Contests

[Vision River]

I ask for slack not because I am relatively new but because I am, in one sense, relatively old.

As usual, I made some effort to find the answers in the FAQs, rules, Search, etc. before posting.

I noticed a contest going, so apparently it is within the forum rules to start up a contest here.

What is the culture for contests on this forum? I mean, what motivates people to participate?

Do the contests usually have awards? Are they judged?

I am interested in starting a collaborative project.

It is more cooperation than competition, but like a contest has a call for entries and is fun.

Any suggestions for how to make it thrive here?

[pipp92]

You participate in a contest because it's fun.

The winner can chose the next theme for the contest.

[oma]

contest ideas should of course be run past the admin/mods first, for go ahead permission. Too many on the forum at a time leads generally = poor participation.

I participate when the topic appeals to me, or when I need a bit of a challenge to do something outside my comfort zone. The prize....well recognition of peers, and good vibes of friendships that develop.

There is always the picture add on game, sig of the week , large art of the week already in progress. you might like to get your feet wet there.

ciao and welcome to the forums

[Curmudgeon]

Just suggest it as a collaboration.

IMHO there are far too many contests already. Makes it hard to read the forum skipping over the threads.

[oma]

Just suggest it as a collaboration.

IMHO there are far too many contests already. Makes it hard to read the forum skipping over the threads.

ditto above I was just going to edit my post to say there are more than enough same with polls. makes forum reading very difficult .

[Vision River]

Hey Rio,

I looked at your Gallery. Nice! I have lived in Germany since last October. Its a wunderland for a nature photographer.

So, would you participate in a collaboration with a theme of "the building blocks of matter: strings, atoms, molecules and cells"? - Gary

Quote: "You participate in a contest because it's fun. The winner can chose the next theme for the contest. Take a look at ~My Gallery~ I support germany!" - Rio

[Vision River]

Hi Curmudgeon,

Good point. My intent really is cooperation rather than competition. But I posted earlier for a collaboration and got no response. Is it the subject matter? The way I presented it? - Gary

Quote: "Just suggest it as a collaboration. IMHO there are far too many contests already. Makes it hard to read the forum skipping over the threads." - Curmudgeon

Would it make sense to put all contests in a contest forum?

[Vision River]

Hallo Oma,

I like your designs. What would it take to attract your participation in a collaboration on the theme "the building blocks of matter: strings, atoms, molecules and cells"? You can be direct, that is the most helpful. Thanks for the welcome. - Gary

Quote: "I participate when the topic appeals to me, or when I need a bit of a challenge to do something outside my comfort zone. The prize....well recognition of peers, and good vibes of friendships that develop." - Oma

[oma]

well perhaps I need to know more about the project, exactly what you are after...is it to be abstract or exact. I work very much by emotional feel to a subject. prefer lighter colors not much black (have bad eyes) . prefer abstract ideas.

time frame ......time constraints are an issue right now.

ciao

[Uneyed]

So, would you participate in a collaboration with a theme of "the building blocks of matter: strings, atoms, molecules and cells"? - Gary

Good point. My intent really is cooperation rather than competition. But I posted earlier for a collaboration and got no response. Is it the subject matter? The way I presented it? - Gary

Vision River - I saw your thread and actually followed your link. I was just not sure what you were looking for. "Collaborative effort" is quite vauge. What are you looking to produce? How will the images be used?

I think that you would have more support if you were a little more explicit. Additionally if your purpose is to use images from this collaboration on another website I am sure that you will find quite a few willing participants. (Although you might have some disparity when it comes to quality and content.)

Are you refering to string theory as your theme? If so I would be interested as I find the subject matter very intriguing.

[Vision River]

Oma,

I am looking for the emotional feel.

Strings are theorized by physicists and intuited by mystics.

Crazy Man Dan made some excellent remarks in response to my first post for strings, and did the image used in my current Avatar.

It is, as he said, an evocation not a replication.

There are many "artist concepts" of atoms, but atoms have not been seen by human eyes.

What does an atom feel like to you? This is not for a nuclear power plant advertisement. It is feeling the stuff we are made of.

CMD's string is exactly the quality I am looking for. You should see it at my site (Acts of Peace)!

Time frame... this is an ongoing project. Sure, deadlines can be a motivation and energizer for some people, but this will be open for some time.

If possible, a transparent background is best.

I am composing the individual images into a "master image" and would like to overlap in places.

I am more than happy to provide credits and links to participating artists. There is not a certainty, of course, that all entries will be used in the master image.

Thanks for responding. Are you really a grandmother?

Vision River

http://www.actsofpeace.net

Quote: "well perhaps I need to know more about the project, exactly what you are after...

is it to be abstract or exact. I work very much by emotional feel to a subject. prefer lighter colors not much black (have bad eyes) . prefer abstract ideas.

time frame ......time constraints are an issue right now." - Oma

[Vision River]

Uneyed,

Good points.

Like Oma, I am comfortable with abstracts and may not explain myself clearly enough for others though the idea is clear in my mind.

Yes, the strings refer to string theory. I'll post something on that later.

U: What are you looking to produce?

V: It is a grand vision, and evolves every time I take a meditative walk through the woods to the stone labyrinth nearby.

First is the master image(s) mentioned above.

There will be flash slide shows with music (see Labyrinth Reflections on Acts of Peace for an example.)

Eventually I will give Power Point presentations to live audiences.

I gave my first presentation in northern Germany this May and it was well received, though not the usual subject matter for these village folks.

This is not for commercial purposes. The folks at the German school gave 2 E each, but it did not cover my costs.

