastian Andrade,Tim Matney, Victor Pietrzykowski, Leo Dentico, Rafael Falconi

Every entry that was submitted to the Visions of Tomorrow #mattepaintcontest was spectacular. Congratulations to all of the Finalists for truly going above and beyond. Picking the Winners from these entries was challenging but the Judges have made their selections!

A huge THANK YOU to all of our Community, Mentors and Artists that make these contests so successful.  The feedback, help and positive vibes that flowed through the whole month truly speaks to the caliber of our users and we are so grateful to all of you! Watching entries progress through the month is something that always blows us away, the improvements and progression that our community artists promote is amazing.  

The #mattepaintcontest tasked each competitor to provide the following deliverable factors:

  • One still image — 1,920px on longest edge minimum. E.g. A landscape should have at least 1,920px width, portrait should have minimum 1,920px height.
  • One composite sheet containing the photo's and elements used for the final design.
  • Work-in-progress artwork to show how your image was created.
  • Post on Artstation with the MattePaint Contest Hashtag and Logo.

With the Judging Criteria being as follows:

Images will be judged on creative, narrative and technical aspects. Successful images should combine strong composition and lighting with an attention to photo-realism and a high technical level of finish

The Judges

With such challenging and uncertain times in the World right now, it was amazing for our Judges to see such optimism and Beauty in the entries from our Finalists. The theme of the Contest was displayed wonderfully through all of the Finalist  entries and we all had fun imagining living in these stunning Utopias. Three entries rose to the top in our Judges eyes, so let's find out who our WINNERS are!  

?THIRD PLACE - Nicolas Hubert

? Personal Favourite: Dark Hoffman, Dax Pandhi and Jeevan

Judges Comments

This is extremely relaxing to look at and though it's not quite a matte painting and more like concept art or a digital painting, it's very close to the artist Simon Stålenhag's work. It feels very grounded. Simple is always better which means we don't have much to say except great job! The way Nicolas has woven sharp colors with strong contrasts is stunning, all while retaining the flavor of the environment. It evokes a strong feeling the moment you look at it.

? Nicolas Hubert will receive a MattePaint 3 month Artist-Plus Subscription, a Gaea Indie License and a 12 Month Artstation Pro Account for their third place win!

?SECOND PLACE - Tim Matney

? Best Technical: Dax Pandi
? Best Composition: Conrad Allan and Dmitriy Glazyrin

Judges Comments

Tim has taken a challenging approach here; to indicate a decline into the distant city, which is not always easy to achieve! The composition is framed well but he has also allowed gaps here and there to create contrast areas and give the eye some interest. He has beautifully handled the complexity of this image, it goes far into adding detail, but he also knows when to stop which is such a powerful thing. This image almost feels totally real!

? Tim Matney will receive a MattePaint 6 month Artist-Plus Subscription, a Gaea Indie License and a 12 Month Artstation Pro Account for his second place win!

?FIRST PLACE - Diego Nicolas Agustin

? Personal Favourite: Conrad Allan
? Best Technical: Milton Menezes
? Best Composition: Dark Hoffman and Jeevan

Judges Comments

I just love this image. It's just so beautifully peaceful and open, it represents an idyllic future but also one where our past clearly has a heavy influence. It's a beautiful marriage of the two.
This really makes us want to explore the landscape. The eye follows a path which is what we want from art; to naturally make the eye go to what the artist is conveying. It just has a simple relaxing feel to it with such great color realism, and even though it feels like a book cover or mural, it has beautiful composition and aesthetics. This would be amazing to have as a print, it causes you to take a breath in these busy, intense times. Amazing and Congratulations!  

? Diego Nicolas Agustin will receive a Wacom Intuos Pro, a MattePaint Yearly Artist-Plus Subscription, a Gaea Pro License and a 12 Month Artstation Pro Account for their first place win!

? MOST IMPROVED - Alexandro Reyes

Judges Comments

Alexandro's entry came so far from it's initial concept and the final image improved so much and looks so great.  Alexandro's ability to action and make use of the Feedback that he received from the MattePaint Team and Community through the month of March really pushed his entry into new heights. Amazing work Alexandro!

? Alexandro Reyes will receive a MattePaint 3-month Artist-Plus Subscription and a 30 Minute private 1 on 1 Tutorial Session with Conrad Allan for having the most improved entry.

?LUCKY DRAW - Antonio Deidda

As an added bonus we ran all of the Contestants names through a random name picker to give everyone of our entries a chance at a win!  Congratulations Antonio Deidda!

? Antonio Deidda will receive a MattePaint 3-month Artist-Plus Subscription for being the Winner of our Lucky Draw Prize!

Thank-you so much to everyone who competed in the Visions of Tomorrow #mattepaintcontest!  We are so excited for our Winners and can not wait to host the next Contest!  Keep your eyes peeled for the next one and all of the other exciting events we have coming and head to our Discord Server, Forum and Community group for all the details!

Make sure you head over to our Forum to check out the April Image Pack Challenge and join the fun!  We have a TONNE of really exciting things coming your way with Challenges and Contests, so be sure to stay in the know by joining our Discord Server, our Community and signing up to our Forum!  There are so many upcoming opportunities to flex that creative muscle again and take home some great loot as a result!

Thanks to everyone who got involved!