Art Contests!

Contest 15 Please Read

I had a glitch where it repeated my chapters when I tried to delete the copy it deleted my original written out chapter...

You all might've seen it for a brief moment until I made the mistake...

I thankfully had screenshots, and I rewrote everything in that haha... my bad.

Because of circumstances, I will be redoing the Angel Division results, it was not fair to those who worked insanely hard on their pieces legitimately, 3rd place DESERVES to be recognized, and those who deserved 1st and 2nd deserve to be recognized as well.

Angel:

1st Place:
@JenLN0

I'm so sorry you were robbed of first place! Thank you for being so understanding and for joining my contest!

2nd Place:
@smilingaesh

Again the storyline you had for this was amazingly beautiful!

3rd Place:
@Akrillic

I'm so sorry that you were robbed of recognition! Your entry has such a beautiful vibe of serenity and peace. The background is BEAUTIFUL! The shading on the hills down to the cracks in the rock! Amazing! I love how she sticks out but it's so beautiful and peaceful. Thank you so much for all your passion, artwork, and time!

Thank you for your entries! You all deserve to be recognized for your hard work!

Now. Something I'd like to discuss is stealing art.

Although I am not one for drama or continuing it along with exposing publicly... I'm sure the majority of you know just by reading the comments of the last chapter that the winner of the angel division cheated... They had stolen an art piece from a hard-working artist. I've come to find out that the majority of art pieces in their artbook were stolen... Along with their own face reveal was a pic stolen from a popular model on Instagram...

I do not wish to bash or bully this person... But to use them as an example.

If you have thought or have cheated in my or anyone else's contests, I hope that you will look at how doing that impacts EVERYONE ELSE in this contest. It's selfish, greedy, and not to mention you have stripped others of being rewarded for their hard work.

You are building a foundation of lies and false trust... Do you think you can keep the facade up forever? What happens when you keep it up for a long time and then you're found out? All that trust is broken...

If I may be honest... I am pissed and really sad this happened. I was genuinely willing to trust this person when I had suspicions... This contest is here for fun. I being an artist wanted to have this contest where everyone could show their art and be encouraged by each other, even if they didn't win, but to have inspiration with a prompt and join a community of other artists...

I had met one of my best friends through an art contest because we had commented on each other's entry, discussing how much fun we had and how we wanted to draw related stuff because we were inspired by the prompt. I wanted everyone to enjoy the same sense of inspiration and fun, but by cheating, not that they ruined this contest from forward, but it's disappointing to me that this happened... It ruins the fun for everyone, and the chapter gets no sense of pride by doing it themselves and getting rewarded for it.

Although the cheater has not replied to me, which I was waiting for so that I could give them a fair chance to explain their actions or to prove themselves/apologize, but, I believe it's not fair to the winners who deserve to be recognized already.

I pray that the cheater understands what they have done wrong. I hope this experience discourages anyone else who thought or have cheated to ever do it again. Being someone who was really insecure when they started out in their art, I used to trace and use bases and didn't understand what credit meant, I deleted those posts once I finally understood, so I understand that the cheaters may be there currently... BUT, that does not justify what was done. Cheating is still wrong. But I tell you this because I am living proof that you can change, you don't have to cheat to be recognized or to be 'good' It takes time, and it won't happen overnight, but work hard and you will get there <3

But, to have the audacity to join a contest and cheat is the most upsetting thing of this whole situation if I'm honest...

It's one thing to post uncredited thing in your artbook, but to claim someone's face, AND to join a CONTEST with other people, is WRONG, and honestly, it pisses me off... How could you do something so selfish... That is something I can't understand...

I want to thank everyone who brought the cheater to light, and thank you all for being insanely understanding and reasonable! Thank you @DreamPsycho for everything! If it weren't for you this would've kept going.

Despite this slight setback and frustration... I hope that you will all join the next contest, preferably without cheaters haha... But to everyone who joined, even the ones who claim their art is bad, WHICH IS A LIE! Thank you so so so SO much for all your efforts, hard work, and time, it does not go without recognition I promise!

This may sound cheesy, but it's the truth, it means the world to me that you all take some time out of your day just to say 'may I join?' or read over everything, and to put so much time and work into an entry for a contest that I host, it makes me feel insanely blessed that I get to experience giving a theme and to have people draw the most beautiful thing! It's been so inspiring and a great experience for me to see and meet all these wonderful people and artists. I hope this contest has brought you all inspiration and fun as it has to me!

Thank you to everyone for your contributions and passion!! See you in the next contest!^^