10 Dec 2019
Winter is Here!
by Ephemeral

Winter is Here!

by Ephemeral

It's time to get festive! The end of the year is almost here and with it, twenty new wintery backgrounds to welcome it in, plus a brand new Christmas carol inspired track from the original osu!musician himself, nekodex!

Whether it's cold or hot (or on fire if you're Australian) where you are, the festive season is the perfect way to tie off the year with a bit of wintery charm.

Our beloved community artists missed the memo on the 'little bit' part of all this and just went absolutely ham in their pieces, producing an incredible array of entries that we all spent ages agonizing over.

To refresh everyone on the particulars, the top three finalists out of the twenty listed below will receive a super shiny profile badge to pin on their profile forever more, and what could possibly be shinier than the work they've managed to win with? The top three will also receive 4, 3 and 2 months of osu!supporter respectively, with all other finalists nabbing 2 months to tide them over into 2020 as well.

But before we get started digging into the entries, nekodex has been hard at work over the past few weeks creating a neat little twist on an osu!-infused Christmas carol, aptly titled as carol of the circles. This'll be making its way to the main menu along with the winning entries, but in case you just can't wait, check it out:

Now, onwards to the finalists:

Click the teaser banner for each entry to be taken to a full-size, high quality version, or download all of the 20 finalist entries from this link.

Set in a snowlit shot of Mocha sitting in the park with her new-found festive presents, 157's fantastic piece scored 3405 votes to claim victory in the voting overall.

Beyond being just overall enchanting and adorable to boot, look at that fancy scarf she's rocking. Merch ideas, anyone?

The winter chill could not dissuade 2914 voters from declaring their approval of Xeno Senpai's take on a snowy vista overlook with pippi at their side.

This entry wins extra imaginary points for being both the coldest and most warm rendition of winter we've seen in one of these contests yet. Brr. Positively frigid.

Fan favorite TofuMang is at it again with his take of a demurely winter-attired pippi and Mocha enjoying the setting sun in a boreal forest, nabbing 2894 votes.

On another note, Don earmuffs. How has nobody made these yet?

Choosing gifts during the winter season can be hard, but 2716 voters chose to grant their vote to Laridae's piece featuring pippi and Mocha ogling the latest festive don from behind a shopfront window, all for the low, low price of $999.

That's a steal for sure, but the true present here is Mocha with osu! pom-pom earmuffs and long sweater sleeves.

Aiko and pippi take centre stage in KrisyYy's entry, scoring 2589 votes. Farmers and five-digits everywhere sympathized with the hearts in Aiko's eyes as she opens her festive gift bearing forth the most precious gift of all: pp.

I wonder what a festive version of Harumachi Clover sounds like. Hmm.

Turning heads and taking votes, AnimeAttics's depiction of pippi and Mocha in a winter wonderland scored 2235 nods of approval.

Mocha's all like, "let's decorate the tree!", whilst pippi is gently insinuating that the real star here is you.

Rolling through the snowdrifts, Andrew12312's take on pippi building a snowman gathered up 2145 votes to get ahead of the pack.

Get it? Because she's making a snowman head? If only I could make jokes as well as pippi makes snowmen...

Evaine returns to the fanart contest fore with their enchanting take on an eerily beautiful digital pippi sprawled among the boughs of a snowclad tree.

Always a pleasure to see the continued evolution in the artstyles of our previous fan artists. I mean, look at this stuff. Wow.

Chirou contemplates what hands are for the 1881th time in Saaki Haruno's piece featuring aforementioned community mascot, plus Mocha and pippi, the latter of whom appears to be enjoying some me time in the snow. Classy.

1741 voters adored ln_094's take on a whole new meaning of starry, sporting a most cute winter-dressed pippi enjoying the scenery of a nearly astral field of white petals and stars.

This one really opens up the longer you look at it. Spectacular skies, outfit and setting to boot. Beautiful stuff!

1629 voters were knocked aside by Arind's take on Mocha and pippi sprinting away from a sled sporting a variety of mascots drawing near.

Hecatia's take on a beautifully stylized pippi enjoying some winter boba in the comfort of a cafe warmed up the hearts of 1569 voters, and for good reason.

So pleasantly textured and with detail literally everywhere, from pippi's hair to the eaves of the window, the snow fluttering outside, the grain of the table and more. One might think this was hand painted if they weren't looking at it through a web browser!

