So in getting hyped about doing another contest I failed to realize that the possibility existed not many people would really be into the idea.

I did get the hint after the lack of response from the last journal entry (I wasn't even able to make the 5-judge min this time), so simply put I won't be doing it.

I enjoyed doing them in the past but it looks like the time of interest has come and gone which is perfectly acceptable, and hey I get to do something else with my own money so win for me in that respect.

Thanks for those very few who did show interest in either joining or judging (I think the judges outnumbered the people wanting to enter and there were 3 of them haha).

ahh well it looks like my contest-creating days here are done but it was fun while it lasted

I didnt let it play out but about 1/10 people polled thus far are kind of meh on another contest from me...  Not bad so I'm going to go ahead and do one...

But first... WHY???:

CypherX, you're not a corporation or a brand & this money comes out of your pocket so why, as starving artist yourself, do you hold these contests? What's your angle? What do YOU get from this?
·         Entertainment value: My concepts translated through someone else's skill = win. I absolutely love coming up with concepts and seeing artists rendition them the way their mind's eye envisions it – there are always several terribly inspirational and/or clever ideas submitted & I love the process of the whole thing.
·         Giving back. The art community has given me so much life-enrichment over the years I really can't quantify it – I love being an artist, I love being part of this machine and it seems only fair I selfishly (trust me the feeling is so good it must be a sin if you believe in such a thing which I don't) give a little back when I can.
·         I care™. Not to sound like a regular damn philanthropist, but while I can come off as an apathetic wench, I get terribly impassioned about certain causes. I plant trees on 1-2 weekends a month with a local group, give to the arbor day foundation, give more blood than I should to the red cross (seriously when I see them calling me for more blood I get woozy), help with community restoration projects when one of interest comes up & will give to a good cause or try to earn money for one whenever I can - as far as great causes go I can think of none better than putting cash in the hands of artists cuz I loves you guys.
·         Ego-strokeability – I fucking love having a piece [I helped] inspire in some way or another either hanging on my wall at work or in my home and in conversation with those asking being able to say "yeah, that was from a contest I sponsored" so of course there is awesome eternal ego stroking and bragging rights and who can pass that up?
 
Judges: Before I ever kick off a contest, I like to have a panel of judges I feel have quality taste of a similar nature to my own. I normally accept 5 judges as volunteers and voting is done on a point-system which has previously worked really well [in my opinion]. This year, for the first time ever, I'm going to be the sixth judge participating as opposed to just overseeing the whole thing and funding it.

There is no benefit to judging outside of being featured as a judge in the contest, getting to see the other judges votes & knowing who wins the contest before anyone else. If you've no plan to enter the contest & are interested please send a note my way & include your preferred e-mail address for contest's duration.
Once I have the panel of judges (hopefully it won't take too long to get them all) I'll post this year's theme and the rules which I already have written up in this same word document but you can't see it because it's like past this point and stuff.
Neener.

I had stopped selling prints via DeviantArt because I very much disliked their method of paying the artists; I felt they were allowing our money to sit in their bank accounts and accrue interest for them while we did the work & if we didn't hit that $20 for one quarter it would sit in there longer.


It felt very corporately driven and left an extremely bad taste in my mouth.


I was very pleased and surprised to see them now allowing us to transfer monies instantly over to our paypal account (my preferred method of getting money over the Internet) as opposed to the quarterly approach.


Grading of new process:


Ease for artist: A+ - can't get much simpler than going to your earnings page [link] and clicking on withdraw via paypal & getting money loaded into your account there. Everyone knows Paypal is uber easy to withdraw from and as I don't see myself exceeding their free monthly max there anytime soon, so I'm golden.

Cost to artist: C - I was lucky to have a premium membership which made it "free" for me (I purchased it with the print money I KNEW I would't see for a while months ago when I shut down all my prints here) but I had about $11 left so I went ahead and made the withdraw (which instantly appeared in my paypal account) -- charging the artist $1 to get their own money... lol well like it or not, they ARE a corporation and they have a bottom line and every place these days seems to charge in one way or another for you to use their services so no news there... they're still not getting an A on cost to artist ha!

