A hugely appreciated prize sponsor for 2018 is Wacom, who have generously provided several exceptional prizes for the winners of the art challenges.

Want to know what our 2018 art winners think of their Wacom prizes? Let’s take a look at what they’ve received…

Wacom Intuos Pro

Our Search for a Star Character Art & Environment Art Winners each received a Medium Wacom Intuos Pro Creative Pen Tablet.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”Shannon Symonds, Search for a Star Character Art Winner ” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The tablet has made much of my workflow a lot easier. It’s not only a drawing tablet but also a touch-pad with many shortcut keys. The shortcuts change depending on the program I’m using too, which is super convenient.[/perfectpullquote]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD2o9wpx7CY

The Intuos Pro is built with high-quality materials such as black anodized aluminium and fibreglass composite resin. The result is a pen tablet that feels reassuringly strong but is only 8mm thick. The Intuos Pro is Wacom’s finest creative pen tablet to date. With built-in Bluetooth connectivity and a sleek design, it is easy to set-up and allowing artists to get straight to work.

An excellent prize for this year’s winners.

Joseph Bamber, Futureworks – Search for a Star Environment Art Winner

Shannon Symonds, Southampton Solent University – Search for a Star Character Art Winner

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”Joseph Bamber – Search for a Star Environment Art Winner” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The new Intuos Pro was a Godsend and the bump in quality was huge; it has made sculpting in ZBrush and texturing in Substance Painter all the more enjoyable.[/perfectpullquote]

Wacom Bamboo Slate

Our Sumo Digital Rising Star Character Art & Environment Art Winners each received a Large Wacom Bamboo Slate Smart Pad.

The Bamboo allows you to write your notes and ideas naturally with a pen on any paper. Then with the push of a button, it converts your handwriting into “living” digital files. The Wacom Inkspace app lets you organize, edit and share your notes and sketches iOS or Android Bluetooth^® enabled devices. With the Inkspace cloud service, you can even sync your notes in the cloud and access your work from anywhere at any time.

An amazing prize and the ultimate sketchpad for this year’s winners:

Jimmy Ghysens, Howest DAE – Sumo Digital Rising Star Environment Art Winner

Kial Oliver-Gibson, University of Huddersfield – Sumo Digital Rising Star Character Art Winner

Wacom Bamboo Tip

Our Search for a Star and Sumo Digital Rising Star Animation Winners, as well as our VFX Winner received a Wacom Bamboo Tip Stylus

Bamboo Tip is a fine-tip stylus for quickly noting ideas on iOS and Android devices. No need for pairing just power up and start writing. Its fine tip gives you fidelity when taking notes on the fly, making lists and drafting concepts. So you focus on your ideas, confident they are captured exactly as you want. It can even be optimised for device performance with the flick of a switch.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”Saif Munawar, Sumo Digital Rising Star Animation Winner” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]I’m starting to love the Wacom Bamboo stylus because of how useful it is. Whenever I have a lightbulb moment, I can easily whip out my stylus to easily and efficiently sketch out my ideas.[/perfectpullquote]

This sleek and durable precision stylus is one of the many prizes for this year’s winners:

Jacob Beckley, University of Huddersfield – Search For A Star VFX Winner

Adelaide Coldham, Hertfordshire University – Search for a Star Animation Winner

Saif Munawar, Bradford University – Sumo Digital Rising Star Animation Winner

So much of what we do Grads in Games would not be possible without the support of all our partners and sponsors, including Wacom.

Whether it’s lecturers and universities inviting us to speak to students, studios and industry professionals volunteering their time to be speakers, assessors, and judges, plus our partner studios making all this possible with their support and prizes for winners and finalists.

If you’d like to get involved for 2018/19 as a partner, patron or prize sponsor, we’d love to hear from you! Please contact sharan@gradsingames.com for full details of what we can achieve together.