I am consistently amazed by the wide range of fan-created art posted in the Wingspan Facebook group. Ranging from crayon drawings by kids to watercolor paintings by lifelong artists and birders, I love that Natalia and Ana’s bird illustrations in Wingspan have been an inspiration for creative people around the world.
A little over a week ago, I had an idea: What if Stonemaier Games created a promo pack of existing Wingspan birds, but with fan-created art? Anyone could submit one illustration for consideration following a few guidelines (i.e., no AI-generated art and no photographs of birds). We would credit each artist on their card, send them a free pack, and donate $1 to a bird-related charity for every pack we print.
I ran the idea by my team, our shareholders, Natalia, Ana, and Elizabeth (Wingspan’s designer), and it was unanimously well received. So we’re doing this!
Feel free to check out the form for all details, and I’ll repeat a few key notes below:
- This is open to Wingspan fan artists of all ages and art styles. The goal is to celebrate fans of Wingspan who want to illustrate a bird found in the game.
- Each fan artist may submit only one illustration of a single bird; to avoid overlap, you can check and make a note on this list of birds found in Wingspan (it must be a bird already found in Wingspan or the expansions).
- Submissions are due by February 16. I will contact all selected artists by March 16, and the first promo pack (there may end up being multiples) will be available in late 2023. All selected artists in each pack will receive the pack for free.
- For every promo pack we make, Stonemaier Games will donate $1 to one of several bird-related charities (e.g., for Wingspan Asia, we donated $13,130 equally among BirdLife International, Animals Asia, Flight, and the International Crane Foundation).
- Any type, style, and medium is allowed for consideration (digital or analog paintings, drawings, sculptures, etc). Photos of birds and AI-generated art are not eligible. This isn’t to say that we don’t consider photography an art form; we do.
- Unlike the bird art in Wingspan, it’s fine if the illustration features background elements (though if it is an isolated bird, a transparent background is preferred). Only submit the illustration itself, not any mechanical elements of the card. Layered PSD files are preferred.
I’m really excited to see the creativity and variety among the form submissions! If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments below.
***
If you gain value from the 100 articles Jamey publishes on this blog each year, please consider championing this content! You can also listen to posts like this in the audio version of the blog.
100 Comments on “Announcing the Wingspan Fan Art Challenge”
Leave a Reply to Cole FeeserCancel reply
If you ask a question about a specific card or ability, please type the exact text in your comment to help facilitate a speedy and precise answer.
Your comment may take a few minutes to publish. Antagonistic, rude, or degrading comments will be removed. Thank you.
Are you doing this again?
We’ll do it once more, covering only birds in the final three expansions after they’re released.
[…] Announcing the Wingspan Fan Art Challenge: A few days into 2023, we invited Wingspan fan artists from around the world to submit one artist rendition of an existing bird in Wingspan. We carefully considered all submissions and chose as many as possible (the main limiting factor was when multiple people submitted art for the same bird), and later in the year we released the 255-card Wingspan Fan Art Pack. […]
Dear Jamey,
Is it possible to get a list somewhere of all the birds included in the Fan Art Pack? I only ask because today I sleeved all my cards from the pack. I did so using 5×50 packs of sleeves which would come out to 250 sleeved cards. This means I should’ve had 5 cards left unsleeved. Except this didn’t happen. So either I won the lottery and had 5 extra sleeves in my 5 packs, free or I’m actually missing 5 cards from my Fan Art Pack!
Here you go! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xsFNsLipwXvPQhyjPCRBKWAdmVb06TGF3ceb4Iu3ngg/edit?usp=sharing
I don’t know why I didn’t think to just count the cards first but in the end it turns out I won lottery and somehow just ended up with 5 extra sleeves. Thanks for the info all the same though.
