kuschelirmel-stock

First of all, thank you all for your lovely entries - you can take a look at all of them here.

Also a big thank you goes out to my helpers: those who have donated prizes

- @lauraypablo, @AwakenedComposites, @Butterkuegelchen -

and those who have helped me judge

- @LadyEvilArts @JaiMcFerran @SireneArcana @FrozenStarRo -

you all rock!

Now without further ado, the moment you've all been waiting for - the winners!

1st place

Enthrallment by @gejda

2nd place

Loneliness by Shennikin

3rd place

Foray in the Deep Sea by @erikshoemaker

Honorable Mentions

Prizes

you can take a look at what you have won in the original journal. You will be contacted throughout the next days by the donors regarding the actual dispensing - no need to do anything but sit and enjoy your accomplishments

New Tutorial is out!

Finally I know Halloween has been a while, but with a regular full time job, things take time. I hope it was worth the wait! I'm talking you through the complete process of creating the manip - from start to finish, including cutting, composing, color corrections etc.

Link to youtube directly: youtu.be/ab7NPOvIzNc

Contest is still ongoing!

The From Darkness into the Light Contest is still on - please consider entering so we can have enough entries for a proper judging.

Art created with my stock

(excluding contest entries on purpose to keep neutral ;))

Stock Feature

As the days are getting shorter we do our best to lighten our mood with lamps and candles, trying to keep the darkness at bay. This darkness can be literal or more of a metaphor (for anxiety and depression), same with the light.

For this contest, I want you to choose at least one of my stock images and create a photomanipulation with darkness and light.

You do not have to limit yourself to images depicting night scenes with candles or lamps (though those will surely give you a great opportunity for high contrast images), you can also think about other light sources in other (dark) settings. For example moonlight, magic / fairy light, an eclipse, a dark cave, sunlight shining through trees, a sunset,... The only thing I would not recommend is a full on daylight scene since there are less opportunities for showing darkness when the whole setting already is so bright. Also do not limit yourself to just actual light and dark - you can also use the concept to convey a mood, an idea or a whole concept; you can be as abstract as you like!

From a more technical side, what I would love to see is your skills with lighting: how light plays off your main character or object, how the scene is illuminated and how the shadows help to define your image - keeping in mind that darkness is rarely pitch black.

• Theme: Out of Darkness into the Light

• Mandatory Stock Use: you have to use at least one (1) stock image (sorry textures, brushes, actions etc. don't count) provided by kuschelirmel-stock, this stock image needs to be easily recognizable in your work and needs to be linked to directly for easy reference, the rest of the stock you use is up to you (NOTE 1)

• Medium: Photomanipulation (with additional digital media if you want - but the main part has to be a manip)

• Deadline: The contest runs from 01.11.2020 until EXTENED to 23.01.2021 23:59 CET countdown to deadline | list of local times and dates // CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED

• Submission Rules: The entry has to be made for this contest and this contest alone - uploaded after the start date and before the deadline - please include a link to this journal to promote the contest! (NOTE 2)

• Judges: LadyEvilArts JaiMcFerran SireneArcana FrozenStarRo & kuschelirmel-stock

• What we will be judging on: Of course your entry needs to fit the theme, using light and darkness in contrast, using photomanipulation (with additional digital media if you want). We'll be looking at creativity and technical skills (like blending, use of light and shadows in a logical manner, etc) (NOTE 3)

NOTE 1) It should go without saying, but I feel I need to say it anyway for the sake of clarity:

Only entries with legitimate stock sources will be accepted. Google is not a stock site, it is a search engine. It is your responsibility to make sure you adhere to whatever rules are attached to the images you use (link back, credit, notify,... whatever the rules may be). If you use your own images or ones you bought that do not require you to credit, please also indicate this in some fashion.

I reserve the right to decline your entry if I cannot be reasonably sure that all your stock is in fact legal!

NOTE 2) You can enter as many times as you like, but you can only win once. If you want to avoid competing against yourself, you might want to choose just one entry, your best.

NOTE 3) While I am giving you free choice as to what you want to use as the mandatory kuschelirmel-stock image, I would like to make it a point that if you use a premade background with pretty lighting and your own part in the lighting is only minimal, it will not score very high on the technical side of things... I'm not saying it will automatically put you at the bottom of the list, but it will mean the difference between individual places for sure.

How to Enter

Upload your image on dA and specify in the artist's comment that it is for this contest. Then note me on my stock account @kuschelirmel-stock with your entry so I can add it to the Contest Collection. Alternatively you can also just comment on this journal.

