Self-nominating yourself is a bit crudely bold don’t you think?
.
I’m not staff so I don’t vote, but we are talking about a very tough judging committee basically deciding on some of the best content in the fandom, be it funny, adorable, quaint, charming, unique, epic, or combination thereof. Not every image here even makes it to the voting process. Some of the staff just browse the thread and pick for themselves something they feel is worthy if they wish.
I’ve suggested more than a hundred images over the past few years, and a whopping happy 13 have become Featured, every single one with a score over 1,000, one with over 2,000; I must know something that works.
I’d absolutely love to have a Featured Image, but not one of my posted suggestions was my own work. If something I drew is good enough to be Featured, someone else will nominate it and staff will vote on it; simple as that.
.
<1 week low score somehow
Otherwise the shading is the usual, the other images have 45+ upvotes here (Starlight 90) on deviantart it has 40 faves with 430+ followers. The scene is like Rarity turning left, but looking back. The title is Rarity the explorer, just because she is walking in the wilderness maybe looking for gems.
Most artists who get nominated and Featured have several times these stats, but the important thing is the individual image being quality enough for consideration. With that, you wondered why it was low score, I suggested reasons. If you have to defend it and add input to justify it (she can’t be looking for gems if she’s not using her magic and looking up at the sky), then perhaps something else you’ve drawn would be a better suggestion.
If an image doesn’t contain strong context or reference to something, then it will need to rely more on the skill and color in the art, and little details make a big difference. For example, drawing Rarity in the snow is fine, but giving her fashionable and interesting winter accessories goes a long way. Her using magic to hold gems that glisten… with Rarity, texture, beauty, and fashion are everything, along with her immaculate and demanding attitude. So an image of Rarity without these things complimenting her character will generally not do as well.
Even knowing that, my art of Rarity is still considered lackluster.
