Voting booth for the Best of 2022 two days left to vote 0

[Brian Peck]

Each year the "Best Of" competition provides CAF Collector's the opportunity to highlight their 5 most important acquisitions from the prior year. After the submission period ends, CAF's community votes on the artworks that they feel are the most compelling from the eleven categories and once the voting period closes we tally the results to see which artworks are awarded the Best of 2022. Winners to be announced on our special 20th Anniversary Live Stream, Tuesday, February 7th at 9pm EST! Click Here to set a reminder!
 

HOW TO VOTE:

Voting is a TWO STEP PROCESS. First, browse the entire list of entries and for the artworks you think are most deserving of your vote, please check the SELECT box under each artwork. This first step will help you narrow your list of favorite artworks on the page, so you can select as many artworks as you like. When you are done, click the "UPDATE FAVORITES" button at the top or bottom of the list.

NEW FOR BEST OF 2022, you can click the thumbnail images from the voting page to see the larger image, and then tab through all the artworks displayed for that category without having leaving the page.

Now, all your favorite artworks in this Category are moved to the top of the list and are highlighted with a yellow background. You can refine the list if you like by selecting more artworks, or removing artworks by checking the REMOVE checkbox on already favorited artworks - but always click the "UPDATE FAVORITES" button to update your selections. You can now cast your vote by selecting no more than your 5 best artworks from those that you have selected by checking the VOTE checkbox under each artwork you want to cast a vote for, then click the "CAST MY VOTE!" button.

YOU CANNOT CHANGE YOUR VOTES AFTER THEY ARE CAST!

CLICK HERE TO START VOTING!
 

IMPORTANT DATES:
Voting starts Tuesday, January 17th
Voting end Monday, January 30th at 11:59 PM EST

The 11 Artwork Categories to Vote in Are:

Published/Unpublished Comic Book Covers
Published/Unpublished Comic Book Splashes, Title Pages
Published/Unpublished Interior Panel Pages
Published/Unpublished Double Page Splash or Spread
Published/Unpublished Comic Book Pin-Ups, Illustrations, Trading Cards 
Published/Unpublished Strip Art
Published/Unpublished Commissions/Recreations
Unpublished Sketch Covers/Convention Sketches
Published/Unpublished Media artwork (Music, TV, Movie)
Published/Unpublished Non-Comic Covers, Pin-ups, Illustrations, Gaming Art 
Published/Unpublished Other

Head on over to CAF and Rock the Vote!!!!

Message me with any questions.

Edited January 29, 2023 by Brian Peck

[The Voord]

I'll spread this one out on a day-by-day basis.

Rather than list all the individual details of what I'm voting for, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Basically, I'm (usually) voting for art that I would be proud to own.

. . . and I'm not going to clog-up my selections with honourable mentions . . . runners-up, and that sort of thing.  No offence to anyone who does, it's just not for me (and as the voting options don't cater for it, neither will I).

My Covers selection:

 

Edited January 17, 2023 by The Voord

[Andahaion]

I just can't get through them all.  As Doc Holiday once quipped, "I'm afraid the strain was more than he could bear."

[Brian Peck]

On 1/17/2023 at 1:15 PM, Andahaion said:

I just can't get through them all.  As Doc Holiday once quipped, "I'm afraid the strain was more than he could bear."

We give people two weeks so take it slow, one a day.

[PhilipB2k17]

On 1/17/2023 at 4:03 PM, The Voord said:

I'll spread this one out on a day-by-day basis.

Rather than list all the individual details of what I'm voting for, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Basically, I'm (usually) voting for art that I would be proud to own.

. . . and I'm not going to clog-up my selections with honourable mentions . . . runners-up, and that sort of thing.  No offence to anyone who does, it's just not for me (and as the voting options don't cater for it, neither will I).

My Covers selection:

 

I like all of them, but none made my final cut.

[The Voord]

Day two's selection . . . interior panel pages:

 

[The Voord]

Day three's selection . . . Splashes/Title pages:

 

[Phill the Governor]

On 1/17/2023 at 4:15 PM, Andahaion said:

I just can't get through them all.  As Doc Holiday once quipped, "I'm afraid the strain was more than he could bear."

