Artist's Challenge!

[Signomi]

Theme for this year's Artist's Challenge will come with a bit of a twist.

In other competitions that I've been a part of, including ones off of PC and in other places like deviantART and Pixiv, what often catches the judges' attention at most are three things—colour vibrancy, scenery and symbolism.

What I'll be looking for on PC is a degree of art where each of these things become key components.

Although they are not a firm requirement, this will help me evaluate the overall creativity an artist would put into their work, because not only is it a demonstration of their skill...but it is also a demonstration of their self-confidence.

PC harbors talent, there is no question about that. But it's what they do with this talent that determine whether or not they reach the top. I'm looking for entries exhibit skill and imagination with ease.

Despite having high standards for what I'd personally like in entries to judge, anybody is free to enter whatever they like at the sort of standard they like. However, I prefer not to let this be thrown about too much because I do want to encourage a good level of creativity in other artists in the community. Last year's Draw-Off has shown me that there are definitely lurking members here that are greatly skilled, and they're especially the sort of people I want to attract.

To do this, I'm going to put forth a challenge to tap with the theme of this competition — which will be Summer.

It's a fairly simple theme, yes. One that I can't be vague about at this point because it will assert my emphasis on colour.

When you think of summer, you think of beaches, heatwaves, sun bathing and even melted ice cream...don't you? Well it's fine and dandy if people decide to base their entries around these things, but inspired by general colour practice and season changing in Black and White, I'm going to put emphasis on colour co-ordination.

What Black and White cleverly does with seasons is play with the tile colour palette in accordance to what the creators feel slot in with the mood of each season—with Autumn having a warm yet cool sort of presentation in contrast to seasons like Spring and Summer, which are both rich in colour and earthly beauties. This is why I feel colour can play an essential part to identifying what season an artist is trying to portray in their picture, and it's here where I intend to put forth the challenge.

My idea is to encourage entrants into paying careful attention to the sorts of colours they plan to use, and also giving them an idea of what they could perhaps use as a colour palette with some of my own samples, these being what I feel would work in representing summer as a season. Some may appear more unlikely than others, but then I would rely on the artist to make some of these work.

Assuming that there may be at least one, or two, or three who do manage to make use of these palettes (or their own) effectively, they will be prominent candidates to winning the entire challenge.

Please do give me some feedback, I'd like to know what people think of this idea and if they have anything to suggest.

I shall follow up with typed rules as soon as possible.

 

[Signomi]

Thread Draft

Artist's Challenge – Summer time!

It is common knowledge that PokéCommunity is a jack of many trades—mainly thanks to the members! For they are the ones with the many talents at hand. And I personally know that there are some very talented artists aboard and lurking. So why not come out of hiding and show the community just what you're made of?

Welcome to PokéCommunity Get-Together 8's Artist's Challenge!

Here, we put contestants at any skill level to the test—how well can people convey the theme in their art?

So how do we do this?

It is very simple; all you need to do is be creative with the theme of the challenge. Get out your pencils and sketch anything related to the theme of summer. You know…beaches? Heat waves? Sun bathing? Even melted ice cream? When you summer pops into mind, what is the first thing you associate it with? We want you to answer that question in the form of art. You can be as crazy as you like, we love seeing craziness in peoples' drawings! If anything, the crazier you are with your work, the more likely you are to have people looking on in awe and wonder.

What? Can you be any LESS creative with this theme?

Excuse you! Summer may be a theme used by other competitions in the Get Together…

…but this one comes with a bit of a twist.

While the theme of the challenge is summer, the judges shall expect all entrants to show their creativity…

IN COLOUR!

Spoiler:

What Black and White cleverly does with seasons is play with the tile colour palette in accordance to what the creators feel slot in with the mood of each season—with Autumn having a warm yet cool sort of presentation in contrast to seasons like Spring and Summer, which are both rich in colour and earthly beauties.

This is why I feel colour can play an essential part to identifying what season an artist is trying to portray in their picture, and it's here where I intend to put forth the challenge.

Although entries are not required to be beaming of a rainbow spectrum, entrants will find that the competition around them will motivate them to make their entries stand out.

All you need to do is draw anything you like (bear in mind it doesn't need to be Pokémon related either) and we will mostly evaluate your piece not just by the obvious cosmetic elements of summer (like beaches and water) but also by colour scheme. It should be noted that colours can catch the eye of the viewer immensely, and if your colours are vibrant and warm enough to suit a summer scene—then show us!

Here are some sample colour palettes I made myself, these are ones that I feel can represent any summer piece quite well. Some may seem more unlikely than others, but it's your job as the artist to make them work!

Pick any one you like to work with. You can even work with your own colour scheme, doesn't necessarily need to be the ones I picked out myself.

Spoiler:

Just be mindful of the following requirements.

Rules

• All entries must be made completely by the artist. Art theft will not be tolerated.
  • Art theft is the use of other artwork from the internet and other resources, this is heavily discouraged and could risk your place in the challenge.
    
• Entries must adhere to the theme of the competition.
  • Summer is the theme of the challenge.
  • Themes are allowed to be non-Pokémon related.
    
• All entries must be made before the deadline.
  • The deadline is Monday July 18th at 11:59 PM (3:59 AM GMT)
  • Entries shall be evaluated by the judges and results shall be posted shortly after the end of the challenge.
    
• Only one entry per person.
  
  • However, you are allowed to edit your entry before the deadline.

• Entries must be of suitable quality and presentation:
  • All digital art must be saved in PNG or GIF formats, both formats keep the quality of your image clean and crisp. JPEG images are disallowed because the format is notorious for ruining images with poorly compressed artifacts. If you have trouble with saving your images to the either of the appropriate formats, do contact either of the judges for support.
    • Traditional art (drawings made with traditional media such as pencils, crayons, etc.) must be scanned or photographed with good visual presentation in mind, as the judges will not take kindly to poorly presented images. When scanning your drawing, be sure to increase brightness/contrast levels if needed to display your drawing as accurately as it was on paper. If you have no scanner available, photography is a second choice—however—you must take a clear shot of your drawing as if it were a scanned image. Entries that do not adhere to this will be disqualified.

And the rewards?

First! - You came 1st Place in the Artist's Challenge during the 2011 Get-Together, showing that you possess great drive, passion and imagination to make an incredible piece of art. Congratulations!

Second! - You came 2nd Place in the Artist's Challenge during the 2011 Get-Together! It was a tough decision, but your artwork still wowed us tremendously!

Third! - You came 3rd Place in the Artist's Challenge during the 2011 Get-Together! Not quite the top, but this still shows you are a very skilled artist!

Participant! - You participated in the Artist's Challenge during the 2011 Get-Together! Although you didn't place, your entry was still a work of art!

Have fun, and good luck!​