Who the hell judged this? I don't know any of the people personally but who would pick the first one over the second one? Seems biased or something.

Thanks for the sentiment, I appreciate the support. However, as an AD, I'd probably make the same decision and go for Lofi Scholar because she is more readable than my illustration, and significant and obvious effort went into making it. And if I didn't go with that one, I'd probably go with Neyoshi's over mine. It's on me for missing the target audience (digital) and not being able to create a finish and presentation good enough. Nevertheless, the painting was a learning experience for me that I'll be preciously using in my future illustrations - gains have been made.

Runner-up rewards could've been as enticing as the last contests, but beggars can't be choosers.