Fan Art Contest (Open to all)! OWLS Virtual Convention

Welcome to the month-long virtual convention (official name pending) hosted by the OWLS! As part of the convention, I’m hosting a fan art contest with a prize for the first place winner. You can view the fan art gallery here!

The global pandemic lead to the cancelation of beloved conventions around the world for the sake of public health. In the interest of togetherness in difficult times, the OWLS have decided to host our own digital convention instead. We have a number of exciting projects and events planned throughout the month. Keep an eye on the official OWLS blog for more information.

Who Are the OWLS?

Every month, I join the voices of the Otaku Warriors for Liberty and Self-respect (OWLS) blogging project. The OWLS bloggers and vloggers use anime and other pop culture works to discuss a central theme promoting diversity, respect, self-acceptance, and equality. I feel proud to work with the OWLS team, so keep an eye out for future posts exploring important social issues. If you’re interested in these topics, be sure to check out the other OWLS posts coming out with this blog tour, or consider becoming an OWLS blogger or vlogger yourself!

About Fan Art Contest

Fan art contests invite the crowd to participate in the convention and in their shared love of fandoms. These contests are always my favorite part of any convention. I love seeing the creative work people make inspired by pop culture. For this fan art contest, all pop culture fandoms are welcome, and anyone is encouraged to participate.

Who can participate?

Anyone! All age groups and ability levels are welcome. You don’t need to be an OWLS writer to participate either.

Where will submitted art be?

All submissions will be featured in a gallery on Pop Culture Literary that is linked to the contest entry page! New entries will be added as they come in. If you do not want your work included in this gallery, please let me know.

What are the submission rules?

Medium: Visual media are preferred. Pencil, ink, paint, digital art, paper mache, collage, and other visual art forms are highly encouraged. Get in touch with me if you have questions about your medium of choice. Fanfiction will not be included in this contest because it is a visual art contest! 

Timeframe: The work doesn’t need to be from July, but must have been made since the start of 2020.

Fandom types: Really, all pop culture fandoms are welcome. I will not limit entrants to only making art about an anime/manga or a video game. This is a pop culture convention! 

Content guidelines:  The submission must be family friendly (no gore, no sex, no nudity, no hate speech, etc). It must be made by the person submitting the work. It must be fan art (since this is a fan art contest, no original work, please).

How do I enter?

There are a few ways to enter, but email is going to be the most efficient because you can directly send me your contest entry! 

Email: email your work and the title of your work to me at kenyazero@gmail.com. In the subject line, write fanart contest entry. In your email, also tell me your name or screen name, what fandom your work is related to (Sailor Moon, Steven Universe, Ni no Kuni, My Hero Academia, Lord of the Rings, etc.). I will be responding to these emails as soon as I get them, so if you don’t hear back from me within 2 days, please reach out again just in case I missed it. 

You can also:

DM me on Twitter @PopLiterary

DM me on Reddit @kenyazero

DM me on Instagram @PopCultureLiterary

*Note, it’s ok if you posted your fanart to social media prior to or after entering! 

Can I help spread the word?

Please do help me spread the word about this contest. I would like to reach as many interested people as possible!

Remind me of the submission dates?

open date: July 2

Close date: July 25 (I’m located in the United States, so you have an idea of what date/time I’m working from. If I receive submissions over night that night, I’ll still accept them)

Are there prizes?

YES! One 1st place winner will be awarded a $15 Etsy gift credit. I picked Etsy as the prize here because of safe digital shopping, safe delivery (I don’t need your home address to send you digital gift cards), and in the interest of supporting artists who may be struggling during the pandemic.

How will winners be decided?

I have assembled a panel of judges who will vote based on predetermined criteria related to the skillful use of the selected medium, originality of the fan art, and other factors.