[…] Over 300 Wingspan fans submitted illustrations of their favorite birds in the game for the Wingspan Fan Art Challenge, and we selected 255 illustrations–each by a different artist–in a variety of styles. The end result is a large pack of bird cards–mechanically identical to their counterparts in Wingspan and the Europe, Oceania, and Asia expansions–to add a special burst of flavor to tabletops worldwide. […]
I really hope you do another like this in the future I would have loved to have taken part 🪿
If the first print run sells well, we’ll do it again after the final 3 expansions are released (for birds in those 3 continents). Make sure to subscribe our newsletter so you hear about it then!
Hello! Just curious if there is a release date set for the fan art challenge promo pack. Thanks!
October 4! It’s coming up soon. Shipping will happen at the same time as our new game, Apiary (orders for that game open on the same day so people can order the products together). Shipping will happen later in October.
I was curious if you had more info to share about these packs. For example, do you know how many cards you will be reprinting in the promo pack and an estimate of the price? Will it just be a single promo pack at this time? Will all the cards be for the base set in the first promo pack, or will they mix base cards and expansion cards?
Thanks so much for running this, by the way. It is a really cool idea and I had a lot of fun taking part in it. (And it was fun to see that my art was selected!)
The pack will be around 250 cards, and I don’t know the price yet. It’ll be a single pack with a mix of cards from the core game and expansions.
Awesome!
Seems like you picked out a lot of artwork to make into cards. Why all of them in one pack?
I figure the people who want these cards will want all of them, so it’s more convenient for them if we offer them all in one pack. More eco-friendly too.
It’s a shame I’ve seen this today :(
A friend of mine created and amazing illustration based on wingspan birds with his unique style some months ago. Any chance we can still send them?
That’s great! Submissions are closed, and we have more than enough bird art (over 300 illustrations), but if it goes well, we’ll consider doing this again for the final three expansions in a few years.
Hello,
I just submitted my bird and then noticed that someone else submitted the same one as me even though I’ve had my name on that bird for a while.
How does it work if two people submit the same bird? Is it possible for me to submit a second bird that nobody else has done if my original doesn’t get chosen?
If multiple people submit for the same bird, I’ll choose one of them. There’s a place on the form where you can indicate that you have other bird illustrations ready as a backup for such a situation in which your first illustration isn’t selected.
This is great! My husband, myself and my son all have sent in an illustration of a bird! That’s three Palmers! And, we all play Wingspan!
Can’t wait to see the results!
Hi Mom!
Hey,
I entered a photo of my creation but I’m not the best photographer – will we be contacted about taking a different photo of the same thing if the photo isn’t up to scratch? I was torn between one that the background could be removed from and one that had a prettier background. I could also just send the creation in!
Thanks
Thanks Chloe! Yes, we’ll contact you if we need a better photograph. :)
Just to clarify. Entries must be submitted by Feb 16th. Is there a more specific time frame on the 16th?
Any time on the 16th is fine.
Thank you so much! Really excited about this!
Hello,
I submitted my entry for the Yellow Headed Blackbird yesterday but never got a confirmation email. Just wanted to check that this is normal? I know sometimes forms like this send confirms and some dont. Very excited to see all the amazing art, thanks for creating this fun challenge!
Thanks Seth! This form has a confirmation page, but no email.
Thank you Jamey.
Hi Jamey! Thanks for the opportunity to be a part of this great idea. We tried to load a PSD file but it said there is a 20MB limit. Is there another way to submit a larger file? Thanks!
You could upload to Dropbox or WeTransfer and just put the link on the form. Thanks!
Hi, my daughter and I both wanted to submit a drawing each, but she doesn’t have her own Google account to fill out the form. Is there a workaround for this? I’m worried that if I use my account to submit both, it’ll just erase whichever one I submit first. Thanks!
I didn’t think that it would be overwritten immediately. My experience with Google forms is that both are saved under a separate date ID. So I just added different names to each submission so that the distinction becomes immediately clear in the final table. But maybe you’re right and the first submission gets overwritten? Well, at least I submitted my daughter last. :-)
The form won’t erase the previous entry–I’ve seen several people fill it out multiple times (only the most recent entry per person is the one we’ll consider).