$1 doesn't seem like much unless you just made the $5 min for withdraw and you end up getting penalized for doing it. It's another way to encourage you to keep it in there longer, but tis all good overall I am very happy with this new alternative!


I would really like to see them do a complete revamp of their print creation pages though.

It would be really great if us as the artist could just have a high quality print up there (with watermark in place) and allow the purchasers to make any product they would be interested in buying with the image & of course have our own canned items in the shop as well. Hell would even really like to see it almost feel as stand alone from the gallery so if I wanted i could put up artwork that I feel would look great on a product but maybe I don't necessarily want to have in my general gallery.

right now whether shopping for prints or selling them it's very flat feeling.

Also, It is and has been very clunky & not fun to use. it offers very little control on how the product turns out and there are much better websites for getting such things done so for competition's sake and to keep the artist's work here I think they should really evaluate what they currently have. hell do a survey.

I really love how Zazzle has theirs set up, I can see exactly what I'm getting and I've always been very happy with the quality that comes from them.

I AM going to put my prints back up on DA now though because while being able to offer signed prints is cool, it's much easier in the no hands approach DA offers and for once I am very happy with one of their changes that fall outside of their page display upgrades (I really do for the mostpart like the current portfolio display options with mild exceptions such as my wanting complete control of which widget goes on what side and how many).


good job on this particular change, DA - onward and upward and whatnot

Long ago a traveler came to an aperture in her reality which would forever shift her in ways not imagined. Through it she climbed; beginning her long, slow ascent along the windy road into the world of art & illustration.

Many a companion from many an origin she met along the way.

Sitting around the DA campfires, surrounded by gnats & mosquitoes they told her tales of their own travels, their perspectives, sharing with her their critiques, expertise, sometimes their bitterness from artistic-forebode & more rarely yet, an intimate real moment was exchanged.

The well-travelled warned her of thieves in the forests and of watermark-protections that would ward them off when encountered. Some warned of paths that should never be taken while the brave told her not to heed the warnings of cowards. Several dear companions tore gloriously ahead with heroic resolve and admirable éclat.

She muddled onward her own foppish way.

Few reach the mountain's peak. Even fewer will learn to fly once there. Paths open when their time has come, but let's face it in a world with no solid boundaries or set rules does one ever really know when they've made it to the mountain top?

A paycheck to allow for lovely lodging along the way is always a good indicator.

She still sleeps in a tent for now, but from time to time an old friend stumbles upon her and shares their most recent adventures.

I could tell you the story of my cousin Jessica (a few days my senior) and all she's endured over the last few months (let alone years as her father died & our grandma who is the matriarch of the family has been death-brink ill with cancer).

I could tell of how she always wanted a large family and I thought her crazy but she had 4 kids anyhow! How last month her son (one of the identical twin boys) had to have a hole in his heart repaired as it was growing & how much strength my cousin had even with the prospect of open heart surgery on one so young.


But I think I want to get to the guts of the tale in its present… to her 5 year old Madelyn (Mady as we know her) who with no notice began experiencing extreme fatigue & after running into a boy at school and giving herself a black eye was given an MRI just to be safe… the very next morning she was having a major brain surgery on the very large tumour that was causing severe pressure in her head and was running along her brain stem.

The surgery was long and arduous and the surgeon was cautiously optimistic that he got all of the cells (they're still checking to see which cancer stage they're in before determining whether or not she'll have to undergo chemotherapy).


