It is time again for my second annual coloring contest!

This year, it will be done a bit differently. Last year, I drew a picture specifically for the contest... this year I have a few images already drawn and not colored. So I will have three images for the contest. Before I tell you about that, though, lets get to the good stuff. Prizes.

Prizes

First Place overall
A 6 month subscription to deviantart
6 pictures from your gallery featured in all three of my accounts' journals. and

First Place for each picture (there will be 3 of these.)
A 3 month subscription to deviantart
3 pictures from your gallery featured in all three of my accounts' journals and


Second place for each picture (again, there will be three of these)
A picture of your choice featured in all three of my journals. and


The best coloring jobs for each picture will also be added to my manic goose gallery as a collaboration.

the Pictures

Now that I've got your attention, lets talk about the pictures to be colored. There are three of them and you have a choice. You can choose one of them to color and submit it to the contest. If you have already colored it, then you can submit it too. You can also color all three and submit all three. This would give you three chances to win something. The choice is yours. Please note that I will have large versions of each picture available in th scraps if you like to color using a larger picture to start with. I am providing links to these on the actual pictures. To access them, go to the image you want to color, and find the link in the artist's comments. All three pictures are of original characters from my manga/graphic novel... yet to be made.

These are the three pictures:

1. this is a picture of Tomikai Ryu. When coloring him, you need to remember that his eyes are dark blue and his hair is a chestnut color, which is brown with red highlights. all other colors are open to your interpretation.

[link]

2. This is a picture of Kiala Katerine. When coloring her, you need to remember that her hair is golden. The eyes are obviously green. That part of the picture is already colored. You can color over them in your own style if you like... or leave them as they are. Everything else is open for interpretation. Also, if you want to add a background of your choice, you can delete the larger image of her and make your own. When I drew this, I was thinking of her sitting on the edge of a fountain, but that is not a requirement. When putting larger versions of these images up for coloring convenience, I will put a variation of this image up without the larger image of her. You can use that if you wish.

[link]

3. Ko-Chan will kill me for adding this. It is technically Ko-Chan in drag... against his will I might add. You can draw it using his colors if you want. He has indigo (violet with blue tints in it) hair, and orange eyes. You can also decide that this is just a lovely girl in a kimono and color it with any color scheme you want. You may add a background or leave it blank. I added this picture to the contest because the detail in it is really good, and I think that just as a picture, people would enjoy coloring it. Like I said, it is your choice if you want to see it as a beautiful Geisha or as Ko-Chan. Your choice in this matter will NOT influence your odds of winning.

[link]

If you want to know more about these characters, visit .

submitting

Send a note titled "contest entry" to any of my three accounts. or
When I receive it, I will add the thumb to this journal and I will add the thumb to the picture that goes with it. I will be posting a news article for the contest soon and I will add the thumb to that as well.

How to win

The first and second place winners for each picture will be determined by open deviantart voting. That means you send in a note with your favorite picture and I will tally up the votes. Pictures with the most votes will be the winners. The overall winner however will be determined through judging. This means that the picture with the most votes may or may not be the overall winner. I, and a few other artists that I am connected with (not on deviantart) will look at each picture, and choose the best. Identity will not play a role in deciding because most of the judges don't even have a deviantART account. The reason for this is that I want the winner to be determined on artistic merit, not on popularity. When judging, the judges will be looking at the following:

1. Coloring skills: Yes, if you are good at coloring, you have a better chance of winning, but this is not the only determining factor.
2. Color template: Colors are more than just something to fill in the lines. the judges will be looking at the color scheme you use to see how you use them to portray different moods, catch the eye, increase or decrease contrast for effect, and generally strengthen the composition of the picture.
4. Lighting: This is always important in coloring. The use of lighting to make the picture light or dark, to set a mood, or make it more or less dramatic will influence the appeal of the piece.
3. Composition of backgrounds and use or non use of negative space: Don't automatically think that in order to win, you have to make a background. Sometimes negative space is a good thing. (Negative space is basically the space with nothing in it.) For example, if you feel that the subject really needs to be the focus of the picture, you may choose to leave the background simple... or even blank. This might be a good idea if you put a lot of work into the subject and want that to be noticed. On the other hand, you may have a great idea for a background, and if it does indeed look great and compliment the picture in your opinion, then add it. This is an artistic choice that you must make.

Voting

When it is time to vote, you can send in a note with your favorite. Each submission will have a number, and you can tell me the number of the submission, or you can give me the artist and the title. Anything is fair as long as I can trace it back to the picture you are talking about. You need to send in a note however because I want a blind vote. You can vote for your favorite of each picture, or just vote for one.

Timeline

November 21st 2007. The contest begins. I am accepting entries.

November 25th 2007. The large versions of the pictures will be available, and the contest will be posted on each picture as well as in a news article.

January 6th 2008. Last day accepting pictures for the contest.

January 7th 2008. Voting begins

January 14th 2008. Last day of voting

January 15th 2008. Winners will be announced.

January 28th 2008. All prizes will be distributed by this time.

Questions???
if you have any questions still, feel free to ask me.

results of last year's contest

Last year, I only had one picture. There was a great turn out, and thank you again to all who participated. Here is a link to last year's contest. Contest Results

Good LUCK! and have fun!