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I want to have another art contest too but will probably do it around Christmas when people are out of school. My friends are having a contest now and are not getting many good entries and even offering mini wings! I guess it's because the usual contest entrants are too busy getting ready for the school year.

If two months goes by without any notice from the artist, I will send a friendly poke at them via PM. Many times they forgot all about my artwork and have it done the next day.

I find it interesting to hear peoples' opinions on contests vs just outright commissioning - and there are definite pros and cons to both. I actually have been giving it a lot of thought recently because I've slowly been detaching myself more from Gaia and looking to just get a bunch of great art and thinking about the best way to do that.

With commissioning, be it going to auctions or waiting for people to come to you, you can pick and choose who you want, and you can figure out right away if whatever asking price is worth it to you. However, especially recently, really nice auctions can go for the 8-digits, especially if the artists are really well known. Also, at least last time I went around commissioning (and I will admit, I've only just started commissioning again - it's been at least a year or so since I actively was watching the R&C) I had only about 1/3 return rate of art I received from those that I commissioned. It was the norm for people to accept a commission and then drop off the face of Gaia/the internet. So you'd get your hopes up on getting some art, and then never get it - and that gold might have been put towards another auction by the time the trade gets canceled. And of course, there's the bookkeeping - keeping a list of all the people you've commissioned, about how long it's been, and what they're doing for you (though, maybe that's just me - I'm obsessive like that).
And maybe also it's just me, but I've had virtually no really productive nibbles on my request thread - there are a lot of them out there and the forum moves fast.

With a contest, it is a lot of time, and a lot of work. You have to read every post in the thread, you ought to respond to every post in the thread that's not just chatting/bumping between each other. The more you talk in your contest, the more of a thread presence you have, the better the contest tends to do. You have to advertise, a lot, doing LOTS of banner trades or else no one will notice the contest. And even if you're giving away 50million gold, and you're sure that half the artists on gaia would enter if they knew about it... they have to know about it first. You have to set up a web page to host the artwork that is entered, and at least try to update it every now and then. And of course, you have to judge - which is no easy task. You have to be prepared for people being disappointed or asking for justifications for your decisions. You will have a BUNCH of trades to deal with all at once. And, of course, there's also the risk that it won't be worth it. That you'll invest 50 million gold and when you sit down with the entries at the end and play the "what would I have paid for this?" you're barely scraping above a few million. And you will get a LOT of entries, usually around/at least half of the total entries, that are by artists with very little experience or are quick sketches.

But the bright sides? And what has made it worth it to me to do time after time is that there's a deadline. You don't have to worry about people disappearing and never finishing a commission you got your hopes up for. They have a deadline, and if they want to be eligible to win, they have to submit their finished entry by then. You don't send out any gold till the end of the contest, it's all set aside. And unless you get your hopes up with every person who promises to enter (because usually only half of them at most will actually finish an entry) you get a lot of great art, and a lot of surprises. People think of things with your characters that never would have occurred to you. You see different styles, and in a contest, artists have the freedom to try out new styles and techniques that they wouldn't feel comfortable offering in an auction. Also, there's the pressure of competition. Many artists do their best work when they know that there is going to be a competition - myself included. Even if they may not end up getting as much even if they win a prize, there's the satisfaction in knowing that they measured up - and they can always use that piece for a portfolio, and if it's okay with the contest owner, maybe prints. It forces artists to stretch their creativity and really put forth effort.
And also, you'll get artists coming out of the woodwork who you've never heard of before but who are amazing - people who don't participate in auctions, don't visit the same forums, and whose stuff you really love.
And the conversation is great. You have a "base of operations" set up with the contest thread and the atmosphere is generally fun, and creative. It's neat to see artists giving each other pointers, talking about experiences, etc smile

i have never, ever seen someone do their best work for a contest.
even if they spend hours on an entry, it has never happened to anyone i have ever watched on DA and some of my friends are the ones that repeatedly enter contests and are used to winning due to little turnout.

