ElfQuest Fan Art

I wanted to share the review Richard left for the fan calendar...

The theme for the 2023 EQ Fan Art Calendar is: ARTISTS CHOICE

**You may use characters from the original quest to the final quest but you must do your best not to totally spoil things for those who have not yet read the most recent installment of the series**

Submissions for the 2023 Calendar are being accepted:
March 1st, 2022 through August 31st, 2022
**The guidelines have been modified, so please read carefully**

THEME

Submitted artwork should represent the theme "Artists Choice", which means you are free to choose your own theme this year.

There will also be the added fun of a hidden message in each submission. You are free to express this in any way you like but you are required to "hide" 21 of something in your submission, to represent 21 years of the EQ fan calendar. It doesn't have to be obvious but it should be something that people viewing the submission are able to discover without too much effort. For example, Moonshade stitching a new vest for Redlance and she has completed 21 stitches. Or Pike, with 21 dreamberries scattered around him. You could even take on the extreme challenge of putting 21 characters in your submission.

As always a secret thread will be created for participants to discuss submission ideas and characters so we can keep things varied for the calendar.

The number of submissions required: 11

DETAILS

Joining the calendar will be a bit different this year, so please read carefully.

If you would like to participate please PM me via the site (Maggie) to let me know you are thinking about submitting something for the 2023 calendar. Please don't give any details about your submission at this time, just let me know that you want to get involved. Once your PM is received I will change your primary member group so you can access the secret fan calendar thread.

Feel free to use the hidden thread to discuss ideas, themes etc. As always I would like to keep the calendar varied, so chatting a bit about characters and themes is a good way to help make that happen.

This year a PM letting me know you want to participate is how you will get into the calendar hideout but not how you will get into the calendar. For this, I would like a finished sketch. You have from March 1st to May 31st to send in your sketch, along with the usual details. Once your sketch and details are received you will be added to the participant list and I will expect you to finish your submission and have it in by the deadline at the end of August.

I'm hoping this will be a good way for each participant to really decide if they can manage a submission. I know we all tend to procrastinate when there is a lot of time between the start and end of this project. So giving three months to come up with a theme and sketch, seemed like a remedy to that. Figuring out those first details tends to be more difficult than taking things from a solid concept/sketch to a finished submission.

IMPORTANT: I will no longer be putting credits and titles on the individual submissions for the printed version of the calendar. These details will now go on the back of the calendar, so consider this when you decide on a title, there isn't a lot of space, so try and keep it short where possible.

Your Name:
EQFA User Name:
Artist Credit (Real or User only):
Artwork Title:
Submission Theme:
Hidden Item (for my eyes only):
Email Address:

You will be asked to update Maggie and the rest of the participants via the secret thread in mid-July with your progress. This will help to determine if we have enough entries for the calendar. If at any time you feel you cannot continue just send a message, there won't be any hard feelings.

Please keep in mind that you have 3 months to get your sketch ready and an additional 3 months to finish your piece. An additional 3 months (Sept, Oct, Nov) will be used for those who need a bit more time (extenuating circumstances only) or for artists who jump in to help if I don't receive the required number of submissions by the end of August.

You may submit up to three entries for the calendar but before you contemplate that second or third entry you must first finish and submit one entry to Maggie.

GROUPS

You may work in groups of two if that makes things easier for you. Please let me know who you will be working with when you sign up.

How you work in your group is totally up to you. One of you may supply a sketch for the other to ink and colour or you may work together to complete the scene. It doesn't matter so long as you both agree.

CONTENT

Entries must be original artwork created specifically for the calendar. The use of photos or "borrowed" art for backgrounds is not allowed.

Entries must not be available for the general public to view online until the okay is given for general sharing. Before then, any entries found online in any form (thumbnails, crops, etc.) will be disqualified and removed.

Canon Elfquest characters (of any race) only. No what-if characters (i.e., Worldpool).

PG-13 or under.

FORMAT

**Please make sure your submissions are the correct size. Any submissions that are not 3300x2550 pixels or 11 x 8.5 inches at 300dpi will not be accepted**

All entries should be in full colour, with a full background. No font please (this does not include your signature or mark used to sign your work).

Size: 11"x 8.5" (pictures must be landscape oriented - wider than they are tall)

Resolution: 3300 x 2550 pixels (11" x 8.5" at 300dpi)

File format: JPEG/PNG format only

IMPORTANT: I am no longer adding a white border to the printed version of the calendar so please leave about a half-inch around the edge of your work, that doesn't contain any important elements. I don't want arms cut off or a hole in a character's head.

HOW TO SUBMIT

When you are ready please email your full-sized entry to Maggie. Please PM Maggie when you have an entry ready to be submitted.

Entries should be received by midnight CST, August 31st, 2022. For those that need an extension please contact Maggie to discuss (before the deadline).

Include the following: Your submission as an attachment, please don't embed it into an email.

CREDIT

The artist's credit will be used for credits on the calendar/website.

PUBLISHING

The eleven winners will be chosen by a panel of judges (if more than 11 entries are submitted).

The finished calendar will be available for download at elfquestfanart.com. In addition, the calendar may be published and available for purchase.

QUESTIONS

Any questions about the calendar may be asked and answered on this thread or PM Maggie.

Don't know what this is all about, check out the current and past Fan Art Calendars here: http://www.elfquestfanart.com/index.php?action=fanartcalendar

Yes, the customer service is pretty good at Zazzle. I think for the next calendar I'm going to put the titles/credits on the back cover, just so this kind of thing can't happen. It's 100% Zazzles fault, I'm not sure how they managed it, as the items are sent through quality control before they get put on the marketplace for sale.

I'm going to post the rules/details for the next installment of the calendar on March 1st, so if anyone wants to post anything else with regards to themes or ideas please do it between now and then. 

Is there some envisaged date for topic finding or a resolution of the setting / extras / special-about-it regarding for the next calendar?
Asking for a friend ^^

If you received a faulty calendar you can write to Zazzle's support. I also told them about the problem (incl. illustrating imagery), in hope they can find the cause and fix it. And they offered me to send new exemplars.

I like a free choice of theme as well as celebration as a theme. Hiding 20 pieces of something in the picture sounds fun! I guess it would be a little bit of a challenge, I would love it.

Same here with the coil! Still am very happy with the overall quality.
The colors and details come through nicely. It's hanging at my homeoffice workplace, so I can enjoy it every day.

Oh, the 21 of something in the picture I like a lot! Thank you for making this out of my idea!
The color idea can be made here also.
And to let each person choose their own theme is very good. First of all you can be more motivated to participate. And second it feels like a celebration indeed.

That brings me an new idea: celebration could be a fitting theme over all. The elves do have festivals, not enough for 12 entries I think, but something joyfull and happy happend everytime. It could be combined with the greatest moments idea (of the original calendar) and there could be happy moments out of the years after OQ.
But just only a suggestion if someone needs a theme.

If there could be chosen individually, could it be possible to pick a theme that was allready picked before? Because we had a celebration theme before I remember slightly...

I ordered mine today!