Art Contest #1 - Design a New Dress for Princess Peach!

Hello everyone! Welcome to the first Art Contest at Princess Peach's Castle Courtyard!

Since this is only the first contest, let's keep it simple. I will provide you an uncolored picture of Peach (Paper Mario style, since it's the easiest to work with). You can either print it out and color it by hand (crayons, colored pencils, watercolors, three-dimensional media, you name it) or color the picture using a computer program like Paint or Photoshop. I will give you several file formats to choose from - download the one that best suits your needs. Just right-click the link and choose "Save Target As..." to save the file on your computer.

PDF Reference Picture (best for printing)
TIFF Reference Picture (with layers included for programs like Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro)
JPG Reference Picture (for use with MS Paint or Paintbrush)

Your job is to design a new dress for Peach. The dress can't be a copy of any other costumes she's worn in the games, comics, or TV show - this design has to be original. You're welcome to edit the original dress from the reference picture however you like (this is easier on the computer, but you can also edit this by hand by pasting cut-out details on the dress - making sleeves out of construction paper or fabric and gluing them on, for example). You need to use the reference picture as a base - this means that the picture must still look like Paper Mario-style Peach when you're finished. At the very least, her face and pose should be the same as the original picture.

You can change the dress any way you like - make different sleeves, change the length, make the skirt less poofy, change the gloves, remove the sleeves altogether, etc. You can change/remove the earrings, necklace, and crown. You can add more jewelry like bracelets or rings. You can add accessories to her hands like a purse or a parasol. You're welcome to change her hairstyle as well. You can design a dress around a theme (Southern belle, wedding gown, EGL, futuristic, a historical era, a cultural nationality costume) but you may not directly copy an existing design (you couldn't replicate Disney Cinderella's gown, for example). I want to see a completely original idea!

The dress design must be made by you - you're not allowed to take a picture from somewhere else and paste it on. You are allowed to paste details onto the dress from other sources (either on the computer or by hand). For example, if you want to glue some real lace or rhinestones onto her gown (if you're coloring the picture by hand), you can do that. If you find a nice image of real jewels, you can edit them into her earrings on the computer. You can't take a picture of a dress and edit it on, however.

Once you've finished your entry, you'll need to save it as a JPG, BMP, or PNG file and Email it to me. If you've hand-colored the picture, you will need to either use a scanner to make it a digital file OR take a digital photo of the finished picture.
Your email subject must be "Peach Contest 1" or it won't be accepted.

Entries will be judged on the following:

1. Quality of work (How nicely is the picture colored? Is there shading? Do the pieces you added look blended into the final design? Does the finished picture look good overall? Bonus points if you keep the Paper Mario-style outlining in the final product.)
2. Originality (Did you make a unique design? Does your entry stand out from the rest?)
3. Colors (Do your colors look good together? Did you choose an original color scheme?)
4. Detail (Did you add new items to the dress? Does it actually look like a brand new outfit? Did you alter her jewelry and accessories as well as her clothes? Did you add a background to the picture?)

The following will be disqualified:

- Entries that don't use the reference picture provided as the base for the work
- Entries that don't add any details to the dress, and just color the picture as-is
- Entries that I can't open - this includes items saved with no file extension or a file extension that isn't JPG, BMP, or PNG
- Anything inappropriate for a family-friendly site

The contest is open starting today. I will let you know when the contest is about to end so you can hurry up and get your entries in. For now, though, there isn't a deadline.

Best of luck! I can't wait to see what you design!