1481 little voter-orbs lit up in the strand of festive lights twined about honeymoon_3's rendition of Mocha and pippi enjoying the wintery cityscape in floral Japanese traditional attire.

Almost makes you wonder what flowers would go with each mascot.

1373 voters approved of nathandsjrdns street-savvy pippi walking up a snowy street in a particularly strikingly striped outfit, with Yuzu and the others waiting up ahead, and a snowman off in the alley beside

In a complete tie, 1373 voters also approved of halice's take on Aiko and pippi levitating above a winter cityscape, complete with gifts and adorable festive outfits.


But wait, that's not all! Instead of the typical fifteen entries we've used for the past slew of fan art contests, we've decided to fold in five more this year, with all the prizes and accolade to boot! Woohoo!

Check them out:

1367 voters could not say no to the majesty that is kuroshi-n's take on a very bishi Yuzu. Too handsome! He even has a tie. A TIE!

keuma's rendition of a very toasty Mocha and a very sleepy Maria before a roaring fireplace warmed the hearts of 1261 voters.

I didn't know that I needed a Mocha with an oversized beanie in my life, but now, I am glad that I do.

1233 voters uncontrollably screamed PADORU at their monitors the moment they saw BotBear1000's entry, complete with similarly adorable santa-Mocha and her assistant don flying throughout the night sky.

1229 voters donned their Chad buckets and cast their vote for ikaNyai's meme-infused masterpiece. Someone take the phone away from Mocha, ikaNyai is clearly a bad influence.

1187 snowflakes settled on SanatSever's gorgeously stylized rendition of Mocha and pippi making snowmen in the park. Simply stunning.


Check out the rest of the entries and their scores over at the Winter 2019 Fanart contest listing!


And with that, we're settling down into a bit of a slower pace for the rest of the year.

Just kidding! We've got a brand new Featured Artist coming tomorrow and every week thereafter, and we'll even be starting off 2020 with another new artist on the very day it dawns.

Beyond that, we've got a bit of overdue gratitude on the horizon in the form of some much-needed acknowledgement for the people who really make osu! tick, among other things.

From all of us here at the osu! team, we wish you a most excellent festive season, and we'll catch you soon at the end of the year!

And thank you again to all the amazing artists who entered, you're the reason these contests keep happening and being as great as they've become!

—Ephemeral

Comments171

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cool

Nice :)

cute

I think we all can agree to disable comments because the way I see it, the voting system is kinda biased toward people who say "My favorite is on time stamp X". This led to people reading the comment to skipping or straight up ignoring the other artwork. Heck just look at #22, I'm not trying to be offensive but is that a fanart worthy of 1k votes? I'm sorry but that 1 vote-point could be used on other. (Also, said artwork gained that much votes just because a random person posted a comment about voting it as a joke.)

i have a problem
whenever iam offline the background dosent appear
BTW the background looks good
can somebody can tell me the rason why it is hapenning
iam a new player so i still dont know about the game properly

0ugi Lewis th

you have to be online to see the backgrounds

Ratchet0203 Lewis thdeleted
Lewis th Ratchet0203

Thanks for replying

wow 20 background this time :O

#33 is my favourite :c

wa_kaba Pairoxd

thank you!

#54, #44 and #34 were really good, wished they could have gotten through.

pencil dog

congrats to the winners

None of my two favourites (moyanoob and elsiandusk) made it :(

HOLOSYNTH Mindaleth

i'm glad to hear you liked mine! i like to think of it more as a challenge to improve. there's potential in all of us, and we just gotta figure out the right way to express it. i'll be working on that for sure! :>

Congratulations to the winners, again very beautiful drawings for this contest ! ^^
I thought I would improve since my first participations, but given the ranking, obviousli, this is not the case.
I have seen that some give advice on how to draw better in the comments, if somebody have kindness and have time to waste for to make a constructive criticism of my entry (this the #137 in ranking), I will be delighted.
It is often said that we learn more from our failures than from our successes, I hope that this failure will teach me a lot.

Melrose Karydza

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/520355763 decided to address this during a stream, I hope you don't mind listening to a doofus mumbling about art fundamentals for 50 minutes. edit: that isn't to say I found 50 mins worth of criticism, I'm just really bad at staying on topic.

