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Contest: ENTER April Art Challenge - Suggest Your Themes!

Starscape

Commodore
Premium Member
Here is our current Art Challenge state-of-play:
  • Voting on February's Challenge, "Wrong Episode Posters" is about to start, get in quick if you haven't posted an entry yet.
  • And March's Challenge Theme is "Retro Rockets", the main contest thread will be posted by the winner of February's challenge.
April is on it's way and we're no fools, we know we're going to need lots of Theme ideas to help work off all that Easter chocolate we're going to be guzzling at the end of March. So, what is on your mind as we enter the second quarter of the year and can you develop that into a Theme?

Also, to help generate as much participartion as possible you might want to consider whether your Theme idea could encompass a range of some of the following:
  • Skill Level
  • Time Commitent
  • Media (Physical, Digital, Photochop, 3D...)
  • Subjects (Characters, Tech, Starships...)

Once you've thought of something, please post your idea here and feel free to discuss, ask questions and suggest ideas for entries for any of the submitted themes. If we can get a conversation started about the challenge it'll help to get those creative juices flowing. :)

THE NEUTRAL ZONE has returned and within it are Themes that have averaged the lowest number of votes and are in danger of being eliminated from future polls.


The Current List of Themes:
  1. Specific Show -- The Next Generation
    Dedicated to art inspired by one specific Star Trek show or era. Each month you have the opportunity to vote for a different era cycling through: TOS/TAS --> TNG --> DS9 --> VOY --> ENT --> MOVIES --> DSC --> PIC --> LDS --> PRO --> SNW --> TOS/TAS --> ...

  2. The More Things Change
    Time may move at warp speed, but not everything does. Show us how something Trek has changed over the years - landscapes, buildings, ships, people, beliefs.

  3. The New Next Generation
    What's next for Star Trek? Show us what could follow your favorite incarnation of Star Trek or the future of fandom itself: the Next Generation of Star Trek fans.

  4. Beginnings
    A New Year is here so taking inspiration from that show us some Trek Art related to new Beginnings. It could be inspired by something from the start of your favourite series or show us the beginning of a new mission, the introduction of a new character, ship or family member.

  5. Tall Tales
    Or, a funny thing happened on the way to Delta Vega. Dedicated to those adventures that are the most bizarre and unbelievable, the ones where if you described them to someone they'd reckon you'd done a little too much LDS - Abraham Lincoln floating in space, holograms taking over the Enterprise, being shrunk to the size of a toy, evolving into a lizard?! Or perhaps you can think of something even weirder than those we've seen on the show.

  6. Timekeeping
    We know our Starfleet crews get themselves into all sorts of temporal scrapes, but how do they (and other galactic citizens) tell the time wherever they are? Apart from stardates, the odd PADD/viewscreen display, Sisko's Saltah'na clock, and a couple of "antique" 20th century watches, what do contemporary timepieces look like in the Star Trek time periods? Especially those from worlds other than Earth? After all, not everywhere has a 24 hour day...

  7. Not Good Enough
    Art inspired by unpopular episodes.

  8. Today Is A Good Day to Die-o-rama
    Release your inner child with a diorama demonstrating anything Trek - landscapes, ships, historical moments. Make it or draw it, if you prefer. Mixed media - use any material you want.

  9. Rules To Live By
    Rules of Acquisition, Lefler's Laws, and more! Illustrate a principle espoused by a character or species and how it might play out in real life, in the Trek universe. (Bonus points if you use an actual episode/film scenario to prove the rule.)

  10. Black and White...and Grey
    Illustrate something Trek without color. Prove to everyone that Trek looks good, no matter what.

  11. Signs and Symbols
    Every good organization has a logo, a banner, or insignia. Design a variation on an already-seen icon, such as the Starfleet Delta or the IDIC (perhaps an earlier version, or a different race's take on it). Or create a flag, symbol, or emblem for a race that currently doesn't have one. Your fanon design might just become canon someday!

  12. Leap of Faith (Of The Heart)
    Celebrate the leap year by taking a leap of faith! Prove why "risk is our business" by depicting tricky maneuvers, scary encounters, and characters beating the odds.

  13. I'm Ready For My Close-Up, Mr DeMille
    Technology, people, places - we've seen no end, but have we seen through the deck 14 forward view ports of the Enterprise-D? Or zoomed in on the eastern shoreline of that inland circular sea on Betazed? Or been up close and personal enough with Big Merp to see if his skin is made up of finely interlocking scales?
    Show a close-up of something/one from Star Trek which includes details (of your own design) that have yet to be seen on screen.

    [THE NEUTRAL ZONE]
  14. BackTreking
    A temporal agent is tasked with confiscating artwork, photographs, and objects inspired by accidental (Trek) alien contact with Earth. Design an artifact that might raise a few eyebrows if it was allowed to remain behind. (Think something man of that era might have designed, not the object that inspired it - e.g. a painting of a phaser, not the phaser itself.)

  15. Cold Comfort
    How is everybody staying warm this winter? Show us your favorite characters cozying up to a fire, enjoying warm beverages, huddling together, etc. Alternately, show us something that can also be described as cold, whether it's Spock's (lack of?) emotions, Deanna's favorite ice cream treat, or a frozen locale.

