SO HERE BE THY WINRARS. You guys gave me so many amazing things to choose from ghsgj these were so hard to judge.
1. ~nequita with !
I loved the touches of red here. I would imagine him lurking around at night, then leaping and all you see is that little bit of red! He looks very sneaky and I love it. The darker colors make him perfect for this theme!
2. !aeimadaieus with :thumb261469537:
Oh man... The red/black/purple flows so well here. And I love the markings, especially the back of the ears. I think it was a bit too light to fit the theme best though! Either way, this design is great and I love it. <3
3. =Vosska with [link] (imageshack link gfdfg)
I love the colors and I love how the markings flow. The use of red here is faaaantastic and I lovelove the weapon! It just didn't seem "dark" enough, and I wasn't a huge fan of the back marking. Either way though, this one is GORGEOUS.
I'll need the winners to note my NEW ACCOUNT(*nil) with the character they want drawn for their art prize!

Yeah ps new account *nil *nil *nil *nil *nil

thank you to EVERYONE who entered. Everyone did BEAUTIFULLY. I never imagined this would be so successful! Thank you so much guys! ;O; <333

---

So, I decided to have that design contest I was talking about. I have a good idea of what I'm looking for, but I haven't decided how I want to execute it... so that's your job!

So, the prizes?
First place gets a 3 month premium membership to dA and an icon from me!
--And, if enough people join, one o' these:
Second place gets a one month membership and an icon from me!
Third place gets an icon from me!
...Everyone gets a llama for entering if I haven't given you one yet!

Since the prizes might not help some of you, I could send you the money I'd have otherwise used to get you the premium membership. If you have no way to get it(ie, Paypal), I can draw for you.


What do I gotta do to win?!
- Colors. I really like greys, creams, browns, and darkish purple-brown colors. I also LOVE red, but if you add red, I only want there to be a little bit. Red is a powerful color, so too much can be overwhelming. Explore with the red, too - try darker reds, grey-reds, anything! Bright red can get looking kind of crazy. Greys should have a brownish tint to them. Feel free to use any kind of value with these - light, dark, somewhere between... whatever you think looks good! Little spots of more "outlandish" colors are okay, but I don't want a bright-colored sparkledog here. I love neutral colors!
- Design. I like stripes and spots when they're done right~! Dorsal stripes are nice too(a stripe going down the back). I really like dipped toes, too. To preserve an element of naturality, the design should be darkest up top(back, ears) and lighest on the bottom(paws, tummy). That isn't strict, but it's a good format to follow. That means that even if you make the back the darkest, you can still put a light color on the back too(ie, a grey-black back and cream spots on the shoulders). I don't really like "sharp" markings (ie, markings with specific/definite edges, like a star), so I prefer markings that LOOK like they could occur normally. They don't have to be 100% natural markings(for example, you COULD make a star "flow" with the fur), but again, they should look like they MIGHT be able to happen.
- Anatomy. This particular character should be lithe and nimble, with a bit of muscle. I like sleek and slender looks as well as somewhat large ears, but don't make the ears giant! Longer fur is good around the neck and tail.
- Concept. This character will be some kind of fighter(but scars aren't necessary). It'd be really cool if it had some kind of weapon, especially one of  these. If you choose that weapon, I'd like the blade part to be pretty cool-looking and stylized, because the one shown is a little bland, I think. It shouldn't be a very smiley character, but it shouldn't be all rough-looking either. It should look very calm, actually! Think along the lines of "ninja" without being overly stereotypical. Bandages on his hind legs would look pretty cool with this ;D
- Etc... A male is preferred! I'm looking for a canine. I'm partial to foxes, but dog breeds are really cool too. I'm particularly fond of spitz breeds, although I'm not looking for anything overly fluffy. I really like Norwegian Elkhounds and Shiba Inus, too!

Other stuff/rules
- If you don't win, you may keep your character. If I want yours even though you didn't win, I will work something out with you if you'd like c:
- You may use free lines, and you may make your own!
- Please don't use one of those flash games to design this!
- In addition, please don't copy other contestant's ideas.
- You may enter as many times as you'd like c: However, you can only place once.

About the Lineart...
- As I said, you may use free lines. You will find lines that I'm particularly fond of right here: [link]
- It'll be way cool if you make your own lines, too, especially if they depict his personality well c:
- I made some lines too, and I might make more! Those are here: [link]

End date?
-  November 15th.

Entries:
~xAssembledSilence [link]
*star-chords [link]
!sandwichdragon [link]
=flecked [link]
~nequita [link]
=DatRainbowDawg [link] // [link]
~Onyx-Dinosoar [link]
!aeimadaieus [link]
!HellPilot [link] // [link]
~ArcticTabby [link]
~Vulpixie95 [link]
~Abluefireinside [link]
*COFFINKAT [link] // [link]
*Fettergeist [link]
*PointAdoptsforyou [link]
=spartan [link]
~fluchen [link]
~guillotine-chan [link]
~silbuur [link]
~RedStereoVirus [link]
!Hooh54 [link]
!Rheas [link]
*kit [link]
=Vosska [link] // [link] // [link] // [link]
~DigiHinata [link]
~XxBrokenStarxX239 [link]
~Prizzly [link]
~StormShocked [link]
~ParsliAdoptsforpoint [link]
*vsegda [link]
!Cuan-Lupa [link]
~aavox [link]
!Erratic-Wolf [link]
~glitterbones [link]
~RedSmudge [link]
~Wolferoinen [link]
!TheShyWolf [link]
=AmetAlias [link]
*Molify [link]
*KING--K9 [link]
~PixelatedKiller [link]
~KiamoandCandy [link]
!Destiny-Sky [link]
*Mustamamba [link]
!doglate [link] // [link]
~KasaiofBurningFlames [link]
~Paxx97 [link]
~WolfHowl10 [link]
~Kejeli [link]?
~stellified [link]
~shadefeather413 [link]
*Serphire [link]
*Malisu [link]
~mirjana [link]
~Ghosted-Amber [link]
~Kitsuneq [link] // [link]



Post your entries here, as well as any questions you might have!

Edit: Found an exact image of the weapon I favor.. the one before was the closest I could find, but I found its real name just now.. so I got you guys a better image