Want to win your favorite Imagekind print for free?

That’s right, it’s free print Friday! and we’re giving one lucky person the chance to win a free Imagekind print of their choice. Best of all, it’s beyond simple! Just check out our Facebook page and post the URL of your favorite image from Imagekind in the comment section below the announcement.

Hurry, cause it all ends at 5pm PST!

Ok, stop reading, go post your favorite image for the chance to win!

Enter here.

Trivia Tuesday is a weekly feature where I try and stump our readers with interesting art facts. Test your knowledge of the art world and let’s see if you have what it takes to be an art master.

Question: In painting, what is the name of the substance you mix with the paint to give it different qualities?

Paint Macro: 10 of 18 by Jef Harris

[poll id="20"]

**polls close next Tuesday, 6/30/09 and the correct answer will be shared then.

Last week’s poll answer: #2; Photographic paper coated with gelatine and silver

Congratulations to all of the Artful Romance Contest winners!

It was so much fun to see all the different participants and it was a true challenge to find only 10 winners. There were so many truly inspiring works of art entered. Thank you to everyone who participated!

The grand prize winner is Paola Zakimi

The second prize winner is Sandra Arduini

And a huge congratulations to all eight of our runners up!

Couple by Lutz Baar	Only with You by Susi Franco	Counting the Stars by Tine Wiggens	Trunk vs. Trunk by Mr. Roctopus
Chance Encounter 2 by Kip Decker	I Gave My Love a Cherry by Sara Field	Staying Warm by Melissa Robinson	Skating Into the Sunset by Rachel Linder

Imagekind is holding a special juried art contest and we want all artists to participate!

Join the Artful Romance Contest Group on Imagekind and submit your art to the gallery. Once the contest is over, you’ll have the chance to win some fantastic prizes. Including:

Our Grand Prize:

• A Flip Mino HD, with your choice of printing on it!
• Flickr Pro Account OR a one year Imagekind Platinum Account
• Your artwork featured on our homepage
• $50 Gift certificate to Imagekind for the prints of your choice

Need more info? Discuss it in the Group Forum or read more about the contest.

Kiss by Alexander Sokht; Romance by Bill Stephens; Looking For Love by Nadia Smith; Kiss Me Annie Lim

Rules:

• Only Imagekind members are eligible to enter – basic membership is FREE, so sign up now
• You must have at least 8 images in your account to win the grand prize.
• Artwork must be available in at least the Small size. Work must not be upsampled; all images will be inspected before proceeding to the final round.
• Please only submit 3 images for consideration.
• Creating artwork specifically for this contest is encouraged!

Questions? Send any contest inquiries to contest@imagekind.com, or feel free to participate in the group discussion.

The Imagekind Summer Games have come to an end. The submissions were collected and the votes were counted. Now its time for the awards ceremony!

What an amazing show of skill! A huge thanks to everyone for participating. You had the opportunity to vote on three events; Unity, Pushing the Limits and Speed. Each event had three winners awarded either a Gold, Silver or Bronze prize. All Winners will be featured on our homepage, in an upcoming email newsletter and will win other great prizes!

In addition to being featured on the homepage, Gold medalists will each get a $50 gift card and Silver and Bronze winners will each receive a print of their work.

We are all amazed at the variety of talent the Imagekind community has shown for this event. It’s fantastic to see all the different artistic styles, ideas and perspectives that make up this artist community. Take a look at all the winners below and make sure to congratulate them on their victory!

Unity Winners

Gold: Generations by Brae Oktober

Silver: Sky Heart by BuffaloWorks Photography

Bronze: Unity by Holly Kempe

Pushing the Limits

Gold: This Wonderfully Wicked Little Town by Jeff Adkins

Silver: Silence !!! Artist Working by Dragos Prioteasa

Bronze: Bridge by Regina Lafay

Speed

Gold: Determination by Paula Suter

Silver: Speed Demon by kellerman

Bronze: WIRED by Mayura Dhume

We had some fantastic submissions for our third and final Imagekind Summer Games event and now it is up to you to choose the winner.

Below are the ten images our esteemed judges determined represent the theme best. Deciding on these images was a difficult task for our judges and one that was not rushed into hastily. Now you get to choose which images you think should take home the gold, silver and bronze!

Vote for the top three that you think represents the theme best. But make sure to vote soon because polls close Friday, August 22 at 10am PDT.

After the polls close on August 22, we will announce all of the winners for the Imagekind Summer Games.

Get voting!

