My Older Journals.

If you want to spread the contest (thank you if you do ), please do so via this link; if you spread it via the news article, people won't be receiving the full list of prizes.

I added new FAQs, please check them out.

I forgot to state this:
Tracing and the use of dolls is strictly forbidden and your entry will not count. You are allowed to reference with credit, but you are not allowed to reference the pose of the character reference provided. Why? Because that's not very original, is it?

Contest Brief
If you've already seen the prize list, you might be thinking to yourself, 'What do I need to do to get those prizes? Draw a monkey balancing on a ping-pong ball with his spine facing north-west?'. Nope, not anything remotely as complicated as that.

It is a simple 'Draw my OC' contest!

What OCs can I draw?
There are many OCs which you can draw: little girls, skinny girls, burly men, it's your choice. There are eight OCs in total to choose from: Niamh, Alex, Ruby, Sebastian, Melanie, Violet, Mimi and Dylan.

OC Information.

Niamh - The travelling main character.



Alex - The happy-go-lucky hero.



Ruby - The pyromaniac little sister.



Sebastian - The mysterious father figure.



Melanie - The maternal nurse.



Violet - The adorable bag-of-nerves.



Mimi - The essentric diva.



Dylan - The dyslexic rocker.



Prizes

1st Place
9 month deviantART subscription
-OR a set of five Copics (plus 0.3 pigment liner) if you live in the UK.
-OR a set of twelve Prismacolor markers if you live in the US.
-OR a piece of art equipment equivalent to the price.
Several art/literature requests from me if you wish.
Six-month sub/photo print of your choice courtesy of *The-Magic-Within.
Three-month sub for the winner courtesy of ~KasiasDragon.
Three-month sub courtesy of *Langesha.
Coloured sketch request for the winner courtesy of =melody-musique.
Coloured sketch request for the winner courtesy of ~xx--dark--angel--xx.
Detailed sketch and sketch video courtesy of ~TomboyDudet103
CG'd request courtesy of =gloomynekochan.
Coloured chibi courtesy of ~Cetriya.
Stock donation courtesy of =fireflyx
Detailed chibi courtesy of *mookie627
Sketch of your OC courtesy of *phaidor
CG'd request courtesy of *PeriSnale.
Fully-coloured request courtesy of ~Zhon890.
Detailed sketch courtesy of ~RoosterBomb.
Request illustration courtesy of =Yam-Yam-chan.
Avatar request courtesy of ~chocolate-rainbows.
Coloured chibi request courtesy of ~ShuryouGospel13.
Painting request courtesy of *justLOG.
Two requests courtesy of ~chahLei.
Journal features from: =mikegoulty, =fireflyx, ~xx--dark--angel--xx, ~KasiasDragon, =xRUBIx, *phaidor, ~ShuryouGospel13, *justLOG, *Angelkitty765 (for one month), ~chahLei, ~Blue-Panda-Chan.
News feature from ~Iwien.

2nd Place
6 month deviantART subscription
-OR a piece of art equipment equivalent to the price.
One-month sub courtesy of *Langesha.
Several art/literature requests from me if you wish.
Detailed chibi headshot courtesy of *mookie627.
Sketch courtesy of ~TomboyDudet103.
Sketch of your OC courtesy of *phaidor
Toned chibi courtesy of ~Cetriya.
Lineart request courtesy of *PeriSnale.
Request illustration (limited to two characters) courtesy of =Yam-Yam-chan.
Avatar request courtesy of ~chocolate-rainbows.
Painting request courtesy of *justLOG.
Request courtesy of ~chahLei.
Journal features from: =mikegoulty, =fireflyx, ~xx--dark--angel--xx, ~KasiasDragon, =xRUBIx, *phaidor, ~ShuryouGospel13, *justLOG, *Angelkitty765 (for one month), ~chahLei, ~Blue-Panda-Chan.
News feature from ~Iwien.