Karydza Melrose

I did not expect this! I was thinking of a paragraph in the comments when I was talking about criticism. I'm affected by this attention from you, but I had much difficulty understanding you, I can understand a little english in writing, but not oral. I think I managed to understand the main points of what you wanted to tell me with help. (Thanks K_E_I_S_S)

On the other hand, I see that I did not speak well, when I spoke of a failure I did not speak of my place in the ranking of the contest, but for expemple, the difference between my entry for this winters and this halloween (https://assets.ppy.sh/contests/81/entries/Cool%20Oriole.jpg) . I have the bad impression of having regressed. but I can't help loving my drawing.

Thank you so much for everything you did for me, but it's already too much, I can not ask more you. It will take me time to consider all that.

hello!
i think the background and the setting looks very nice (the way you arranged the characters with the BG). you just have to improve your skill, but i also have some suggestions.

First, there is quite a lot of white in your piece. it does make sense considering that it's winter, but there could be more contrast between your characters, the boat, and the background. the tree on the right should be a little greener, which would help with the contrast. you also want to keep in mind that there is already a lot of white on the osu! cookie, and maybe consider how you can make it fit with your piece (entry #1 has it contrast with their piece, entry #2 "blends" it in with the white). but i am aware that it isn't provided in the template.

Second, regarding the background, it's a little hard to clearly tell what it is. on the right, i can see a very faint path but if you are a voter who is skimming through the art, you would not notice it. i think the left side has some plants, which makes the lake look very narrow (maybe move it back a bit). though, the trees at the top of the art seem fine to me.

Third, the boat/the water. you could've made it "BanchoBoat" :p
on a more serious note, the boat and its colors are fine. the water could be colored a bit better (what color are the lakes in winter? using a photo reference is very useful). again, this will also help with the contrast.

Finally, the characters. I think the colors are fine, and Pippi and Mocha look nice (my favorite part would be the clothes, and pippi's sweater is really cute). the one thing i think you can improve the quickest would be how you shade/color the hair. i suggest using slightly warmer colors, and the shading should vary a bit more (more darker colors). avoid using pure white for softer highlights; if you have to use "white" then make it pinkish, yellowish, etc. i would also try putting in "hard" highlights, like the ones in #2 or #5.
i ask this out of curiosity; what is pippi eating?

i hope this helps in some way! good luck on your next entry :)

Ratchet0203 Karydzadeleted
Karydza Ratchet0203

Thank you for your answers, it makes me very happy !

I wanted to represent the characteristic fog of the canals in winter, but that made the drawing too much white, I should have to represent more the scene the evening / night to better contrast with the snow and to play with the lights of the boat.
I will try to apply your valuable tips in my next drawings.

Pippi eats glazed chestnuts (I'm not sure of the translation), but they do not look well represented. ^^ '

I thank you again for your advice, Aquamarine1244 and Ratchet0203.

lmao you repeaters

i see someone had sneaked in padoru ┬┴┬┴┤( ͡° ͜ʖ├┬┴┬┴

i love it

And it even has a download link. Awesome!!!

Winter is pretty

blackash WinterIsPretty

You’re pretty :D

Beatiful

:)

:)

:)

:)

Wow!!!!

yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssss

WAAAAA I was waiting ages for this!!!

As a person being on #36, I found this to be really funny when look into that

Akum4tion -[Jess]-

You did fuckin' awesome.

Coming 21st the one time they increase the winning selection to 20 entries feelsbadman, regardless, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone.

Akum4tion Melrose

Only missed it by a scratch though, there's always next time!

ANON19 Melrose

hey at least you got 21'st considering I got 87, and there are still next time.

Sinedd Melrose

i really liked your entry, too bad :(

Congrats

Hahahah welp. Congrats for the winner & thanks for the votes.

darn, those are some really good arts. congratulations to all of you good lads, whether you won or not. this community for sure has a lot of artists with a huge potential.
if you want to improve, i really suggest you to take notes from winning entries, because, when you complain about your art not being very high, there MUST be a reason for it. even if YOU think it's good, some people might not find it appealing, as simple as that.
also, no point in complaining about "meme entries". they literally almost never get to win. even if they do, there must be something special about them. and you can just ignore them anyway. this time, #22 was dangerously close to tops, but really, it's just that hilarious.
also, can't disagree with description of #4, Mocha really looks adorable <3 i'll put it as my desktop wallpaper for Christmas if you don't mind

Laridae zxshima

AHHHHH thank u luv u ;w;

Congrats to everyone and thank you for the support!!

UwU congrats..

