So You Are Thinking of Entering the Painting Competition at ReaperCon

[Heisler]

13 hours ago, muses_touch said:

This may be a completely silly question.

 

If you entered something into the showcase for the virtual cons, you can enter them into the MSP Open, right?

 

We all know it's really not the same or as good to judge minis strictly on-line, so I'd think it'd be ok. But there is a rule about entering previous competitions.

 

Better to be safe than sorry and ask the silly question....

 

Thanks!

Better to ask! You are right anything that was entered in the virtual cons, or any format really, is still eligible for MSP competition. The only exception being if it was previously entered in a prior MSP competition.

[muses_touch]

14 hours ago, Heisler said:

Better to ask! You are right anything that was entered in the virtual cons, or any format really, is still eligible for MSP competition. The only exception being if it was previously entered in a prior MSP competition.

Thank you!!!! Good to know.

[Coffee Nerdery Beer]

Hello all. o/ 

 

It will be our family's first Con -- and we're all quite excited at the prospect of all the goodness in store! Sorry in advance for asking these newb-silly questions. This inquiry is on behalf of the spawn (14 year old), who is attending with us after I coerced her into taking 3 days off school. 😬

 

She's interested in entering a piece in the Painter category. What she has mentioned was wanting to get a score on her piece -- and, potentially, depending on nerves and bravery supplies -- ask for some judges' feedback.

 

At the age of 14, I'd imagine she's too old for the Youth category? (Or perhaps not? My search skills are failing me!) If she's most interested in possibly getting some quick (to not monopolize time) judges' feedback, should she enter the general non-youth Painters category?

[Dicey]

I can't answer the youth question, but I know all the judges try to be available (pending other obligations) after the awards to discuss and give feedback. In 2019, it was fairly crowded and we had to wait a few minutes for our turn, but we did get feedback from at least one judge on each of our judged pieces. If you can't find them immediately afterwards, but do later in artist's alley or something, I know they're happy to provide feedback if you bring your mini to refresh their memory (they've looked at a lot of pieces). It was fairly easy for us to figure out our score, though I'm not sure if we got all the numbers from all the judges. We were middle of the road Bronze.

[Guindyloo]

On 7/16/2021 at 2:21 PM, Coffee Nerdery Beer said:

Hello all. o/ 

 

It will be our family's first Con -- and we're all quite excited at the prospect of all the goodness in store! Sorry in advance for asking these newb-silly questions. This inquiry is on behalf of the spawn (14 year old), who is attending with us after I coerced her into taking 3 days off school. 😬

 

She's interested in entering a piece in the Painter category. What she has mentioned was wanting to get a score on her piece -- and, potentially, depending on nerves and bravery supplies -- ask for some judges' feedback.

 

At the age of 14, I'd imagine she's too old for the Youth category? (Or perhaps not? My search skills are failing me!) If she's most interested in possibly getting some quick (to not monopolize time) judges' feedback, should she enter the general non-youth Painters category?

 

The youth division is 15 years old or younger, so she would be in that division. As far as getting the score, the volunteers at the pickup table have the number scores available for you, you just have to ask and they can also tell you who your 3 judges were so you know for sure who to go up to afterwards. She would not in any way be monopolizing anyone's time. The judges are ready and willing to give feedback! She could even bring her piece(s) over to Artist's Alley and get feedback before entering it - just be mindful of the entry deadline of 5pm on Friday.

[Coffee Nerdery Beer]

Thank yoooou Dicey & Guindy! I appreciate your replies. ☺️ It really helps knowing what how the process goes and that she'll be able to get feedback afterward. 

 

New question has cropped up...

 

If she wanted to "test the waters" of having her mini judged by the more rigorous non-youth criteria, would that be okay? 

 

 

[Guindyloo]

5 hours ago, Coffee Nerdery Beer said:

 

If she wanted to "test the waters" of having her mini judged by the more rigorous non-youth criteria, would that be okay? 

 

 

I have no idea... @Heisler?

