Everything (almost) You Need To

Know to Enter a Competition Presenters: Suzi Blaisdell and Margaret Godfrey

Please hold your questions to the end of the presentation.

We hope to have a great Q & A Session at the end!

How to Choose a Painting for a Competition

Or

How to choose a Competition for a Painting

Watercolor Society of Oregon

Prospectus

(Be sure to check the CURRENT prospectus, as requirements change)

North Valley Art League Prospectus

National Watercolor Society Prospectus

National Watercolor Society Prospectus

DPI, PPI, Resolution, TIF, Zip File

Say WHAT? And

Why should I care?

PPI/DPI

In computers, pixels per inch (PPI) is a measure of the sharpness (that is, the density of illuminated points) on a display screen. Screen image sharpness is sometimes called DPI. In this usage, the term dot means pixel. Dots per inch is determined by both the physical screen size and the resolution setting.

Resolution

This refers to the detail an image holds. Higher resolution means more image detail.

Caribbean Cornrows -- 10 dpi

Caribbean Cornrows – 300 dpi, 1200 pixels wide

JPG or JPEG

A file type for means of compressing an image for DISPLAYING on web pages, sharing on social networks or sending by email.

Zip File

A computer file in which a large amount of repeated information has to be removed to make it smaller. Several files (images or data) can be combined into one ZIP file.

(Not necessary for WSO Entry)

How to create a zip file on a Mac

•Put your Images into a folder • Locate the items to zip in the Mac Finder (file system)

•Right-click on a file, folder, or files you want to zip.

• Select “Compress Items”

• Find the newly created .zip archive in the same directory.

How to create a zip file on a PC

•Put your images into a folder •Locate the file or folder that you want to zip. •Press and hold (or right-click) the file or folder, select (or point to) Send to, and then select Compressed (zipped) folder. A new zipped folder with the same name is created in the same location.

How to Use Online Entry Forms

How to Get a Good Image of Your Painting

•Hire a photographer

•Ask a friend who you know has photo knowledge (takes own pics and gets into shows)

• Learn to use your own camera or smart phone to create your own wonderful photos

Get the Light and Color Right: Too Light and Cool

Too Dark

Make Sure Your Photo has Square Corners and is Level

Not Square or Level

Perfectly Squared

Cropping

•Make sure that you are cropping your image exactly as it will be matted and framed

•Do not leave any pieces of tape or edges of the support you’ve attached your painting to for photography

Poor Cropping

I took 81 photos to get this image with the right light and perfectly squared.

How to Prepare an Image for Competition

There are several online programs

•BeFunky.com

•Pixlr.com

•Adobe Photoshop Express Editor (online)

Photoshop Elements

•Can adjust color

•Can crop

•Can resize images

Still Confused?

You can Google Anything!

Frequently Asked Questions

Should you read up on the juror of a particular competition and enter something you think is similar to their work?

Here are the images of the work of 3 jurors who have juried WSO shows.

Robert Burridge

Katherine Chang Liu

Ratindra Das

•Is it better to enter 1 or 2 images when allowed?

•How do you know when your work is ready for a higher level competition?

•Is there a genre or subject matter that is more frequently accepted into shows?

•What does a Juror look for? (Technique, composition, design elements, content, etc.)

Q & A Time