San Japan: Mach 5 Art Contest

We are holding two Art Contests this year. One art contest is strictly for the T-Shirt and the other is the Mega Art Contest. If you would like to see people wearing your artwork as a badge or on the front cover of the program book then you’ll want to enter the Mega Art Contest. If you would like your graphic artwork to be used to on our shirt then you’ll want to enter the T-Shirt Contest.

Theme: This year’s theme is Old-School Anime. We’re looking for art styles from the 60′s, 70′s & 80′s. Good examples include: Speed Racer, Galaxy Express 999, Starblazers, Fist Of The North Star, Dirty Pair, Robotech, Lupin The 3rd, Astro Boy, Urusei Yatsura or Gatchaman.

The setting and background is up to the artist.

Here are the rules & guidelines for the T-Shirt Contest:

For the T-Shirt Contest, the artwork must use no more than 3-4 different unique colors. We want to keep it at 3-4 colors for the T-Shirt this time.
While we have a limit on colors, Black and White do not count towards the 3-4 color limit.
T-Shirt Entries must be digital; traditional art submissions (i.e hand-drawn art and sketchbooks) will not be accepted. To Clarify: Hand drawing the sketch on paper then inking in Photoshop or Illustrator is perfectly allowed.
T-Shirt Entries should not have elaborate backgrounds. Keep in mind that your design will be printed on a black T-Shirt.
The winning T-Shirt entry artist receives an Artist Alley table with one Artist Alley badge ($100 value).

T-Shirt Entry Example: Right Amount Of Colors

Here are the rules & guidelines for the Mega Art Contest:

For the Mega Art Contest, the entry may have as many colors as you’d like and no restriction on the background.
Mega Art Entries must be digital; traditional art submissions (i.e hand-drawn art and sketchbooks) will not be accepted. To Clarify: Hand drawing the sketch on paper then inking in Photoshop or Illustrator is perfectly allowed.
Mega Art Entries relate to this year’s theme of Old School Anime.

: Mega Art Entry Example:
Too many colors for a T-shirt
but works well for the
Mega Art Contest

Prizes for Mega Art Contest

1st Place: Art used on Program Book Cover. Winning artist will be awarded 1 table in Artist Alley with badge for San Japan: Mach 5 ($100 Value) [WINNER MAY REQUEST SUBSTITUTE PRIZE OF EQUAL VALUE].
2nd Place: Art used on Pre-Registration Badge. Free Registration badge + T-Shirt ($70 Value).
3rd Place: Art used on VIP Gold Pass. Wins a 3-Day Registration badge ($50 Value).
4th Place: Art used on 3-Day Weekend Registration Badge. Wins a Pre-Registration badge.
5th Place: Art used on Saturday Badge. Wins a convention T-Shirt
6th Place: Art used on Child Badge. Wins a convention T-Shirt.
7th Place: Art used on Friday Badge. Wins a convention T-shirt.
8th Place: Art used on Sunday Badge. Wins a convention T-shirt.
All awards received for the 2012 art contest apply only to San Japan: Mach 5.

This is what we request for all entries:

We prefer that the submissions be of our female mascot Sana or any of our Chibi mascots. However, we will take submissions of an original character(s) and we are very open-minded. For examples of previous artwork submitted, check out our DeviantArt. If you need more inspiration, be sure to look over previous entries from 2009, 2010, or our 2011 contest.

Below is some artwork drawn of our mascot plus our chibis in our first year. This should help you out in your design:

We will accept fan art submissions of one of our mascots based in a well-known anime/manga series.
If you want to submit your own original work, it will be considered as long as it is in an anime/manga style or other non-traditional art style.
Artwork must be G or PG rated. Nothing overtly risque or offensive.
It is highly prefered that all submissions have layers if at all possible. Submitted art needs to be in TIF or PSD/Photoshop format [preferred]. We will also accept JPG/PNG files. If submitting a JPG/PNG file, let us know if you have a PSD/Photoshop file available so that we can ask for it if your entry is selected.
Please make sure the picture is high-resolution with at min. 150DPI and preferably 300DPI. Please be at minimum 1024x768px if at all possible. Bigger is better.

Upon submitting your entry, the artists agrees on the following:

We reserve the right to decide for each entry if it should be in the Mega Art Contest or in the T-Shirt contest. Meaning that if you submit your art to the Mega Art Contest, you could win the T-Shirt contest and vice-versa.
We reserve the right to use any art submissions for own promotional and media purposes until the end of San Japan: Mach 5. After the end of the convention, we will contact the artist to ask for permission for any further use of the artwork.
Artists will be credited in our program book and promotional materials if the artwork is used for promotional purposes.

Submissions for the T-Shirt contest must be made by June 10th, 2012. Submissions for the Mega Art Contest must be made by June 17th, 2012. There will not be a limit to the number of entries you may submit for either contest. Limit one 1st place winner (we won’t allow one person to win two Artist Alley tables). If the winner of either contest has already purchased an Artist Alley table then they will get a refund of $100 for their table.

If you have any questions then fill out the form at the bottom of the page.

You are not required to pre-register for San Japan in order to submit an entry.