Art Contest - ENDS SEPT 15

CONTEST ENDS SEPTEMBER 15, 2008 - NO LATE ENTRIES
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THE CHARACTER DATABASE IS LOCATED ON THIS ACCOUNT: *themanyworlds
Please ask LOTS OF QUESTIONS!

Character profiles are posted as JOURNALS - [link]
Reference art is posted as SCRAPS - [link]
All contest entries will be posted as DEVIATIONS - [link]

If you would like to receive updates, please watch this account!
Having trouble picking a character or characters? Try the Character Recommendation service! [link]

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Eligibility: This contest is open to anyone in the world regardless of geographic location. Prizes will be awarded using Paypal, deviantART services, Gaia Cash, or online gift cards/services, so even if you're ineligible to receive Paypal payments, you can still receive the value of your prize!

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Entry Form
Please submit this entry form in a NOTE to *themanyworlds:

Name:
Gallery Link:
Preferred Payment: Paypal/devART services/Gaia Cash/Online Site
Entry Link:
Comments:
Referred By: (optional)
Prize Pack: Yes/No (optional, see restrictions below)

All entries will be posted on this deviantART account! Not a member of deviantART? E-mail your entry to emperial@gmail.com or PM it to romesilk on Gaia.

Please pick ONE payment option!

If your entry uses elements created by someone other than yourself which are recognizable and contribute significantly to your entry's appearance, you MUST credit the source(s)!

The referral field is OPTIONAL. You may have been referred by a deviant telling you about the contest or by seeing another deviant's entry. Feel free to list that person! If you found the referral bothersome, though (for example, if someone pestered you with notes or begging), you may decline to list the person. You may only list ONE person as your referrer. If you list more than one, the credit will go to the first person you've listed.

(Referrers, beware! Don't harass potential entrants! They can decline to list you.)

No, you can't list yourself as referrer if you found the contest yourself. Go and spread the word to some other people! If you were referred by someone on Gaia, please note that, otherwise I'll assume it was someone on dA.

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Prize Pack
Because I don't feel I have enough cash prizes to truly reward all the potential entrants, I've decided to supplement the cash prizes with prize packs! These are available ONLY to residents of the continental United States. (Sorry!) For more information on the available prize packs, see [link]

Along with the main contest winners, I'll announce a small selection of entrants and/or referrers that I feel deserved recognition even though they didn't win one of the main prizes. If they are residents of the Continental US, they will win a prize pack of their choice.

Then, whatever is left over will be given to any entrant or referrer who wants something on a first-come, first-serve basis. (Yes, I will pay shipping! Thus the "only continental US" part. I'm not going to deal with customs and international shipping, sorry.)

Winners may pick a prize pack in lieu of a cash payout if they like! If a main winner chooses a prize pack in lieu of their official prize, their official moneyed prize will be added to the prize pack selection.

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Category Descriptions

Grand Prize: Bragging rights of the century! The single best entry in the contest, based on my judging criteria.

Best Dream Image or Scene: I love having the images in my head realized, even if I don't always have the time to make it happen. This category recognizes an exemplary image which is either based on my dream image list, or a scene from one of the selected contest excerpts, or a scene from the character's history, or even for an image depicting an important location.

Technical Excellence: For those images displaying strong technical skill in their execution.

Distinguished Character Accuracy: This is for the image that best matches the character's physical description and attributes.

Distinguished Creativity/Design: This isn't about avant garde art so much as it is taking the character and extrapolating something new for him/her. An obvious example would be costume design. You could also create a new situation for the character, or create something in the character's life (like designing the character's bedroom/house/workshop).

Best Group Image: It's really nice to see more than one character in an image, so this category rewards those of you willing to put multiple characters together in a single piece.

Honorable Mentions: These will be given to four entries I feel deserve additional recognition.

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Judging

The sole judge in the contest is me, *emperial, and no, I won't be requiring any help in judging. You can also expect contest results to be available VERY soon after the contest end, within a day or two. Because this contest is about my characters and how well you can draw them, there's really no one better qualified to do the judging. If it were solely a contest on artistic skill I might look for second opinions, but it's not.

