The preliminary round was held from Wednesday, July 31st to Friday, August 30th and the finals round was held from Friday, October 18th to Sunday, October 20th through pixiv Zingaro for the P-1GRANDPRIX2013 Rookie Illustration Contest.

Now, onto the winners.

◆P-1GRANDPRIX Grand Prize Winner
Awarded 200,000 yen (About $2000 USD), a P-1 Trophy, and their work published.

『鬼の子の哀しき恋』
黒田 さん　(Yamagata Prefecture Representative)

◆First-Place Winner
Awarded 100,000 yen (About $1000 USD) and a Star Trophy.

『魔法遣イ食堂』
はしゃ さん　(Osaka Prefecture Representative)

◆Honorable Mention
Awarded 50,000 yen (About $500 USD) and a Star Trophy.

『秋爛漫』
popman3580 さん　(Hyogo Prefecture Representative)

◆Light Novel Illustrator Category Winner
Will have their work used on MF Bunko J’s new light novel publication.

『廃棄処分』
れこ太 さん

◆Light Novel Illustrator Category: Judge’s Choice　
Awarded a QUO Card worth 10,000 yen (About $100 USD).

『魔法使いの家』
ネヲ さん

And now, comments from the judges on which work caught their attention.

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Toshio Okada（Osaka University of Arts Instructor and GAINAX Co-founder）


Commenting on:

『壱拾八岬の漁師の街』
彩 さん　(Gunma Prefecture Representative)

I’m enjoying that this single illustration could carry such a great narrative.
It’s such a great setting that an actor or actress would immediately want to participate filming in such a place.
In the same feeling, this piece represents what fine art staff would want to produce amazing scenery or sets.
To hunt marine animals, having a battleship and railroad, etc really creates the scenario that reaches a person’s heart.

【General Comment】
I was worried up until the last minute on choosing this or the piece called “魔法遣イ食堂.”
Both images were so wonderful at portraying a fictional world that would make any viewer feel “I want to see this world!”

Of course, both images had believable worlds, but I felt this one was just a tinier step higher.
The polish of this illustration gives it a very complete feel. If a work doesn’t have a believable world, I can’t feel very interested.

This might be bad to say, but it’s to the level of if the illustration isn’t well-made, then it’s not very good.
I often see appealing characters every week.
I think what I want to see are worlds that persuade me into believing the depth and “realism” of the illustration.

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Kantoku（Illustrator）


Commenting on:

『廃棄処分』
れこ太 さん　(Light Novel Illustrator Category)

This is such an impressive piece. The classroom is often a mundane background but somehow in this illustration it feels like like a completely different place.
The representation of light is superb, the shading is also quite subtle, and representation of love was really skilled in showing a fleeting feeling.

【General Comment】
In my mind, I have what I’d call a “pixiv-style” image.
In this P-1, there were a lot of entries that fit that style. It was truly impressive.

Illustrations had atmospheres that had a balance of reality and fantasy, creating mysterious ambience that felt realistic.
To have the characters pop out of the background and give such an impression is really fascinating.
It was an honor for me to participate in this contest and the previous ones, thank you.

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Tatsuya Shishikura（Kodansha’s Editor-in-Chief of Afternoon Magazine）


Commenting on:

『鬼の子の哀しき恋』
黒田 さん　(Yamagata Prefecture Representative)

With the heat of the daytime, it feels like the humidity is a bit high but the shade looks quite cool. Under the shade stands an oni, or ogre. The positioning of the ogre and her expression feels so uneasy and even the viewer can feel it. This illustration really touches on all five senses.

【General Comment】
The more I look at it, the more harder it gets to decide on a single illustration as my choice due to the level and number of high quality entries.
There are a lot of illustrations relating to or inspired by folk stories and legends, so I thought about the original stories and judged entries accordingly. It would be really great if someone took the illustrations and created comics out of them. That would be beautiful.

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Akemi Takada（Character Designer）


Commenting on:

『終わってしまったから』
たいそす さん　(Aichi Prefecture Representative)

Looking at this illustration really wells up something in my heart, making me want to hug her.
It’s like a heroine who put up with her feelings and obediently went into the illustration.
The pale and gentle colors are really lovely.

【General Comment】
The numerous entrants this time had a firm grip on what their worlds looked like.
Fantasy and science-fiction related ideas aren’t really all that special anymore, so there were a lot of great representations of things close to the creator and such ordinary ideas were great.
I can really feel the adoration the creator feels with their worlds through the details.

To express something you want to visualize, it takes more than just color and impressions. I really feel the artists work and experiment with digital mediums, through trial and error, etc.

I seriously think art has changed since physical mediums.

