What are the benefits and challenges of entering illustration competitions as a student?

In my opinion, apart from the fact that the works can be seen, it gives the artist the courage to be seen and the ethics of accepting criticism. This gives the artist strength over time.

Competitions are a valuable method to gain recognition in your chosen field. Select your best imagery, make sure it follows the guidelines of organizer and include a simple biography of you. If the competition asks for dimensions and media by all means include those elements. Be careful with artwork if the competition wishes for you to show the actual image. Proper packaging, insurance for damages, and a professional shipping company will give you the confidence for a safe arrival. Have the image in a proper frame and do not include the glass. Damage to your artwork could occur with the glass in place. Make sure you have high resolution scans or photographs of the image.

There are two clear and tangible benefits. If you win, this adds great value to your resume/CV and portfolio. If you lose, you can still use your output in your portfolio! Overall, it's great to go out of your comfort zone and use the experience to gauge how your work does in an unknown environment.

Son muchos, desde obtener reconocimiento y prestigio por tu trabajo a ganar premios pero también te sirve para ampliar tu portafolio, conocer a otros profesionales y recibir feedback para mejorar. Siempre se puede aprender de todo.

Sometimes, the benefits of a competition can vary depending on why you are entering in the first place. Some would do it for exposure, others would do it for the accolade, and sometimes it's the monetary incentive. It is important to point out that in some scenarios the drawbacks of a competition can outweigh the benefits due to the many scammy competitions out there, make sure you read the fine print.

The challenges or negative components of entering competitive exhibitions would be, you are entering imagery that will be reviewed by judges that see thousands of images. A competition will have a limited number spaces to fill. A book that is published or a website will have a size or scope of limitations. A large challenge of these art competitions is the cost. Many shows charge $25 to $150 per image, per artist. This can and will add up. The amount of reviews or commentary is minimal at best. However if you can overlook these issues, by all means enter the competitions. The publicity is well worth your efforts.

Algunos desafíos pueden ser desde cumplir con los requisitos de las bases como los plazos por ejemplo a gestionar tu tiempo adecuadamente para para poder compaginar tu participación en los concursos con tus estudios, trabajo o vida personal. Un desafío importante también es proteger tus derechos de autor para evitar que tu trabajo sea copiado, plagiado, modificado o utilizado sin tu consentimiento ni remuneración.

Busca concursos que se adapten a tu perfil, nivel e intereses y si te ofrecen beneficios tan atractivos como premios, publicaciones, exposición o contactos, genial! Pero si no ganas acéptalo y aprovéchalo como una experiencia para aprender, mejorar y seguir participando.

Choose the competitions that push you forward as an illustrator. For example, if you're someone who's keen to get into the storybook publishing field, there are certain competitions that would offer creating short illustrated stories. The excitement of jumping on the bandwagon in global challenges is fun, but don't spread yourself thin and make sure you are doing what you love and are enjoying in such competitions or anything for that matter.

Research the markets that you wish to work in and what markets your illustrations fit best in. There are often competitions that are specific to the types of illustration work you are creating, from advertisement, fantasy, editorial, and entertainment. Pick the field you want to work in and focus on applying to competitions within those fields.

Always read the fine print of every competition you want to enter! They always look enticing at face value but you need to ensure that the terms don't put you at risk. Some risks include the loss of ownership for your artwork -- win or lose.

Estudia las bases y requerimientos de cada concurso y sobretodo práctica mucho y con regularidad para desarrollar tu técnica, estilo y creatividad. Puedes tener talento pero detrás de todo éxito hay trabajo constante, sobretodo en profesiones como la del Ilustrador.

In order to prepare for these competitions the main thing you can do is practice and build your portfolio. The more advanced your work becomes and the more you develop your own style the better the chance you have at entering and winning within the illustration competitions. You can also do market research and see the trends in the markets you are trying to target and then create pieces that fall into those trends for your portfolio. But most importantly create the work you want to be hired for, as if you win there is a chance someone will hire you to create something similar, and if you are entering work you don't want to create you may get stuck creating more in that vein.

Siempre puedes solicita la opinión de los jurados, organizadores y otros profesionales sobre tu trabajo y tomar nota de los aspectos positivos y negativos que te se?alen. Aprovecha y agradece las críticas con humildad sin ofenderte y úsalas para corregir tus errores y potenciar tus aciertos.