-- If I get less than 20 entries I reserve the right to extend or cancel the contest for lack of competition; I hope this will not be the case! --

Edit 2020/12/31: we are at 15 entries so far (thank you!!!) so I think the chances of getting to 20 by Sunday are rather slim. So if that is still the status on Sunday, I will PROBABLY extend the contest in 2 weeks "bits" until the 20 entries are in.

There are super beautiful entries in already and I really want to give out all the cool prizes

Edit Jan 21st 2021: we are at 21 entries!!!! That means the final deadline to get your artwork in is definitely Saturday night, 23rd of January. Though I will not be super strict on the strike of midnight - you will have time until I get to my computer on Sunday morning (which is usually not before 9 or 10 am - but CET ;))

Entries Counter 24

all entries:

entries are added as they arrive

Prizes

prizes are updated as the contest progresses - if you would like to donate something yourself, please leave me a comment or a note

1st Place

• 1500 points from kuschelirmel-stock

• 500 points from Butterkuegelchen

• 500 points from AwakenedComposites

• 3 exclusive stock packs from kuschelirmel-stock (see this folder)

• 3 exclusive stocks from AwakenedComposites

• Journal features at lauraypablo, AwakenedComposites, kuschelirmel-stock & kuschelirmel

2nd Place

• 1000 points from kuschelirmel-stock

• 300 points from @Butterkuegelchen

• 250 points from AwakenedComposites

• 2 exclusive stock packs from kuschelirmel-stock(see this folder)

• 3 exclusive stocks from AwakenedComposites

• Journal features at lauraypablo AwakenedComposites kuschelirmel-stock& kuschelirmel

3rd Place

• 500 points from kuschelirmel-stock

• 200 points from @Butterkuegelchen

• 100 points from AwakenedComposites

• 1 exclusive stock pack from kuschelirmel-stock(see this folder)

• 3 exclusive stocks from AwakenedComposites

• Journal features at lauraypablo @AwakenedComposites , kuschelirmel-stock& kuschelirmel

Honorable Mentions

• Pre-cut Stock Open Book from @kuschelirmel-stock

• 1 exclusive stock from AwakenedComposites

• Journal features at lauraypablo @AwakenedComposites, kuschelirmel-stock kuschelirmel

Note to the donors:

Please check if I represented your wishes to donate correctly - thank you so much for the support!!!

I am looking forward to your entries!

First off, I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who commented or otherwise reached out after my last journal where I talked about feeling stuck and unmotivated. I really owe you all for encouraging me to find ways to get at least some motivation back - because I think it might've worked. I mean sure, we'll need to see if it also works long term, but I do feel a spark and my muse has at least woken from her coma

So I've had an idea: why not have a stock use contest (possibly with a bit of a broad but hopefully inspiring theme)? If you feel like this could interest you - but maybe only under certain circumstances etc, please head on over to my poll and participate in the discussion via comments, too! Nothing is decided yet, but I do have some ideas

Stock Use Feature

Stock Feature

Sooooo, I've not checked this account since July I realized yesterday... The reason is quite simple: I'm just not in a mood to create, not even stock. The best I can explain it is that while this pandemic keeps you engaged 24/7 with news updates, statistics, advice and what-have-you (plus that whole bunch of other topics: Black Lives Matter, the upcoming US election, Belarus, the refusal of our minister of internal affairs, Mr. Seehofer, to finally have a complete investigation and report of what the heck is happening inside some German police stations,... the list goes on), on a personal level it feels like nothing changes at all. I'm still doing home office (have been since March), so no commute, but also no interaction with people other than my boyfriend beyond video calls. It feels like everything is on hold while the world moves on at a pace that leaves you breathless. That's the best I can describe it. And with autumn moving in and cases rising again I have this gloomy feeling that it's going to be a long and dark winter.

How are you faring with all of this?

Maybe I just need to get my ass into gear and upload some more stock - I have tons of images still lying around, but then again, motivation is kinda hard to come by these days...

What would you like to see me upload soon(ish)?

• More stock images? If yes, which type? Landscapes? Forests? Mountains? Lakes or rivers?

• More cut-outs or premades? Which ones?

• Tutorials maybe? Videos or in a PFD or JPG format? What would you like to hear about?

• Something else? Brushes? Actions? Presets for Lightroom?

I would really appreciate you leaving a comment - maybe that will finally get me out of this funk

Latest Stock Use Feature

Yes I know I need to do this more often... I'll try

Stock Images from around dA