Based on the above list that @The Voord was kind enough to share (I must admit) I too choose some of the above, which got me thinking....

 

Looking at previous years, would it be safe to say that most people that even enter in pieces don't vote because we all know (for the most part) which pieces will get the most votes? It's not really a surprise that winning pieces were almost definitely purchased for the most $$ relative to the other selections. Not to poo poo the process because it is what it is. Maybe if there were one thing to change about the process from a categorical standpoint, entries separated by (let's say) a $10,000 threshold would do wonders to separate art into two categories: the average collector (probably most) and the BSDs who have no problem dropping 10k and above on pieces.

Maybe we just have Olympians competing with high-schoolers, and everyone's like "yeah, we know the Olympians will crush them, why bother voting" and that's just the way it is.

Probably just overthinking. I do that a lot.

Edited January 20, 2023 by Phill the Governor

[Dirtcheap31]

Well if it makes anyone happy I literally did not vote for any of the images above not because their not great just because others caught my eye 

[Brian Peck]

On 1/19/2023 at 8:32 PM, Phill the Governor said:

Based on the above list that @The Voord was kind enough to share (I must admit) I too choose some of the above, which got me thinking....

 

Looking at previous years, would it be safe to say that most people that even enter in pieces don't vote because we all know (for the most part) which pieces will get the most votes? It's not really a surprise that winning pieces were almost definitely purchased for the most $$ relative to the other selections. Not to poo poo the process because it is what it is. Maybe if there were one thing to change about the process from a categorical standpoint, entries separated by (let's say) a $10,000 threshold would do wonders to separate art into two categories: the average collector (probably most) and the BSDs who have no problem dropping 10k and above on pieces.

It feels like, metaphorically, we have Olympians competing with high-schoolers, and everyone's like "yeah, we know the Olympians will crush them, why bother voting".

Price is a non-starter.How do we police by price. Can not be done. People will post a piece in the lower price category and some will complain it should be in the higher category. I know many of the collectors that have won categories in the past including me and I along with the other winners always vote. 
as I always say it’s about sharing and seeing the art many have missed when they were posted.

[Brian Peck]

I vote for artwork I would like in my collection. Many times it is not the high end artwork sometimes it’s the out of the mainstream.

Edited January 20, 2023 by Brian Peck

[The Voord]

On 1/20/2023 at 4:32 AM, Phill the Governor said:

Based on the above list that @The Voord was kind enough to share (I must admit) I too choose some of the above, which got me thinking....

 

Looking at previous years, would it be safe to say that most people that even enter in pieces don't vote because we all know (for the most part) which pieces will get the most votes? It's not really a surprise that winning pieces were almost definitely purchased for the most $$ relative to the other selections. Not to poo poo the process because it is what it is. Maybe if there were one thing to change about the process from a categorical standpoint, entries separated by (let's say) a $10,000 threshold would do wonders to separate art into two categories: the average collector (probably most) and the BSDs who have no problem dropping 10k and above on pieces.

Maybe we just have Olympians competing with high-schoolers, and everyone's like "yeah, we know the Olympians will crush them, why bother voting" and that's just the way it is.

Probably just overthinking. I do that a lot.

As I said in my first post . . . basically, I'm (usually) voting for art that I would be proud to own.  That will likely equate to a large percentage of big-ticket items, which is probably inevitable, as that's the  kind of stuff that floats my boat.  It's highly personal, the way I vote . . . not for everyone . . . , and I don't really need someone telling me that my choices are not their choices.  Why should they be?  

Sure, you can probably second guess who the likely winners are going to be . . . as per your Olympians vs High-schoolers analogy    I guess that if you're going to watch a sporting event, you want to be entertained and impressed by skills on the field, not by the clumsy antics of some of the also-rans.

. . . or, looked at another way, who d'ya think's gonna win this beauty contest from the five entrants pictured:

 

On the plus side, this yearly event can often bring to my attention a lot of art I'm either totally unfamiliar with, or have little knowledge about, that I end up liking as my interests are aroused.

