Hello everyone, today I am going to talk about art contests. Usually, when I attempt them, they are in the form of instagram contests, so my experience with them is limited to the virtual world.
My biggest experience with them is that they are great time filler but not something to get my hopes to high over.
When attempting a contest, I am competing against a lot of really talented artists, so it is not something I expect to win. Most online contests get a lot of attention, which means you can easily get lost in a sea of very talented creative people. The way I look at it, if I have time and the contest seems interesting it can be a fun way to improve art skills.
Often, I find that the parameters of the contest let your imagination run wild and create any way you see fit. Sometimes you can really go crazy with your idea. However, I often just push the creativity in terms of color, and do not find myself making drastic leaps that push me far outside the sand box I usually like to play in.
For example, with the above illustration of the “Mona Lisa”, I did not want to stray far from such an iconic piece of art mostly because I was looking to practice my skills when drawing the human form. I was also getting comfortable with an app called Linea Sketch for this particular contest and did not want to stray to far from the original painting while getting used to a new apps brushes and limitations. As a result, this project did not win, which I was ok with.
What I really need to do is start pushing my creativity more when I stumble upon a contest that I like the look of. It can be quite the creative block sometimes to create from nothing. A blank page is both a source of endless possibilities as well as a herculean task to try and fill.
I do enjoy trying to accomplish these contests though, even if I am only doing them to put them in my portfolio. They are always a challenge and it can push me to try new things and improve my skills. Though, I do find myself growing as an illustrator and with more work comes less time for these projects.
I would love to hear what you think about art contests of all kinds, so please feel free to reach out and let me know what you think 🤔?
Thank you so much for joining me on my journey.
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Carolyn Sehgal 