Frequently asked questions
What is critique arena?
It’s a fun monthly art contest brought to you by SVSLearn.com, an online resource for artists of every skill level. It’s designed to help you develop your illustration skills and build your portfolio.
Every month, we issue a new prompt, and challengers submit art based on the prompt. The Sweet16 go on to battle it out in the Critique Arena, a live event where our judges critique their work and the audience casts their votes to decide who will win. The Top 2 get the chance to do a paid illustration gig for SVSLearn!
How Does critique arena Work?
Every month, we release a new prompt, then you have the rest of the month to work on your entries. All entries are due on the last day of the month. Once the deadline for submitting has closed, our judges review ALL the entries, then select the Sweet 16, which remain top secret until the big reveal a day before Critique Arena.
On the second Thursday of every month, we convene Critique Arena, a live event where the Sweet16 battle for victory! Our audience casts their votes to decide who will move on to the next round. The Top 2 win the championship title! Then the judges critique each of the Sweet 16.
For the nitty gritty details on how it works, read on!
If you are a sports fan, the competition is basically set up like a single-elimination tournament, where the winners from each round move forward to the next round.
During the first round, the judges seed the Sweet16 challengers, who go head to head in 8 match-ups. For each match-up, the judges critique both challengers, then the audience casts their votes. The winners move on to the next round. During the second round, the Elite 8 challengers go head to head in 4 match-ups, with the audience voting for who goes on. During the last round, the Final 4 challengers go head to head in 2 match-ups, with the audience voting for the Top 2. The Top 2 win Critique Arena!
In the case of a tie, the judges decide who goes on.
how do the judges select the sweet 16?
Once the deadline has passed, the judges review all the entries and pick the top 16 entries based on the following criteria:
technical skill
composition
concept
x-factor
Why are there two winners?
Two is twice as nice!
What do the final 2 Win?
Critiques of their work
Social media love on all our platforms
The chance to do a paid illustration gig for SVSLearn
Their name and art will be forever showcased on the Critique Arena website
ALL the glory!
Why do the judges critique the work?
It’s a great way to get a professional point of view on how to improve a piece, from someone who knows. Mom can help with moral support, but a pro can help you level up 😎Even if it’s not your work being critiqued, you can still learn a lot from hearing how a pro would handle an illustration.
When are the new prompts released?
New prompts are posted to the Critique Arena website at the beginning of the month. You can also find short summaries of the prompts for the next two months on the Critique Arena homepage, in case you want a little more time to work on your submission!
Who can enter the arena?
It’s open to pretty much anyone! You don’t have to be a subscriber of SVSLearn.com to submit. However, you do need to be a current subscriber at the time the artwork is submitted to make the Sweet 16. (Pro tip: our free trial counts as a current subscription!) Also, you need to be at least 18 to play!
How do i enter?
Easy! Pick a prompt to illustrate, draw something awesome, and submit your entry by the deadline.
Save your artwork as a JPG. Make sure the longest side of your submission is1200 pixels (you will need to create a scaled down version of your original artwork to fit this size). Be sure to include a bar below your artwork with your name and social media handles (this bar should be white with black text). Keep the file size to no more than 500 kb. And make sure to include your name and the month in the file name (ex: austin-shurtliff-jan22.jpg).
If we get your entry in time, you are officially in the competition!
Can I watch the critique arena live stream?
Yes! Anyone can watch, even if you did not enter the contest.
If you are a current subscriber, you can watch the live stream via Zoom, vote for the winners and take part in the chat. We’ll email you an event link a day or two before. If you didn’t get a link, visit this subscriber only page to get access. You can also email us here.
If you aren’t a subscriber, you can watch it live on our YouTube channel, but you won’t be able to vote or chat. (Don’t worry, our free trial gets you access to the Zoom! Just be sure you are active on the day of Critique Arena.)
How can I increase my chances of winning?
There’s no secret formula for winning! But here’s a few helpful tips:
Your chances greatly improve if you just put yourself out there and give it go 😉
Good storytelling is way more important than technical skill.
Keep your audience in mind. Our judges are mainly kidlit artists, so they tend to gravitate toward kidlit art.
Post your WIP (that’s short for Work In Progress) in our Forum and ask for feedback from our awesome community of artists!
If you want to do a deep dive, check out this podcast episode, where the founders of SVSLearn talk about what separates the Top 16 from the rest.
I won! what next??
Congratulations! We will contact you via email with details about the paid illustration gig😄
I lost! what next??
Get back up and try again! Use it as an opportunity to brush up on your art skills and fine tune your storytelling.
why Should I enter the arena?
So many reasons! If you are trying to go pro, it can help you:
learn how to deal with illustrating on deadline
get out of your comfort zone and draw something new
build your portfolio
gain insight into how a professional would handle an illustration
develop the ability to finish what you start
Plus, you could potentially get personal feedback on your work, and maybe even win!
Don’t see an answer to your question? Reach out to us for help!