Alrighty then, I have decided to move forth with my contest idea.

THE PREMISE:
Design a dragon based off of the markings of an animal. That's about it. It can be any kind of dragon--western, eastern, sea serpent, whatever--and any kind of animal. Tropical fish, birds, and butterflies can provide some interesting colors and patterns to work with, but you can use absolutely whatever critter you want. Just be creative in translating the animal's colours and markings.

SOME EXAMPLES:
These are drawings I have been doing recently myself, which led into this idea for a contest... They're just here to get the creative juice flowing:
Tiger cowrie: [link]
Blue ringed-octopus: [link]
Regal tang: [link]

THE PRIZES:
Since I'm totally broke, I won't be handing out subscriptions to the winners. I have plenty of paper though, so I can draw pretty pictures!
Don't worry if your technical drawing skills aren't perfect, this isn't THAT kind of a contest, so everyone has a fair chance at winning.
FIRST PLACE winner will recieve a full-colour drawing of their choice.
SECOND PLACE winner will recieve a black and white pen drawing of their choice.
THIRD PLACE winner will recieve a cartoon-style drawing of their choice.


DEADLINE:
Since I'm disappearing sometime in July, I would like to have this thing all wrapped up, completed prizes and all, by the beginning of July. Tentative deadline for entries will be June 7th.

HAVE FUN! And do pass the word along to anyone you think might be interested in participating--I'm not exactly the most wildly well-know person on here. Heh.

ENTRIES THUS FAR:
with