This Months Theme:

Unique Fairy Tale Interpretations

This Months Theme Description:

Fairy Tales have been told and passed down for generations, regardless of where one grew up. Capturing the imagination of children while also teaching lessons in morality. As happy and wistful as they may be, they would also heed a warning. Many of us grew up listing to these tales of old, and most can recall a few to this day. But depending on how you interpret them; they can be charming happy tales, or dark and twisted warnings. The atmosphere of the story can change depending on the story teller...

Your challenge for this month is to create your own interpretation of your favorite fairy tale. It could be dark and ominous or bright and cheerful, however you perceive or want to portray these fairy tales. We encourage you to put your own spin and style to it, as long as it remains true to the core material. Create an atmosphere and feel for the piece, try to evoke emotion.

It must be a Fairy Tale known to the general public.

This Months Rule:

Be creative and unique, try to incorporate as much of the fairy tale as possible while using your own style and interpretation.



The Premise:

"Exploring Fantasy" is a challenge for our members to take a journey through the sub-genres of fantasy in the form of varied themed contest which change monthly. It is designed to challenge us through subject matter, a monthly timescale and ever changing guidelines, while taking is on a tour through fantasy art to its very core. Themes will start off easy, but will quickly move on to more challenging subjects and rules meant to test us creatively and explore different genres, styles and subject matter. I will provide a list of subjects for our next contest, and you will be able to vote on which one you would like the most.

The real trick is, to compete in every one to truly test ourselves. The more out of our comfort zone the subject is, the more of a challenge it is for us. If we simply pick and choose that would be too easy, this is a challenge. So there will be a bonus for people who compete in every single challenge, and will be awarded at the end of the year.

The Info:

A theme will be voted on each month by a public poll. Then members have one month to complete pieces in that theme. Each Them Challenge Starts on the 1st of each month, and ends on the last day of that month at Midnight Eastern Time U.S. (GMT -5)

Voting will start on the last week of the month to decide the next months theme. The beginning of the next month a new contest will start and there will be a short voting period to decide the winner of the previous month. That winner will get a feature of that piece on our front page until the next winner is decided, as well as a feature in our monthly News. There will be a limitation chosen by myself every month, a rule that changes from month to month. The theme and rule will be posted at the top of this journal every month.

The Finalists:

The winners of each month will be finalist's eligible to enter an end of the year challenge to compete with one another, exclusively for monthly winners only.

The Wildcard:

Each staff member can pick one wild card to enter the final challenge, one artist who each staff thinks had a worthy piece but just didn't get the public vote and never won a contest. We will not play favorites, this decision will be based solely on artistic merit of a contest entry.

The Prize:

The winner of it all gets awarded a special prize, as well as a spot in our journal for the next year... until a new winner is crowned. And if that winner competed in every event they get a bonus...


The Rules:

Must be a member

It must follow the theme

It must be a new piece that wasn't posted before the first of the month. If the date is off, or it was on another site before hand you will be disqualified.

Contest submissions received before or after that month for that theme will not be accepted.

Must be completed work, remember this is a contest so show us your best.

It must say in your piece description that it is for our monthly themed contest with our icon.

Only mild artistic nudity is accepted, no major full frontal nudity

Only one contest submission is allowed, so make it count

Must have permission from and provide links to any stock used and the artist who created them.

Entries must abide by all deviantArt TOS and submission rules and regulations. Copyright infringement is neither condoned nor tolerated, and violations will be grounds for immediate disqualification.

Must send a link in a note titled "Exploring Fantasy Challenge: (Theme Here) :"

If any of these rules are not followed, the contestant will be disqualified from that months challenge.


Now accepting volunteers kind enough to donate prizes for the end of the year Challenge finale. If interested, send a note titled "Contest Donation" with info on what you can do to help.

One by one, more of our close affiliates which we also run, will begin hosting similar monthly themed art challenges, specific to their genres and mediums.

Clubs such as:




And there's more to come, stay tuned...


Challenge Yourself


*Realm-of-Fantasy