Alias's expose yourself contest.(Portfolio)

When artists started dropping their pencils and paintbrushes in favor of digital tools, they opened themselves up to a new range of capabilities, which in turn, led to new artistic possibilities. But there was one caveat: They had to forsake the intuitive creation methodology they had honed over the years using their basic, analog tools. Then, with the release of tablet-based PCs and software, artists were finally free to enjoy the benefits of both the digital and traditional worlds.

Recently, Alias Systems recognized the creative works of tablet-using artists with its Expose Yourself contest, also sponsored by Microsoft, Acer, Wacom, PC Mail, and Intel. For three months, artists, illustrators, and designers using Alias's SketchBook Pro sketching tool for Microsoft and Wacom tablets submitted entries for the design or illustration categories. The digital works were then posted on-line and judged by comic book artist Dale Keown and Gray Holland, founder of the industrial design firm Alchemy Labs, both of whom based their decisions on the art's originality and the use of color, layers, brushes, and backgrounds.

"The winning entries had a natural feel, displaying an impressive sense of weight, dimension, and atmosphere," says Keown, who judged the illustration category. "It would be difficult to distinguish them from works created with traditional tools, such as markers and pencils."

Steve Marie, Alias marketing manager, concurs. "SketchBook Pro was developed to mirror the appearance of traditional artists' tools. The winning entries showcase this feature by rivaling the results of pencils and paintbrushes on paper."

A selection of the winning images is featured on these two pages. All the ...