Getting into the Art Gallery

Picking a Theme (or two)

The first thing you need to decide is what you're actually going to draw. You can just pick something randomly and hope for the best, but by putting a bit of thought into what you are going to draw you can increase your chances at getting published. The most common method is to look at the calendar for the month and see which pets have a pet day and choose one of those. On a pet day there will be two pages dedicated to that pet, that's twenty four pieces of art, and one of the main reasons people have the most success with pet days.

If there are no species coming up that you want to draw, that doesn't mean you need to resign yourself to the 'pick a random subject and cross your fingers' approach. There are still ways to make it more relevant and likely to be picked. Making sure to read the news daily is the best way to come up with ideas. If a new pet colour has just been released that's always a good place to start, or new wearables are often a favourite.

A way to give yourself double the chances are being published is to combine two themes. If you're going for the new wearable example and you don't get published, keep the art saved in a separate folder and then you could resubmit when the species day for that pet comes around. I drew a picture of Delma from the Faerieland AC team for Zafara Day that didn't get in, but I resubmitted in June when the AC was in full swing and it was published then.

There are also certain colours that have theme days such as Mutant, Chocolate and Tyrannian. So drawing a pet in one of those colours means if it doesn't get in on a species day you can submit it when the theme day comes around as well.

These are just a few suggestions, there are lots of different ways to give your art multiple themes so you can resubmit later on in the year if you don't get in on your first attempt.

Time and Effort

One of the biggest factors to getting published is not your artistic ability, but your level of effort. If you put time and effort into your submission no matter how you view your art, people will be able to see that effort and it'll be a good way to increase your chances at being published.

How you display that extra effort varies from person to person. It could be a focus on shading, including more than one pet in the same image or adding a background with some detail rather than just a plain colour. All these extras add to your art and increase your chances if you can show the effort you are putting into them, and they are also fantastic practice. ^^

Create a Story

The Art Gallery may not be the Neopian Times, but you can still tell a story. You do see nice art of a pet by themselves with no background being published; however, more commonly it's art with a hint of a story happening. For this, the best thing to do is have some kind of interaction. Whether your pet is interacting with another pet, a petpet, an item or even their background, just the fact that something is happening in the art gives it a better chance at being published.

Choosing your Medium

The most commonly published art in the gallery is digital art. Does that mean you'll have the best shot at getting in if you submit digital? No. It's the most commonly published because it's the most commonly submitted. However, recently we've seen more and more variety in the types of art that have been published and it's not just a matter of traditional vs digital. When it comes to digital there's been a variety of different styles including pixelled art and animated.

But it's not just about drawing, moving away from the computer we've seen even more variety in the publications. Nail art, plushies, clay figures, the possibilities are pretty much endless. If you can think of a unique way to create your publication there's a good chance it'll stand out in comparison to other entries of a similar theme.

Draw for Yourself

This is less about getting into the Art Gallery and more about keeping up the motivation to carry on submitting. It doesn't matter what your art is like, chances are you'll have a lot more art that doesn't get published in comparison to any that makes it in. If you're drawing for random species days, you can end up with lots of art that has no use. Obviously the best way to avoid this is by including your own pets in some of your entries, so whether the art is published or not you've got art to display on their lookup or petpage so it doesn't feel it has gone to waste.

But given that we've already considered that submitting on pet days is one of the most popular methods, think about something else you can gain from the art. What does that species have that you can improve on? Maybe you don't draw wings very often so there's a pet day coming up that will give you a reason to work on that. Or you've been meaning to try something underwater for a while, draw the upcoming pet as a Maraquan. If you can find a use for your art other than as just an entry you're going to have more of a reason to continue drawing and submitting in the future.

Don't Give Up!

The most important advice of all. Chances are you're going to go through quite a few pieces that don't get published before that first publication, but if you keep trying new things and putting in the effort that shiny trophy (and prize!) will be yours!