William O’Connor, the immensely talented author/artist of Dracopedia: A guide to Drawing Dragons, just released a follow up book calledΒ Dracopedia : The Great Dragons.Β To celebrate, William is hosting a drawing contest and giving away original drawings from the book!
The contest is intended for amateurs only, and is broken up into age groups. No professionals allowed. The contest will be judged by William O’Connor, Todd Lockwood, Lars Grant-West, and myself, Dan dos Santos.Β For more details check out the official Dracopedia page HERE.
If you don’t have the books, you are missing out on some seriously good art! I highly recommend them.
age limit is 21? *sigh* some of us are still non-professionals or students after 21 ya know….
And I JUST finished college haha. Would have been cool to enter but I shared it earlier to see if anyone else was interested.
Agreed. I'm twenty-six, for example. Still not a professional.
Um, I am working on it though….>_>
I do have one of these books though(the older one). The art is pretty sweet. π
William is trying to incite some interest in a younger audience. I think it's nice. I remember taking part in a LOT of drawing contests as a kid, be it in magazines or my local comic shop. It just doesn't seem like people do that as much any more. I've often thought about sponsoring my own drawing contest for kids under 18 at my local comic shop. The notion is, if you are, or already have, attended college for art, you're already pretty serious about it… even if you're not pro yet. The goal here, I think, is to GET people serious about it.
There are plenty of us that are not “bona fide” professionals who are quite a bit older than 21; Due to the path that I have taken, I am a 37 yr. old “amateur” who can only hope to get work, even the most basic and/or beginner… I admit that it consistently depresses and discourages me that there are all these “contests to be noticed” with age limits — and what's worse is a lot of the top-end limits are 35… a mere “few months” ago for me.
Le sigh.
I applaud his effort. I am 59 and did not have this kind of encouragement or access to knowledge that this generation has. The internet has given those in the far reaches great opportunites. I so hope they realize it and take advantage of it. I know I am spreading the word.
Bummed about the age limit but I really hope it gets the promotion in schools that it should. When I was in high school and college (ironically a top 10 art school) such a contest would have been ignored and discouraged because it involved fantasy art – which was only for those wanna be artists called “illustrators” or “commercial artists .” So, I chose a different career. Sadly, I didn't even know imaginitive realism was a recognized art form until I was almost 40! It would be nice, though, to see some more adult amateur contests and competitions. We'll hear all about them here, first, right? π
Dan-
You're exactly right. I have found that there are so many excellent forums, shows, workshops, and challenges for post grads and older artists,that I thought it would be nice to try to get a younger audience involved in art without feeling like they need to compete with people twenty years older than themselves. Art should be fun, and when it comes to doing fantasy work, the imaginations of kids are sometimes really cool.
So if you have a young niece or nephew or child or friend, this could be a nice experience for them
Thanks
Bill
Hey William I am completely obsessed with drawing, it runs my life. Ive read both of your books and i think they totally rock, I have read them both multiple times and think your art is AMAZING!!!! Wow i just realized i am totally ranting lol.
I never use the computer to do artwork, I am strictly hands on. Im 13 and want to pursue art as a career. If you have any tips in how to draw dragons better please let me know.
write back soon ! thanks! <:)