This is to capture some ideas that are developing in the September WIP thread.
And, just as a reminder, this paragraph is part of the existing rules that we publish each month.
P.S. Note we can change the rules based on the feedback on this contest and modify the format. Any suggestions are welcome. To submit feedback, please create a new topic in the Site Feedback category.
Please feel free to add your thoughts to this thread.
You can read the rules here.
Another question - Rereading the guidelines I saw the clause about
Submissions must be done from scratch in Krita, no paint-over or tracing allowed.
I first created the piece (my potential submission) over 2 years ago, and I’m remembering that I used a B&W basis image (itself legally okay) that I initially traced part of for establishing the pose. (Blocking in the silhouette/colors, that idea.) I altered the pose and shapes significantly afterwards, and the rest of the image idea and rendering was from scratch. Does that disqualify it though, since there was an element of tracing/paint over in the foundation? Should I refrain from entering it?
We can’t evaluate this properly and we rely on honesty of the submitter. Ideally it would be good if the painting was done 80-90% in krita. I am leaving 10% for reference image, textures or other things.
Thanks for that clarification - I think my image definitely falls in that range.
Pfew! That’s a relief indeed, because I also used a reference image for the pose of my lady! 
It’s hard to aim for realistic art totally from scratch…
Going along with the discussion, I always use a simple 3D block for my compositions… hopefully that also falls under the 10% category.
Example/WIP
below 3D mockup (edited this post for clarity);
Yeah why not I can’t think of any reason for it not to be in that category
I use references all the time… usually bits and pieces of multiple references to create my own.
Personally I don’t mind allowing all kinds techniques in the process like paint overs, textures, 3d base, AI and so on. As long as its not stealing others work. AI is a bit fuzzy when it comes to stealing though. For me the end result is of most importance. Feeling, language, uniqueness of idea, style and so forth. If you can’t paint like more experienced artists you still get a chance to show your art and ideas without struggling with the technical parts. Some artists like pushing pixels around, some don’t. To me to disqualify different digital techniques is like painting in Krita isn’t creating real art because it’s not real paint and much simpler than painting in real media cheating using undo´s and other digital tools that’s not the real deal. Sometimes the process is a part of the art, brushstrokes and stuff, and sometimes the finished image itself, without any visible workflow. It is sad if some artists can’t post their work or join in the community´s activities because of their techniques and the way they created it. If some artists wants to go full blown digital workflow, why shouldn’t they be allowed, using a digital media tool like Krita. It must be more to the challenge than just perfection of brush technique and Krita is more than just a brush engine. I might be dead wrong here but it’s my thoughts about digital painting.
I moved the above posts into this new thread as a very interesting conversation around the rules has developed. Keep it going!
The forum is krita artists and the contest is a way to show what you do in krita. Any technique is allowed as long as krita’s native tools are used. So no AI sorry. This contest is meant to give us a way to use krita and showcase krita’s work. There are many forums on the internet where artists can share their work done with any technique of any software.
If we keep it that open ended what is stopping someone from working all in Photoshop clip studio or blender and then pasting that artwork in krita adding a signature or some effect in gmic and saying here this is what I did in krita? This has been discussed earlier too. I’ll see if I find a link to earlier discussion.
The main point is this is krita forum meant to showcase krita
I think we can simplify the rule to this idea right here. When I do my 3D block-ins in Blender, I make it a point not to spend more than an hour. Just model simple shapes, pose mannequins, add superb lighting, and then hit render. Take that render, and then spend the next five-plus hours painting in krita. That’s about an 80% to 20% percent ratio in terms of hours worked.
The only problem is trying to figure out if the work is 80% done in Krita… it’s seriously going to have to be an honor system.
If your main tool is Krita but using Daz3D, Blender, Manikin, real photo textures (legal ones) and paint overs in the process, the main app creating the magic is still 100% Krita. It just shows the variety of ways you can work in Krita. Adapting workflow to be more efficient and less time consuming doesn’t make the painting less made with Krita.
One of the benefits of using Krita is its very much alive forum and fellow artists.
I can’t see any benefits of using Photoshop over Krita anymore, the developers have managed to make Krita far better for artists in many ways. So posting Photoshop stuff here only shows the need to be among loving friends rather than being stressed out competing in the industry.
Hi. Just thought I would offer my opinion ( for whatever it’s worth).
I recently listened to an interview that Neal Adams gave where he talked about artists like Norman Rockwell and Drew Struzan tracing from photographs. He was basically saying that it is stupid for artists to NOT trace as it allows artists to work faster/smarter. With that in mind I don’t necessarily think that tracing is wrong but to SLAVISHLY copy / reproduce a photo is pointless. Room needs to be made for artistic interpretation.
Maybe references should be included as part of the submission process. Then a judgement could be made on the artistic interpretation of the reference. Does that make sense?
At the risk of making myself look stupid here are the references for my two submissions and the resulting images that i created in Krita
![em darkness |300x400] (upload://iMsj61vPwL3YCpsp4k4bLzTMPti.jpeg)
Photos by PGR
That is in no way stupid.
…and I love your interpretations!
Michelist
That’s so kind of you. Thank you.
Your opinion is of most importance and I loved to read it.
I think you´re right.
Here’s my 2 cents on the subject.
I agree that this is a Krita forum and is for showcasing work created in Krita. Just about all artists, in all mediums, use some kind of reference or ideas they’ve seen elsewhere…whether in plein air or a photo reference, and Krita has a tool to import a reference image for this purpose. Some of Krita’s tools do creep over into the AI realm, like G’MIC and some of the built in filters… however, these tools are part of Krita, so should be acceptable in our monthly challenges.
I do NOT think it’s acceptable to “create” a piece of art using an AI generating app or software, then simply copy and paste it in the Krita monthly challenge forum. That is not what we want to see or are here for. I would, however, find it acceptable for someone to use an AI generated idea as a reference for ideas… and then paint it entirely in Krita. @edgarej alluded to this with his method of using his 3D block-ins to help with the initial layout. I sometimes use CorelDraw for this as well.
All across social media, AI generated art has become a real sore spot with “freehand” digital artists because most of it is not labeled as AI generated and misleads the viewers to think it was “painted” by the artist/poster.
I consider myself a “freehand” digital artist… meaning I create all my Krita art in the traditional process… starting with a sketch, then underpainting, then finishing out with the desired amount of detail. I have been accused of using AI on other sites and had to prove my digital art was actually painted by posting time-lapse vids of my process.
All that said… it’s my opinion that we are here to learn and help others learn and grow in digital art using Krita. I think it would benefit all our members if we add descriptions to our art stating some of the methods and/or references we used to create the piece within Krita. That’s one of the reasons I love the WIP threads. 
I think the challenge should very much stay a painting challenge: no bits and pieces of photos or anything like that in the final work. But since Krita is a tool that allows for all sorts of image manipulations, why not allow the full potential of the software in the creation process? For instance, what’s the real difference between having a photo next to your canvas as a reference, and having the same photo ON your canvas so you can more easily capture what interests you in it? So rejecting paint-over as different from copying from reference is a bit absurd and artificial…
As long as the final product is actually an original digital painting that brings more to the world than the simple manipulation of the sources/references, that’s all that really matters, isn’t it?
I see 2 problems with this:
