So, basically, I found some time to update this DA, so I decided to update it to the most recent challenge, which is Chalelnge 5. Here are my thoughts on the challenges:

Challenge 3: Let's hope the EoFF Post gets more readers after this
Objective: Draw a banner for the EoFF Post, EoFF's e-newspaper.

Top 3:

ValkyrieWing, who won this challenge and got her banner featured in the magazine, had very meticulous details and the idea of using Cloud and Tifa as news reporters was refreshing and thoughtful, considering they're two of the most popular FF characters. I definitely thought it stood out as the clear winner because it was well-drawn and fit in with the newspaper really well. Too bad they've already taken it down for another one o_o
Nominus Experse got second place for this one, but I sort of think he deserved it, mostly just because it wasn't exactly what they were looking for. It didn't fit in with the newspaper, in terms of color, because his was very dark and the website itself is all white. His Bahamut looked great, but maybe if he had used red for it and made the banner white he could've won, but one never knows.
Zeldy got third place in this challenge, which was the highest she ever got so far in the competition, and she thought it looked bad and hoped to be eliminated with that entry, but ironically it went really well with the judges. I liked the overall look of it and how she did this sort of motion thing where she went left to right in drawing Tifa's figure to indicate movement. It definitely deserved to be in the top 3 because it really did look like she took time on it. The position of Tifa is also a nice touch because it seems to center the banner.

Bottom 3:
lovehurts's was just too "noisy" for me and it seemed like too much was going on in the banner. The colors were just too out there and there was this sort of randomness about it because the characters were mismatched along with the characters, and then there's this random sword next to the "EoFF Post" logo, which didn't make sense either. The entry didn't seem balanced and looked very sloppy, in my opinion.
Mum's (which I did not post because it was a PDF file) was just the "EoFF Post" logo (in WordArt) with this hand that's writing with a quill pen. It was the only piece that wasn't FF-related (She doesn't play it, I believe) but it didn't fit the paper at all. It just looked too professional and the overall tone of the newspaper is sort of laid back. It seemed sort of random, but with Mum, I can sort of understand, because she's not really an avid poster at the forum and isn't really familiar to all of the features it has.
Zeromus_X, again, did something that was not to my liking because it just looked unfinished to me. It sort of looked like it was done very hastily, and if he had done it with some sort of computer program, it probably would've done very well.

Challenge 4: Finally, a clothes challenge/ Simply the best
Objective: Each artist had to team up, and one was to create a pattern through MS Paint, and the other was to draw a garment based on this pattern

My top 3:
41-inches-wide won this (by 0.1 points, though !) and it was a very small gap between first and second place. Her outfit looked a bit gutsy because it used very strong colors that would look otherwise odd in reall ife, but I liked the pattern and I liked what she did with the garment. It did have thought involved in it, because it didn't look like this mess with the undershirt also having the pattern on it. The pattern didn't look like it was suited for a dress, so to do it as a jacket was definitely a good idea. The scarf is a bit much, but it did help her piece overall.
Phil did the piece for 41-inches-wide and it was really bold and it looked really nice. It didn't look too simple and I thought that overall it really stood out and helped 41-inches-wide win. The pattern, again, doesn't look like just a bunch of lines or unorganized mess. It looked like this really intricate pattern that was professional. The red was a bit much, yes, but if he had done something blue it might've looked somewhat ordinary.
Nominus Experse had a really nice garment here that suited the model he put it on and suited the environment she was in. It was sort of obvious that Clone#01 was told to do these dark colors because that's what he likes to do, so if his partner had done something brighter it would've been much more interesting. The ruffles looked really realistic because they were so detailed. The way he formed and drew this garment looked very realistic, and if I could definitely see this being worn in the real world. The only thing he didn't really do well was translate the pattern into the piece because it was only on the top, so more of it would've been nice, but the way he drew it was just very beautiful in its own sort of dark way.

My bottom 2:
Zeromus_X's pattern looked like this birthday cake exploded all over his canvas. The colors didn't really match and it looked like he just chose random colors and spraypainted them over the piece. It would've been more logical to stay with three or less colors if he wanted to do a pattern like this, but I can see that his drawings are very colorful, and so I guess it's just his sort of style.
Mum's piece wasn't so badly drawn, it was just the pattern on the dress looked really simple and, because of the pattern, also looked like she went to a birthday party and some kid thought it was funny to blow up some cake all over her white dress or something! The execution of her piece really saved her, honestly.

NOTE: Sorry Zeromus_X and Mum, I did not mean to hurt your feelings about your pattern, it just sort of looked like that.

The fourth challenge was sort of a surprise to me because I was looking forward to a piece with a male in it, but I guess putting patterns on menswear doesn't really sound logical or something.

Challenge 5: These Sins Can't Get Any Deadlier
Objective: There were 7 contestants, and therefore each got one of the seven deadly sins.
NOTE: Only 3 people turned in entries (Mum, ValkyrieWing, and Zeromus_X). Nominus Experse had just undergone surgery, so he couldn't finish it, 41-inches-wide had immunity so she didn't need to draw her piece anyway, Phil just didn't submit one in, and Clone#01 dropped out during this challenge, so he was considered the one erased.

Mum- Pride
Her piece was just so thought-provoking and well-executed that she really did deserve to win. Words can't express how well she thought this one through, and the imagery used just blows me away. There's no real criticism for this piece, truthfully.

ValkyrieWing- Greed
This piece was good, but was not really as good as Mum's. It was well-drawn and well colored, but I just think that it didn't have this sort of complicity that it needed. It was sort of a plain idea to do a dragon, because you can sit any monster any top of gold and say it was greedy. There were a few nice touches in the piece, but execution and thought process in this piece were average.

Zeromus_X- Envy
Again, this piece looks rushed. There was too much white used in this piece, and I wish that he would've colored in more too give more of a feeling of envy. The green used is sort of a nice little touch but it didn't look like envy to me much.

Anyway, there's my comments on the recent challenges. I'm sorry if I've offended any of you artists who are competing in this competition, but these are my critiques, and I hope they won't anger you.