So much to say, so much to do...

Special Guest Judge: Onezumi Onezumi is the artist and writer behind the Onezumi.com webcomic. She and her partner, Harknell, also write art and web design tutorials, as well as tutorials specifically for new artists and webcomic artists. They take tutorial requests and regularly participate in their Harknell.com forums, which encompass art, design, technology, general discussion, and (of course) the Onezumi.com webcomic. They have a store where you can buy Onezumi Studios product lines.

1. Round Two Results. While I know you all live and breathe these long monologues of mine, you might want to scroll back up a bit and look at all of those pretty pictures. That, ladies and gentlemen, is what 42 contest submissions (three top placers, 39 honorable mentions) look like. I hesitate to say this is the greatest fan art update in human history only because I will probably say it again as this contest continues. Congratulations to First Place winner Nyanko-chan for her breath-taking Xenogears piece entitled "The Holy Mother." Jamie Jennings takes Second Place with an awe-inspiring Luna summon (complete with summoner Lucia) in "Spirit of Luna," and Third Place in this heated competition goes to Maiji/Mary Huang for a truly unique and incredible "Summon of Light" featuring Star Ocean 2's Claude. As the top three finishers, Nyanko-chan, Jamie, and Mary all automatically advance to the OmniArt 2005 finals. But don't discount those honorable mentions since they will help decide the three wildcard entrants. Let's hear it for all of the Round Two entrants and their fantastic works of art.
2. Judging. One of our judges summed up the difficulty of scoring this round's entries by saying "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Indeed, the scores for this round were so close that every last point made the difference. Thanks to our permanent judges, Derek "Roku" Cavin, Jeff "CainEJW" Walker, and Cortney "Alethea" Stone, this round's guest staff judge, Elliot "Carlisle" Guisinger, and special guest judge Onezumi for their time and opinions.
3. Katsucon 11. Simply put, Katsucon 11 was the best anime convention I've ever attended. I want to extend my most sincere appreciation to the entire Katsucon staff, especially those running the Art Show and Artists Alley, and convention chairman Richard "Pocky" Kim. If you're an artist looking to showcase and sell your work, I highly recommend you grab a table or some showcase space at the next Katsucon. If any of you were there for the live art auction on Saturday night, you know how much fun it was. Who could ever forget the Post-It Note that sold for $10 (I dropped out of the bidding at $5, sadly) or the moogle portrait made out of a few pieces of elbow macaroni and spaghetti that fetched a whopping $83?! There were some other fantastic pieces in that auction including several that sold for over $200. Thanks to all of the artists who came and made sure I won't have any empty space on my walls for years to come.
4. What's Next? Next weekend, we'll have a gallery update, so keep sending in your submissions! The challenge for OmniArt Round Three will be announced the following weekend, and I'm sure the competition will be even tighter next time around. So until then, enjoy this amazing gallery of contest art, post your thoughts and favorites in this update's forum thread, and have an awesome week!