Digital Art
This category welcomes digital illustrations, graphic design, generative art, concept art, and mixed-media digital compositions. Tools like Procreate, Photoshop, Illustrator, Blender, or open-source alternatives are all acceptable.
AI-assisted workflows are permitted in this category, but the student must demonstrate significant creative direction and personal artistic input. Purely prompt-generated images without substantial human creative involvement will not be accepted.
Drawing & Painting
Traditional and contemporary works in pencil, charcoal, ink, watercolor, oil, acrylic, pastel, or mixed media. Submissions should be high-resolution photographs or scans of the original work.
This category celebrates the fundamentals of visual art — composition, technique, use of color, and emotional expression.
Photography
Creative, documentary, portrait, landscape, street, conceptual, or experimental photography. Basic post-processing (exposure, color correction, cropping) is acceptable. Heavy manipulation should be entered under Digital Art instead.
For detailed submission advice, see our photography submission guidelines.
Video
Short films, animations, documentaries, video essays, music videos, and experimental video art up to 5 minutes in length. Both live-action and animated works are welcome.
New to video competitions? Check out our beginner's guide to video art.
How Categories Are Judged
Each category is evaluated separately within each division (Junior, Senior, University), ensuring fair comparison among peers. The AI evaluation system applies category-specific criteria while maintaining consistent standards across all submissions.
Choosing the Right Category
If your work blends multiple media, choose the category that best represents the primary medium. A digitally enhanced photograph might fit better in Digital Art, while a lightly edited photo belongs in Photography. When in doubt, consider where your creative effort was most concentrated.