JUDGED! I've decided out of good will and to encourage you guys to bid in future auctions everyone who participated will get 1 FREE blank thoroughbred design to do with what they will as a thank you for participating. You may send me a note at any future time to "cash" in this design.
Now a few things:
There were A LOT of bids for Verge, Inclined and Hip #13 (the latter of which I was so surprised by, not because she isn't a lovely little filly but there are def flashier yearlings IMO. Though gotta say it speaks well of all you that you picked her as one of the ones to bid on, she is talented and a diamond in the rough, so to speak) All that said I took a lot of time with judging those two because a. I love all of you for bidding and you all did a lovely job on your bids and I want to encourage everyone to bid in any future auctions I have b. Most of you put bids in just for those two, Inclined and Hip #13, so no matter how I did it someone was going to lose out so I wanted to be confident of my choices.
A note on format:
Earned Points/Possible Points for Art, Stable Journal, & Story
The final number is total earned points/reserve (how many points needed to win that specific horse)
If you didn't win, please don't be discouraged! True facts the first auction I ever competed in was one of sealle 's auctions for a chestnut yearling and I straight up lost. And honestly, the bid that won was absolutely better, better art and better story than my own. I didn't know as much about the racing world as I do now, and my writing was weaker. Naturally I was disappointed, but at the end of the day I preserved and learned from it. I bid in a few more auctions and ended up winning the yearlings that became Golden Age, Quick Wit, Zahra, Eminence, and Cryptology. If you're just trying to get into Thoroughbreds and didn't win one, please note me, I would love to help you get started. Also fear not there will be more auctions in the future! A short format weanling sale is likely coming sooner than later!!
I am letting this run till Midnight PST, so please keep putting in your bids! For those who can't get bids in please consider my open ended 2016 Rivals Auction, and keep an eye out for horses from this auction that go to sales/leases!
Presently as of 6:10 EST this are all the bids I have, if I've somehow missed yours please note me!!!
Come one come all to the biggest Thoroughbred auction sale I've done to date. Not only will this sale have yearlings, or broodmares, but both! And weanlings! And even a few horses of racing age! A little bit of everything for everyone!
END DATE: January 31st
Bid Process
1. Draw/paint the horse & write story
2. Upload it to deviantArt including all 'info as would appear'
3. Send me a note containing your bid and the link to your stable journal, Presto!
Judging
1. The art itself. Effort, effort, effort. I have put A LOT of time into the physical designs of each horse i.e. their specific coloring and markings and even more effort into coming up with a detailed description of their conformation, race record, personality etc. If you're bidding on a mare in foal she needs to look IN FOAL, if your bid is of a yearling or a weanling they need to look the proper age! If you're bidding on a race horse they need to look like they're in face condition. Google Images can help you with all of this! I expect these elements to feature prominently into the art work itself. (Scored on 15 points)
2. An established stable. It can be HARPG, it can be half-HARPG, it can not be HARPG at all. I just don't want these horses to disappear Please don't think that because you are new to having an RPG stable that you cannot win. Prove to me through your bid that you are interested in maintaining a stable and therefore that the horse you are bidding on simply wouldn't disappear into oblivion. (Scored on 5 points)
3. Story. This is the single most important aspect of the bid. I want to see this horse through the eyes of your HARPG characters. I want to be engaged. I want to read more. I want to become invested into this animal and the people around it. Again, this is based on effort. You don't have to be the best writer in the world but you do need to try. GET CREATIVE GUYS!!! (Scored on 30 points)
Total Possible Points : 50
Each horse has a minimum point reserve that a bid must meet to win. Every reserve is DIFFERENT and dependent on the individual horse's race/produce/pedigree
It should go without saying that the classier horses in this sale will "cost more" than their less illustrious counterparts
Things to Keep in Mind aka *Rules*
1. All these horses are bred and designed to be for racing That said bids intending to turn them into anything other will probably not score as highly as those that intend to have them produce racers. I am not opposed to retraining, but there should be some intent of racing involved. I am all for retired Thoroughbreds getting to do something every day, but these horses are top quality Thoroughbreds who in real life would absolutely be producing racing offspring or racing themselves.
2. Just because you put a bid in does not mean that you are guaranteed to win the horse. Each mare has a reserve number of points needed in order to win. Such number will vary from horse to horse and is based on the perceived value of such animal.
3. You may bid on as many as you would like without discrimination. What I mean by this is that the best auction bid will win the horse regardless of how many bids that artist has entered, considering the 'best' is based on perceived effort, not talent, I feel that this is rather fair.
