I have a suggestion/request regarding the current rules, but thought I’d make a general thread (re: the quote above) so we can keep things in one place.
My suggestion is that the rules should stipulate only new artwork created for the contest should be submitted.
I think it’s important for the integrity of the contest that everyone should have the same opportunity. That isn’t the case if someone already has, and posts, artwork that fits the current theme; that gives them a competitive advantage in terms of available time. It also kind of defeats the point if no effort is involved in a persons entry.
These contests are a good learning opportunity, to work through the artistic process within set boundaries i.e. a set theme and time frame.
It would also matter less in terms of fairness if no prizes were involved, but the winner is publicised on the top banner which I’d argue has value, so such restrictions become more important.
For sure, I won July with an old artwork because clearly it was not possible for me to find time to draw something
I’m not totally agree with this point of view
On my side doing a painting can take me hours, days, weeks or months according to what I try do draw.
Where some people -pro or not- here just need few hours to paint something better because they have time to practice every day since a long time
I don’t even take in account the fact that sometime, I’m not able to draw anything during days and days.
I can understand that if people start to only put already drawn artwork the contest probably start to be less interesting.
But since contest was initiated, how many case like this has occurred?
No effort…?
My entry for July, even if it’s an old artwork, asked me hours of work when I draw it
@raghukamath you can remove featured tag on my EcoBuli as it’s seems not be really valuable to be featured.
I’ve been wondering since I read the opening post of this topic, how do you know how old a submitted work is, and who is supposed to check?
It’s only clear for works that have been published once before, for every unpublished work I know the means to make an image appear to have just been created, and I won’t be alone in that. This does not mean that I would do such a thing, it means that this is possible.
If someone wants to cheat, then it becomes difficult. And as long as this is just about proposing the content of the next contest and having a celebrated image, I think you shouldn’t take it so deadly serious and leave the church in the village.
This is not about millions, but about joy.
Or will (better: Orwell ) each forum member now be assigned a guardian to make sure no one has violated the rules of the contest should the thought occur to one to submit a picture?
In my opinion, this form of mistrust is a reason to stay away from such competitions. It’s better to play chess with a clock and a referee.
I had seriously considered taking part in the competition for the first time with the theme suggested by @Deevad. Whether I do this now, I will have to think about it longer.
I think the very fact that the rule has been announced and accepted by the participant is already enough, since it does not allow making excuses about ignorance, although discussions about the subtleties can probably be endless. I tend to perceive others as decent people if they are not noticed in the opposite)
P.S. For me in the August competition, the trigger for participation was the message that the topic will automatically close in a few hours) Before, I didn’t go beyond the question “What would I do?”
Blimey! I didn’t expect such a strong emotional response! I think that is at least in part a misunderstanding in meaning.
This is not meant to be an attack on anyone and their prior participation. And it’s not meant to be an issue to be strictly policed.
I don’t personally take the contests very seriously - at least beyond how I regard my own focus and effort; I see it more as a personal challenge.
It is written as a monthly contest though: participants are put up against each other and a winner chosen and rewarded. So I feel the boundaries should be more clearly defined.
I can empathise with that, and it’s not my wish to discourage participation. For the record - even though I have a lot of experience, I really struggle to do things within a time constraint. I have pieces unfinished I’ve been working on for years, and my process is generally inefficient - that’s why my piece for this last contest was far short of what I’m capable of - I was busy this month, and none of the sketches I did were working until the last couple of days; then I painted in a rush and ended up with a scruffy mess.
That’s definitely not what I meant - I meant effort emparted within the allotted timeframe.
Anyone at any level of skill could enter a piece they’d already completed and could have spent any length of time on - but then their artwork is going up against the majority of participants who have to start from scratch and work within a time constraint.
If it was just a monthly themed challenge like that halloween masquerade challenge I posted, then having rules wouldn’t matter much beyond the individual.
I hope you’re being ironic. I love Buli and the artwork you create with him. I’m not trying to take anything away from you.
No one is supposed to check. It’s just a set boundary/framework for a participant to work within - and it’s up to the individual to honor it. Nothing Orwellian about it - just personal integrity.
As it seems I’m the only one in this situation, I took it personally, sorry
I may misunderstood something.
I also participate to the contest just for fun, when subject is interesting for me.
But I don’t see it as a personal challenge thing, I draw only for pleasure and to evacuate weird drawing ideas from my head (here is the secret origin of Buli things )
If subject trigger something in my head, I try to participate if I have time for that.
