(What would have been) My Blizzard Student Art Contest Entry
polycounter lvl 8
I've been pounding away at this environment all break (Which really started January 3rd in my case). Had some tech issues with submitting but I got it straightened out 
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The trees remind me more of NIght Elves, so serene, grace, sorrow, somber, while the pumpkin is exuding this almost Bayou Horror or Scary vibe. Color and theme wise, the weeping willows (I think it's more of a color issue) are not jiving with the pumpkin.
DANGNABIT! They really have to specify timestamps with these contests. There's some people out there who need to know sometimes.
Deconstruction stuff coming soon.
Bummer about the contest.
"Hi Elliot. My name is Eric Browning, Im the lead artist on the prop team. I wanted to give you some feedback on your piece, hopefully you find it useful.
Before anything else, spend time on the idea itself - play with it, experiment with it, and let your ideas run wild. Then draw it. Drawings are cheap; once you move into 3D you will have less freedom. Remember that whatever you commit to building you will be spending a lot of time with, so its worth getting an idea that you are really excited about. Its not that you cant make changes later (of course you can), its just that the further into the process you get, the messier changes become.
In your scene you have a pumpkin, and someone lives in it. Think about who lives there and where did they get that huge pumpkin? Right away Im thinking you should tie pumpkins into the scene. Add tools, objects, and clutter to show that a life is being lived and that there is some kind of story. Depending on the project, it may not matter what the story is, nobody will hear it, but I guarantee the thought you put into it will show in the art.
From a Warcraft standpoint, bulk everything up. Making everything thick and chunky comes partly from the RTS background of the game and partly because it reads better when you consider the field of view. Youll notice in most games objects tend to recede quickly, so to compensate for that we exaggerate everything. Of course that means things often get too big when you get close to them, oh well.
Your textures show promise- the same rules apply. Bulky shapes, clearly defined, and dimensional. Generally you make about 25% of the detail that you want and make it big. So instead of 20 planks for a floor texture, you might only make three, and take up the whole texture with them.
Keep it up and make time to build stuff you think is awesome, the stuff that makes you glad youre an artist.
Good luck!"
-Eric Browning (Lead Prop Artist, World of Warcraft)
Edit: I also just read the feedback, really nice critique/advice, its cool he took the time to do that props to both of you.
edit: re-read it. Its seems you got a nice paint over from him.