Artwork 1: Determination by Paula Suter
How it Represents Speed: It was inspirational to see the athletes compete in this wheel chair race. The streets of Sempach, a small village in Central Switzerland, were lined with spectators and everyone was cheering for them. I think this shot captures not only speed but determination.

Artwork 2: Speed of Nature by Sherrie Looper
How it Represents Speed: In our fast-paced world, often we forget that the speed of nature is as timeless as it is perfect. The imagery of a seedling growing into its fullness of an ancient tree displays this endless time frame where speed has a more universal and limitless meaning.

Artwork 3: A Day in the Park by Sharon Tatem
How it Represents Speed: This is the story of life as this girl in the red coat and hat is seeing this moment and how quickly she progress through it. She is a child on the bridge, a woman finding love across the water seeing her partner. She is an old woman on a bench with her partner. The hats flying are the movement of time as time speeds by and life moves quickly.

Artwork 4: USAF Thunderbird by Elaine Barnett
How it Represents Speed: United States Air Force Thunderbird making a practice run in Cheyenne, WY in July.

Artwork 5: Wings by Greg Simanson
How it Represents Speed: I have been inspired by the Olympics for my whole life…I feel this image showcases the speed and grace of an athlete.

Artwork 6: WIRED by Mayura Dhume
How it Represents Speed: This image indicates the life around us as it goes at a crazy pace. The boy symbolizes ‘us’ as he watches life speed past.

Artwork 7: Siberian Tiger in Snow – Oil Painting by Chris Chalk
How it Represents Speed: Speed is everything to the Amur ( Siberian ) Tiger. Without it it would simply not survive. A huge animal weighing in at up to 900lbs and up to 10 feet long it is still able to move at unimaginable speed to catch it’s prey. Ironically it’s time is may also be running out due to illegal poaching and loss of habitat. Here I tried to capture the power and speed waiting to be unleashed.

Artwork 8: Portrait of Robin by Sondra Sula
How it Represents Speed: I sketched this in less than 15 minutes! Now that’s speed!

Artwork 9: Speed Demon by kellerman
How it Represents Speed: The sparrow reaches it limits and beyond as it flies through the air leaving its shadow behind.

Artwork 10: Swing Free by Chris Lyons
How it Represents Speed: I think this picture portrays a good sense of speed, as you imagine the people whooshing by in their chairs.

Polls have closed, thanks for particpating!

The polls may be closing soon for the Unity event, but we are well on our way to our next big event. Now it’s time for you to vote on Pushing the Limits!

Once again I am floored by all the amazing submissions we received. Below are the ten nominees selected by our esteemed judges. Choosing only 10 was, to say the least, quite an arduous task for them. They strove, the struggled, they perspired profusely, but in the end were able to push through the pain and achieve the goal.

Now, it’s up to you to vote for the top three that you think represents the theme best. Vote soon because the polls close Monday, August 18 at 10pm PDT.

The third and final event just opened for submissions today and the competition is already revving up. Submit your favorite images that depict how you conceive Speed. But hurry, event closes on Tuesday, August 19 at 10pm PDT.

Anyone can vote, so make sure to include your friends, family and anyone else in on the action!

To join in the fun and find out more about the contest, visit the Imagekind Summer Games information page.

Artwork 1: Silence !!! Artist Working by Dragos Prioteasa

How it Represents Pushing the Limits: I consider this artwork the embodiment of theme “Pushing the Limits”. After all this is the most important feature of human kind. People always wanted to know more, to discover more, to be explorers. People always pushed the limit to discover new frontiers(material or spiritual). That’s what we do in this community. We explore new frontiers. The only limit we have is the one we set our self.

Artwork 2: Hang On! by Jennifer Manganello

How it Represents Pushing the Limits: This is a twist on pushing the limits. It does appear to be a very precarious position and he is displaying determination and a little bit of fear.

Artwork 3: This Wonderfully Wicked Little Town by Jeff Adkins

How it Represents Pushing the Limits: I feel this image pushes the limits of perspective and also the limits as to what is scary and what is beautiful.

Artwork 4: We Three Kings Part II – Lion by Michelle Wrighton

How it Represents Pushing the Limits: This image is a good fit for the “Pushing the Limits” theme as this is exactly what I did while creating this. Using artists color pencils I wanted to push to the absolute limit what could be achieved in this medium, to prove that color pencil as a medium can stand alongside acrylic or oils in Fine Art.

Artwork 5: Peeking Through by Sondra Sula

How it Represents Pushing the Limits: This tiny squill has pushed through the limits of several layers of tough oak leaves to kiss the life-giving sun.

Artwork 6: Pushing the Limits by Donna Corless

How it Represents Pushing the Limits: This shows a hiker who is pushing on to reach the destination.