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Loves & Hates
Because I actually want you to have a chance at winning, here are a few tips that might steer you towards the winners' circle!

(+) Characters interacting. My characters don't live in bubbles!
(+) Including details or symbolism from character history or personality in an image.
(+) Color images. (It's more accurate to character when you can see the hair, eye, and costume colors.)
(+) Storytelling. Doesn't mean it has to be a comic, and doesn't have to be a specific incident described in character history/excerpts. You can come up with your own little situations for the characters!
(+) Questions. They let me prove my encyclopedic knowledge, and they increase your chances of winning. (I am a resource! Use me!) Please ask questions on character profiles or other public spots so everyone has the benefit of knowing the answers.

(-) Blank white backgrounds. At the very least, please slap some sort of color in there. (Want some help? See the Tutorials! [link] )
(-) Headshots. I do like them, but not for this contest. Chances are slim to nil that I will award a top prize for just a headshot.
(-) Art theft. I don't tolerate it. You can use references, definitely, but you must credit them (and have permission if applicable). I encourage anyone who spots something that's traced to tell me (privately) so I can remove it from the contest.

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WIPs/Alterations

As I'm posting all entries here on this account to keep them together, WIPs are not encouraged, but if it comes down to the last week and all you have is a WIP, I will accept it. You will have to finish the WIP before you are awarded any prizes, though.

If you have already submitted an entry and wish to change your submission, please note the contest account with your updated entry, it's no problem.

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Watermarks, Signatures, Website Links, Etc.

It's totally cool to put your signature on an image. It's totally cool to put your website address, or copyright info and name on the image, preferably running alongside the side of the image in such way that is is not blocking the image.

I am not cool with watermarks or things obstructing the image. If you want to submit an image with a glaring watermark, you must also submit a non-watermarked image for judging purposes.

I am really, totally not cool with you doing a watermarked image and then you'll send me the unwatermarked one *if* you win a prize. If you can't handle the idea that you might not win, please don't enter the contest. I'm not going to play a game of "haha I didn't win so you can't use my artwork!" Well, then, you can't use my characters. Thanks for playing! If you really want to win, don't try to extort it from me. Work hard, pay attention to the judging criteria, read the character descriptions.

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Usage, Image Rights, Etc.

I reserve the right to display the image in an online gallery of character art or possibly a forum signature with the image CLEARLY credited to you and containing a link to your gallery whenever reasonably possible. Anything outside this, I will ASK. I'll never claim I did the art. I'll never sell it anywhere. In fact...

You retain the right to sell, modify, or reuse the image as you see fit. If it's commercial, then you must ask me. But if you want to sell prints at a convention, or t-shirts on your cafepress, or make buttons, or any other type of personal sale or use, that's totally cool with me. You don't need to credit me or anything. If you want to sell it to a company for mass-production, then we gotta talk. Otherwise, have fun doing whatever! Heck, I may even buy one of whatever you're selling! And link other people to your sale! I love to help people who draw my characters, because I appreciate it so much. <3

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And just as a small note, the reason I'm posting all entries on this account is because a) you never know when someone is going to have a tiff and delete their gallery or a piece of artwork, b) I'm accepting entries outside deviantART, and c) it prevents anyone from editing their entry after the contest end while I'm judging, which would make things really complicated for me.

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Please note that Paypal transfers are subject to Paypal fees, which will be subtracted from the total prize value. (In other words, I will not pay more than the prize value to make up for Paypal's fees.) To calculate costs after Paypal fees, please use [link] . For the grand prize winner ONLY, if you would prefer another money transfer service, it can be discussed after the contest is over. Please do not ask me about alternate payouts before the contest is over.

The following online sites are guaranteed acceptable options for prize payouts: Gaia Online, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Threadless.com, deviantART.


QUESTIONS? GO AHEAD AND COMMENT!
Please remember: you must NOTE your entries, do NOT post them as a comment!