EDIT:


Hello Traditional Artists

Today was the last day of my commission contest. I'm very thankful to all who have participated for their kindness and good will. I have chosen 3 works to buy as it was my primal intention and soon I'll be contacting the authors so we can agree on the terms of purchase.
I was contacted to extend the contest period, but as you can easily understand, this is not a regular contest: I think that any of you, traditional artists reading this, who have the will to produce a piece accordingly the rules below can contact me any time to show me a WIP or a finished work. If I like the piece, I'll buy it
Also below (scroll down to the end of the article) you can find my favourite works, wonderful pieces, just like I was looking for.
For now I'll remove the references I don't want any more but I'll keep the others available until the end of January 2013, so you are welcome to use them as I'm still commissioning you!
Thank you to all

Rules:

Note: the lines in italic were written originally at the beginning of the contest and don't apply any more.

The contest starts now, as this article is published. The references are still available and they'll be visible until the end of January 2013.
This is a Traditional Art Contest on the Portrait category.
The medium is paper but you can use graphite, coloured pencils or any other technique.  Instead of a drawing it also can be a acrylic painting on canvas but you have to remember this is going to be shipped to Portugal and I don't intent to pay more for the shipping than for the piece.
The size of the piece has to be no smaller than a A3 paper.
I have no rush, so I'm accepting entries until the 30th October. You can choose any reference and you can draw/paint it as many times as you want.
There is no specifications about the way to submit the work to dA: you can photograph it or scan it, you may submit to your gallery or to your scraps.  If you prefer to submit a small pic or with the dA watermark you can, but probably I'll be requesting for you to send me a larger file with no watermark to my email. On your comments you may write it is a commission if you want, no need to link it to the reference.
If you are excited with this work and want to submit WIPs, I'll accept them. This [link] is the gallery for this contest, where you can find all the works. You'll be finding there the references too.
These are the references:


 
 


Specificities:

The references are to be use in these commissions, you can't use them for other purposes.
I want realistic works, if you are a modern art lover and you like Abstract Expressionism, Cubism, Pop Art, Surrealism or Impressionism to express yourself, then don't bother. I really appreciate this kind of art but it's not what I'm looking for right now.


Prizes:

I want to buy at least 3 pieces. So you will not get a prize, you will get paid.
How much am I going to pay? Well, that's for you to say.
Some time ago I asked in a poll which is the fair price for a pencil portrait. Of course each one of you gave me different answers: it depends on the material used, if it has background, if it is more or less precise/ realistic, if you are a professional or an amateur, but I guess one of the most strict condition is were you live: indubitably a German artist will want to be better paid than a Portuguese one, just like in every other profession. The life conditions for the different countries aren't the same even when living in the European Community.
So, you will say which is the fair price when the time comes - I'll contact you. Also, I'll be paying the shipping expenses and all costs related.
As I said before, I reserve myself the right to not buy any work but if that is the case I will give 3 prizes of 12 months subscription to dA to the 3 works/artists I like the most.



<sub>Now it's the time to ask for your help:
 - Do you think this is a fair deal?
 - Can you work with the given references?
 - How about the time? You have 8 months to complete a work. Is it enough or is it too much?
 - Do you have any suggestion or doubt?

Please comment here or contact me by note at *Egil21</sub>

FAQs

Are you looking for a direct copy of one of the references, or is it okay to add stuff like a margin or other little elements, or combine two of the references, or change the colours around a little?

When organizing contests I always focus on the creative freedom of the artist, I think that is so important.
All the artists should be free to create and to give us their vision of a subject or object.
In this particular "contest" I'm searching for realism because I want those faces to be drawn as they are (so they can be recognizable) but you can add, combine, change colours. In fact I think I'd appreciate that, to have more visions that's why I uploaded several references: I want you to have the will to create and not be limited to one reference.


How would the works be sent? In a roll or straight or ..?

I was looking in the Internet the packaging for paintings and I intend to go search for drawings...I'll try to get more info with artists used to send their work by mail and I'll post that too.


I want to know whether you want it framed and shipped or if you want to frame it the way you like it.

It's not a matter of "likes" : a framed work must be very expensive to be sent by mail. So I prefer with no frame.
That can be applied to canvas partings too: I'd like to have a painting but how much would that cost? Can the wooden frame be removed? Sorry, this is a lame answer on a FAQ!


What is the size of the A3 paper?

According to Wikipedia:  297mm × 420mm / 11.69in × 16.54in


How will you pay?

Through Paypal or any way you want, it's your choice.












Here you can see the pieces which illustrate what I'm looking for:















You may find the rules, references and entries here [link]





Thank you,
Elsa