Otherwise I do something else.
Being winner to be featured doesn’t really matter (but I have to confess the only interesting thing for me as “price” is the ability to choose theme for next month…)
When I have submitted EcoBuli I didn’t expected to be the first, I posted it just because I really didn’t had time to draw something, I would be able to draw something because I was really interested by subject and as I already had an artwork that matches the theme then, I posted it.
I understand the point of view about effort allotted in given time range…
But that’s a constraint that put things outside fun world for me: I already have too much time constraints and deadlines at the office
Even if I know that by nature a contest have a deadline, not being able to submit something already drawn and that match defined theme is a little bit sad
I don’t know, when I wrote it I really considered that my featured tag was an ill-gotten gain…
Ok no worries, the misunderstanding is resolved now
So, this is the thread @Mythmaker was mentioning about in the WIP contest thread.
I wanted to reply there but that conversation might have deviated discussion and purpose of that thread…and I am glad that @raghukamath opened this thread!
So…here are my few pointers which mostly point at my motivation…why do I participate and why winning a contest might be just a bonus and why it shouldn’t be a sole motivational factor.
1)I personally think one month is good enough time to create art for the contest.
I started using Krita one month ago and I didn’t yet finish one month on this forum.
I have already submitted one work and I am working on the other and if everything goes well…I would be able to submit atleast 3 for this month’s contest…my personal target is atleast 4 works in future…one every week…inshort I am in competition with my self.
2)It was more a fun way to learn interface of krita software…and learning curve has not been so hard…and it helps to be a part of community who are really there to help you…and for a software which is distributed free and the volunteer works which goes on here is just awesome…there is so much encouragement to artists and also any issues you might have with software they get resolved throughly… admins of this forum are just awesome!
3)Is it good to straight jacket rules further about contest and set them in concrete… I dont think its a good idea…I mean where do we stop…now discussion is about only the work which has been done in that particular month has to be submitted…if you do it that month or some time earlier…any work takes the same amount of time…as far as work is done with Krita software from scratch…should be fine and good…its not a rocket science to show completed work which was done earlier than the contest time frame and show it as a work in progress…someone could post someone elses work too…stuff like that can happen…so it should be left to the participants conscience…if its strict and more rules are insisted on…admin work will increase and also participation wont be that symbiotic and atmosphere will be untrustworthy and suspicious.
4)Look at it holistically…experience you gain by participating in such contests and the skills which get improved in a subject/topic which is out of your comfort zone…is much more than winning the contest…yes…winning a contest might boost your ego…but its just a temporary phase…end of the day its the skills you gain outside of your comfort zone is what really matters…thats my main purpose of participating in this contest…it helps to have a big picture in mind and what you can gain from overall experience…nothing wrong in losing few battles to win a war
I think the meaning of @Mythmaker is misunderstood here, as well as in earlier posts in this discussion.
It would be silly to have a rule for everything or to expect someone to enforce them in such a small community.
This applies basically to all the rules for such contests, how will you check if I in fact did the work in Krita, that I didn’t use traditional media in the process etc.?
The rules are built upon trust, trust that you hopefully will adhere to when joining the challenge.
Rules may be needed to make the intention of the contest clear to all potential participants.
It is just that, nothing more.
What this is about though is that these contests are about the challenge, rather than the reward.
When someone posts prior work because it fits in the theme, it either suggests that they don’t get the challenge of it, or are in it for the “likes”.
I get it, you want your work to be featured, you crave the attention or see it as a potential stepping stone.
We all want the spotlight right?
The word ‘contest’ is maybe a poor choice of words, the word ‘challenge’ is more fitting in my opinion.
You get challenged to create work with a certain theme, a creative boundary, sometimes with an added extra challenge (which shouldn’t be optional, again, my opinion).
I wouldn’t say you are cheating when you post earlier work that fits the theme, but honestly you are not getting the point.
I haven’t actually participated in any of these challenges, but I love the idea of them and am glad they’re on here. Would it work to let anyone submit any artwork that fits the theme, but they have to state in their submission if it was created specifically for the challenge in the allotted time, or if it was created earlier or just independently of the challenge and happened to fit the theme? Maybe make the rules such that the winner can only be someone who created it for the challenge, but there can be runners-up or honorable mentions that were created outside the challenge but are worthy of being featured?
Anyway, that’s my thought for a good compromise, because I fully understand both points of view, and could see either decision discouraging someone from participating.
)
