SmallWorlds Mona Lisa Self-Portrait CompetitionJanuary 12, 2010 12:14 PM
Most of us are familiar with Wheezy Bee, renowned painter and owner of the United Artists Gallery. Wheezy's reproduction of the Mona Lisa is almost as famous as she is - it was used as the headline picture when we ran last year's Art Forgery Competition. So when Wheezy decided to auction her painting, I just knew the bidding would reach a high price.
The auction closed at midnight SWT on Friday 8th January. There was fierce competition between bidders, but when the midnight bell tolled, the winner was Hathaway Browne, who paid a record price for a single painting, an incredible 305,000 Gold!
I'd like to say a big congratulations to Wheezy for achieving a record-breaking price, and also to Hathaway for becoming the proud owner of this exceptional painting.
Paint Your Own Self-Portrait Competition
After seeing the amazing price paid for Wheezy's painting, I had a go at painting my own portrait on a Graffiti Canvas. I must confess that Wheezy's success started me wondering if maybe one day I might become good enough to sell my own paintings.
I was in my room practicing, when Kent suggested that it was high time we ran another art competition. This time we've decided to run a self-portrait competition with a difference... we'd like you to paint your own SmallWorlds avatar!
Make sure you paint your own default avatar, because when you post your portrait on the Competition Forum thread, we'll be comparing the portrait with the little avatar head that automatically appears beside your post (your default avatar is the one that will appear).
Could You Paint SmallWorlds' Next Mona Lisa?
Who knows, maybe your SmallWorlds avatar painting will sell for a high price... you could paint the next Mona Lisa! In the meantime, I think it's going to be an awful lot of fun - both doing the painting and seeing what other people come up with.
The Categories and PrizesIn order to give both experienced and newer artists a chance in the competition, we've decided to pick winners in three categories:
- Best Painting: Painting skill will be paramount in this category. We are looking for an excellent likeness of your SmallWorlds avatar, and a great picture as a whole.
- Most Creative Entry: The entry will be judged on the whole picture, with emphasis placed on the background and the placement of your avatar in the picture. Points will be awarded for creativity in this category, so if you've got a great idea you could be a finalist in this category - even if your painting skills aren't quite perfected yet.
- Best Use Of Color: This category is aimed at less practiced artists. Make your painting bold and colorful, and it will be considered for this category. We'll be looking for paintings where it looks like the artist has had fun - paintings that make us smile!
Kent and I will choose the top five finalists in all three categories, a total of 15 finalists in all. We will then put these finalists up for a public vote to determine a grand prize winner.
Each of the fifteen finalists will receive a prize of 2,000 Gold. The winners of each of the three categories will win an additional 3,000 Gold each. Then the overall winner will receive an additional grand prize of another 5,000 Gold - 10,000 in total!
Competition Rules- You can put your avatar into any setting... the more creative the better!
- Your painting doesn't have to be just your avatar head - you can also include your body (or an imaginary body) if you wish.
- It is only your avatar's head that must be realistic. The rest of the painting can be as realistic or as fantasy-based as you wish.
- All paintings entered will be considered for all three categories. You don't need to specify which category you're entering.
- A screenshot of your painting must be included in the official competition forum thread, along with a link to where the painting is in-world. Judging will be based solely on the picture included in the forum thread, however all finalist paintings will also be checked in-world to ensure that the entry has not been digitally enhanced.
- Only one entry per person / SmallWorlds account
- The competition closes at 11.59pm SWT Sunday 24th January. Only entries that are submitted to the official competition forum thread will be eligible for judging. Your entry must include a screenshot of your portrait, preferably taken inside the Graffiti Board widget. It must also include a link to an in-world space where the painting can be viewed.
- The competition will be judged by Kent Kronkite and Honesty Blaize, who will choose the top fifteen entries from the screenshots which are submitted in the official competition forum thread. These 15 finalists will then be put forward for a citizen's vote to determine the winner of each category. The overall winner will be the single entry which achieves the most number of votes.
# - The 15 finalists will each be awarded 2000 Gold. The three category winners will be awarded an additional 3000 Gold each. The overall winner will be awarded a further 5000 Gold.
An ExampleI think I'm being very brave showing you my own effort. I certainly won't be selling my own paintings any time soon! But here is an example painting I did, of my own face. For my painting I used an imaginary body instead of my actual SmallWorlds body. I wasn't very creative with my background and I'm certain you will do much better than I did in that regard.
Good luck everyone. I'm looking forward to seeing some beautiful portraits! And if, like me, you haven't yet had the opportunity to polish your painting skills, don't be afraid to enter. Remember that there are lots of prizes to be won!
~ Honesty
The Legal Stuff
* The Competition is open to SmallWorlds standard and VIP Club members 13 years of age or older. Employees of Outsmart 2005 Limited and its helpers, moderators, officers, directors, parent companies, subsidiaries, and affiliated companies, advertising agencies, promotional suppliers, or production agencies, and their respective dependents, immediate family members (parent, child, sibling and spouse of each) and individuals residing in the same household, are not eligible to participate. Void where prohibited by law.
* The fifteen finalists will be selected based upon the sole and exclusive discretion of the SmallWorlds Competition Judges. Each will be awarded 2000 Gold. The three category winners and the overall winner will be based on the results of a public vote. The entry that receives the most votes in each category will be awarded a further 3000 Gold. The single entry receiving the total number of votes will be awarded a further 5000 Gold. All submissions are carefully reviewed before determining the prize winners. The judge's decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into.
* The finalists will be chosen and notified on or about January 26th, 2010
How to take a photo of your Portrait and copy it to the forum thread.
1 - Once you have finished your portrait, go back into the Graffiti Board widget and take a screen shot of it. You can use any screen capture software you have, or simply press the Print Screen button on your keyboard (this saves the screen into memory, so you won't see anything happening when you press it).
2 - Save your image as a .JPG file into a directory on your PC.
3 - Upload the image to a photo sharing site such as Flickr, Photobucket,TinyPic, or ImageHosting. Copy the URL of the photo.
4 - Go to the competition entry forum thread. Post a reply. Click on the 'Add Image' icon. Paste in the URL of the image from your photo sharing account.
5 - Don't forget to also add a link to the space where your entry can be viewed in-world.
Good luck!
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Topic: January 12, 2010 SmallWorlds Mona Lisa Self-Portrait Competition (Read 11209 times)