Really sad Melrose's entry didn't place in the top 20, it was absolutely stunning

reptierdeleted
Ratchet0203 reptierdeleted

i would be happy if there is 15 votes

nice!!!!

performed about the same or maybe a bit better than i did last time - 55th isn't too bad! just means i gotta push myself even harder to improve and get higher up there. thanks to everyone that tossed a vote my way, it means a lot to me. and congrats to all of the winners!

Boedi HOLOSYNTH

Let's go! I hope to see you again on the next contest.

HOLOSYNTH Boedi

thanks, you too!

Mops12deleted

I spent over 2 hours on mine :( It's not my fault people voted for it ;-;

kikoni_ Mops12

I always find it funny when the people who are complaining are always the same people with the least votes

Laridae Mops12

I wish green pepper eye pippi or stick figure one got in top20 lmao why is the artist community always so serious

Boedi Laridae

I guess they hate knowing their art gets less approval than low effort memes. After all there is a prize at stake.

Ratchet0203 Mops12deleted
risuuna Ratchet0203

Removing the names from the artworks isn't going to influence the voting, it's purpose is to give publicity to the artist by directing people Towards the artist's social media, not the other way around. If someone already has a big fanbase, and they post their picture on twitter for example, then whoever saw that post is more likely to go and vote for them.

Congrats to everyone who won!!! For me I’m going to stop drawing osu seasonal fan arts for a while and instead focus on a Pippi fan art book.

Akum4tion Hecatia

Will it be a solo art book? Or would you be considering collaborators?
I'd like to know more!

God I LOVE THE NEW SEASONAL SONG! It's so good!

nekodex Nyx_

thanks <3

does anyone know how to switch the background back? no offense to the artists, i'd just rather no theme at all.

Ratchet0203 1umiideleted
1umii Ratchet0203

thank you!

Ah, I'm bummed that my art didn't make it to top 15, but regardless, congratulations to the winners :) I also want to thank those who voted for my artwork, it's much appreciated.

Why can't I turn this off...

Mun Storm_AT

You can.

Ratchet0203 Ratchet0203deleted
MBomb Ratchet0203

Since my paragraph about popularity bias has become a massive meme and nobody takes it seriously anymore, I think I should rephrase it a little now that I've thought more deeply and there could be some people who think I'm a joke for what I put. Just because TofuMang is going to rank higher due to their popularity, that doesn't mean they're a bad artist. I only have a problem with it once the popular person in question abuses their popularity to make something bad and still benefit from how many people respect them, which TofuMang is not doing. For example, I can guarantee you that if a top tier player everyone knows like Fieryrage said something controversial like this, a lot fewer people would give him shit for it, and the ones who did would be getting shit themselves. Popularity bias is a real thing, and when it's in effect, there's always gonna be somebody out there who votes for you just because they like you and nothing else. TofuMang winning two art contests in a row surfaced this in my head, and I thought it was an interesting topic. I don't intend to deface TofuMang in any way by what I said, and while popularity bias definitely exists, it's very hard to exploit with malicious intent, so I don't have a problem with it. I congratulate TofuMang once again for third place. It may not be first, but it's close.

RiP46 Ratchet0203

Since my paragraph about popularity bias has become a massive meme and nobody takes it seriously anymore, I think I should rephrase it a little now that I've thought more deeply and there could be some people who think I'm a joke for what I put. Just because TofuMang is going to rank higher due to their popularity, that doesn't mean they're a bad artist. I only have a problem with it once the popular person in question abuses their popularity to make something bad and still benefit from how many people respect them, which TofuMang is not doing. For example, I can guarantee you that if a top tier player everyone knows like Fieryrage said something controversial like this, a lot fewer people would give him shit for it, and the ones who did would be getting shit themselves. Popularity bias is a real thing, and when it's in effect, there's always gonna be somebody out there who votes for you just because they like you and nothing else. TofuMang winning two art contests in a row surfaced this in my head, and I thought it was an interesting topic. I don't intend to deface TofuMang in any way by what I said, and while popularity bias definitely exists, it's very hard to exploit with malicious intent, so I don't have a problem with it. I congratulate TofuMang once again for third place. It may not be first, but it's close.

esta bien kawaiii muchas grasias :3

Congrats!! All the entries were so good it was hard to vote ///
(Thank you those who voted for mine ///)

/

Congrats!! All the entries were so good it was hard to vote ///
(Thank you those who voted for mine ///)