Brain surgery is exhausting as you might guess; taxing on the family mentally & financially but physically exhausting for the one who's undergone the surgery.
Keeping that in mind here's one of the first updates we got post-op (the first one being that she did down some ice cream the next day when she was awake):

Update on Madelyn: Today has been a trying day. Mady has not been awake much. She is having left side facial mouth and eye drooping. She had an MRI this morning and found some blood on her brain that has not absorbed yet. They think this blood is from the surgery and not that she has an active bleed. They believe the pressure of this blood could be causing the facial drooping, but they cannot be certain this isn't from the surgery manipulating her brain. Time will tell. She has been extremely lethargic today. She received a bath and finally got to wash her hair which I KNOW made her feel better. They have had her on a large amount of steroids to help with swelling of the brain, but had began to taper them off some. With the lethargy the way it was today they've had to increase her steroids back up to the initial dose. Her sodium level has been low, which is not uncommon after brain surgery, but it requires her getting blood work done which does not make her happy! With these minor setbacks she is back on the heart monitors. Physical therapy was in today as well, and said she is definitely going to have inpatient physical therapy possibly for a while because she is VERY unsteady. So unsteady we can't even get her out of bed yet, we can only sit her on the side, and she wobbles the whole time. 2 steps forward, 1 step back. We will make it through! Blessed to be where we are



So with all of that & my being out of state, I want to help in the only way I really know how; thru art. I'm doing fundraising thru my work, offering charcoal or graphite custom-portraits/digital custom work/personal pencil sketches/& baked goods even (the baked goods being the only thing I won't offer thru here but I do have some talent in that area as well!) up for sale with everything outside of materials going to my cousin (as a surprise because when I broached the subject I think her pride prevented her from saying "hellz yes, please!").

I'm keeping everything as reasonable as I can as I want to be able to really help her & over-charging is just going to scare off that prospect. If you've interest & have an amount in mind that works for you, you can either note me privately or post it here & we'll work something out. All of the payments are going to my paypal account (coinoperated@direwire.com) as I don't take major credit cards/cash/etc. and this allows me to track what's been given & post updates here.


If you're not interested in my art but want to help out and have a few dollars to give you can feel free to send a dollar or few and leave a note/well wish that'll be compiled into one master well-wish list & sent to Mady & her mum along with the money raised.
 
I know times are tough for everyone so well wishes are appreciated.

Also - mad-thanks for all the birthday wishes... 'twas a good one

Keepin it real,
jen

I'm writing this on my phone - so apologies for any spelling oddities as it seems to have a mind of it's own.

I've received many notes over the art4love thefts & they're appreciated.

It's fantastic that as a community so many banded together.

On a personal level; the pieces that were posted of mine (that I saw) had very little value & I couldn't imagine someone forking out $300+ to have those particular things on their walls. Doesn't change the intent factor but I'm not too worried. Pretty much everything that has value to me has been watermarked in one way or another or I've not posted online and unfortunately I feel that's the way it has to be considering the relative ease of stealing work and the corresponding difficulty to recover losses as it stands today.

About a month ago I was directed to this lovely field of flowers where they had a stand for you to buy the freshly cut beauties. I get to it and I'm so impressed by the cuts but I'm looking around and see no one about who's selling the bad boys. Off in the distance I see a man tending his vegetable garden so I walk over to him to inquire on whether he knows whose stand it is or how I might buy the flowers.

He tells me it's his and if I look there's a tin box I can put my money into and take change if needed. I was a bit astonished but I walk back over to pick out my flowers and self pay and I open the box and it's chop full of cash. There had to be a couple hudred dollars in it, no lie. He's not even in eyesight of the box nor close enough to do anything even if he could see and just trusts people to pay and leave the cash alone.

I of course love the sentiment. I think the idea that everyone in the world is like me and will pay as they should and be on their way is beautiful. The sad reality is that the wrong person just hasn't come along yet and happened uponed that nice box of cash. When they do the chances of the guy ever recovering his losses are likely narrow.

So while he shouldn't have to guard his cash and artists shouldn't have to watermark pieces they feel might hold monetary value... The reality is we live in an imperfect world surrounded by people who are trying to make a quick buck. What's more... I would be very cautious about giving anyone on this site cash to help them cover court costs/lawyer fees etc. as you really have no way of knowing whether or not they're just pocketing it or wiping their own asses with it. Some people will use any opportunity to take advantage.

Thanks again for the notes. I'm always a bit out of touch with these things and it's good to be in the know.

make no mistake the guy who cashed in on artists in this way is an utter douchebag and he and any artist who finds an angle by which to cash in on this by taking advantage of well-meaning artists should have their entrails ripped from them by a harpy and be left to rot.

