Online drawing competitions
Drawing competitions scored on line, form and idea
Pencil, ink, charcoal, pastel or digital. Submit a photograph of the drawing and let the panel judge it without knowing whose it is.
Any drawing medium
Graphite, coloured pencil, ink, charcoal, pastel, marker, ballpoint, digital drawing on a tablet — all welcome. There is no required subject unless a contest sets a theme, and no minimum size.
How a drawing is scored
Against four published criteria, each carrying equal weight: technical skill, composition and balance, concept and narrative, and originality. You can see the weights on the contest page before you enter, and you get your mark on each one afterwards rather than a single number with no explanation.
Photographing your drawing well
Most entries that score below their potential do so because of the photograph, not the drawing. Shoot in flat daylight away from direct sun, fill the frame with the whole sheet, keep the camera parallel to the paper, and avoid flash — it blows out graphite and leaves a hotspot. A clear phone photo beats a poor scan.
Tracing and reference
Working from reference is normal practice and perfectly acceptable. Tracing, copying another artist's work, or reproducing a copyrighted character is not, and will be disqualified.
Age divisions
Judged against your own age group
Three divisions, each ranked and prized separately.
Questions
About drawing entries
Can I submit a digital drawing?
Yes. Digital illustration is eligible. Work generated by an AI tool is not.
Does it have to be a finished piece?
It should be work you consider finished. Studies and sketchbook pages are welcome if that is the work you want judged.
What file format?
JPG, PNG, WEBP or GIF, up to 20 MB. One clear photograph of the whole drawing.
Can I sign my drawing?
A signature that forms part of the artwork is fine. Do not add a name, watermark or handle anywhere else — it defeats blind judging.