Tips & Tricks from your International Arts & Humanities Jury

Twice a year, Gallery submission dates: August 15^th - September 15^th & January 15^th – February 15^th, the Arts and Humanities Jury members get a first look at the most beautiful and brilliant poetry, essays, pottery, quilts and scarves, mosaics, paintings, songs and photography. The amount of talent among members is beyond belief. If you have not had a chance to check out the current gallery on www.DKG.org, get over there NOW, to discover the talent for yourself! We encourage you to submit your art to the August submission coming soon! To do this, here are a few tips and tricks for successful submissions.

Tips to consider:

●    Rubrics: Access the rubrics found on the www.DKG.org website to see the varieties of arts available and utilize the rubrics to help you with the submission process. There are parameters for file sizes, so your art is just the right size. These rubrics are used by the four dedicated Art Jurors.

●    File Sizes: Ask a buddy member if you need support with file sizes, reach out to the Art Jury members, or even better, find the closest teenager with a phone, and your work will be sized correctly and uploaded immediately. Ensure that your message beautifully describes your piece.

●   Staging: When you are staging your art, do a double check that the photo(s) taken have little background distraction. This is kind of like when you take a family photo and others behind make silly faces of gestures. The Jury wants to see just your beautiful creations. For pottery and other 3D art, consider the light sources around the piece and ask yourself “Is the room light enhancing my work?”

●    Item Description and text count: As you enter your content to the jury each August and January, you will be able to describe your item. Share your artistry story in vivid detail that brings your piece to life. Like some literacy educators may say, what is the “Ten word story” of your piece?

○     Check to see if your work and description are religion free and political free.

●    Quilt Borders: If you are a fabric artist or quilter, our one tip is to take your photo of the quilt without a border behind it. If you have newer phones, use your edit tools to make sure just the quilt is the focus. It is so inspiring to see the details of your fabric designs.

Photography Tricks:

1. Have you heard of “Rule of Thirds”? This trick really helps you as a photographer to directly highlight your object. 
2. When snapping photos, consider taking your photo in landscape vs portrait mode to truly capture the focal point. (Landscape is horizontal while portrait is vertical).
3. Here is a diagram I created which shows where you can focus your camera using the rule of 3rds. If you are capturing photos of animals, people, landmarks, trees, sunsets, mountains, find your focal point and focus it on one of the 4 points.
4. Here is a YouTube video which provides examples of Rule of 3rds, as well as some other great photography tricks and tips. This video features a photographer who works with National Geographic.

Thank you for your great submissions and keep them coming!