  16. Insert Spock Here
    What would Spock be doing at any given moment in Star Trek shows and movies, were he present for an incident? Put our favorite Vulcan in the picture where he was originally not, whether he would have been lurking in the shadows or actively involved in the action. Alternately, if he was elsewhere at the same moment, show us where and what he was doing.

  17. Bones of Contention
    What are your favorite Trek characters fighting about? Show us a good-natured squabble, or a knock-down, drag-out brawl...but most importantly, tell us WHY!
    [THE NEUTRAL ZONE]
Voting for April's Theme will commence ~17 March. Please post your ideas by then for inclusion in the poll.

Have Fun! :bolian:

CHRISTMASTIME THEMES:

That Rings A (Jingle) Bell

"Hmmm...I remember this, but I can't quite put my finger on where I've seen it before." Place something that looks uncannily Trek in a place you'd never expect to find it. Bonus replicator credits if it's hiding in a holiday-themed setting.

Every Problem Has A (Re)Solution
What New Year's resolutions are your favorite characters making for themselves and each other? Depict your favorite Trek characters facing their fears, learning a new skill, or quitting an old habit.

As Prophecy Foretold
Portray a scene from a species's religious texts or show a character taking part in a spiritual activity, visiting a religious site, etc.

Season's Greetings
Show us what you imagine our favourite Star Trek characters might send or receive in the way of gifts or greetings cards at the this time of year - a family picture of the Rikers, a Quark's Bar gift voucher, a personalised coffee mug?

Christmas Crossover
Taking inspiration from your favourite festive stories, movies, music videos (?) show us how they might manifest if they played out in the Star Trek Universe. Which character would be your choice for Scrooge or what would happen if Wesley was left Home Alone?

VALENTINE'S DAY THEMES


Where My Heart Is, Beyond Antares
How do characters/species show their love for each other? Friends, parents and kids, true loves...anything you want.

Hearts and Flowers
Happy Valentine's Day! Incorporate imagery of hearts and flowers into any Trek-themed project you choose. (Doesn't necessarily have to be directly related to Valentine's Day)

Be Mine, Space-Time Valentine
What kind of Valentine cards and candy would Trek species dole out? Design a card or gift, alien/Starfleet style.
 
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... chocolate we're going to be guzzling at the end of March
~ At the end of March?!? [hides half eaten bar and tries not to look guilty
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And back on topic: I always look forward to these "Suggest Your Themes" posts because I have a kind of mild morbid curiosity to see which themes have ended up in the Neutral Zone.

Oh, and no new themes from me yet. I'm sure something will pop into my head within a few days, though.
 
Texture Is For Kings
Engage your creative juices to create something Trek that's so tactile in appearance that you could reach out and touch it (if it weren't for that pesky computer screen in the way, that is!)

To Seek Out New(born) Life
What did your favorite characters look and act like as babies? How would our grown-up characters interact with any infantile organisms they might encounter? Your artwork must have a baby/babies, or something related to infancy.
 
Memory Alpha Roulette
Hit the "Random Page" button on Memory Alpha (top left next to the logo, hover over "Explore" and click on "Random Page"). The first two in-universe articles you get are the subject of your artwork (or at least the first one you like).
 
Ooh, those are all good ones, @Laura Cynthia Chambers :bolian:
A petable Moopsy?
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Baby Rutherford!!!!
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But Memory Alpha Roulette has just given me "Sports idioms" and "Tween" - perhaps I'll have better luck if/when it gets voted for? (I really like the Memory Alpha Roulette theme, though).
 
Gift Shop Goodies
Who doesn't love souvenirs? Imagine what visitors, passengers, and tourists might bring home as a memory of their stay on the Enterprise, visit to DS9, vacation on Vulcan, etc. Whether it's an actual piece of the ship, a funny t-shirt, a pretty postcard, or something more outrageous, one thing is certain; it'll always remind you of your visit.
 
I’ve also had an idea kicking around in my head for a while that I wanted to run by you. But bear with me, it’s perhaps a little out there and would of course require @Laura Cynthia Chambers giving her okay first:

Inspired by Laura
As some of you might know, @Laura Cynthia Chambers has been doing her own, very unique starship designs in Microsoft Paint for a while. Some are simple and almost crude, while others can be super complex, especially if they were realized in three dimensions. For this theme choose one of her designs and make it your own. Recreate it in 3D, draw full orthos from all views, build it as an actual physical model, make a detailed pencil drawing of it à la @Atolm, let yourself be inspired … the possibilities are endless. And please make sure to post a link to the starship design you picked.

I know from my own experience that it can be a ton of fun to work with Laura’s designs. And I think it would be kinda awesome to see what other people do with her ideas. :)
 
World Buildings
Dust off your set square and set up your drafting board. Show us some of the Trek buildings we never got to see. What does the Temple of T'Panit look like? Where does the Department of Temporal Investigations hang up their clock? How about Station Salem-One prior to the attack? What did Zefram Cochrane High School look like when Geordi attended it? Or create your own building for your favorite species' education, business, religion, etc.
 
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That suggestion takes us up to 23 out of a possible 24 that the board software allows in a poll, just sayin'... ;)
 
Some of those almost look like fonts…I have often wondered if the Juggernaut derelict we saw in ALIEN was itself meant to be a symbol…the idea of ship designs being language isn’t something we have seen before.
 
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