[Corporea]

As one of the judges, just come find me at my desk (Erin Hartwell) and I can give her some constructive feedback and even demo some things to help her.  I'm happy to do that before the competition if she wants to work on her entry while she's at the con, or after the competition. If she wants to learn what we look for and how we judge, I'm pretty sure all of us are happy to help.  I tend to "grade up" for youth because I want to encourage younger painters and we all totally remember what it's like to be new to painting! We want to encourage people to enjoy our hobby!  Hope that helps.  But please let her know she's always welcome to visit artists alley and we love love love sharing painting with everyone.  I hope that takes away some of the nerves and worry!

[Heisler]

Erin’s suggestion is the best. There are so many entries that trying to get both a youth and an adult score would be to much extra work and could confuse matters. Asking a judge afterwards about how it might score in the adult world is a much better option. Generally a gold in youth is about a bronze in the main competition, however, I have seen some youth painting that’s truly great and would score a gold up against the adults. She has the option to enter as an adult if she would like to. If you want to send a picture directly to me I can advise before the show. Heisler1963 at gmail.

[Coffee Nerdery Beer]

21 hours ago, Guindyloo said:

 

I have no idea... @Heisler?

 

You are absolutely the best. (And have the most exquisite taste in wicked mirrors which still propogate to my ads whilst browsing. 😂 )

 

9 hours ago, Corporea said:

As one of the judges, just come find me at my desk (Erin Hartwell) ... We want to encourage people to enjoy our hobby!  Hope that helps.  

 

This helps immensely! She (and her entourage: the mister and myself) will stop by and say hello, indeed -- and possibly get some quick pointers! (She just adored taking your Crystals class during RVE and really appreciated the feedback you offered on Discord. Same goes for me with your Skin Deep class... learned so very much. ☺️)

 

2 hours ago, Heisler said:

Erin’s suggestion is the best. ...

 

Thanks so much for answering my odd question! My understanding of her thought process after quizzing her (but don't quote me as I've been burned before 😄) is she just really wants to see how her painting fares using the non-youth criteria. Greatly appreciate your offer to advise -- I'll send over an image of which mini she had in mind. 🍻

[bcocanour]

On 8/19/2019 at 3:31 PM, Heisler said:

 

The short answer is yes it can, but it’s not going to score as well. The category really isn’t meant to focus on the base. Your documentation would need to be very complete. You would, likely, do better with it in diorama/vignette where presentation is a higher percentage of the scoring. If you send me a picture I could give better advice. 

The open category is more about sculpting so if the model is off the shelf with not sculpting that will hurt the score considerably.

 

This Open Division includes converted and/or scratch-sculpted entries where the exhibitor understands that all aspects of the entry are judged. While unmodified or stock models might be found as part of a diorama or vignette, a single unmodified or stock model, regardless of the basing of the entry, will not be found in this division unless the exhibitor was also the sculptor of the original model.

Whereas the Painter’s division is predominately judged on the painting skill, entries in the Open division are judged more evenly for Difficulty, Creativity, Workmanship, Painting Skill and Presentation. So in order to reach a maximum score many more criteria need to be addressed.

Here’s a breakdown of the criteria and the % amounts the judges consider when judging a piece in the Open Division. The judges use these percentages as a guide to base their final determination on the placing of the piece.

Difficulty15%

Creativity10%

Workmanship30%

Painting Skill30%

Presentation15%

For example a piece where the sword had been swapped and/or a small set of stairs has been sculpted does qualify for the open division, it would not score as high on the difficulty, creativity and workmanship categories as a piece where part of the body was re-sculpted, adding clothing / armor or even the head was re-sculpted.  Thus the final score of “sword swap” piece would not be able to reach the higher level scores as it was unable to capture maximum points in the difficulty, creativity and workmanship. So when considering if you piece should be entered into the Open Division you should consider how high it can score in each weighted criteria (see below). If the painting skill is much higher than the other criteria for your piece you may want to consider the Painters Division.