Think you've got ideas? Want a little power? How about spicing up 2draw a bit? 2draw wants you!

We are looking for someone with the energy and creative talent to run a biweekly contest for 2draw. This means designing up, coordinating, and scoring a contest for all 2drawers to participate.

How do you apply? Well, post a proposal for how you would run a contest on 2draw (frequency, announcements, duration, judging, etc.) and one sample contest idea. But mainly, we're looking for people who want to do this!

If you think you've got what it takes, apply today!

I thought about it for a while, and I decided that I like the idea of contests so much, that I would even like to coordinate them!

My proposal is not complicated. A subject that allows for creativity will be picked solely by the man or woman in charge (if I were to be picked, ME), although of course people could suggest things. A good subject would not be something like "horses" it would be more open ended.

I think that the contest should run weekly, rather than biweekly, as it will give more time for more entries, and provide great artists the time needed to make very good work. Every contest would be announced either on the main page when you eneter 2draw, or on its specific board, but this is more up to you, because you make the site. Every contest would have somewhat different rules and judging criteria, and they would be announced along with the contest subject.

Judging would be subjective, I propose that the judge have good enough taste and objectiveness to select a winner (again, in this case ME!), however, the judging criteria would be posted at the beginning of the contest and with contests running every week, it would be pretty fair.

I would really like it if you could manage to add a star or something next to the winners names after they have been designated a 'winner' of the contest. That would be cool, and a neat (and free) incentive to enter contests.

Here is a sample idea:

Lawn Gnomes!
It is well known that Garden Gnomes, while ubiqitous along Northwestern highway markets, have a hard time getting around. They are heavy and have no movable limbs. Invent a method of transportation that will help lawn gnomes travel more efficiently.

Rules: Invent and draw a method of transportation that can transport lawn gnomes. The drawing can be a concept drawing, a picture of a gnome using said means of transportation, or other creative way to comply with the spirit of the subject matter. The concept does not have to be fast, realistic, or mechanical, but it certainly can be. In most cases, showing locomotion will make your concept stronger and more interesting.

This contest will be judged on creativity, design, and overall appeal. It will run for one week. All entries must be recieved before (____) to enter. Any entries submitted not within this time frame will be moved to a different appropriate board.

I would vote for Dino...

Dinoflorist already posted before I got back online to see this and sounds like he has a good grip on things, so I'll just give some of my ideas that might help whoever does do this-


I think there's really just three reasons for having contests- The first being because it's fun. I think that should be the main focus if you want people to be interested. Besides that contests can encourage people to be more active in the community, and I think the community is the best part of this site. Also they can give people a goal to work for and a reason to try to improve.

I think two different contest lengths would be best. One that's one to two weeks long and one that's one month long, both open to everyone. The short contest shouldn't be too often and would still give plenty of time, and the month long one will give some of the more experienced artists time to put as much effort as they can into their entry.

There should be one contest coordinator, but I think the judging should be appointed by that coordinator to 2 people for each contest with the coordinator acting only as a tie breaker. The reason for that is because it would allow a wider range of possible contest themes and would cut down on favoritism toward an artist when there's more than one judge. Each person has a certain amount of experience with each style/subject matter, usually the one they themself makes. If the coordinator were to choose judges for a contest that were experienced in whatever the contest is about, then they could make more informed descisions about it than just the one coordinator could contest after contest of all types, allowing for contest subjects that the coordinator doesn't have personal experience with. Judges don't have to be the best artists, they just need to be able to judge.

Contest judging is something that can go a few different ways, and probably should from one contest to the next. Creativity being the main factor in a contest is something that would be great for a wider range of artists. If every contest was judged just by skill then there's only a small number of people that would win every one, but if creativity was what the judges were looking for then many more people would have a good chance. Not all contests should just be based on creativity though, because even though that's a good thing to have the quality of the image is important too, so some contests should be judged more for quality than anything else. If you switch out the judging criteria the same way as the contest theme from one to the next then there's bound to be at least one contest every now and then that someone can participate in and will want to.



- and just a note on that other thread I started that I wanted to do a contest in. I didn't do anything more with that this past week like I had wanted to because I had offered to sponsor it myself by possibly mailing a prize, and the last time I mailed an oil painting it cost me over $40 just for the packaging and shipping (I'm not made of money), and I didn't want to do that unless at least 10 people had posted. For whatever reason people just stopped saying anything and I took that as a sign that people didn't care.

