Manip Mastery Overview:

Welcome to the third Manip Mastery Match, or M³! This contest is designed for all of our talented artists on HP. Whether you're a seasoned professional or a passionate hobbyist, this contest is your chance to showcase your skills, creativity, and imagination.

Submission Guidelines:

° This round is anonymous. Please send your entry to me in a message - I will then upload it with a watermark as an entry to the thread.
° Your submission must include at least one animal as the main subject.
° The animal must be transformed according to the theme, through photo manipulation.
° Entries must be original works created specifically for this contest.
° Submission Limit: Each participant may submit only one entry.
° All of HPs Credit rules must be followed. Please use the font Verdana, to make it all similar. Learn more about the stock rules here: https://horsephenomena.com/credithelp.php

November Theme:

The theme for this year is… -drumroll- Thanksgiving! You can choose to interpret this in any way you want - pilgrim, indian, general feeling of giving thanks? Take the theme and make it yours. 

Voting:

The winner will again be decided by vote. Things to consider when voting:

° Creativity: How unique and imaginative is your concept? Does it stand out?
° Technical Skill: How well-executed is the manipulation? Are the elements seamlessly blended?
° Theme Adherence: Does the piece effectively capture the essence of this month's theme, while maintaining the animal as the focal point?

Prizes:

The person who receives the most votes will receive 100 mil HPD!

Timeline:

° Contest Start Date: 1st of November
° Submission Deadline: 25th of November
° Voting Period: 26th of 30th of November
° Winners Announced: 30th of November
Good luck, and may the best artist win!

After the Challenge is over:

But Freia, what happens to the manips, do you keep them?
NO! The photo manipulation is yours to keep, sell or throw away as you wish. I do NOT keep the rights of any manipulations you create - this is simply for fun!
Questions? Feel free to ask in this thread or contact me directly via private message.
Let's make some magic!

Bump-diddely bump-ielli-dooo! 

Nice!! I may have to skip this one, but who knows?!

I really look forward to this theme, personally I have high hopes for some specific type of manips. :D But not going to influence anyone, haha

Bumping - Remember to enter! :) 

What happens if there's only 1 entry?

Uhgggg, I want to try this so badly, I just don't know how its going to turn out. I guess we'll give it the old college try hahaha. 

I'm thinking that if there's just one entry, the contest will be cancelled for the month. So hype it up and convince your fellow artists to enter! ;)

Looking forward to seeing what you all come up with! 

I think we should get creative for December's theme!

What about 2 entries? I was thinking about entering but I hadn't seen anyone else enter so thinking maybe I shouldn't waste my precious time that would be better spent elsewhere? But if Buoy does enter then maybe I will enter if 2 entries are enough to run?

I'm intending to enter! I've had some lack of muse for it thus far( probably others are feeling the same?). Additionally, I wonder if we could set up donations to increase the prize? I'd like to donate and I think it would help pull more interest. There's a lot of high dollar contests going all at the same time right now.

I'd be happy to accept donations to increase the prize pot :) Though I'm unable to increase it on my own as I essentially will already giving away 1.2 bil a year just for fun :D

Here's a bunch of options for themes and inspiration: 

"Sacred Horse of the Harvest" – Depict a animal adorned with traditional Native American regalia, standing amidst a bountiful autumn harvest.

"Animal of the Four Seasons" – Represent the animal as a spiritual figure transitioning through the seasons, with a focus on the fall and Thanksgiving theme.

"Tribal Thanksgiving Ceremony" – A scene of a animal participating in or observing a Native-inspired Thanksgiving gathering, surrounded by symbolic elements like totems, drums, or a fire circle.

"The Gift of Gratitude" – Show a animal offering or receiving a symbolic gift, such as a basket of corn or feathers, in a serene natural setting.

"Gratitude Gallop" – A scene capturing a animal running through a beautiful fall landscape, symbolizing freedom and gratitude.

"Pilgrim Horse" – Transform the animal into a Thanksgiving pilgrim with period attire, posing at a harvest feast.

"Spirit of Thanksgiving" – Depict the animal as a spiritual guide, surrounded by ethereal Native motifs like dreamcatchers, feathers, and tribal patterns.

"Autumn Journey" – A majestic animal traveling through a landscape rich with Native American cultural markers, such as tipi camps, painted cliffs, or sacred animals.

"Horse Totem of the Harvest Moon" – Highlight the animal as a totemic figure under a glowing autumn moon, with Thanksgiving symbolism like corn, squash, and beans.

