[Announcement & Discussion] Monthly Contests.

[Coru]

Hello everyone. I have been gone for a while and now I'm back I've seen the activity going on here, and it seems quiet so I feel that something should really be done about that.

After some discussion about this, Monthly contests will be set up here for all to participate in. This is how they are going to work:

Every month there will be a contest and each month will have a different theme. There will be a few fixed themes such as [Christmas- December] [October- Halloween] and the free months will be chosen by you. It will work by there being a chance to submit a suggestion the month before, and once the current contest finishes that month, a poll will be set up and a new theme will be chosen.

The contest will begin on 1st- 5th of the month and the submission period will last two weeks. There will then be a further week of judging, finishing the contest roughly 22nd-26th, giving enough time to prepare for the next contest.

The rules will all be the same and will be posted in each contest thread.

There will be a maximum of four judges each contest. Two places will be available as Me and @Braixen will act as judges most of the time, however, if it is the case that one of us can't judge one month or wish to enter ourselves, a third person will be chosen as a fourth judge. You can not be a judge twice in a row and must wait two months until you can become a judge again to allow more people to have a chance at judging so they can improve their critique skills, which is a great skill to possess as an artist. The judges are excluded from entering the contest during their month of judging. For applying for a judge roll during a month, you must send the form that will be added into the Contest Central thread next week to me and Braixen and we will decide on who the judges will be. They will be notified by PM if they become a judge as it will not litter the threads.

There will be a prize system that will work with points, much like the WAR contests worked. There will be a thread listing all of the prizes and how many points you can exchange them for, much like an arcade works with tickets. This means you have to work towards getting the prize you wish to obtain. The prizes are still being discussed.

Along with the results being posted here in Artist's Easel, the results will be posted onto the website and also onto the deviantArt group page with a focus on the winners in a blog post. Feel free to post your contest artwork submissions onto the dA page, however, in the description, you must explain why you chose to do it and which contest it was part of. The winner will be asked for an interview which will feature , however, if you really wish not to, they may decline the offer.

A thread will be opened next week which will be the central thread for the contests. Here, there will be a link on the first post to any current contests, the previous contests will be archived as links on the first post and this is where the polls for the contest themes will be held.

The contests will have different sections so all can take part. Here are the list of different sections:

• Digital Art
• Traditional Art
• Editing
• Spriting
• More may be added in the near future if they are requested heavily enough.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy this addition to artist's easel. If you have any suggestions or feel I have missed something off, feel free to post here and it can be discussed. The less flawed these contests become, the better they become so any ideas are welcome.

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

I'm looking forward to this a lot! :D

[Suicune's Fire]

As a representative for the Southern Hemisphere, I'm going to have to disagree with the seasons thing. I think the theme should be "seasons" rather than a fixed season.

There will be a prize system that will work with points,

I read "points" as "pants." I lel'd.

Question: What is "editing" referring to? o: Also, I think that there should be a thread where people post suggestions for themes. It would be good if the contestants could choose what they're gonna draw. Or at least give suggestions.

Monthly contests sound good though! Nice thinking. :] I'd be happy to be a judge at some point!

[Coru]

As a representative for the Southern Hemisphere, I'm going to have to disagree with the seasons thing. I think the theme should be "seasons" rather than a fixed season.



I read "points" as "pants." I lel'd.

Question: What is "editing" referring to? o: Also, I think that there should be a thread where people post suggestions for themes. It would be good if the contestants could choose what they're gonna draw. Or at least give suggestions.

Monthly contests sound good though! Nice thinking. :] I'd be happy to be a judge at some point!

That's a good point, it completely slipped my mind, thanks for pointing it out, I'll change that right away. :)

That is what it is intended to be. I'll set up a discussion thread or maybe even a thread directly for the themes and each month, excluding the fixed months, such as the holiday themes like christmas, there will be a poll that will include a few chosen themes suggested by the contestants so they can vote for which theme they would like.

Editing would refer to things such as banners, avatars and other similar works of art.

[Suicune's Fire]

That's a good point, it completely slipped my mind, thanks for pointing it out, I'll change that right away. :)

That is what it is intended to be. I'll set up a discussion thread or maybe even a thread directly for the themes and each month, excluding the fixed months, such as the holiday themes like christmas, there will be a poll that will include a few chosen themes suggested by the contestants so they can vote for which theme they would like.

Editing would refer to things such as banners, avatars and other similar works of art.

No worries. :] I think that'll make it a lot more versatile.

That sounds awesome. :] Brilliant idea. I'm so keen! And ooh, that sort of editing. I gotcha. x)