TLDR version in one small paragraph: Can we have longer than 24 hours to submit entries in the Show Me Your Art contest please? I think everyone would benefit from having a comparable amount of time to the time that contestants have in the Colour Me Happy contest. And it may just encourage other interesting people to start taking part and sharing some stunning, thought provoking or otherwise completely engaging art!
Full version (only for those who have time):I have another question about the Show Me Your Art contest. Why is the amount of time contestants are allowed for each round so much less than for the colouring contest? It seems to me that as difficult and as involved as choosing a colour scheme & mood and implementing it can be in the latter contest, it's still potentially a lot easier than creating a whole piece of artwork from scratch (although granted – someone who just wants to earn a quick and uncreative 120WRZ$ can just plug in the keyword or phrase and possibly the first obvious additional keyword/phrase that comes to their mind into a text-to-art generator and boom! but that's probably not going to produce anything great).
Allowing more time for contestants may encourage “old-school” artists to contribute, ie those who use non-AI applications and maybe (shudder) even pencil, paint and clay! (Joking about the shuddering – I have the utmost respect (and often awe) for such artists). It could be very exciting to see this type of art included in the thread alongside the AI submissions!
Allowing more time to contribute also gives contestants time to refine, improve or maybe completely overhaul their ideas. Not to mention: re-engineer their prompts for better artistic generations. And maybe: edit their art too (for those who know how to do it or who are willing to learn, although of course learning involves trial and error which is also aided by allowing more time). Many people wake up after a good night's sleep after working on something the day before with brand new ideas on how to do it better. If a round of the contest begins when it's evening or nighttime in someone's time zone, they may not get to see the new round until the following day, denying them the chance to “sleep on it” and produce something truly great the morning/daytime after!
I personally have 2 examples from the previous UFOs round of how, in some cases, just a little extra time can allow a contestant to radically improve their ideas and art. Although I was pleased with my idea to create some art showing
the inside of a flying saucer looking out on NYC, I spent virtually no time, thinking about how to improve the idea and its delivery (I was too busy working on my other ideas). Soon after resubmitting my last entry, however, I looked again at the piece I submitted to illustrate that concept and was very sorely disappointed! The whole reason to show the viewer the scene onboard a UFO (a sight not normally seen, of course) is surely to create drama and/or show them something interesting about the spacecraft's interior and its otherworldly crew. I failed! Miserably! Of course realising you've failed with a piece of art can be an important step in the creative process, spurring you on to another better attempt to portray your vision. But not if the contest closes too soon! I hesitate to say the following because I know everyone's taste is different (some people, for example, are “phobic” of b&w imagery), but I think that I have produced some stunning works on this concept since (one example below). I also went “back to the drawing board” with my
semi-organic spacecraft hovering over medieval Constantinople/Istanbul concept and made huge improvements (I think) with that concept too. Granted, those ones still need further work though (notice for example, in the second example image below, the AI has for some reason decided to add a car into the medieval square!!
maybe the AI thinks the aliens from the strange spacecraft gave the people of the medieval city a car as a present! Seriously though, I'm confident that with some time I can edit the car out).
(for comparison, the links in the previous paragraph show my earlier attempts at both of these concepts, demonstrating the improvements that can be made given some extra time - just a few hours in these examples)
My baby steps into editing artwork are, at the moment, so very tiny. If I produce some art that's amazing save for one thing ruining it, I probably won't have the skills to correct it before the contest closes (unless it's something very simple). I am sure this is true for others too.
Yet another advantage of allowing more time for each round – it may encourage new users to give it a try who have never used an AI art generator before and who have some anxieties about doing so and
may even be uncertain of their ability to do so. A longer time frame takes some of the pressure off them, giving them room to try something without the ominous sound of a ticking clock and the stress that can bring to those who suffer from anxiety.
But maybe the best advantage of giving contestants more time each round – it will probably improve the images shared – in some cases massively, making for a much more captivating, inspiring, fun and thought provoking forum thread for others to browse! Woo-hoo!
Apologies for this, but I can sometimes be slow to respond to PMs. Unless my reply to you is very simple, eg “Thanks for that!”, it may take about a week. Thanks for your understanding, patience and strawberry daiquiris (especially the daiquiris!)