Zelart Scholarship Seeks More Entries! Win $500!

The Zelart Scholarship fully funded, but we have still had very few entries. While you would think artists would be clamouring to get a $500 award, especially in times like this, social media algorithms and over-sensitive spam detection make it hard to get this in front of anyone. Sharing this post would, in that context, be greatly appreciated, putting it in front of more artist’s eyes.

Here’s the short-short version:

This is a scholarship fund, intended primarily for college and university students with an interest in genre art.

It is also open to any artists who are in reduced circumstances (long-term unemployment, homelessness, disability etc).

To enter all you need is a piece of print-quality art, to which the rights are available and which you have created.

You send that to me, explain your circumstances and if you win you get $500 and the art you submitted goes on sale as stock art within the RPG community to help support next year’s scholarship.

For more details contact grim@post-mort.com

#RPG #ART – Zelart Scholarship 2018-2019

DONATE, SHARE, ENTER!

Many artists are struggling. The gig economy, the degree of competition, university or college fees, it all adds up to be a massive discouragement to many artists and for those who make their living from their art, life can be extremely precarious. The Zelart Scholarship seeks to redress this for those who have the biggest challenges ahead of them, young or disadvantaged genre artists. For several years we’ve been doing all we can to help.

The Zelart Scholarship

Hi, my name is James ‘Grim’ Desborough. I’m an author and roleplaying game designer from the UK, with my own small press publisher, Postmortem Studios. I run the Zelart Scholarship in memory of my friend and collaborator, ‘Zel’.

Zel was an artist I worked with and helped through his education. We met through friends and formed a strong working relationship together. We made card games together and he provided illustrations for several of my gaming books. I got a great sense of satisfaction from helping a young, budding artist through school and watching his talent blossom.

Sadly, Zel was killed in an accident before I got to see him fully achieve his artistic potential or the success he so richly deserved.

Casting about for something I could do to commemorate him, I remembered how we had met, how the work I gave him had helped him so much and how good it had felt to nurture that talent. The best way to remember Zel, I felt, was to do the same for others.

In my day to day work I do what I can, deliberately seeking out young, marginalised, disabled, unemployed, homeless and other disadvantaged artists to give them a leg up, money and help in getting the attention of the RPG and publishing community to get them into more regular work.

The Zelart scholarship is a natural extension of this. A way to hunt out and promote new talent and to give them a lump sum of cash to smooth their way.

What We Need & What You Get

We sell Zel’s back catalogue of stock art, along with donated artworks and the artwork of past winners to raise funds over the year and supplement that with what we can raise via this fundraiser. This isn’t about selling a product to you, but what you get out of it is more, reasonably priced stock art, a way to nurture new artists and a warm sense of self-satisfaction.

Whatever money we get will go to the scholarship winner, if we raise a great deal over and above our target we may institute second or third tier awards. Whatever we raise will go to artists.

Risks & Challenges

It can be challenging to find people both to sponsor and to enter into this scholarship. Previous years this has proven very challenging. Whatever you can do to spread the word to potential sponsors, donators and entrants is greatly appreciated.

Other Ways You Can Help

Besides a contribution, you can help out in many other ways.

Are you a young artist or an artist suffering from reduced circumstances? Then enter!

Are an artist who is doing OK for themselves and has some spare personal pieces they don’t mind being sold to support this enterprise? You can donate art!

Do you know a young artist or an artist who needs the money due to disability, unemployment or other issues? Tell them about it!

Rules for Entry

Entries to try and win the scholarship award should meet the following requirements:

1. At least A6 at 300 dpi and able to be delivered digitally.
2. It is preferred that you have a Paypal account for ease of payment.
3. You must be either a student, or an artist in reduced circumstances, whatever those might be.
4. Your art must fit into the loose definition of ‘genre art’. That is science fiction, fantasy, horror and similar.
5. Adult art is permitted, but nothing ‘hardcore’. Consider your limit to be that of ‘burlesque’.
6. Contact for further clarifications and entires is grim AT postmort DOT demon DOT co DOT uk.

#RPG – Zelart Scholarship: McMurran

As you may recall we do a charity drive each year to provide a scholarship for young and struggling fantasy artists. This year we did something a little different, hiring artists to provide a good stock of art to increase the viability of the project in the future. All profits go to the next year’s scholarship.

One of these artists is Keith McMurran, whose work will be being put up for sale over the next few days.

The first of these is a cleric, suitable for old school RPGs and more lighthearted work with a style reminiscent of Phil Foglio. Download it HERE.

McMurrans work can be found in a gallery on Deviantart, though I feel that the work he has done for us is more representative of his talent.

#Art #RPG – Last call for Darkzel Scholarship Entries

All entries for the Darkzel Art Scholarship must be submitted (to grim@postmort.demon.co.uk) by Midnight UK time tomorrow.

This is your last chance to enter, it can be a pre-existing piece or a new piece, you qualify if you’re in education or in reduced circumstances.

We’ve had very few entries this year, so you’re really in with a chance if you can submit anything half decent.

Good luck!

#Art #RPG Darkzel Scholarship Livestream

I’ll be doing a livestream to try and drum up some more donations for the Darkzel Scholarship this Saturday. Would love to have some games people and artists on to help raise money, talk about games and artwork, and lay down some game advice and chat.

Contact me ahead of time if you’d like to be on and keep an eye on my Youtube channel and social media (Twitter and Facebook) for the time etc, though I’ll be aiming for 8pm UK time on Saturday to start.

