Anime Boston

Anime Boston is proud to announce that we will be once again hosting an art contest!

In accordance with our 2014 theme of Magic & Mischief, we're looking for artists to submit their own magical creations! We want to see your original artwork, be it wizards, warlocks, witches, sorcerers, monsters, magical girls or other creatures!

In addition, you must also submit a brief back story of your creation. Tell us about your character and who they are.

Judging
Judging of entries will be based upon several criteria:
-Adherence to the 2014 theme of Magic & Mischief
-Creativity and Originality
-How well the artwork depicts the back story.

Judging will be performed by the Anime Boston Social Media Staff. Results will be announced within two weeks of the contest's conclusion.

Prizes
Of course, no contest is complete without prizes! For this year, our prizes will be:
-Grand Prize: One (1) 8-foot table space in the Anime Boston 2014 Artists' Alley and one (1) weekend badge for Anime Boston 2014.
-Runner Up: One (1) weekend badge to Anime Boston 2014.
-Honorable Mentions: Placement in the Art Gallery at Anime Boston 2014.

Aside from convention programming, the Art Gallery will also serve as advertising for the artists. Artists' contact information and Artists' Alley booth numbers will be listed. This prime location will increase your visibility beyond the walls of the Artists' Alley.

All entries will be posted on our website and forums, along with information about the piece and artist.

Rules
There are some simple rules to this contest:
-All artwork must be your own original creations.
-Artwork must not be fan-art. They cannot reference existing properties (Sailor Moon, Nanoha, Madoka, etc), including original characters in existing properties.
-Artwork can be either 2D or 3D.
-2D artwork should be either digital, or scanned from the physical artwork.
-3D artwork should be submitted via photographs. We suggest multiple photographs of each piece to capture different angles.
-Back story text should be 100 words or less. This will be displayed along with your entry.
-Back story text will not be proof-read or edited prior to being judged or displayed. Make sure it represents you as well as your art does.
-Artwork can depict a single character, a scene, or even a comic format (such as 4-koma).
-Artwork should depict at least 1 character. Multiple characters in an entry are allowed, but will only count as one entry.
-Multiple entries may be submitted by an artist.
-Artists must be 18 years of age or older at the time of submission.

Submission
-All entries must be emailed to contest@animeboston.com with the subject line "2014 Art Contest". You may include multiple entries in an email.
-Include in each email the following information:

• Your legal name

• Your email address

• Title of your entry

• Back story text (100 words or less)

• Medium of the artwork

• Studio name (if any)

• Website (if any)

• How to credit you (legal name, pseudonym, studio, etc)

• Contact Information for public (email, website, etc)

-All submissions must be received by 11:59 PM EST on Sunday, October 6, 2013.

Other Rules
-Anime Boston and the New England Anime Society have the right to post and use all contest entries for promotional and programming content.
-Anime Boston and the New England Anime Society will not have the right to sell the likeness of the artwork without the expressed written consent of the artist.
-Artists will retain the right to sell their artwork.
-Artists may withdraw their submission from the contest at any time before the contest concludes.
-Prizes are not transferable, refundable, or exchangeable.
-Winners must abide by all rules and regulations of the Artists' Alley and Anime Boston.
-Staff of Anime Boston and the New England Anime Society are not eligible to win Grand Prize or Runner Up prizes.
-Anime Boston staff reserve the right to alter the rules of this contest at any time.

We can't wait to see your entries! Good luck to everyone!

Hey, this is pretty cool! And the timing of this AB 2014 means it MIGHT even be plausible for us to go (it's frequently so close to our "home" convention, ACen, that it's really not reasonable at all, as was the case in 2013). Pet peeve, though -- considering how much the activity in artists' alleys has changed to encompass all kinds of crafts, how come all these 'win a free AA table' art contests (or at least all the ones I've seen) still have language and terms that mostly reflect drawings? At least you guys have announced a deadline that's almost two months away -- that's better than the last one I entered, which had such a short timespan that I was rushing like crazy just to do the actual physical work of making the piece by the deadline (and then it had judging based on Facebook likes to boot, augh, thank you for having a judging panel) -- but the character-focused guidelines aren't so friendly to crafters who don't generally produce images of people. Any clarifications you'd like to offer to make the contest more open to, say, a jewelry-and-props type crafter (a type of work which is ABSOLUTELY suited to the 'Magic & Mischief' theme if not for all the talk of depicting characters)? I can think of tons of ideas, but I don't know which of those would actually be considered to qualify according to the rules as listed.

Can you use characters from your own comic/story? I know AB has the right to sell and use images entered in promotional material...but would you guys own the characters in each piece?

I know it's kind of a dumb question...but I would love some clarification. ^_^ Thanks! <3

The characters you submit will remain yours. If we use your art or display it, it would only be in the form originally submitted. We cannot sell the art without your express permission.

So, feel free to submit existing characters, as long as they came from your brain.

Mosquito wrote:The characters you submit will remain yours. If we use your art or display it, it would only be in the form originally submitted. We cannot sell the art without your express permission.

So, feel free to submit existing characters, as long as they came from your brain.

AWESOME!! Thank you!!!! *frolics off to draw stuffs*

akatonbo wrote:Any clarifications you'd like to offer to make the contest more open to, say, a jewelry-and-props type crafter (a type of work which is ABSOLUTELY suited to the 'Magic & Mischief' theme if not for all the talk of depicting characters)? I can think of tons of ideas, but I don't know which of those would actually be considered to qualify according to the rules as listed.

