Applejack Appreciation Contest!!

Announcing the Applejack Appreciation Contest!

Yes, you heard right, this is an Applejack themed drawing contest with two specific purposes. On the one hand, it will be a chance for new or less known artists who have wonderful talents; they just don't get too much attention. On the other hand, it will be a good opportunity to make time fly until season 4 comes out. Of course, this contest is not only for artists who haven't gotten the chance to shine in the fandom, but is open to well know artists as well. Also, this little drawing competition will not be restricted to digital drawings, but will accept drawings created by traditional means as well. But enough of the introduction, let's get down to business.

First, as you might have figured out from the title, the main theme will be the appreciation of our favourite farm-pony, Applejack. Why her, you might ask? Well, it is time to make one of our favourite earth ponies shine and remind people who think Applejack is just a background pony that she is one of the most valuable ponies in the community.

There will be four categories: best impact, best technique, best visual representation of the theme, and judges' favourite.
Unlike in an ordinary contest, here there will a winner for each category, that is, four winners will be announced. Just to make it clear what each category means, here is a little guide:

1. Best impact: Surely you've seen pics that you looked at and you were in awe. Now, to win this category, the drawing has to have a similar effect to that of the above one - that is, the general impact of the picture has to be great. The viewer should say "wow, this is truly amazing".

2. Best technique: elaborate, high-quality, detailed. Probably these are the words that cover the requirements to win this category. What we look for here is a piece of artwork which is technically well-drawn, really detailed, and all together shows that it has a lot of work in it. The picture should have only minor flaws like blurred lines, inadequate shadowing, or lack of detail.

3. Best visual representation of the theme: to put simply, in this category the winner will be a picture that shows creativity when conveying the message of the theme. It can be sad, happy, bittersweet - the bottom line is, it should reflect that the artist knows Applejack really well.

4. Judges' favourite: very simple - you only have to impress the judges, even if the picture doesn't apply to the above categories. Here the decision will be subjective, devoid of any professionalism.

Rules:

1. Participation: you only have to submit a picture to your deviantart page, link it to me (Neko-me) and you'll be officially applied as a contestant. Also, DON'T FORGET to write the following into your picture's description: 'Applejack Appreciation Contest'. Without this your pic and participation won't be accepted. The picture must be new; we don't accept pictures that had been submitted before the contest was announced. The picture has to be in high resolution; any picture which is below 1500*1500 resolution will be automatically rejected.
After your picture was submitted and the link sent to me, you'll receive a note regarding the status of your application request (it may take a few days till all the judges agree that the pictures meet the minimal requirements).

2. Deadline: You have one month to create and submit your picture. That is the contest starts on the 9th of September and ends on the 9th of October.

3. We DO NOT ACCEPT pictures that are explicit, gory, connected to abuse or foalcon, and all together grimdark. Only a little blood is accepted only if it is absolutely necessary (like some blood in the corner of the mouth). Suggestive pictures are accepted, only if they aren't overly explicit (no genitals, for instance)

Prices: Each category winner will receive a 3 month premium membership (or the equal amount of points). Also each of them will get a simple character sketch of their choice from me. Finally, the winner's pictures will be posted on the journals of the judges (if they are active on DA) for one month.

Good luck and pony on!

JUDGES WILL BE ANNOUNCED TOMORROW (9th of September)