So to clarify: if I submit two entries under the same account but one is for my daughter, will they both be considered or is does the “most recent entry per person” mean that the prior submission doesn’t get considered?
Just make sure to use different names–I’ll look at the names, not the email addresses.
Ok, thanks!
hi! I didn’t realize there was an excel sheet with a list where people could write their names down to choose which bird they want to work on, and just noticed someone has chosen the bird I illustrated. Is it possible to resubmit a piece for a bird that someone hasn’t put their name down for?
Thank you!!
Absolutely!
Hi,
I just submitted a photograph of a sculpture I made. I presume this is an acceptable form to use photography? Also, I did include the background (its grey-ish, made in a photostudio) because I think removing it and making it a PNG is not the best option. I hope this is the most suitable form to submit it?
Thank you in advance for your reply!
Thanks Robin! A photograph of a sculpture is great (it’s just a photograph of a live bird that we’re not looking for). The background should work; if not, we’ll let you know. :)
Thank you!
To clarify “no photography” – I’m a photoartistic artist. I start with photographs but the end result after many hours of compositing and digtal brushwork is painterly – is that OK?
I think that works! :)
Brilliant! thank you :)
Hi, just checking to be sure we can still submit through the end of day tomorrow, February 16? Thanks!
That’s right!
Should the illustration be of one of the bird or could you show a small group of them?
Just one bird. :)
Should I submit .ai (Adobe Illustrator) format, or JPEG/PNG?
PSD or Illustrator files are best, but if not, jpeg or png are fine.
So if in the Google doc a bird already has an artist’s name behind it, does that mean it cannot be submitted by another? Or should I duplicate the line and add my own name next to that? What do you mean when you say “avoid overlap”?
No, it just means that someone else has expressed interest in submitting the same bird. You should enter your name in the same cell (don’t create a new row). “Avoid overlap” is my suggestion when selecting birds–for example, if two people submit illustrations of the scissor-tailed flycatcher, only one will be selected.
Oh, alright. Thanks for clearing this up. My daughter Anna will be happy to learn that Anna’s hummingbird is still up for grabs then. ;-)
Are we allowed to use icons from Wingspan in our art? Thank you!
I think that’s fine, though not in such a way that someone might confuse the icons with the real mechanical icons on the card.
What an awesome opportunity! If two artists work on it together is that okay? We’d submit as one joint submission.
Definitely, that’s okay!
If a bird is not in the sheet already (but is in the game), should we just add it? (PS This is super cool!)
Yes please! Thanks!
Can I send two illustrations of the same bird (that I reserved on the spreadsheet) ? I made two sketches and cannot decide on which one to do :)
You can, but it’s only the most recent version that we’ll consider.
Thanks for this contest. I am thinking of joining, even though the results will probably be on par with something a child would submit. But, I’ll have fun with it anyway.
I noticed on the bird spreadsheet, there are some birds listed more than once. Does that mean anything special?
Thanks Jamie! Each bird should only be listed once, so if you spot a duplicate, feel free to remove the row (if no one has indicated a preference to submit art for that bird).
Hey Jamey, concerning the wingspan community art challenge is it possible to have a family member do the picture for you? Also what kind of dates are they due for? Thank yoj
Murray: I’d recommend checking out the form, as it indicates (a) that the person who submits the art must be the artist themselves and (b) that the deadline is February 16.
Thanks sorry, I must have skimmed over that bit
Hi Jamey,
What a great and fun Idea! Do you know if these promo cards will be available in other languages or only in English?
We’ll certainly offer the option to our localization partners–it’s up to them! :)
Do you know which partner this is for the Netherlands?
999 Games is our partner in the Netherlands.
Sorry to ask another question, but what dimensions should the drawing be?
Any dimension you’d like! In the end, we’ll shrink it down to fit on the card. :)
Great, thanks for all your help! I appreciate that you answer concisely and quickly!
Do we have to illustrate a bird that is already in the game? There is a bird (The jungle babbler) that I really wanted to see in Wingspan Asia that wasn’t included. I would be interested in submitting art of that bird for this challenge if possible. Of course, I also just had the realization as I was typing this that there wouldn’t be any stars/info to put on the card for that. Just figured it was worth asking
Yes, it must be a bird that’s already in the game.