4. Horses without bids or those that fail to meet their reserve I will add to my own string (PLEASE BID MY STRING IS LIKE 50 STRONG AT THIS POINT) or put up for auction again at a later date, I have spent a lot of time creating and designing these horses and I refuse to let all that time go to waste for a half-hearted attempt, again it is the effort that matters the most to me.
5. Coloring line art will not be accepted. What I mean by line art is lines that are a. not your own or b. your own but used several times over for many horses. I want unique drawings that tailor specific to the horse you are bidding on. I've spend a considerably amount of time coming up with detailed conformation descriptions for each horse based on their sire, dam and other ancestors and I would like to see such knowledge put to use. If you are struggling to find links to pictures of a horse's sire, dam or other ancestors please note me and I would be more than happy to send you links.
6. No whining! I plan on reviewing each auction bid carefully and will offer a solid critic on each with reasons as to why you either won or lost. Therefore there will be no logical reason to whine or complain.
7. DO NOT TALK SMACK ON OTHER PEOPLE AND/OR THEIR BIDS. First it's rude, second these are PRETEND horses. I MAKE THEM UP IN MY BRAIN. They are absolutely not worth being mean to a real living breathing human being with feelings over. I have a zero tolerance policy for bullshit, so consider yourselves warned.
7. HAVE FUN!! FOR GODS SAKE HAVE FUN!!!!!! For me auctions are a fun way of interacting with the horse rp-ing community and my watchers, so please guys just relax and have fun XD And thank you!!
Please remember it is not cheating to ask for help with any aspect of this. I love talking about this stuff and showing that you care enough to try and do some research will not hurt your score. Granted it won't give you extra points, but it certainly will never hurt.
Mares in Foal
Hip#4
*WINNER*
First off, your art is lovely! I don't get to see enough traditional media on this website and Aos Si looks amazing here, still a bit lean and fit since she's young and hasn't been off the track that long, but still in foal. As amazing as your art is the story is even better, I loved the flashback and the way in which Aos Si made an impression on your people. I love that what attracted you to her was her awful personality and that you plan to keep her struggle to get in foal/carry a foal to term in mind with her! Those details and the humor present in your story made it clear you are the perfect owner for this mare!
15/15 Art
5/5
30/30
50/49
Hip #6
*WINNER*
So go you, noting that every three years that Verge has a miscarriage/barren blew my mind because I didn't even realize I did that! That said she'll birth her Genghis Khan foal without issue! I absolutely loved your portrait of her, she looks like a well cared for 15 year old broodmare ready for sale and in foal and her expression is just perfect, exactly what I imagined she'd look like. I do wish your file hadn't crashed (though I know how that goes) for a better background, but you had near perfect score. Further your story is amazing! I loved that your stable, being small and new, has constraints that your people have to work within and the way in which you went through the broodmares available at sale (Oh no not another ill-tempered one - made me chuckle!) and the reasoning behind picking a experienced, proven, brood felt wonderfully realistic to me.
15/15 Art
5/5 Stable Journal
30/30 Story
FINAL SCORE: 49/44
You did a lovely job here, I really liked your picture and thought Verge looked great here (and drawing horses head on isn't easy!) but her missing feet knocked a point off unfortunately. She also could have looked a bit more pregnant since she's due to foal rather soon and broodmares get *quite* large. Finally a caveat, a drawn background would have boosted your score as well. I loved your story and the research you put into it was spot on! I always love a dash of realism and your peoples' pick of Verge over the younger and likely pricier Chalcedony was perfect. This was definitely your strongest effort and your best story! In the end you were only 1 point shy of the win, so great job!
13/15 Art
5/5 Stable Journal
30/30 Story
FINAL SCORE: 48/44
Horses of Racing Age
Hip #9
*WINNER*
I love your art and this drawing is no exception! I knocked a point off for the lack of background, but that said I loved the overall composition of the piece. Your story is what really sealed the deal, the conflict, the mystery at the end, and Rachel's insistence on the filly all worked well. The moment where she was disappointed that the filly lost to Marzanna was funny and well played, and I appreciated that you took the time to describe the filly's flaws. Excellent job.
14/15 Art
5/5 Stable Journal
30/30 Story
49/46
Bid 2
This was a very strong effort! Tackling a horse from the front was ambitious and I thought your art piece came out great! I took a point off for the plain background, and another for her two missing hind feet. The story was a touch short and I would have liked to see the filly figure in a bit more prominently.