"Unity and Gratitude" – A scene symbolizing harmony, with the animal standing alongside other animals important to Native cultures, like bison or eagles, under a colorful fall sky.

"Miniature Thanksgiving" – Imagine a tiny Thanksgiving dinner happening in unexpected small places, like a dollhouse or forest setting.

"Nature's Harvest" – Create scenes of animals celebrating their own Thanksgiving or nature presenting its bounty.

"Gratitude in the Future" – Visualize what Thanksgiving might look like in a sci-fi or futuristic setting.

"Fantasy Feast" – Reimagine a Thanksgiving feast with mythical creatures like dragons, fairies, or goblins.

"Around the World Thanksgiving" – Show how Thanksgiving might look in different cultures or countries.

"Turkey Transformation" – Manipulate turkeys into unexpected forms, like superheroes, historical figures, or futuristic robots.

"Family Time, Reimagined" – Use surrealism to depict Thanksgiving traditions, such as making a cozy dinner table in a fantastic or unexpected setting.

Freia - I don't want to sound combative, but I kinda like the 100 mil prize. I think it gives middle-level artists (like myself) a chance to compete with other middle-level artists. 

When the price money is too high, it draws the attention of the best of the best, and as a middle level, it can seem unattainable to achieve that level of success. When I personally see big contests and big names entering, I know my artwork won't compare and it's a long shot to win. When I'm creating my image, I often get discouraged thinking that even my best won't compete.  As a middle-level artist, I know it can be very depressing when one piece of artwork sells for 300 mil, but the next won't sell for 50 mil. And unnoticed. I think it's a great opportunity for the middle-level to get more traction and more practice. 

I also think of it as a "bonus" as well, because I go on to sell the image in the auctions. Both times, they sold for more than the 100 mil... but it was nice to have the chance at a "bonus". So even artists that make art for this arent loosing. And if you go and sell the artwork in the auctions for 500 mil plus, you also have to add this 100 mil as profit as well. 

I just wanted to throw my input in - not to make anyone feel badly, but I want Freia to feel appreicated for providing 100 mil of incentive to get the auctions moving again. Regardless of if it wins the 100 mil, this contest is getting good artwork back into the auction and appeals to the middle-level artist that sometimes can get lost in the struggle. 

I agree with Lynelle with getting discouraged from entering contests when certain artists enter. I mainly was only thinking about entering this for this month because the entry pool is sooooo small.

That was kind of my intention as well when starting M³ - since the manips are yours to use or sell as you wish, the 100 mil is meant as a bonus. When I started talking about this manip challenge, I was even encouraged to only give the winner a banner, no prize money at all. :) 

I've really been enjoying seeing all the creativity and participation in the M³, I am always eager to log in to see my messages, to see if anyone enters! :D

I hear what you're both saying, and I will think about it for the December challenge. For November, I will keep it as it is and accept at minimum 2 entries. 

Luckily, I have received two entries now and will post them when I am back on my personal PC (where I have Photoshop) later today! :) 

I think this contest is such a fun idea and such a wonderful and generous thought from Freia to put it all together and host each month. I understand it may not be a "high" value pot to some, but I think of the new players that 100 mill to them is a huge amount of money.

It gives everyone with any artistic talent the opportunity to show their style and work, and if they don't win, it gets their art out there and shows the community what they are capable of. Not only can the players all sell their entries in auctions afterwards, but if they were open to it, it can open up the opportunity for taking custom orders and making more money that way as well.

I love seeing everyone's entries each month! 

Aw thank you all for your kind words, I'm so happy to hear that you all enjoy the manip challenges! :) 
We have our two first entries! Please give it up for... entry 1!

Large view: https://i.imgur.com/3WcW0GG.png

And entry 2!

Large view: https://i.imgur.com/Dr45mF5.jpeg

are those entries able to be viewed larger? They look so good!

Of course, I added links for the full view right below each entry! :) 

Entries are suddenly coming in fast, please view entry number 3!

Large view: https://i.imgur.com/po1Aprr.png

I totally agree with Moorfine's and Lynelle's sentiments. I love this every month because while I may not be anywhere close to the caliber that some of the amazing artists we have here on HP, I still enjoy being able to take a prompt and practice for my own enjoyment. Before I came back to HP this year, I hadn't done much with photomanipulation in at least 10 years, so it has been enjoyable for me to relearn. I'll post them in the auctions and take whatever for them, even if that's nothing. If they don't sell, it just resides on my computer and I try to analyze how I can improve. :)

Entry 4 is here!

Large view: https://i.imgur.com/ChaDkNU.jpeg