Last week’s winner was Erin, who experienced a tragic day just a few short weeks ago:

To say someone will be greatly missed will be a true understatement. Haas came into our lives about three years ago when we adopted him from the pound. He became our son / best friend. He was a great pheasant hunter and was always over excited to run after a tennis ball. Aug 4th will forever be the worst day of my life. In one day we lost our best friend (hit by a car) and had a miscarriage. I wanted to enter this contest for my husband. I thought it would be nice to have a portrait of Haas to put with his memorial display box.

I wish Erin and her husband peace and comfort during this period of mourning and loss.

A note on framing for portrait winners: I recommend
Nielsen Bainbridge Archival Gallery Frames

available through Dick Blick.

: ANIMALS (single subject – dog, cat or any other critter!)

Deadline

: Friday, August 28, 2009 (around 5pm CST)

To Enter

: Leave a comment as your entry (your chances are greatly improved if you share something about your subject), include a link to your photo. If you do not have a photo uploaded online, please indicate that you are e-mailing the photo and e-mail the photo to: gallery *at* intricateart dot-com.

Your entry must be left below, or it will not be considered.

Note: *G* Rating only

Each Monday, I post the weekly Call for Entries along with the previous weeks completed portrait (above). I may change the subject theme each week, or leave the theme open, so please pay close attention to the details in each announcement.

Entries will be accepted through Friday afternoon around 5PM CST, at which time I will close comments and select one winner from the entries received. I’ll publish the completed winning portrait with the following week’s Giveaway announcement. If you’re a fan on Facebook, you might just get a sneak peek at the winning portrait before I publish it here!

Qualified entries will include a valid e-mail address, and the comment should include one link to a photograph owned/taken by the entrant. If you do not have a place to upload photos to link one, you can e-mail it to gallery *at* intricateart dot-com. Your entry, however, should be included in the comment section below, with your story – should you choose to include one.

The Selection Process: In case you’re curious, I’ll share my little artsy process in selecting the winner. First – I do not read any entries at all during the week. I do not read them because I don’t want anyone’s entries to have any more time than any others to settle in my creative brain. At the end of the week, I close comments. When I sit down to go through all of the entries, I read the story first, and open the photo link in a new window. When I finish reading, I flip over to the photo and my initial reaction is what I go by.

If your entry is not chosen, you may enter again. I encourage you to include a short story with your entry.

Once you have won a portrait, I ask that you refrain from multiple entries, to give others an opportunity to win one as well.

Your challenge? To inspire me! Choose your photo wisely – I will select a winner based on how the photo and/or story moves me.

Good luck!!

Put this button on your blog to remind yourself to enter each week!
Link it to:
http://intricateart.com/browse/blog/getting-creative/graphite-portrait-giveaway/