13/15 Art
5/5 Stable Journal
25/30 Story
43/44
Hip #10
*WINNER*
Um I loved your art, like you clearly spend so much time and three pictures in one image is awesome! And I know your were a bit worried about your story being too short at 650 words, but I disagree! The pedigree rambling felt accurate to someone looking at horses at a sale (good lord knows my people have trains of thought about the same) and I loved that Trobadour's personality was on display. What really won me over was actually the indecision at the end, where you don't know if he'll go to stud or to the track. That felt wholly realistic and practical, and I enjoyed the caveat of Rosalind imagining a four year old campaign with a few Eclipse Awards. (PS. I would totally be down for having him face down a few of my racers next season if you decide to race him! Note me if your interested!)
15/15 Art
5/5
29/30
FINAL SCORE: 49/49
Yearlings
Hip #11
*WINNER*
You're drawing is amazing! And you know my feelings on Deadwood so I absolutely loved seeing her up against this filly! The story was lovely and endearing, and I'm happy and eager to see where this filly goes!
15/15 Art
5/5
28/30
48/46
Hip #13
Literally the most desired filly in the sale, as I said it surprised me. I judged these all individual first, getting a score, and then let the numbers tell me the winner. A note, everyone here did amazing work and earned plenty of points to beat the reserve (41 points), everyone's art was amazing I was so pleased with the quality of the bids, in the end it just came down to story and not necessarily length, but content and clarity.
*WINNER*
Um I realized I don't watch you and I was horrified at myself, that has been rectified. The art for this, was also amazing. The fact that it showed two other horses (hip 12 and hip 16 I believe) was awesome, and I loved that it was a whole scene! Let me just say that I LOVE GINA. Her anxiety was compelling and sympathetic, and her inner monologue was well done. I really just loved her okay. Also the bit about the handler hitting on Gina made me laugh so hard I teared up a bit, and I apologize for the flirtations of my wayward staff! Your writing is lovely, truly, a few lines made me pause just to admire them (draw a line under lucky number thirteen) also the way you characterized this filly was just wonderful. You really built on the comment I made about her being the smartest horse in the sale. I love that she was an impulse buy for Gina, and how you connected her to the most illustrious filly of the sale and their comparison but also apparent friendship was brilliantly done. All in all just a brilliant, brilliant piece and I recommend everyone read it!
15/15 Art
5/5 Stable Journal
30/30 Story
FINAL SCORE: 50/41
Bid 2
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Your art is amazing! I loved the filly's expression and her silly tongue out the side of her mouth was great! The weakest part of your bid was the story, it was a touch too short for my taste and a bit generalized. Also a caveat, yearlings don't do a timed work at auction as most are just getting under saddle so that bit of inaccuracy worked against you. That said your effort was very strong all in all and you did meet the filly's reserve, unfortunately ballenclief's overall score was higher.
15/15 Art
5/5 Stable Journal
25/30
45/41
Bid 3
This was SO HARD. Your drawing was lovely, but was knocked down a point for not having a fully rendered background. But I loved the filly's expression and animation. Your story was well written and engaging but I would have liked to see a bit more of the filly, it felt mostly like it was about your up and coming stables (which I enjoyed) but it made the filly feel like an afterthought. That said your effort was very strong and you did meet the filly's reserve, unfortunately ballenclief's overall score was higher.
14/15 Art
5/5 Stable Journal
26/30 Story
45/41
Hip #14
*WINNER*
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I would have liked to see more of a full body shot, but considering the great pic of him on your story bid I didn't count it against you. Again the story is a bit short and the factual error counted a bit against you, but your art and effort was more than enough to win this colt!
15/15 Art
5/5 Stable Journal
24/30 Story
45/43
Hip #16
*WINNER*
OKAY. I REALLY WANTED TO KEEP THIS FILLY. like really bad. I have to give myself an Akila sibling at some point, clearly, because I lust after all her relatives I make up for auction. All that aside you did an AMAZING job. The art is exceptional. The filly looks just like I imagined her, fierce and lean. The story, as usual, is exceptional. There was no question once I read it that this filly belongs with you.
15/15 Art
5/5 Stable Journal
30/30 Story
50/49
Hip #18
*WINNER*
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Um your art for him is literally perfect. He's big, he's gorgeous, he's got the roman nose. Just 10/10 perfection. As I said in the bid for the filly I would have liked to see a little more story and the factual inconsistency knocked a few points off, BUT your art is amazing and the story is there.
15/15 Art
5/5 Stable
25/30
45/44
Note for myself: Story Bid Entry for kela-art
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