Smart art! The winner of Fresh Paint #MakeItHappen competition revealed
Back in January, impressed by the quantity and quality of your New Year’s resolutions for 2015, we launched the Fresh Paint #MakeItHappen competition for our ever-creative Connects community.
To help you stick to your guns (research by Dominican University in California proves you’re a lot more likely to achieve any goal you’ve written down and shared), we asked you to send us your #MakeItHappen resolution using the Fresh Paint application on your Lumia or Surface. The winner, selected by our ultimate Fresh Paint mastermind Phil Galloway, would receive the beautiful Lumia 830 and attend a Fresh Paint art class with none other than Phil himself.
A month has passed, the amazing entries have flooded in and Phil has spoken. Now it’s time to give him centre stage in order to hear the winners and runners up!
What Phil had to say:
“May I first congratulate everyone who took part in this #LumiaChallenge to #MakeItHappen. Not only was the standard of artistry amazing and varied, showing real individual flair, skill and talent across the board, it was the personal reflection and heart-felt nature of the resolutions that impressed and struck a chord in me. If I could live up to half the presented resolutions I would be a much better man, so go you, and I hope they bring real fulfilment and happiness.
Picking the winner and runners up was no easy undertaking as every entry had its own personal story to tell or visual wizardry to show. It has been wonderful to watch the hashtag #MakeItHappen on Twitter and see the entries coming through, but also to see the awesome community of Lumia and Surface users come together and champion their art and ideas. I have tried to look at artistic ability, composition, interest and the actual resolutions themselves when choosing the winners.
It was the resolutions that were achievable and personal that jumped out at me. Additionally, I loved ones that keep our community using these amazing apps and technology moving forward, in the hope that others could find similar opportunities and pleasure I have found since switching to this platform.”
The runners-up
Adrian Verde
Resolution: “I will paint often and pursue postgraduate studies.”
Phil’s reasoning: “I love the colours in this resolution piece with the bright vivid turquoise in the background really setting off the superbly painted elements in the foreground. I particularly like the way Adrian has painted the book and university scroll along with his eyes just peeking over the front of the canvas. Adrian’s resolution to paint more and pursue postgraduate studies is personal, achievable and will hopefully allow him to #MakeItHappen so I wish him all the luck in the world.”
Chen Cheng
Resolution: “I will visit my grandparents in China for Chinese New Year.”
Phil’s reasoning: “This entry leapt out at me when I first saw it as I was flicking through Twitter: it’s vibrant and really well painted. I think Chen has really captured the image of the nighttime lantern well, with great use of shadows and light or Chiaroscuro if you want to get technical! With my family being the most important part of my life and about to grow even more, Chen’s resolution to visit his grandparents in China really touched me, so I felt he deserved awarding and I truly hope he can get to China too!”
Noman Quadri
Resolution: “To go green and save paper.”
Phil’s reasoning: Noman’s artwork was one of the first pieces I saw on Twitter and it was the simplicity and vivid green in his art that stuck in my mind. The artwork looks really graphic and bold and could work in an advert for Lumia devices extremely well. I love Noman’s thought to use his Lumia to not only be more creative, but also to use it to save paper, which is so important for our environment. Lumia devices are incredibly versatile in all areas of life, making Noman’s resolution really achievable not only for him, but for all Lumia users, so we should all take note!
The winner:
Sanjay
Resolution: “I will draw on every weekend in 2015.”
Phil’s reasoning: “Sanjay’s hauntingly beautiful portrait stood out from the pack as it was reminiscent of Renaissance etchings by the likes of Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo, not bad company to be in! The use of natural lines, shadows and the piercing blue eyes work so well and really show the solid foundations of a fine artist in the making. Picasso once said ‘Painting is just another way of keeping a diary’ and Sanjay’s resolution to draw every weekend will help him on his artistic journey and I can’t wait to see more of his Lumia artwork over the year!
My partner thinks it looks a bit like me and my beardy face, so maybe that’s why the piece stuck in my mind because whenever I was thinking about potential winners I kept coming back to this one (there’s a tip guys, draw the judge!). Sanjay has used Fresh Paint in a different and personal manner which is exactly what an app like this is crying out for and something I try and uphold myself, to experiment creatively!”
Celebrating a community of art workers
We think a talent like Sanjay’s should definitely not go to waste, so we are determined to hold him to his resolution! Please, Sanjay, send your sketches our way and we’ll keep a diary for you!
So here’s four artists for whom we should all keep an eye out: we’re sure they’ll #MakeItHappen this year and in the years to come. Before bowing out, we’re asking each winner and runner up to email [email protected] to get the love they deserve! Finally, we’d like to extend a massive thank you to each and every one of you who sent in your resolutions – keep up the art work and you’re sure to paint the town red in 2015! As Phil put it, “it is testament to our mobile and tablet community along with the Fresh Paint app that the standards were so high!” Or, put even more simply: you rock!