Recently one of my friend's friends set up a "gallery" [in my friend's house] and asked me to come critique the works.

He, like me, is an autodidact and had trouble getting valuable feedback from other artists aside from "nice painting" (which of course we all need those too, right).

So I went and viewed the 20 or so paintings he had done in oils for the last few years and you could visually see the kind of progress he made, just like any of us do... from flatter works to more dynamic works to taking a stride back to moving forward. Now [for me] the subject matter was bland... not really things I would have had an interest in painting at present... but the guy took the effort to set this up for me, valued my opinion [for whatever reason] so I took a completely objective look at each piece, starting with the ones that caught my eye the most.



I talked composition, colour theory and focal points with him... really just focusing on what I felt about each piece from a technical standpoint, and what he could do to make certain things pop, or improve the overall look/impact never once saying "well you painted this subject, I would have painted this and this instead".

In the end he expressed genuine gratitude (technically he did all along the way). Now I didn't sugar coat the technical help, I just left out the sliver of info stating that his work overall didn't have appeal for me. It wasn't necessary for the conversation, I was there in the moment, he was receptive and eager to learn - no reason really to knock him down in that way.



... and really after all of these years I realize that that's what each of us should be giving to one another when it comes to critique. I need valuable critique as well... some of the more thought out ones I've gotten have helped to propel me forward and it doesn't just consist of saying "your shading sucks" but rather saying why it isn't working and what one can do to improve it moving forward or even technical tips go a long way. Perhaps that I should finish works or think less of portraits and at least vaguely try to incorporate more into a piece... whatever it might be.


Simple fact is... if you would have done a concept this way or that, you should probably put your money where your mouth is and go do it and stop yapping about it because the artist needs to be themselves in their work, it's the entire point of picking up a brush, pen or camera. Helping them to be a better them... now that's something you might be able to do.


-----------------------

on Japan.

as some know I lived in Japan for four years growing up (i always like to say I spent my 'youth in Asia' [link]. My parents had a non-traditional "traditional" Japanese wedding and very much kept Eastern culture alive in our house when we were growing up and I've always had a deep love for it because of such. What's happening there is horrific and really tugs greatly at my heart strings.

I've done the donating portion to Red Cross from a comfort standpoint of an individual... I think if you have sway you should encourage your company to reach out as they can typically allocate more resources than you could garner. I work at a fantastic place that in general helps out above and beyond what I've seen at most without being urged to. they just are generally good souls and feel they have the responsibility to help.

I do think it's too soon and too fresh (these people are living it right now - way too soon WAY) to really talk about the way some have... to do art about, to capitalize on in any way really... in fact even writing about it feels somewhat difficult and "wrong" for me... but I think if even one person reading it is in a position to urge their company to help out (who hasn't already) it's more worthwhile than getting 100 people to donate what they have in their pockets.

if the Mayan peeps are to be believed.

regardless, hope everyone paints loads (if it's yer thing), laughs much, and rekindles that tickle between their thighs.

to those who left me birthday wishes... many many wet thank ya kisses.

I spent the day studying windows server 2008 so like an old chicky-poo no parties for Jen...


sporadic painting at best for me... am working on a "Tangled" inspired quasi-realism Rapunzel piece whose progress will be found here (will be sure to update sporadic-like):

[link]

[link]

two years in the making...
no seriously. I'll start it soon.

*scrunches nose*
don't hit me!

I'm checking the primary e-mail I've used for art for the first time in over a year... i realize now one of the huge reasons i couldn't make it as an artist for hire.

In that time I've missed magazine entry requests, potential job offers, freebee requests, commission requests, print requests, long-lost friends reaching out to me & lust/hate mail.

i've not worked on my website in years - pretty much let it putrefy.

i've unfinished project after unfinished project... and now it's a great mountain of unabsoluted shite.


not really sure what pill I could pop to be better but i acknowledge my sucktitude and apologize if i've come across as a persnickety bitch to anyone for lack of communication... i'm just... lazy... too lazy to read e-mail even

Why is it so hard for you to crush roaches with yer itty bitty cloven hooves? Is it because they escape thru the crack of yer camel toe, or you're really just that inept? Inquiring minds wanna know.