3rd Place
3 month deviantART subscription.
One month sub courtesy of *Langesha.
Several art/literature requests from me if you wish.
Simple chibi courtesy of *mookie627.
Sketch courtesy of ~TomboyDudet103.
Sketch of your OC courtesy of *phaidor
Half-body sketch courtesy of ~Cetriya.
Sketch request courtesy of *PeriSnale.
Request illustration (one character) courtesy of =Yam-Yam-chan.
Avatar request courtesy of ~chocolate-rainbows.
Painting request courtesy of *justLOG.
Journal features from: =mikegoulty, =fireflyx, ~xx--dark--angel--xx, ~KasiasDragon, =xRUBIx, *phaidor, ~ShuryouGospel13, *justLOG, *Angelkitty765 (for one month), ~chahLei, ~Blue-Panda-Chan.
News feature from ~Iwien.

Not only that, but I am also going to be printing out every entry on to high-gloss paper to preserve them in a scrapbook for years to come.

Deadline
The deadline for this contest is December 31st. Think about it, that's over three months to do one picture!

What is/isn't allowed.

Is allowed
Multiple-OC pictures/paired pictures.
Comics.
Multiple entries (although quality does beat quantity!).

Isn't allowed
Mature content deviations.
Literature (I'd like to hold an all-literature contest someday ).
Certain fetish arts (please note me first if you only do a certain type of art).
Inserting your own OCs (it would confuse me a lot if I looked at the scrapbook in a few years time and didn't recognise a character).

FAQs

What was the inspiration for this contest?
I don't get a lot of fanart, so I thought it would be a fun idea to encourage people to learn about my OCs while getting a reward for it. I've been developing some of my OCs since I was eleven (I'm nearly seventeen now) and I would really like to see them being portrayed by some amazing artists. Even when I was lying in hospital sick, I was still developing and writing about my OCs, so it would be nice to find a way to preserve them (via the scrapbook) if I ever deviate away from the idea and start a new one.

I live outside of the UK, but I still want Copics. What can I do?
As far as I know, those five-pack set of Copics are only available in the UK. However, if you find me a site in your region (.com for America, .ie for Ireland etc) that sells individual Copics, I will happily buy them that way. Please remember that you will have to be comfortable with giving me your address if you are to receive physical prizes.

You mentioned that the person who gathers the most participants gets a small prize - isn't that technically a popularity contest?
It may be, but you have to look at it from my perspective: I'm paying good money for this contest, whereas 70% of contests on dA offer art only for prizes. Not only that, but I will genuinely appreciate ever entry and I look forward to meeting new friends via this contest, so it's not as if I'm screwing people over.

How can I spread this contest?
Helping to spread the contest can be as simple as faving the news article when it comes out! However, if you wish to go the extra mile, you can feature the news article/journal in your own journal, which I will definitely appreciate a lot.

Can I donate prizes still?
Of course you can!

I love you.
I guarantee that I love you more.

I have a question, but it's not in the FAQ list.
Feel free to note me about it, I don't bite at all.

How do I enter?
Leave a comment on the journal and your name will be entered in the 'Entrants' list.

How do I submit my entry?
You can submit your entry by uploading the deviation as normal to deviantART, then by noting me the entry. Please do not post the link in this journal as it increases the risk of human error on my part.

Who're the judges?
To mix things up, I am making half of the judges people I know IRL, then the other half being composed of people I know from dA. The judges will be kept completely secret and a score sheet will not be uploaded to minimize the risk of hurt feelings.

I am not a judge: a lot of deviants I admire and respect are entering this contest, therefore I cannot be completely impartial.

What will the judges be looking for?
This is not, I REPEAT, not a pretty picture contest. I will be encouraging the judges to look for as many of these factors as possible:
Originality
Attention-to-detail (in terms of character)
Portraying the character's personality
Paying attention to Character Profiles
Superficial effort.

In all honesty, an entry that portrays personality, originality and effort will make me a lot happier than an entry composed by a ' popular' deviant in the space of ten minutes with no personality. Also, inconsistencies (such as giving a character a completely different personality) will have points deducted from them.

Entrants:
To see all of the entries so far, please click here. If you wish to enter, please comment on this journal, not that journal. Also, there are loads of hidden comments because it's an old journal edited, not because I'm hated!

Entries:
As this journal is reaching its 60KB limit, I cannot display the entries in thumbnails. To see all of the entries so far, please click here.