Attention artists!

With dates set for Motaku 2011, the time has come for the Motaku art contest!

How it works:

You may develop any theme you wish, thus we grant you much artistic freedom.  For example, given that Motaku 2010 is in October, the artist this year chose to have various demons as her characters, but you can do whatever you want.  If you don’t have a literal theme such as demons for October, we ask that you have a definite visual style in mind for the work you do that ties them all together.

We will be choosing one artist per year, so our artwork will have cohesion for the year, not a jumble of random pieces.

Motaku reserves the right to choose multiple winners from this contest.  Should this happen, one winner will be notified as the artist for 2011, one for 2012, etc.  This is because we know so many good artists, and there is such potential for awesome themes and art, that we really want to use all the great work we get, and so artists will be less likely to have put in a lot of work for nothing.

Should you be chosen, we will expect between 6 to 9 pieces for the year we assign you.  All pieces need to be a minimum of 5.5 by 8.5 inches at 300 dpi in as workable a format as possible. (Such as leaving transparency in a psd instead of saving to a tiff or bmp with a white background.) Native formats such as psd, and ai, preferred. We have some extra specifications for one or two of the pieces which will be detailed when we contact winners.

Rules:

1) All art and characters must be the original work of the artist, no fan art is allowed.

2) No work which has been used by, or is slated to be used by, or has been submitted to any other convention is admissible.

3) Work submitted to us may not be submitted to any other convention without our approval until after winners are notified.

3 A) If your work is chosen, we ask that you not reuse the work until one convention year has passed after the Motaku year in which we use it.

3 B) If your work is not chosen, you may reuse it in any way you wish.

4) You may collaborate with other artists, but please send publications@motaku.org an email detailing all collaborators so Motaku can confirm the submission is valid.

5) Motaku reserves the right to merchandise the winning artwork for convention sales and marketing purposes.

6) Motaku reserves the right to make minor alterations to the artwork for use in specific applications.

7) Ownership of the art remains that of the Artist, Motaku reserves exclusive reproduction rights of the chosen art from the time chosen until one full year has passed after the convention date the artwork was used.  After this time, all rights revert back to the artist. A contract detailing this will be sent to all winners.

Requirements to enter:

1) One finished piece, full color, at least 300dpi at a minimum size of 5.75″ x 8.75″ with a 5″x8″ live area, in pdf, psd, ai, png, or tiff.

2) Should you create a theme, please detail it in the submission email.

Requirements if chosen:

1) At least 2 chibi images

2) Staff and attendee t-shirt art – vector art preferred, limited spot color paintings ok, we can send you a tutorial on how to paint in photoshop for shirt printing.

3) A sufficient number of other pieces, preferably 5-7, to make sure art needs are met for the program book cover, staff and attendee badges, convention signage, program interior art, promotional buttons, posters, and fliers, and any other needs of the specific convention year, all at the above size and resolution requirements. We may ask for specific pieces at larger resolutions for signage, and for other specific art needs within reason.

Rewards:

1) Your submitted piece will be unveiled at closing ceremonies the year before your work is to be featured. You (your studio) will be announced as the artist guest of honor.

2) You (your studio) will get one free artist alley table at Motaku the year your work is featured.

3) You (and your studio members) will get a free t-shirt of your work (limit 4).

4) You (your studio) will be mentioned in the program book for the year your work is featured, including a link to your website if applicable.

To submit a piece, or ask any questions, please email publications@motaku.org with “Motaku Art Contest Entry” in the subject line. You may link to your submission in the email or request FTP access to upload it to our site.

Submission deadline is September 15th, 2010.

Thank you,

Matt Weston

Industry Relations