I realize I have a puissant prejudice against Republicans post-Obama election.

After giving them a good run, my vote is to jettison the party from the earth & cut our losses. I realize about half (well it's an artist's website, perhaps 35%??) of you masturbate to the rhetoric of this party, but i really make no apology for my distaste for your kind.

The only form of recycling Republicans know of is use of another republican's thoughts which they regurgitate with fervorish frequency.

I'm pretty sure there's a newsletter that goes out to the vast majority of them that bullets all thoughts that are permitted to escape their gaping lips & they follow it eagerly.

It's not that I'm so put off by their myopic self-serving ways (hey we all need to be to a degree, no?); conversation with them on any topic just time and again proves to be [for lack of a better sentiment] painfully dull and robotic.

anytime it seems like there is a glimmering chance one might embrace something that falls outside of their bullet-point beliefs of bigotry, the mothership (FOX news) beams down the mantra of hate and greed and they're yet again the husk without an ounce of soul or one thing worthwhile of being an audible mention.

For creatures that spout out about how in tune they are with their God's message of love and forgiveness at every convenient turn; they spend a lot of time on messages of hate and intolerance. I say avoid these creatures at all cost... do not engage in conversation as you'll be left with the clear realization that all men were not created equal...

And whatever you do, don't feed 'em after midnight.

And the winner is...




Ze Judges

& Dan from outside the DA realm


Stephanie Takes home ze ca$h with her delightful piece, "The Queen of Spades Sends Her Regards"



I REALLY regret not buying the original before it was sold so swiftly as I'm starting to really love having additions to my collection of pieces created for me contests. Anyhewt, that aside, I dig the fact she put in her progress shots & it's definitely an impressive traditional piece, and while she kind of roughly says it was inspired by the contest, I would like to take a minute to say -- oh yeah, if there was no contest it wouldn't exist, yo! Wait... to much of an auto-ego stroke?

ahhh well... The breakdown of points is as follows (for the top 5 contestants):

44 Points
39 Points
38 Points
38 Points
36 Points

You guys all did a fantastic job & I really do appreciate your taking a drop of inspirational ink and doing something cool with it.

BTW, The voting was very tight until the last vote was cast - I had no idea who would win & it was defined by the final judge who got me his picks last night throwing ahead of who was in the lead until that point (and happened to be my own personal favourite to win).

until next time

Theme

Two choices this time - "99 Red Balloons" or "Through the Looking Glass"

either are open for interpretation although [no lie], I am hoping the through the looking glass interpretations will be Wonderland driven & hey, you're always welcome to merge the two in coital bliss if the offspring is visually appealing.

Entries
:thumb156537068::thumb156674057::thumb156350239:

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Prize:

$400

Time-Frame:

4 weeks ends March 15th @ 11:59 pm in Pago Pago [link] which will give all time to submit on time

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Rules:

▪ Once again this is an all or nothing type deal. If you're not the grand prize winner, the only thing you take from it is the satisfaction of having a new addition to your gallery.

▪ Must be "99 Red Balloons" or "Through the Looking Glass" themed

▪ No limit to the number of entries you may submit... but quality is often more rewarding than quantity

▪ Once again Can be any [visual] medium be it Photography, graphite, digital, sculpted bubblegum; you name it. I think that written works are great, but sometimes it's hard to compare them to visual pieces; so while I am not saying you can't enter prose, I'm strongly discouraging it.

▪ Be creative: creativity and concept sometimes goes a lot further than skill, though sometimes intense skill alone is inspirational enough for the win. The winner will probably have a bit of both though.

▪ Must say whose contest it's for in the description & have been done after the start of this contest, not prior to.

▪ You can only be paid via Paypal so you have to have a Paypal account. No exceptions. If you're not able to get one your prize money will go to someone else, I'm sorry.

▪ As always, if the turnout isn't good (I get a single stick-figure drawing and that person would win by default), I maintain my right to extend the contest/up the prize to be more appetizing for those who might produce eyegasms & give them proper time to do so.

