Hello Artsy Peeps!! Welcome and or welcome back. As we start the new year off, most have begun their new year goals. They are also forming new habits they want to create as well. In my first vlog video of the year(2025), I made a video call, ” healthy new year habits for artists.” One of my goals was to enter in more contests and competitions. Which proudly, I did enter in my first art contest at the end of 2024. I got a little bit of a head start on that! The winner would get 2,000 dollars and the runners up would get 400 dollars. I managed to make it into the 1st round but sadly, I did not make it into the finals. Today, I will share my personal experience. If you are thinking about doing them or are simply curious, I hope hearing my story and perspective can help. As always, take what I say with a grain of salt. These are just my experiences and personal thoughts and will always share what I have learned. This is my first contest. So Hopefully, as I enter in more through the year, I can give more insight, knowledge, and tips. Please share down below if you have any insight or tips on the matter. Would love to hear them as we help and support other artists. If you choose to skip the video, the written version will be down below the video! Sit back, relax, and enjoy!

The contest I entered was for 2D paintings only, no digital art allowed. Since 2018, That’s mostly what I’ve been doing, digital art😬2018 through 2024, I’ve only painted 3 paintings. The problem is that two of those three paintings were done as gifts. I never took professional pictures of them before sending them out. Still kicking myself for that. So I was not able to enter them in the contest. The judges wanted only professional photos. Nothing in the background. Just like if you were going to make a print of them. But I did take professional pictures of the recent painting I did in 2022, The Toad Has Spoken . ( one of the three). So unfortunately, the only professionally pictures I had was paintings I did back in 2016. Definitely a huge gap. They weren’t bad, but have definitely grown as an artist since then. Also two were signed with different styles of my signature. And one without. So I was afraid the judges would think a different person did the paintings. My partner told me not to worry about that. For my style is apparent. Which is true, you can see a repetitive style. But the judges don’t know me personally and think other people did the art. You never know what judges think or disqualify. The tips I would give here is consistent signage with your art. This lets judges know it’s all you. Don’t forget to get professional pictures of your work done before sending them out too. Also enter recent art, not older art as well.

I don’t regret entering in a 2D contest. I wanted to get my foot in the door. The reason I entered in the first place was for the exposure. To finally get my name out. The organizers holding the contest, their future goals are to eventually showcase and have gallery showings. At least for those that have made the finals and winners. I think contests can be a great way of getting exposure. Especially if the organization holding the event has future plans to do gallery showings. Just one of many ways to get your name out there. But not the only way.

Should artists pay for entry fees? For this, I did pay an entry fee of $25 which includes the first painting you enter. And $6 dollars for each painting I entered after that. I had to enter at least 3 painting. Max being 14 paintings. So for the artists that entered the max amount, ended up paying roughly $103 dollars. I just did the minimum 3 paintings and paid $37 dollars. The artists that entered and paid more, did this give them a better advantage of winning or making the finals? No matter what their style of art is? Personally no, not really. I would like to think that the judges will judge by the technicality of the art. Not by how many paintings did this artist summit. Does the art have good eye flow, color balance, value, and so forth. Someone can enter the max amount and the art is not quite there yet. On a positive note, one of my paintings was noticed by a judge. However, I didn’t make it into the finals. They did end up with a big list of 44 finalist. Then from there, had 9 runners-up($400) and two winners($2,000). They do seem like a new-ish organization and I think this was their 2nd contest they have ever done. I guess if you want to have prize cash for winners, they use the entry fees to do that. Also the money probably helps them to expand as an organization. If you decide to enter a contest with an entry fee, first determine whether the organization has goals for artists. Like I stated in the last paragraph. Consider this before making your decision. If you haven’t financially established yourself as an artist, avoid hurting yourself with a big cost contest. Also, avoid contests if you don’t already have a job to cover your art expenses. Find something free or low cost. You are also not guaranteed to win. Don’t depend on it either to cover your expenses. Or put all your marbles into it. But by all means, go for it if you feel good about it.

I am a goal-oriented person. I was ready to start the new year off on the right foot. But starting early, I couldn’t write it off. I wish the contest was held at the beginning of the year. This way, you might be capable of doing it as a tax write-off. This is only possible if you made money as an artist that year. Speak to an accountant before doing this because I am not one. And avoid scams too before entering.

Do your research of the organization. The website I used to enter was through Cafe: call for artist My friend also uses them too. Different organizations will host through this website for grants or contests. So keep yourself safe and notice any red flags. That means no weird misspelled or out of context emails. Or someone asking for money upfront and being pushy about it.

In conclusion, just ask yourself what you want to get out of it by entering. The exposure, the curiosity of entering, adding to your artists statement/resume, making some extra cash for your art business? The end goal is expressing ourselves as artists. To get our message across if we have one. To have others see our imagination come to life for others to connect and enjoy. We as artists use organizations and third party’s as tools to expand our services to future clients or audiences. May you enjoy the art process and have much success! Break a leg and I will see you artsy peeps next time!

Where I entered: Call For Entry Cafe

☾ Places In The Video: My Condo

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Geo Galleries/ Quality Prints: https://geogalleries.com/Visualfeels/

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Quote: 00:00 Intro: 00:10 The Contest I entered: 3:20 Post Recent: 4:00 Quality Pictures Only 4:19 Consistent Signature: 5:48 Why You Want To Enter 6:54 Beware Of Scammers: 7:30 Choosing The Right Contest 7:57 Art Fees 8:47 Tax Write Off: 10:07 Good For Art Resume: 10:38 In Conclusion: 11:03