Bring some money to help pay for the scholarship, or if you’d like to apply it’s a good chance to ask some questions.

#Art #RPG – Dragons, Enchantresses, BOOKS!

The ever-lovely, charming, wonderful, generous, shy and retiring art genius Ben Rodriguez has donated a piece of art to support the Darkzel Art Scholarship. Something all of you should do and can do HERE.

We need donated art to keep the scholarship going.

We need donations to this year’s fund.

We need people to apply for the scholarship!

Otherwise, you can buy a picture of a dragon, and some other stuff too, HERE!

#Art #RPG – FREE MONEY FOR ARTISTS! The Darkzel Art Scholarship

Watch this:

 

Read THIS

Then apply, help, donate, do something to aid this project!

#RPG #Art Darkzel Art Scholarship 2016-17 Open for Donations

DONATE

Darkzel (Zachary) was an artist who worked for me over a number of years, providing art for Hentacle, Cthentacle, Blood! and a number of other projects as well as working with me on a comic project and discussing work on other, potential multimedia projects in the future.

Zel provided me with art and in return I got to see a young, talented and very promising artist grow in confidence, flexibility and skill. I got to help pay his way through his education and I got to become his friend in the process, as well as paying for some wonderful art along the way.

Zel was tragically killed while working as an English teacher in Korea, cutting short a life and a very promising career.

I’ve always enjoyed being able to help young artists by offering them work, and after what happened with Zel I decided that the best thing to do in order to honour his memory and our friendship was to set up a scholarship fund for other promising young artists.

Young fantasy, comic, anime and science fiction artists face an uphill struggle. The artistic establishment is often not equipped to understand and encourage them and art is often seen as a wasted education by parents and others. Art supplies are expensive and support can also be hard to find.

My intention is to help provide for these students, or other artists in need of help, and to create a self-perpetuating scholarship fund that builds over time.

Each year I invite donations to the fund. These donations go on top of the existing money raised over the past year from ongoing sales of Zel’s art, and of sales of donated art to support the fundraising effort as well as art from those who win the scholarship each year. Over time this will create a collection of art by talented young artists and kind donors, providing them with exposure and money, and contributing to the fund for artists in the following years.

You can help by donating money here, donating art, and by spreading the word to budding young artists in school, college or university, or artists who are in need for other reasons – unemployment, disability, mental health etc.

DONATE

#RPG #Art Darkzel Scholarship 2016-17 Commencing Soon

The Darkzel Scholarship for 2016-17 will be starting fundraising soon.

This will be the fourth annual fundraiser in memory of my long-time art collaborator ‘Zel’ Harris, cruelly taken from us in a terrible accident, putting paid to what I always thought was a very promising career in art. In his memory and given working for me helped him through his education, I have set up an annual scholarship to aid genre artists working their way through college or in reduced circumstances such as disability, long term unemployment, mental health crises and other hardships.

The fundraising part will run through the month of December and we’ll be accepting entries through December and January before awarding the scholarship by the end of February.

We already have a fund of $100 from this year’s art sales, I’ll be seeking to raise another $500 on top of that for a total of at least $600 as a scholarship.

The aim is still to make the scholarship self funding and it has become apparent that a much stronger effort is going to be needed to make this happen. As such I’m doing a big push this year for donation art. As well as supporting with financial contributions, sharing on social media etc I will be hitting up artists for contributions that can be sold to help support the scholarship in the coming years.

More information will be coming soon, but for now if you’re an artist or know artists and are willing to help, please contact me about submitting a piece for sale (as stock art) to help continue to fund the scholarship. Your work will be sold electronically and will be used – with credit – by multiple role-playing and publishing companies as well as contributing via the sales to the fund.

These pieces should be genre fiction (science fiction, fantasy, horror, superheroes or similar) and 300-600dpi. Old pieces or concept pieces you haven’t otherwise sold are perfectly acceptable.

I think you, in advance, for your aid, whether in donating art or helping with the publicity and fundraising in the near future!

Love and bunnies,

Grim

x

ZelArt Scholarship Extension

Unbelievably, it appears that artists don’t like free money as there have been no applications for the Zelart Scholarship.

As such I am extending the application period until the end of February.

Here’s the cliff notes on how to apply:

1. In order to apply you need to be in full-time education or to be in reduced circumstances (disabled, long term unemployed or in need of the money (around $600-700 at the moment) for a good reason.
2. You need to submit a piece of artwork to be considered. Ideally this should be a new piece of art and it needs to be of publishable quality (at least 300dpi and at least A6 in size).
3. Your artwork and your area of interest must be science fiction or fantasy, more broadly ‘genre’ fiction pieces are what is desired. That can include horror, post-apocalyptic and other sub-genres as well.
4. The winning piece of artwork will be sold in future in order to help fund and perpetuate the scholarship.
5. Send a query to grim AT postmort DOT demon DOT co DOT uk if you need more information.
6. As and when you win you’ll need to be able to receive the money via Paypal.

The fundraiser appears to still be open for late donations. If you ARE an artist who wants to help you can also donate art for sale to help perpetuate the scholarship.

Once again, I ask any and al SF&F artists out there to help spread the word to art students and struggling artists everywhere. A few hundred dollars isn’t much but it’s enough to eat for a while, get art supplies, replace a broken tablet or tattoo gun and to make a difference.

If we continue to have no applications I will either roll the money over to next year, or find a deserving charity (perhaps the CBLDF) to donate to.