Minotaur

First of all I'd like to congratulate you with this picture, as it incorporates several things I know not everyone is aware of, but which you seem to have handled quite nicely:

Firstly, your solid character silhouette - at a glance, everyone can tell that this is a tensed-up, brutish minotaur ready to pounce. I see this enforced by the warm browns that complement nicely with the green tones of the background, making him stand out even more. His tiny hand (slightly smaller arm than the other one, too) is a bit of a surprise though; not something I'd expect from such a powerful creature, and the blue colour of the background's bottom right is a bit too saturated for its own good as well (a more modest tone there would push it back more, and prevent it from jumping at you like that).
That said, I like the shapes that enrich this silhouette: the grotesque horns (even though one of them seems to turn backwards instead of forward, the longer you look at it), his ponytail, the flaring loincloth. I also see that you control your watercolours very well, and you made sure to leave the highlights white / papercolour. Well done!

However, I regret that the hand holding the sword is missing, seemingly by accident - looks like you ran out of paper there. It's a real shame, more so because it'd have been a chance for a nice design for the sword, which is now reduced to a simple, straight slab of steel. I'll have to tell you though that the blade in itself isn't bothering me - even though the bull is white/grey (a colour I think is original and becoming), the sword still stands out well enough without drawing too much attention to itself at the cost of the main figure.

I have some minor doubts about the anatomy - the balloon-abs, the extremely sharp kneecap... The serrated muscles covering his ribs look somewhat hurriedly and haphazzardly placed, to my eyes. And while I have no reason to say his face doesn't get the message home (I love his glare, and his goatee too btw), I can't help but notice that it's made up of mere 'shapes', rather than of 'volumes', like I see in the body. Even though it's seen straight-on, its structure seems missing, making him look two-dimensional. His extremely sharply angled cheeks and jaws add to the impression I have that you started out with another style in mind - more stylised and cartoon-like, and turned to realism along the way. With the same expression, I wonder how good his face 'd been had you tackled it with the same convincingly three-dimensional and realistic style as the body.

Lastly I agree with what one of my predecessors has said about the armour being too form-fitting in places. Especially the studded leather sleeve looks like it could only be worn like that if it were made of spandex. I like the idea of studs there, but it doesn't look like armour: more like, indeed, an afterthought.

Overall though, I think the Honourable Mention was well-earned, especially talking about impact and skill; if I recall correctly, it only narrowly missed Third Place. I also find it laudable that you took the time to find references first instead of jumping in the deep end - an inspiration to us all! We all hope to see you around long and often over at Forgotten-Realms-FC, sunny personality & all.