Gad. Think I'll leave that to someone far more talented than I am. I could not possibly do either of those two justice with my own work, and I'm paralyzed by the idea of Erol Otus judging me. 2D art isn't my gig.
Now, hand me a miniature and I'll take a stab at it. :)
Very cool, though in modern fashion it leaves out what the contest actually is. Is it draw something in their style? Redraw something they drew in your own style? Draw anything? Are there size parameters?
It's an art contest and the winning entries are going to be used in Fight On! with perpetual reproduction rights for whatever issue or article a given piece is used in. If you want to win, enter things that a high-quality zine can reasonably use, because that's bound to be a factor. I've seen mention on other forums that they're especially hoping for color work suitable for covers (big surprise) but anything will get a look if they can print it.
There can be (and I'm betting will be) multiple third prize winners, so the organizers can look through the entries, let the judges pick the top prizes, then effectively buy the use of everything else that they want (and can afford) for the $25 color/$15 B&W third prize cost. That's really, really cheap by art commission standards, so this is a great way to build a stock of art for future issues, although obviously they're getting random submissions rather than exactly what they want.
The only subject restrictions are for the two Memorial categories, where they're looking for art "inspired by or in the style of" either Trampier or Sutherland, respectively. Even that's a really broad field, obviously.
I agree with Dick. The play looks like a low-dollar-spend to gather clips and stuff them in a box for future use. It isn't as if a fantasy depiction really goes out of style.
Note that I'm not criticizing the organizers, just making an observation. People can decide for themselves if $15/25 is worth having the art tied up till it's published, and it's not like you're giving up all your rights to your winning entries. I know plenty of folks who'd be happy to be seen in the zine and would regard a prize as a bonus to the bragging rights.
I did suggest elsewhere that Fight On! might get more submissions if they put a hard cap on how long they retain that "first publication" claim (say, a year, maybe even two) so pros and semi-pros who might want to sell elsewhere don't feel like their entries will wind up being held hostage indefinitely until the zine prints them, but realistically that's not likely to matter. Even if someone went and sold a third-prize piece to another publisher early, no one's going to go to court over this kind of money.
We appreciate the feedback! I can guarantee that (a) we would not hold on to anybody's rights more than a year and (b) that if it was starting to draw out, even for less time than that, and an artist really wanted to use their work for something else at the same time, we would try to give them an accommodation. The idea behind these contests is to give back some of what the fanzine makes to people who contribute to it or who might like to. If our popularity keeps growing the prizes will get bigger. Anyway, no one has to contribute, and we're grateful to everyone who does. Fight on!
Hi Adam, thanks for your interest! It's really a free for all. We're a fanzine who likes to showcase the creativity of their contributors, so whatever art people want to submit is cool with us. If someone asks me or Ig what we want obviously stuff that fits the magazine better is what we'll say, but the judges are under no compulsion to think about that, just about the works they think are best (and in the case of the Trampier/Sutherland prizes, the works that honor those artists the best).
Gad. Think I'll leave that to someone far more talented than I am. I could not possibly do either of those two justice with my own work, and I'm paralyzed by the idea of Erol Otus judging me. 2D art isn't my gig.
ReplyDeleteNow, hand me a miniature and I'll take a stab at it. :)
Very cool, though in modern fashion it leaves out what the contest actually is. Is it draw something in their style? Redraw something they drew in your own style? Draw anything? Are there size parameters?
ReplyDeleteThe contest announcement _was_ written by an AI, clearly -- just a jealous one.
DeleteIt's an art contest and the winning entries are going to be used in Fight On! with perpetual reproduction rights for whatever issue or article a given piece is used in. If you want to win, enter things that a high-quality zine can reasonably use, because that's bound to be a factor. I've seen mention on other forums that they're especially hoping for color work suitable for covers (big surprise) but anything will get a look if they can print it.
DeleteThere can be (and I'm betting will be) multiple third prize winners, so the organizers can look through the entries, let the judges pick the top prizes, then effectively buy the use of everything else that they want (and can afford) for the $25 color/$15 B&W third prize cost. That's really, really cheap by art commission standards, so this is a great way to build a stock of art for future issues, although obviously they're getting random submissions rather than exactly what they want.
The only subject restrictions are for the two Memorial categories, where they're looking for art "inspired by or in the style of" either Trampier or Sutherland, respectively. Even that's a really broad field, obviously.
I agree with Dick. The play looks like a low-dollar-spend to gather clips and stuff them in a box for future use. It isn't as if a fantasy depiction really goes out of style.
DeleteNote that I'm not criticizing the organizers, just making an observation. People can decide for themselves if $15/25 is worth having the art tied up till it's published, and it's not like you're giving up all your rights to your winning entries. I know plenty of folks who'd be happy to be seen in the zine and would regard a prize as a bonus to the bragging rights.
DeleteI did suggest elsewhere that Fight On! might get more submissions if they put a hard cap on how long they retain that "first publication" claim (say, a year, maybe even two) so pros and semi-pros who might want to sell elsewhere don't feel like their entries will wind up being held hostage indefinitely until the zine prints them, but realistically that's not likely to matter. Even if someone went and sold a third-prize piece to another publisher early, no one's going to go to court over this kind of money.
The winning hand . . . folds.
ReplyDeleteWe appreciate the feedback! I can guarantee that (a) we would not hold on to anybody's rights more than a year and (b) that if it was starting to draw out, even for less time than that, and an artist really wanted to use their work for something else at the same time, we would try to give them an accommodation. The idea behind these contests is to give back some of what the fanzine makes to people who contribute to it or who might like to. If our popularity keeps growing the prizes will get bigger. Anyway, no one has to contribute, and we're grateful to everyone who does. Fight on!
ReplyDeleteHi Adam, thanks for your interest! It's really a free for all. We're a fanzine who likes to showcase the creativity of their contributors, so whatever art people want to submit is cool with us. If someone asks me or Ig what we want obviously stuff that fits the magazine better is what we'll say, but the judges are under no compulsion to think about that, just about the works they think are best (and in the case of the Trampier/Sutherland prizes, the works that honor those artists the best).
ReplyDeleteTrampier was well-nigh a genius. DCS? Not so much.
ReplyDelete