Alright, thanks for the clarification. Guess that question was kinda unnecessary. Will pick a different bird that I love
Such a great idea! I live in Botswana and I’d love to do one if you do a similar thing if/when Wingspan Africa launches.
[…] Games, izdavač Wingspan društvene igre je objavio takmičenje za najbolje ilustracije ptica – “Wingspan Fan Art Challenge”. U objavi kompanija poziva sve zainteresovane da […]
“Any type, style, and medium is allowed for consideration (digital or analog paintings, drawings, sculptures, etc). Photos of birds and AI-generated art are not eligible. This isn’t to say that we don’t consider photography an art form; we do.”
I notice it’s implied AI-generated art isn’t an art form. While I think the technology has promise in theory, in practice it’s built off of stolen art so I heartily agree with its exclusion. Thank you! And as a photographer, I take absolutely no offense. :) I’m looking forward to the results of the fan submissions!
My 7 year old daughter and I would both like to contribute! She doesn’t have an email. If I send both of our submissions with one email, will that work?
Also, I don’t know what a layered PSD file is or how to make one. Is there another format I should use? Or should I physically mail our artwork?
Thank you! What a fun opportunity!
Bonjour, merci de me faire savoir s’il faut que je vous envoie mon message en français.Ma question est : où faut-il envoyer notre illustration d’oiseau, à quelle adresse mail ? Bravo pour cette bonne idée !
Christine: There is a place on the submission form where you can upload the illustration. Thanks!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdABBnS7FGMfc93q4h48JyqQ_jgZqc3udkJDtOP3grxLyOVZw/viewform
Bonjour, je pense que il y a une forme dans l’article. Il dit “Feel free to look at this form for all the details.” Je parle un peu français, mais mon français n’est pas tres bonne.
Exciting!! To clarify, is the artwork supposed to celebrate the wild bird in general or is it to be inspired by the game’s specific bird card picture?
It’s just art of the bird, not necessarily an illustration of the current art.
This is a super cool idea!
Is the idea of the Excel Sheet that if one artist has already put their name on a bird, no other artists should submit art for that bird? Vs you just tracking that no single artist submits more than one piece?
Marc: The idea is really just to give people a heads up that there’s a bird you’re working on or hope to submit. Multiple people may submit the same bird; if they do, only one will be selected.
Right on, thanks
This is such a fun idea! I wondered when Promo card talk would begin because of the divider inside the nesting box.
Mechanical question: Though it is only one small aspect of the game, do you see the potential new art perhaps skewing a personal/round goal’s balance if the art changes beak directions? (assuming someone played with them in place of the original cards, and lets say, we just randomly see a lot of art favoring additional Left-facing)
I immediately assume the impact will be negligible, if any. I’m honestly just interested to hear your two cents.
Drake: That’s a really interesting point I hadn’t considered. I don’t want to restrict fan artists in terms of beak direction, so I think we’ll just have to make it clear that playing with fan illustrated cards might change the balance of those goals.
Oh man I’ll definitely submit something for this! Makes for a good challenge for a pretty weak artist such as myself
Awesome! We’re happy to consider art from any Wingspan fan, even if your art skills are still developing. :)
Jamey, I just wanted to jump in and say that I see the way you worded this comment and I find it fantastic “even if your art skills are still developing”
Thanks! :)
So Excited for this! Great Idea
If only one person submits an entry for a given bird, is it guaranteed to be included, or will only a certain number of cards be selected overall?
Nothing is guaranteed. We’ll consider all submissions and select those that we think are a good fit. I’m hoping to include as many as possible (probably over multiple packs), but there are a variety of reasons that we may not select some submissions (e.g., if someone submits something offensive or inappropriate).
Hi
Could you elaborate about what makes a submission a good fit for Wingspan, and what the reasons are that you might not select certain submissions?
Thanks,
Mathijs