Artwork 7: Shoes by Rebekah McGrady

How it Represents Pushing the Limits: The idea behind this piece is that achieving beauty and skill often costs some blisters, blood, and callouses.

Artwork 8: Javelin by Greg Simanso

How it Represents Pushing the Limits: The grace of the athlete in this image I created shows the form and strength it takes to perform.

Artwork 9: Bridge by Regina Lafay

How it Represents Pushing the Limits: Still holding on…

Artwork 10: Dear God, Please Don’t Let them Find Me… by tanyabond

How it Represents Pushing the Limits: This little hamster is definitely pushing the limits – hiding on a cheese shelf in the kitchen!

Polls have closed, thanks for participating!

The submissions are in, the nominees have been chosen, now it’s time for you YOU to vote for your top three favorites!

Here are the top 10 nominees that our esteemed judges thought best represented unity for the Imagekind Summer Games! We received a ton of amazing submissions and narrowing it down to these ten was by no means an easy task. The judges argued, they debated, they thought long and hard about which images should be chosen, and by the end of it, they were able to come together, reconcile and compromise. I think they all learned a lesson in the importance of unity from this event!

Here are the 10 nominees. Now, YOU get to vote for which THREE you think are best suited to represent the theme of unity. Vote at the bottom of the post and we will then take the top three images with the most votes and award them with their respective prizes.

Vote soon because the polls are closed on Friday, August 15 at 10pm PDT.

If you don’t see the image you submitted below, know that the competition was fierce. Also, don’t give up! Our Pushing the Limits event is well underway and you have up until 10pm PDT tomorrow, Thursday, August 14 to submit your favorite images that best represent the theme.

Anyone can vote, so make sure to include your friends, family or even the stranger on the corner in on the action!

To join in the fun and find out more about the contest, visit the Imagekind Summer Games information page.

Artwork 1: Tomato Clownfish Tropical Fish Pet by Sally Kuyper

How it Represents Unity: This clown fish and anemone are a cool example of unity. The anemone’s tentacles protect the Clown fish from predators and the clown fish helps the anemone by cleaning it.

Artwork 2: After School by Kate Wilhelm

How it Represents Unity: Visually, this photo shows four boys unified by their focus on a single book. As well, mosaics are made of disparate fragments unified by art. The photo was made in the courtyard of the Gugu S’thebe Arts and Culture Centre in South Africa, 13 years after the end of apartheid. These boys are younger than the country’s new democracy, the product of years of united, hard work.

Artwork 3: Circle of Souls by Ken Zen

How it Represents Unity: Art inspired by a traditional Tohono O’odham weaving design. This composition depicts a person entering a pathway that has only one outcome. Symbolically, this is the maze of life that we all travel through from birth to death. The outer ring of linked figures represents the circle of souls who unite to assist in the dramatic process of lowering spirit into the realm of land dwellers.

Artwork 4: Unity by Holly Kempe

How it Represents Unity: Lessons from Nature – stay close and help each other ‘Unity’

Artwork 5: Generations by Brae Oktober

How it Represents Unity: This is a photo of my great-grandmother, my grandmother, my mother and me. I believe we all build on what the previous generations taught us, and even though my great-grandmother and grandmother are no longer living, I still feel their presence and know they guide me through life.

Artwork 6: Sky Heart by BuffaloWorks Photography

How it Represents Unity: It takes 4 planes working together to create the almost perfect heart in the sky that you see here.

Artwork 7: A Magical Walk by Juli Ryan

How it Represents Unity: What greater unity is there than the bond between sisters? Sisters share hopes, dreams and secrets. “A Magical Walk” was created from the fond memories I have of being the big sister watching over my little sister.

Artwork 8: Crew Hike by Terra Fondriest

How it Represents Unity: This is a picture of a forest fire fighting crew hiking into work for the day. They have to work as one in order to survive the day, and to help others. Without unity, they would be unsuccessful.

Artwork 9: Síocháin (Peace) by Pegeen Shean

How it Represents Unity: Peace is the ultimate unifier! Síocháin is the Irish word for peace and this painting was conceived while Senator George Mitchell was negotiating and ultimately achieved a peace accord, between Northern and the Republic of Ireland in 1998. Green, white and orange are the colors of the Irish Flag, green represents the Irish Catholics, the orange represents Northern Ireland and Irish Protestants.

Artwork 10: Reflection of a Shell by Jennifer Manganello

How it Represents Unity: A shell and its reflection become one, symbolizing unity.

Polls have closed for the Unity Event. Thanks for participating.