Cats and Dogs: Runner-Up #10
By Vincent Des Jardins
A moody and elaborately rendered image that makes us feel like we’ve seen only one frame from a rich story. You’re shown everything except the width and depth of the gap that separates the two main characters. There’s a good compositional balance between the two figures.
Cats and Dogs: Runner-Up #11
By Shelly Davies
I like the graphic quality of this image. I like how expressive and different these animals poses are - they’re very “dog-like” and “cat-like” movements, while still being reduced to their essence. There’s a nice contrast between the bold impact and the tightly packed figures.
Cats and Dogs: Runner-Up #12
By Alex Bernstein
Many of the cats and dogs images were heartwarming. What’s nice here is the young kitten and the old dog, the books and the coffee, the light. A young puppy with an old cat wouldn’t have worked quite as well. The artist uses soft colors and clear composition to make his point succinctly.
Wow! You sent us so many images - and so many GOOD ones - that we barely knew what to do with ourselves. From puns (want to see it actually rain cats and dogs?) to curled up kittens to the endless Cat v. Dog war - these cartoons below cover it all. Please note that there are TWO slideshows- one right below the other - since each slideshow can only hold 100 images, and they’re both packed with fantastic submissions. We look forward to hearing which of these images you liked and why - provided you don’t get catty!
Slideshow One:
Slideshow Two:
We’ll be posting a new contest theme at 3pm today, which will transition us from a weekly to a monthly contest. See you again soon!
Dear Friends and Followers -
After Monday’s announcement that this blog would wind down at the end of July, the Blowncover’s inbox was flooded with letters of support and encouragement. A clever and talented community of artists and commenters has sprung up around this project and I can’t bear to let it go. So. You’ve convinced me! The blog will live on. But we’ll have to make some changes.
We will be transitioning from weekly contests to monthly contests. I’d love to continue just as we’re doing now, but the pace isn’t sustainable. This week, we got twice as many submissions as usual! (And they’re all great - way to make our lives difficult.) I’d like to make it so artists can look at each other’s submissions over the course of a month (a public or semi-public flickr gallery perhaps?), vote and comment on them, then Françoise and I will post our favorites here on the tumblr. I’m going to take the weekend to think about the best way to do this (your suggestions are very welcome: blowncovers@gmail.com). I’ll be back on Monday, with a new plan - and later next week, with the results of the cats and dogs contest.
Thank you for all your encouragement,
Nadja
Back to School: The Winner
By Birgit Schossow
We received this as two separate submissions from Birgit Schossow and we were leaning towards choosing the dog alone as the winner. But then we realized that, unlike on a real new yorker cover, we could treat you to this animated gif. So voila!
Back to School: Runner-up #1
By Michael Glenwood
A very nicely composed and nicely colored rendering of an idea that i’ve gotten from various artists over the years - seldom as well expressed as this.
Back to School: Runner-up #2
By Gabriel Guma
This made us laugh! It’s quickly recognizable and the general rendering - even if its a bit sketchy - does nothing to distract. The marble notebook strap is a nice addition.
Back to School: Runner-up #3
By Daniel Kondo
“This is one of my favorites!” says Nadja (It reminds her of a bear she knows.) Children and teddy bears can be overly sweet and cute, but coupled with the adult setting of therapy it’s a nice contrast. The palette nicely mirrors that, with the bright pop of color against the sober black and white.
Back to School: Runner-up #4
By Nicola Boccaccini
This is just a cool image. I like the painterly quality of the rendering, the use of color and the fact that the reader is situated somewhere behind the kid, somehow towering over him. The play on scale adds to the dreamlike quality of this scene.
Back to School: Runner-up #5
By Julien Couty
We got so many images about big heavy backpacks that we considered making a special slideshow of them for you. In the end, not only was this the best of those, but it also captured the feeling that was repeated in many other submissions, of the small child faced with a monolith at the start of the year.
Back to School: Runner-up #6
By John Hansen
CONDOMS! Woo-hoo! Making the association between children and condoms is risqué but the provocation in this image isn’t gratuitous. It’s true that sex education and access to condoms in schools can be an issue for some parents.
Behind the scenes atThe New Yorker with art editor