Attention, all of you procrastinating portrait painters out
there!
If you’ve ever dreamt of becoming the artist that The Walt
Disney Company will select to paint Donald Duck’s new official portrait, that
window of opportunity is closing rapidly. There are just three days left now to
submit a sketch of your planned work. Which must be a full-length portrait (i.e. 24”
W by 36” H) of one Donald Fauntleroy Duck which will eventually be done on
canvas using oil, acrylic or watercolors.
Mind you, not just anyone can paint Donald’s official
portrait. Only D23 members in good standing who are 18 years or older are eligible
to take part in this contest. What’s more, you’re only allowed to submit three
sketches of your planned work. And all works must be original and created
solely for this contest.
As for the sketch submission process, all initial sketches must
be accompanied by an official entry form. Which can be downloaded from the D23
website. And each of these sketches must be accompanied by an official entry
form which has been completely filled out, signed and then affixed to the
initial sketch. Any entries that are submitted without a completed form will be
automatically disqualified.
Copyright Disney. All Rights Reserved
Once you’ve completed the necessary paperwork and then
affixed it to your entry, all sketches should be sent to:
The Walt Disney Archives
500 S. Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA. 91521-3040
ATTN: Donald Duck Portrait Contest
All initial sketches must be received on or before June 15th. Any
entries received after that date will not be considered. Nor will these
sketches be returned. What’s more, The Walt Disney Company, The Walt Disney
Archives and/or D23 cannot be held responsible for any late mail deliveries.
Once all of the eligible entries are received on June 15th,
a panel of creative executives selected by The Walt Disney Archives will then
judge these initial sketches to see which artists have done the best job of
capturing Donald’s complex personality. Anyone
who’s selected to move on to the next phase of the competition will then be
notified by telephone or e-mail on or before July 15th.
Copyright Disney. All Rights Reserved
After that, the lucky artists who have been chosen to move
on to the next phase will have one month’s time to create a finished version of
their Donald Duck portrait. Their final entry must be submitted on or before
August 15th.
From this grouping of finished pieces of art, the selection
committee will chose one winning portrait and several runners up. These artists
will then be notified that their paintings have been chosen for display in the
Fan Art Gallery at the D23 Expo no later than August 28th.
From there … Well, the winning entry will be revealed at the
Anaheim Convention Center on or about September 12th. And a photo of
the artist and his portrait of Donald Duck will appear in the Winter issue of
Disney twenty-three magazine as well as on the D23 website.
So what are your chances of actually winning this contest?
Well, according to a D23 insider that I spoke with yesterday, “the quality
and caliber of the work received (so far has) exceeded the expectations” of the
folks at The Walt Disney Archives. Which means that some top notch artists from
around the globe have already submitted entries for this Donald Duck Portrait Contest.
Copyright Disney. All Rights Reserved
But that said, D23 will be accepting sketches right up until
close-of-business on Monday, June 15th. And you can’t win if you don’t
play. So don’t duck out on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become Donald’s
official portrait artist. Submit an entry today.