Thursday, November 30, 2006

The Artist's Magazine: All-Media Online Competition

Just a quick reminder that the closing date for The Artist's Magazine All-Media Online Competition is TOMORROW!!!

I've been thinking about submitting work and got a reminder yesterday from Nicole Caulfield (thanks Nicole!) who got an Honourable Mention in the Still Life Category of The Artist's Magazine 2006 Art Competition. Click at the categories at the side to see the entries which won and got to the final for each category of that competition. These are also featured in the December 2006 edition of the magazine.

All you need to enter the All-Media Online Ccompetition is a JPEG image - no need to get pesky slides produced which is a blessing! Winners will be featured in the July/August 2007 issue of The Artist's Magazine along with a list of Honorable Mentions. Here are all the details of the submission guidelines. In summary:
  • categories of media are as detailed below. You can enter in more than one category - but read the details for each category carefully.
    • oil and oil pastel
    • acrylic
    • watercolour
    • pastel
    • mixed media and collage
    • graphite, charcoal and coloured pencil
  • you can submit a work if you are over 16; the work was done by you AND is original (ie not based on published material or other artists' work) AND it was not done in a workshop under another artist's direct supervision. Source material must be available upon request.
  • All entries must be digital files accompanied by an Official Entry Form and a fee of $8 - and you need a separate entry form for each entry
  • All image files cannot exceed 500KB. The file format must be JPEG. Image dimensions must not exceed 500x500 pixels.
  • If you want to enter, given the deadline, you will need to use the online form and upload the image. This means you will need to use a credit card for payment of the $8 fee per image.
  • Answers to frequently asked questions about how to submit an image are provided here
  • All entries must be postmarked no later than December 1, 2006. (The online form I assume will record the time it is submitted)
Some tips for entering competitions:
  • make sure you read the competition details
  • make sure you read the competition details AGAIN slowly. The guidelines state " All properly prepared entries will be viewed and judged." People who produce good work can be rejected because they don't take the time to read the details of how to submit. With the numbers that tend to get entered in national/international competitions anybody not complying always gets put aside straight away.
  • make sure you submit a good image. Crop to exclude all framing and anything else in the background. Make sure it is well lit and has no glare. I have to say you can always tell an image which has been lit by an expert!
  • works which project well tend to be ones with strong simple compositions, saturated colours and good contrast which produces a clear focal point. I'm guessing but you have maybe 10 seconds max to get your image across. Could be more like 5.
In August, I did an analysis of what I thought were good slide submissions to the CPSA annual exhibition last year - after my friends and I watched the 700 odd slides submitted for inclusion in that exhibition. I also commented on what seemed to me made a weak submission. You can read that analysis here. I have no idea whether this entry will be judged on a laptop or projected on a wall - but if it's the latter or you like entering competitions then I suggest you might want to read the analysis.

I've noticed that more and more competitions are going over to digital submissions online. If you like entering competitions it's worth getting good digital images suitable for submission done as and when you complete a piece - rather than turning the air blue because it is now glazed/sold/out at exhibition/etc! It's so much easier than getting a slide done!

And for those of you are sitting reading this with your coffee on Saturday morning - here are the details of the Artist Magazine 2007 Art Competition. ;)

(Note for UK Readers: This is The Artist's Magazine in the USA - not the one published in the UK. This USA Artist's Magazine is available to people living in the UK if you subscribe - as I do)

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1 comment:

  1. Thank you for the notification. I just uploaded "Snowfall". I don't remember seeing the contest before and am glad I was able to submit this piece in just under the wire.

    ReplyDelete

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