A previous theme art design of Akari-chan and Gao-nyan for the reference of interested artists.
KUCHING: Japanese pop culture is making some inroad here, with a theme art design competition to woo local artists and the public will vote for the Top Five most popular artworks, with a March 26 deadline for submission of entries.
Local artists are encouraged to participate in the on-going theme art design competition for an anime, comics and games (ACG) convention that will be held this year.
The inaugural ‘Theme Art Competition’ is free for all to participate, with the aim of providing an opportunity for local artists to showcase artwork and building up excitement for the annual convention known as Otakyun! 2017.
Two awards are up for grabs in the competition, namely the Best Theme Award and Best Art Award.
According to organiser Carol Chin, the competition is a platform for artists to exhibit their talents.
“After organising ACG events for so many years, we noticed the number of artists emerging from the scene has grown a lot, from around 10 to maybe around 30.
“We hope this competition will unearth more hidden local talents, as well as highlight Otakyun! 2017 as a unique community event that youths can participate in,” she told The Borneo Post yesterday.
An avid Cosplayer, Chin is part of a group of like-minded volunteers called Anime Gathering (AG) Team. It organises the Otakyun! event yearly to bring in the full experience of Japanese pop culture to Kuching.
She said the competition is being hosted to get public involvement in deciding a theme for Otakyun! this year.
“Since the competition started last month, we have received quite a number of entries. The quality of the submissions is great, on par with ACG artists from West Malaysia. We look forward to more submissions before the deadline on March 26,” she said.
The requirement of the competition is to come up with artwork centred on Otakyun! mascots Akari-chan and Gao-nyan with their signature accessories.
Akari-chan is a blue-eyed girl with short brown hair. A long orange ribbon is tied around her hair, with the golden wings hair clip representing the AG logo. Gao-nyan is a round white cat with an orange-tipped tail. It also has the AG golden wings accessory on its tail.
Previous themes that featured the mascots prominently were Sakura Gakuen, a high school theme used in 2012, Halloween theme in 2013, Okashii Sweets (2014) and Virtual Reality (2016).
Participants are to submit their artwork in digital format such as .png, .jpeg, .psd or .sai with a resolution of 300dpi. No wording is needed for an artwork, unless it relates to the theme.
The artworks will be uploaded to AG Facebook Page and the public will vote for the Top Five most popular artworks.
AG Team will be the final judge in choosing the winners for Best Theme Award and Best Art Award. Winners will win free tickets to Otakyun! 2017 as well as other prizes.
To view the complete rules and regulations or to submit artwork, visit www.anigathering.com/register/themeCompetition.php and for more information on Otakyun! 2017, click to the community Facebook page at www.facebook.com/AnimeGathering.