Firstly we only had 10 entries for the October challenge that followed the rules so only 1 poll this time. Choose the winner! [link]

Next its time to sign up for Secret Santa 2011!  
The plan is to give everyone who volunteers a person to draw a dragon for. You should keep this secret, do not run off and ask the person what dragon they want. Not sure what to draw, check out the gallery, see what colours they like and what stuff they are into, still stuck? Ask for help. If you see a character ref only draw it if you do not need to ask for permission first, check the image descriptions.

We have some rules this year so hopefully it will run a bit smoother.
1. Must reply to this journal entry or send the group a note clearly stating that you want to participate in the Secret Santa. I wont know if you don't tell me
2. Must have been active in the last month on DA, I will be checking your galleries to see if you are drawing at the moment. I know this seems harsh but last year some people volunteered who had not been active in months and then did not respond to messages or draw a picture. This is unfair on the person they are paired with so this time round I need people to be active when they volunteer. (Note its active on DA in general not a measure of how many entries you have submitted here)
3. I need all the volunteers to have commented by November 8th so I can pair you up and give you plenty of time to draw your picture.
4. Please try to submit your dragon by 25th December since it is a Christmas present. If you will be late then you should let know so that we can tell your Secret Santa that the picture will be late.
5. Must be a member of to take part.

Finally, due to the fact that everyone is getting busy now with Christmas and revision and Secret Santa we will be combining November and December into another Big Christmas Special! I have chosen Christmas and normal stock and there will be extra stock.

Halloween Contest Folder is now CLOSED! Judging started on Saturday but there are so many wonderful entries it is taking longer than expected to chose a winner!

REMEMBER if you want to enter the October challenge you must credit the stock properly.  Its not hard, I have provided a How To, you can find this on our front page below the current journal.  You must also notify the stock provider by sending a link to your picture. Often they have a rule for how they want to receive that, please check their rules.

Also remember that I check the rules of the stock images I choose, there should be nothing to catch you out like non-commercial use or no offsite use, if you use other stock aswell you must check that provider's own rules yourself. I'm only looking after the stock I pick, if you break someone else's rules thats your problem to solve.

*Sunimo's Contest Deadline 1st December [link]
Must draw one of Sunimo's characters, see journal.

My current balance is: 2555 points, this will be used to buy next year's subscription which is about 9700 points.  Points I am giving for prizes will be bought by me in October, I will not be using the 2555 I have saved up for the group.

Note: points must be sent to as group points not enabled yet.

Thanks to everyone who donated!!  
If you want to help raise points you can try the Llama trading game. [link]
Llama badges are free to give so you can earn a free points without having to pay any money.

You have until the end of December to submit your entry to the Big Christmas Challenge 2011 folder.

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You may submit this as a contest entry too, just note in your image description that it is also for the contest and it will be added to the folder for you.

As usual you may do a dragon based on 1, 2 or even all of the pictures.
Please make sure you read and follow the individual stock artist's rules for the picture you choose.

You must credit the stock image in your own image description.

1. Must be new and your own work, please credit all stock used and follow the individual stock artist's rules.
2. Must contain at least one dragon.
3. Must be able to explain how the picture fits the challenge.