i don't know, i could never be convinced that running a contest is a good use of time and gold bc i've seen the pieces they produce and most of them are barely mediocre [that's mean, but whatever everyone here knows what's good and bad]. actively looking for artists seems like the best way to do things. there hasn't been a new request thread offering more than 10mil in a looooong, long time. imagine how many people would apply. these contests that offer minis as a grand prize sometimes get nothing good at all. there are 20 contests with big prizes going on at once, that's a lot of competition and to me it looks like the same group of people always enter/win. if a request thread opened up saying "i have minis and want one good artist for multiple commissions" i believe that the quality would surpass anything you'd get from hosting a contest for them. a lot of people have autobought group auctions saying "this is much better than any work i'd ever get from hosting a contest with the same item".

there are a lot more artists in their shell lurking the r&c than lurking the contest forum. in a request thread you can filter out all the bad stuff you don't need/want and you can be as picky as you'd like to be. even if the thread is open 3 months and you find no one suitable for your prize, you have zero loss.

all the conversation that can happen in an art contest can happen in any thread. people are generally drawn to threads with large funds [don't ask me why] especially when it is hosted by someone semi-known like most of the members of this guild. people will do freebies for you just bc you're you. rofl

again, that is just what i have noticed, i have never actually hosted a contest. i have experienced this from the outside looking in.

Lol. I had an artist push herself to the bloody limit and won minis in my contest, and I was certainly glad to give them to her. It's still one of my favorite pieces, and of course, due to the sentimentality, probably still most cherished. THen again, I suppose I was lucky. And this was over three years ago, and Gaia has changed.

I like holding contests. I like setting up the thread, I like watching the thread, I like reading over everything and replying to all the posts. I like the "bookkeeping" of a contest.

But Magaly is right in that it's just not worth doing gold-wise. The experience is a blast and I way enjoy it compared to commissioning, but it's just doomed to disappointment by the end. Particularly if it's a contest for original character artwork. Most people on Gaia seem to be of the opinion that drawing a character is 100% of the time more work and less fun than drawing an avatar.
These people are way lame, but that's just how it goes.


Though I also ditto Sabin on never getting any attention on request threads I make. I have the same issue with trying to open art shops, or hold auctions, or .. basically do anything on Gaia. Name is everything, and my name attracts nobody.

Yes, it's true you get lots of crappy art (like half-assed sketches) but good ones too. I was very surprised to get artwork from artists I never heard of before like Vixen of Vines. She did one of my favorite artworks of my avatar..here . I would have paid a devil tail if she had that as an autobuy in an auction easily.

In my contest I had OCs that many people remarked that they loved drawing. That might be reason I was successful with the contest in the OC category. I did have a good advertising campaign going since I own an extremely popular pet shop. One girl linked me to 200 art-related threads alone!

I've had bad experience with doing R/Q threads myself. I find it extremely difficult to turn someone down when I don't like their art in fear of hurting their feelings. When I did have a R/Q once I accepted everyone who applied even if they had distasteful art! xp

I'll probably have smaller prizes next time since I spent so much in the first contest.

I bet Woe wouldn't have that problem ...


I've never held a contest (too skint), but I agree with what Magaly has said about the disparity between expensive prize pools and number/quality of entrants.

I think there's social value to it, though (part of the value is also that if you hold another contest people will know you). I probably couldn't do it because of a lack of time, but I see that people enjoy it, and I suppose that's ultimately what really matters. Obviously if it were all about getting one million and one high-end entrants ... well, anyone who thinks they could get that these days is probably a little delusional (or a high-end artist themselves, or a high-end artist with high-end buddies who would enter! And no, I don't like the term "high-end" much, but it illustrates what it has to).

That said, I also come waving a "real dosh contest" flag. I've only held one - there was one prize and it was a $70 doll. I had a terrible contest brief ("draw something from a horrible story I've written!") and the winning entry was worth more than the doll itself. I was happy.

The contest probably wouldn't have got as much attention if not for the advertising power of Magaly and bw-inc, so this comment is also an "advertise!" flag, as well.

No, I wouldn't, haha. That's my business edge.

But that said - I know a lot of artists who prefer to draw OCs, especially with items so crayz nowadays.

But theystill don't want to read. They like ref pics.