Something I thought about after logging off, that could possibly go along with having a committee instead of just one coordinator, is that it'd be nice for the person doing it if every now and then a contest could be setup by someone else to give that person a chance to enter one too. You can't enter a contest if you're the one judging it or deciding the rules, and I'm sure whoever plans them would probably like to be able to be in at least one or two of them.

Another point to consider is the possibility of 2drawers voting on results. Or if you want a hybrid, that could count as one 'judge' among several.

My suggestion would actually be to have contests last less than a week, perhaps start on Thursday/Friday and end on Monday/Tuesday, so people aren't spending a ton of time on their entries, but also so people don't get bored after they've entered a piece.

The idea of a committee is alright, but we would still pick someone to lead such a venture and let them choose how that works.

In any case, don't be put off by Dino, I would rather more people apply than 'vote for dino.' This isn't a popularity contest after all. Feel free to post suggestions, though.

The vote was based on his creativity..not his popularity. He has the ability to think of great ideas for comps.

here's something else to think about-

When I was judging an art contest on another site a couple years ago everyone that saw the entries (including the people that made them) were given one vote each. After all those votes were counted at the voting deadline the numbers were sent to each of the judges to look over and each judge had some number of votes themself. I don't remember the numbers but it was something like I chose 3 people (first, second, and third places) and first place would get 10 votes, 2nd would get 6, and third would get 3. So basically each judge had the voting weight of 19ish people and the judges would see what the popular opinion was before casting their own vote. We then sent our votes to the person holding the contest who would be sort of a tie breaker.

It was a little complicated with multiple stages of voting and different people having more or less votes they could cast, but the end result was that we got a very accurate idea of who did the best job and who really deserved to win, which cut down on a lot of personal bias and made sure it wasn't just a popularity contest.

that may be a little more complicated than anyone really wants to do right from the start though, but it worked out well back then.

Not for nothin..but..try to live by the rule "KISS" (keep it simple stupid..) the less there is to read..and the simpler the format..the more fun and the more participants... (thats just an expression..not directed at anyone..)

Well, I thought about other ways too you know, but if you think about it, it is much less likely for a comittee to agree on everything than one person. This slows down the speed, and frankly, the creativity of the contests ( as well as taking additional artists out of contention). Sure guest judges or whatever could be implemented, but basically if you want the contests to be reliably there- and not fade out- you need to make it simple, fun, and easy to decide. You wouldn't want a king to be in charge of your every day lives, but a fun little art contest can hardly be spoiled by a competent judge. Naturally you wouldn't want to pick out someone who isn't respected enough, accomplished enough, intelligent enough, or unbiased enough.

It just comes down to picking out the best person for the job. I don't care if it's me (though I do believe I meet the qualifications), I just want to see this thing succeed, and I doubt that an oligarchy can accomplish this for a continuous period of time.

As far as judging is concerned, votes are speedy enough. A voter system is ok, but I feel that there is where the popularity and favoritsm come in, moreso than a single judge or comittee. And again, the comittee would have to convene, that means you have to count on every single person in it to be active. I favor the single judge method, but it does not have to always be the contest administrator.

See, that's what I meant when I said he seemed like he had a good grip on things.

Concerning judges I believe it'd be best to have 2 judges, it's very simple for them to decide the tie breakers between themselves rather than needing an additional person to give input. Having 2 judges as opposed to 1 is still quite speedy while aleviating the tendency toward a biased viewpoint. I'd like to see a judge's prize and a people's choice award for the longer contests where we can impliment a voting system.

Also I like the idea of the fast contests as well, running 2 contests simultaneously shouldn't be too hard as long as you're not judging a slew of images at the same time for 2 different contests. 2 contests a month would probably be the maximum though I don't know how much work the short contests would be. Possibly the short contests could be very fast and simple requiring little time to judge, going along with the "keep it simple" idea. Maybe even have alternating months with a long contest and the next month filled with short contents?

The long (1 month?) contests I imagine would require some thought and explanations on the part of each artist as to the intentions of each piece. I had some other stuff typed up but lost it... I think this post pretty much sums up what I think some ideal contests might be like.

First of all, please remember that i don´t speak english, i´m franckly doesn´t know if i´ll can explain this in a good way.
Ok, i´ve been on several contests, online/offline and in some of them the system was: the same participants of the contest after the time frame vote by themselves to solve the contest, that is; everyone who participates picked a winner (could be yourself if you think so) a second and a third place, with three, two and one vote respectively, then the moderator only have to make the count.