I try not to take this event too seriously . . . and hopefully none of the participants get too traumatized when their entries fail to pick up any votes:

 

Edited January 20, 2023 by The Voord

[PhilipB2k17]

I look at it this way, if you did not enter a heavy hitter piece into the contest, and you still get high single or even into double digit votes, your piece is pretty special. 

[RBerman]

Many humans are inherently competitive. Years ago the computer in the break room at work had solitaire Mah Jongg on it. But since the game had a timer, solitaire inevitably became a competition. Metrics do that.

CAF is great. I love using it and looking at other people's art. I enjoy other people enjoying my art too. But because I'm competitive, I also think about how many views and likes and comments I get. When I post a new piece I really like, I can't help wondering whether it will get featured in the weekly CAF update on YouTube. (This has happened once.) But watching the CAF update the following week, I can't say that my piece was more deserving than the ones that were chosen.

That's how the awards are as well. There's so much great art out there that everybody needs to just take it in fun and not set any expectations of their art "winning." For me "winning" is just having my art featured next to some really cool pieces. (I'm going to keep reminding myself.) OK, if I get a few new likes and comments out of it, that's fun too.

One thing that ought to change next year though: It seems to me that a few artists are using the "Best of CAF" contest just to publicize their own art. That's not really what this is for, and if that became more common, it could really clog the process of reviewing submissions.

[Twanj]

So much art, and so many different tastes and eras.

I saw some things I'd missed during the year and left comments.

The only thing I can think to do would be to segment by decades.

It might help if artist and title were listed in each. Since some pages, mostly panels, are hard to gauge by the small preview. If I could see the artist, I'd know to deep dive. Or maybe something like Heritage, where when you hover over an image it gives you a larger preview?

[JC25427N]

On 1/20/2023 at 11:45 AM, Twanj said:

So much art, and so many different tastes and eras.

I saw some things I'd missed during the year and left comments.

The only thing I can think to do would be to segment by decades.

It might help if artist and title were listed in each. Since some pages, mostly panels, are hard to gauge by the small preview. If I could see the artist, I'd know to deep dive. Or maybe something like Heritage, where when you hover over an image it gives you a larger preview?

The artist and title are listed in the voting pages though, same as everywhere else. Also if you click the image, it does give you a larger preview

[Twanj]

On 1/20/2023 at 11:48 AM, JC25427N said:

The artist and title are listed in the voting pages though, same as everywhere else. Also if you click the image, it does give you a larger preview

I swear that wasn't there when I voted!

I did notice the preview if you clicked, but that was a bit slow with the huge number of entries.

[RBerman]

On 1/20/2023 at 10:55 AM, Twanj said:

I swear that wasn't there when I voted!

I did notice the preview if you clicked, but that was a bit slow with the huge number of entries.

You're not crazy. The artist names were not on the voting page when I looked yesterday, but they are today, which is good. Also if you clicked on the title of the art (as opposed to the art itself), you went to the gallery page for that piece, where you could read about it but not "like" or comment on it. You have to go to the owner's regular gallery to do that.

[J.Sid]

On 1/20/2023 at 8:45 AM, Twanj said:

 

The only thing I can think to do would be to segment by decades.

 

I like this idea, at least for the main categories (Cover, Splash, Panel Page)
 

Gold / Silver / Bronze / Copper / Modern? (too many?)

Pre-Image / Post-Image? (1992)

Pre-2000 / Post-2000?

[RBerman]

Two other modification possibilities:

 

1) There are separate categories for "Illustration" and "Other." I would think those could be combined since this is a contest for illustrations. As I look through the "other" category, most of the pieces look like they could reasonably have been put into a more specific category like "commission" or "illustration" or "cover" or "recreation. Speaking of which:

2) Specifically expand "recreation" to include "homage." Not all recreations are intended to be exact, like the "One Minute Later" series, or the "Calvin and Hobbes version of Silver Surfer #4."