Unfortunately, we're not planning on expanding the focus of this contest beyond the already stated guidelines. You're certainly right that crafters do make a form of art. However, it does fall outside the scope of this competition. Part of it is that it is difficult to compare and contrast two wholly separate art forms: "traditional" artworks and crafting.

If we have a drawing of a character and a scene, it's difficult to compare it to a necklace or bracelet. The two may both be visually striking and elaborate, but it's very much like comparing apples and oranges.

Similarly, think of a dessert contest. The contest may stipulate for pies or cakes to be entered. You however, always enjoyed home made chocolate truffles. Again, both are desserts, but it's difficult to compare truffles to pies or cakes. Not because they're not valid, but because the defining attributes are so dissimilar.

Another concern is that opening the contest up to jewelry and props starts pushing the contest into the realm of cosplay materials. If jewelry and props are allowed, why not crafted clothes as well? If a shirt is allowed, why not an entire costume? So then how do you compare a clay sculpture of a 5 headed Alicorn to a costume of a Space Mime?

It really comes down to that we have to draw a line somewhere. At this junction, the minimum requirements are depicting some sort of character or creature.

Is there an age regulation here, or is it open to everyone?

oceanlover4evr wrote:Is there an age regulation here, or is it open to everyone?

With most of our contests, we don't have a minimum age. However, since the prize is an Artists' Alley table, you have to be 18 to participate in the AA. We've set the minimum age to be 18 years old by the time you submit. Sorry for the confusion; we forgot that part.

If you won't be 18 until the deadline, 10/6/13, you can wait until that day to submit.

Ohhh, I can't wait to see what contestants come up with this year!! The artwork last year was SO amazing!

I'm just wondering...

If the original-character's powers/abilities came from a source/being from a Famous Chinese/Japanese Myth... (Ex. Journey to the West)

Is that allowed/premitted?

DemonGirl-Setsuna wrote:If the original-character's powers/abilities came from a source/being from a Famous Chinese/Japanese Myth... (Ex. Journey to the West)

Is that allowed/premitted?

I understand where you're going with this, I think. We want to avoid 1:1 versions of existing characters, even mythical. Otherwise we could see drawings of Zeus, or characters even from the Yokai last year.

That being said, it doesn't necessarily mean that powers and abilities belong to only one character. Just because Superman can fly doesn't mean your character can't. At the same time though, if your character flies, has heat vision, x-ray vision, freeze breath, superhuman strength and is faster than a speeding bullet, then it starts to look less original.

Does that help?

What if you won't be 18 by the deadline, but will be 18 by the time of Anime Boston? Would someone be able to enter if that were the case?

Faceman wrote:I understand where you're going with this, I think. We want to avoid 1:1 versions of existing characters, even mythical. Otherwise we could see drawings of Zeus, or characters even from the Yokai last year.

That being said, it doesn't necessarily mean that powers and abilities belong to only one character. Just because Superman can fly doesn't mean your character can't. At the same time though, if your character flies, has heat vision, x-ray vision, freeze breath, superhuman strength and is faster than a speeding bullet, then it starts to look less original.

Does that help?

Not really...

This is (sort) of the scenario:

The character receives an item/object from a relative that is traveling abroad.
And because they were destined to have this item/object, they inherit the responsiblity that comes with it. (Ex. Maintaining the balence between the Real-World & the Magical-World; a.k.a. perventing the magical-beings from causing Chaos in the Real-World)

The item/object grants them the powers/abilities of the being from the Myth. (Well, most of them...)

Ultimately, I think we need to stay away from direct references to mythical characters. If various characteristics from multiple myths and legends are your inspiration, that should be fine. But we shouldn't be able to look at your character and recognize it as someone else.

Do the rules regarding originality apply to monsters? As long as the character in the piece is our own is it okay for it to include legendary magical creatures like mermaids, gargoyles, unicorns, The Kraken, etc. etc. for example?

Mermaids, Gargoyle, etc are generic enough that there's not 1 real example. The key again is making sure it's your own character. If your Gargoyle highly resembles Goliath or Brooklyn from Gargoyles, or your unicorn looks a lot like Twilight Sparkle, it's going to be not really original.

The key is that these are your own characters, not your own depiction of existing characters.

Awwwww yeah this is my kind of contest.


How big or how small should the submission be?
Is it just going to be posted online, put in the program book, printed into a big poster ...?

Landscape or portrait?

Any color limitations (like t-shirts)?

skim wrote:How big or how small should the submission be?
Is it just going to be posted online, put in the program book, printed into a big poster ...?

Landscape or portrait?

Any color limitations (like t-shirts)?

No size limitations of minimal.

Entries will all be posted online. Honorable Mentions will be posted in an Art Gallery at the convention. Prints will be done on about 11x17 paper. So just be aware that a larger work will be scaled down to fit.

Either orientation is fine. No color limitations either.

So I sent in my entry the other day but haven't received a receipt. Just want to make sure it was accepted before the deadline. Would hate to be disqualified just because it got lost in the emails especially as the attached file was rather large. Also did you guys have a preferred file type? I sent mine as a PDF but you never actually gave a preferred digital type.

We did get your entry; we don't reply to submissions because of the volume of them, unless something's wrong with the submission.

Usually we prefer image formats, like .png and .jpg. I can convert your .pdf to one of them though.

Quick reminder that you have until 11:59 pm on Sunday to enter! What are you doing with your weekend? If you enter, you could win a free table in Artist Alley 2014 or other great prizes.

We've gotten some amazing submissions. Thanks to all who have already entered and good luck to all!

Hope to see all the entries soon. Is there a timeline for it?

More importantly: Will the winner be informed before the general artist alley table sign ups at the end of the month?