So if you wanna vote, you "only" have to participate.
What´s better than be measured by your pairs?...in this case you only need a one motivated coordinator.

that sounds similar to the method I had done in that example I gave, except without judges and with each of the regular people being able to do what the judges had done that time.

I think that it might come down to just giving each voting system a try. Suppose whoever is picked used a different voting method each time for the first 3 contests. In less than a month you could see first hand what worked better, rather than just coming up with ideas and not using anything.

Well, Whatever way you figure out how to do this. Contests seem like a very cool idea. :}

Should we do a trial run, then?

yea...Im up for one.. Winner gets admin power for one hour..and can delete all the anime scribbles

lol poppa, that´s freaky mean, but not so bad idea ;)
yeah, when we start the trial run eh?

Sounds good to me. :}

Whenever Dino is up for it. He has the stage.

cool can't wait :)

1) Make everyone use the same ref.
2) draw people fighting with taties.
3) Have a team art contest(collab Contest).
4) (If this can be done) have someone draw something and make copies of It for all the contestants to fix up on the applets.
5) Tell a very short descriptive story, and have people illistrate it.

Those are some neat ideas, Derrick. I especially like the idea of having to illustrate a short descriptive story. The Collab art contest you mentioned, I don't think there should be a contest that you have to collab wiht someone to enter. Though, I think that collaborating with one other person for an entry should be allowed if anyone wishes to do so.

EDIT: Yes a trial run would be nice. I don't think there should be a permanent contest coordinator. A different Coordinator for each contest, I think would be better off. At least do not allow the same person to hold 2 contest in a row.

I think we should have an abstract art contest....that would be the swellist!

o-o How will I know.. when the contests and stuff start? o.O;

whenever the rules and theme are posted I'm sure the times will be too, but will they be posted in the forums or on the front page? The front page doesn't get updated with news often

I think it should be convenient enough to post it in a forum. That way people who want to enter can say that they are entering. So the judge can make a list of who is entering before they submit their entries.

Marcello will probably make a new thread or something to notify us all about the rules for the contests. So that's not something to worry about. First we need a coordinator. ^__^

Whenever Dino is up for it. He has the stage.

We already do, KH44N.

Oh i'm sorry. I think i missed that.

Sorry again. ^__^

A time limit art contest would be cool.

a 10min one.

a 20min one.

or you could go the other way a say you must spend 5 hours on your entry.

it'd be easier to have a short limit than a long one, since people could just leave it sitting until the time was 5 hours, but with one that's too short you risk having a flood of half done sketches. Some form of time limit/other special limits or challenges would be cool though. Maybe being restricted to black and white, or only a certain size of image?

Oh hey cool , I will start it then! Be on the lookout for a contest very soon!

well people could spend 5 hours on one pic and hit the 'refresh' button and make timer reset itself. So, you really would have no way of knowing for sure. Just have to abide by the Honor system.

Lol..Honor System..here? lmao.. hehehe... Wheee.it appears we now have a special contest only board ..see Huzzah! lol (a moment of silence please for the departed Theme Board)

Well, if contests got popular enough, there are ways of checking the actual time spent and doing funny restrictions like that. (Although we could really only do a max-time restriction, not a min-time. Logic dictates that.)

Yea.. I just did a minimum time entry.. beat 0 seconds@

Actually, I meant more along the lines of "draw something in at least 3 hours."

I know.. I can't hep it.. I think timed ones would not be the best way to go. The contest parameter..as far as start and stop dates would be the time limit...some people draw fast..some draw more slowly..that way whoever wanted to enter could do so on an equal footing. I think simplicity is the best way...something like.... Draw Integrity... or Draw Respect.. something interpretive like that (intepretative?), rather than saying draw a tree or draw a car.. or something defined...But,..Dino has an incredibly creative mind..let;s just see what he comes up with and try it on!

Yes, it seems the start and stop dates would be enough. You could do specific contest for speed. :}

(Although we could really only do a max-time restriction, not a min-time. Logic dictates that.)

Make It so It won't let you submit the pic until the time limit is up.
And make the timer stop when no activity takes place within a 5min time span.

you could doodle and erase the whole time, though. it'd be stupid.

disable the eraser