The master image will be on the Acts of Peace web site freely, with credits and links to artists who want them.

That's the vision as of now.

U: Although you might have some disparity when it comes to quality and content.

V: I understand. And of course that's why I mentioned in my response to Oma that there is not a certainty all images will be used.

But it feels certain to me that this 'event' will be fun, inspiring and challenging!

Vision River

http://www.actsofpeace.net

[Uneyed]

Transparency does give a great look and feel to a peice. Nevertheless (I could be wrong.) most browsers don't seem to support the transparent portion of an image. They will instead assign a default colour that offsets that portion from the main background colour of your page.

Therefore I often use the page's main background colour as the "transparent" portion of my images. Are the images that you want transparency with going to be used on your website?

p.s.

Maybe you should post a link to you page in this thread as well.

[Vision River]

Well, I have no significant experience as a graphic artist. But I have played some with transparency and found that PNG is my favored format.

Entries used in the master image need to be transparent so I can overlap them and experiment with various backgrounds.

For example, there is a field of singing strings pulsing in many colors. Animation, anyone?

And strings on top of photos to give the feeling of their 'ever-present' quality.

The envisioned master collage will attempt to give a feeling of the building blocks of life from the strings to our conscious existence as human beings.

These "master images," composed of the images submitted here, will not have transparent backgrounds.

I just need the transparency to compose them.

(See my post to come, "Singing Strings: The Nature of Humanity.")

[Vision River]

Singing Strings: The Nature of Humanity

by Vision River

The body-mind is an end point on a road which winds through building blocks of matter-energy.

Each discrete object and organism (such as a tree, a snail or a butterfly) is an end point on one of the countless roads from the source into the material universe.

Back-tracking on a metaphorical human road winds from the organism through clusters of organs and systems, through cells, molecules, atoms and elementary particles.

The beginning of this road is the field of strings, theorized by physicists and intuited by mystics. The strings vibrate with the intensity of seven dimensions, singing the universe into a dance of existence.

The strings are the creative source of all beauty, peace and harmony.

The road to the strings is traveled by visualization and intuitive feeling, in meditative daily life. Acts of Peace orchestrates evocative images, words and music for that journey, through Vision River Art.

The Nature of Humanity is a work-in-progress which begins with the Winding Path poem and the String image by Dan Larson. More to come!

(from the Acts of Peace web site)

[Vision River]

Here's the post from Crazy Man Dan regarding strings:

Awesome! String theory is something that has intrigued me for some time, and I've always wanted to try my hand at the effect.

As I once heard it some time ago, for string theory to even be plausible there would have to be a minimum of seven dimensions as we understand them for the strings to be able to vibrate with enough diversity to fulfill their purpose. I'm not sure if it's true, but I like the concept, so I incorporated the thought when I made the image - instead of the diagram at the bottom of your post where they look like blobs squiggling on a flat plane, I tried to make it look like it was writhing in all directions, using varying line width and glow intensity in an attempt to convey depth. I also added a distorted string echo behind it, fading away, to show movement within the still frame.

I also added some floating particulate matter around the string. Yes, I realize that at the size we'd have to be to see a string, there wouldn't be smaller particulates around (or at least, it would be difficult to fathom anything smaller), but I felt they added to the ethereal ambiance, and since we're going more for evocation than replication, I figured it'd be alright to take a little license.

So, that's what I think of when I think strings. If you like it, I can explain how I accomplished the effect so you can try it yourself. I know there are many other talented users on here as well, and I'm sure a few of them wouldn't mind taking a stab at it if they have the time, so perhaps you'll get a few visions from which to choose - hopefully it'll happen in this quantum reality.

Best of luck, friend.

[Vision River]

Uneyed wrote in Re: Suggestions Sought for Paint Project

Speaking of subatomic particles:SNO Observatory. Everyone forgets about the tiny nuetrino.

Sounds like a fun project. I'm in.

***

Yes, there are numerous other building blocks of life, besides the string, atom, molecule and cell.

This project has no limits.

Whatever 'building block' you want to try your hand at, go for it!

It would be fun to have some of the lesser known particles illustrated as well.

- Vision River

[oma]

generally the only problem I see for myself to contribute is the transparency. most of my artwork is multilayer blended modes. very seldom one layer individual items.

If you go thru my gallery here and on DA just PM me any that intrigue you , mention which individual elements you like and don't like for the project.

also PM me and let me know your direct e mail. I've a few things in the pipes that might just be up your alley.

I may not get back to this until Tuesday next.....grandkiddies are coming in on plane this afternoon and staying for several days. I'm so looking forward to that. Expect a rash of inspired pieces shortly after their visit.

ciao

OMA

[Vision River]

Oma,

I asked Crazy Man Dan how I could make the background of his String image transparent.

Here is what he wrote:

"To get just the string with a transparent background, un-tick the checkbox on the right side of the top two layers (the Glass border layers), as well as every layer from the Dots - Close level layer and below. This will hide all the other layers save those for the string.

Then, select Image > Flatten to merge them all into one. This will create a flattened version of the string on one layer, but keep the transparent background. Select All, copy, then paste as many times as you need in the final composition image."

His string has a black background. Could you make images with a light background and then use the above process to make the background transparent?

I visited your DA images on the page from your link. For the feeling, apart from this project, I like the one (as remembered) Oma in the hand of God. It is hard to say which elements from the DA images could be used in the project. I will post some images of atoms, molecules and cells for examples.

What is meant by PM? How do I access it?

Thanks and good times with the grand kiddies.

Vision River