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Masafumi Nishida（Scriptwriter, Producer, Novelist）


Commenting on:

『鳥は自分の進むべき道を知っている』
とろっち さん　(Okinawa Prefecture Representative)

I just love the tint, composition, and realism of the fictional world portrayed in this illustration. Even in my own work, I often try to illustrate pictures similar to this as a last scene to my stories.
These four girls look like they had lots of great adventures up until this illustration and will continue to have more fun experiences after it.

【General Comments】
Great work everyone! Every single work had their own peculiar, characteristic worlds that allowed the viewer to be pleasantly immersed. Well, because of that, it was difficult for me to choose…
Eventually, I chose one that touched me most as a screenwriter and matched to the theme of folk stories and legends. It had to be one that seemed to match most with me and have a creator that seemed to get along with me.

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Itaru Hinoue （Illustrator）


Commenting on:

『いた』
塗壁 さん　(Fukuoka Prefecture Representative)

This illustration made me think of a child that would think “It’d be cool if there were dragons…” and tried to realize one by illustrating various dragons.
The child and dragon’s expression, the texture of the scales, the way the color was used… shows the artist’s high level of skill. This really is an impressive piece.

【General Comments】
To ask me which illustration was more wonderful is way too difficult to say which one was better. It happened too many times when comparing illustrations. It’s very important for me to see the depth of an illustration and feel the narrative.
When an illustration firmly tells its narrative and the characters are lively, the world’s viability to become real shows.

Beautiful illustrations are only to be admired. Thanks for allowing me to see such an event.

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Fuyuno Haruaki（Illustrator）


Commenting on:

『mothER』
thinnesta さん　(Kanagawa Prefecture Representative)

The illustration is skillfully made so I won’t talk about technique. It’s amazing how the illustration portrays something that feels like a subtraction. This illustration gives off a feeling that color is there without using color by manipulating the light source. A really good illustration.

【General Comments】
Being able to view all tons of illustrations online makes living in this era a wonderful time and seeing this amount of illustrations is really helpful
The techniques by these artists are so alluring that it’ll dangerously pull you in.
I’m really glad that I was able to see all of these illustrations with individuality.

If you can’t show individuality, it would be best to discover what is personally you and hone your own style.
Even your own style may vary from time to time and it’s something you must deal with.

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Usamaru Furuya（Manga/Comic Artist）


Commenting on:

『いた』
塗壁 さん　(Fukuoka Prefecture Representative)

It goes without saying that the lineart/detail in this piece is wonderful, but more than that, the narration of new story starting is really thrilling.
I looked at the artist’s other work and I’m really looking forward to the amazing future fictional words this person will create.

【General Comments】
To be honest, I don’t think I have a single illustration that is well-made.
I draw comics which tell a story through many pages but I’d like to think of an illustration that could tell the entire story with a single picture.
Everyone had really high-quality artistic skill. I wonder story each of those illustrations have?
I wonder if an illustration like this was a cover for a comic, what kind of interesting stories would sprout up? By thinking like that, I was able to choose the illustration that most caught my eye.
Well, more than mastering art formality, I think it’s best to figure out what stories you’d like to tell and polish them.

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Takafumi Horie（Founder of SNS Inc.）


Commenting on:

『折り神様』
銀行 さん　(Gunma Prefecture Representative)

This is an excellent Japanese style, Taisho era-looking romanticist illustration. The colors are so vivid, almost like stained glass.
It’s really a good feeling to see how the girl is incorporated into this illustration.

【General Comments】
Pretty much all the illustrations I saw were of various genres and themes so I think that makes pixiv a very interesting community. I’m really glad that this time there was such a diversity, which made judging fun.

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Taiji Masaka（Media Factory Inc MF Bunko J Editor-in-Chief）


Commenting on:

『廃棄処分』
れこ太 さん　(Light Novel Illustrator Category)

The light beautifully surrounds the illustration. The way the light touches their school uniforms, hair, and the tint is just displayed perfectly this wonderful illustration.
To see the girl laying in another’s lap and seeing the detail of the scissors along with the string attached to her finger really stirs up the imagination.

【General Comments】
It’s really fascinating that all the finalists each had their own individual style.
Even though I chose this artist as a winner, I was really struggling on who to pick up until the last minute.
I was so pressed to pick a winner and couldn’t let go of one, so I selfishly created a Judge’s Choice award for the Light Novel Illustrator category.

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Congratulations to the winners of the P-1GRANDPRIX2013!
We’re looking forward to seeing your new work as professionals!
Thank so much to everyone who participated in this year’s P-1GRANDPRIX2013!

We want to hold more contests like the P-1GRANDPRIX2013 where we can help rookie artists find various ways to communicate their work to the public.
See you next year’s at P-1GRANDPRIX2014!

◆Contest Outline (Japanese)
◆P-1GRANDPRIX2013 Special Page