June 2026 Art Challenge – WIP and Discussion Thread

Hello Krita Artists!

This thread is a friendly place to ask questions about the challenge, share your works in progress (WIPs), and even ask for help if you’re stuck.

When your submissions are ready, post them in the submission thread linked below.

June 2026 Art Challenge – Something Unexpected

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I am wondering if I can use that as an inspiration. It is a photo I took years ago :slight_smile:

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On first look I thought it was just a sheep with too much wool, turns out that it’s very much not that.

That’s a grizz in that truck. Wonder what was going on?

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It looks like one of those poor animals that are often abused as “dancing bears” in Eastern Europe. In countries such as Russia, Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria, as well as a few others, bears are traditionally abused as fairground attractions. This was likely common practice throughout Europe in past centuries but is actually banned in the EU today - though where there is no plaintiff, there is no judge. And so these animals continue to be abused, mostly - but not exclusively - by the so-called “traveling people,” that is, usually Roma (but not Sinti, to my knowledge).
Unfortunately, nearly all of these animals live in appalling conditions and are “tamed” (made docile) using questionable methods.

Michelist

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Is it just where my mind is going, or does this month’s topic sound like a surrealist painting would fit right in?

I might start heading in that direction…

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That is what I am thinking too… something surreal, I have some ideas

Yes, true. Sadly, that was the case years ago, gypsies were taming them and make them dance for people, so that they can get some money from them. I even remember once when I was a I child, one of those gypsies brought the bear into the tram. Talking about surreal, that certainly is…

now things are different, we have a special organization that made a reserve in the mountains for those kind of bears and they collected all those poor animals and gave them a normal free environment to live. Since some of those bears were born and raised in captivity, they can not survive in the wild on their own. So, in this reserve, the organization also provides food for them. Not the best way to live for these animals but still much better than captivity.

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I know of three such reservations: in Nymfaio, Greece; in Beliza, Bulgaria; and in Brașov, Romania, if I’m not mistaken.
And in between, I found out that there should also be a reservation in Nepal. In India and Sri Lanka, this was also a traditional way for a certain group of citizens of the lowest caste to make their living because they had nearly no chance to make their living with other kinds of work, and some do it to this day because they have no alternatives. :frowning:
In Russia, there are still dancing and circus bears, as well as a traveling show featuring polar bears.

Michelist

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wow… didn’t realize bears could be tamed… that is some sad stories.

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The Cloud Chamber.

This is going to be a stretch for this month let’s see if I can oull it off…
I’m thinking of doing a surreal image of a René Magritte style man in a large gallery of a room. There are windows to the outside world where we see the room is sort of suspended over an ocean on a bright but partly cloudy day. Inside the room there is a large cloud in front of a window, or maybe a painting, I’ll figure that out once I get further in. The floor will gradually become wet, or maybe a pond. I’m thinking of placing French-styled toy sailboats in the water. Or maybe a rubber ducky? I might add in some butterflies around the room, like in the style of Vladimir Kush.

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I’m having so much fun with this!!!

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That truly fits the topic :slight_smile:

Thanks. SCUBA Kitty is making me giggle every time I work on him. He is absurd and fun.