▪ ***VERY IMPORTANT*** Don't forget to put a link to your final in this journal entry as a comment as I don't do well with reading minds thru the web.

Judges

4 volunteers who'll be given the 10 best pieces from my vantage and they'll use a point system leaving artist with most overall points the winner. If you’re interested in being a judge because you're not going to enter but feel you have insanely awesome taste in art & loads of freetime around the end of the contest, please note me.

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Previous ContestX Winners:


For "The Tortoise and the Hare" ContestX, the grand prize win went to



For "Best Friends" ContestX, the grand prize winner was



Who went on to share her winnings with the following other peeps for their work:


(who no longer has it in their gallery)








For "Fairy Tale" ContestX, the grand monies winner was




see you in four weeks!!!

This chickie carved some leather goodness for the contest.

I really dug this piece enough to want to own it in my private stash of masques, so i figured that alone should be enough to clue me in on who my personal favourite was.

You guys done great and should be drooling out mad lust juices for yourselves. Hopefully not walking away with the cash doesn't take away from the fact you have a cool new addition to your gallery and I'll hold another contest again in a week or so. I'm working on my own stuff right now and want to focus there.


happy val day and whatnot! gorge yourselves on the chocolate dripperies.
:thumb154076522:

Contest has definitely ended (there was a winter storm and I was so busy playing in the snow I forgot to come close this down).

Thanks all those who participated, thought it was a quickie I thought there were a few fun concepts that came from it. Really makes me love doing these.

I think I already know my top few favs and now it's just a matter of figuring out the winner. Doing a poll is tempting because then any guilt for not picking someone diminishes and I can be like "well the people picked this one!"

We'll see. Either way, I'll go ahead and announce the person later on today and that person can note me their paypal info.

If I missed your entry below, please kick me in the head as swiftly as possible.


My top Five:

:thumb153473533:
:thumb153620733:

:thumb153727034:

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Theme

Tortoise & the Hare

Prize:

$200

Time-Frame:

2 weeks (I wanted to do a single week but I know people have other projects going on)

Rules:

▪ Must be “Tortoise and the Hare” themed
▪ Can be any medium – Photography, graphite, digital, sculpted bubblegum… you name it
▪ Be creative – creativity and concept sometimes goes a lot further than skill (but not always)
▪ Must have been made for this contest starting 2010-01-29 & ending no later than 2010-02-12 (contestants own time-zone per their DA page)
▪ Must say whose contest it’s for in the description. I know there are some bad ass t&h paintings out there but has to be new, sorry.
▪ You can only be paid via Paypal so you have to have a Paypal account. No exceptions. If you’re not able to get one your prize money will go to someone else, I’m sorry.
▪ As always, if the turnout isn’t good (I get a single stick-figure drawing and that person would win by default), I maintain my right to extend the contest/up the prize to be more appetizing for those who might produce eyegasms & give them proper time to do so.


****don't forget to put a link to your final in this journal entry... otherwise I'm not going to see it***********
Judge

It be me and me alone this time


I really hope I covered all questions one might have.

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Hares (they were quick, yo):

:thumb152414981:


I will end this on Friday, so if these are the only few entries at that point one of them will get the monies. I would like to point out that $200 is hard as hell to make in print sales here on DA, so it isn't too shabby a prize.

Tortoises (slow and steady or last minute hares ):

:thumb153473533::thumb153620733: A RaceGO!
One, two!
One, two!
One, two!
Keep it up!
Don't slow down!
Don't get distracted.
Just make it to that tree.
Just make it past that rock.
Just make it… around that bend.
Just… make it… to that shady spot…
Just a quick rest.

------------------------------------------------------------

GO!
O…h, the race has started.
N…ow I have to focus.
E…very second counts.
T…ake time to breathe.
W...here did that rabbit go?
O…h well, musn't get distracted.

O…ne more mile to go.
N…ever look back.
E…verything is going fine
T…HERE'S the rabbit.
W…eird, he's sleepi:thumb153677779::thumb153727034: