Cover illustration from the book ‘Uncommon Carrier’ by K R Cassels.
“Railroad iron is a magician's rod, in its power to evoke the sleeping energies of land and water.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson. Railways had a tremendous impact on the world, spreading from Britain to every corner of the globe. While their popularity has diminished since the rise of the motor car, trains still move astounding quantities of people and freight. It is time to celebrate two centuries of modern rail transport with the first Trainbucket challenge! Your task, chosen by popular vote, is to draw a train. Steam, diesel, electric - it does not matter. There is no specific scale for this challenge, though the style of your drawing should conform to Shipbucket’s official styles. Unlike other challenges, real-life designs are permitted. Please read the design requirements and challenge rules before posting a submission. Do note that outlandish and non-serious entries are no longer permitted. If you wish to explore a concept which pushes the limits of the challenge, feel free to ask if it is permissible.
Design Requirements
- Your submission must depict a self-propelled railway vehicle.
- The railway vehicle may be depicted with coupled rolling stock, including other self-propelled railway vehicles.
Challenge Rules
- Each participant must submit a single image.
- One side-view of the participant's train must be included. One front-view is also permitted, but not required. All other views are prohibited. Long trains may be divided into separate side views within the same image for viewing convenience.
- If multiple views are included, they must depict the same train, in the same configuration, at the same point in time.
- Every image must be a Shipbucket style template modified to include the participant’s art. Templates which include a data sheet are allowed.
- All art must conform to the same drawing and shading rules as official Shipbucket styles.
- A textual description accompanying each submission is permitted, but not necessary.
- Non-serious entries, or entries substantially deviate from the challenge requirements, are not allowed.
- Off-topic posts will be reported to the relevant authorities.
This challenge will run until Sunday the 18th of July, ending at 23:59 UTC-12 (International Date Line West).
A countdown timer can be found at this link.
A poll will be held after this date. This normally occurs within an hour of the deadline. Members of the Shipbucket community will have an opportunity to rate each submission. Please provide honest and meaningful scores for each entry. Responses which grant maximum scores to a select group of entries, and minimum scores to all other entries, will be deleted.
Members of the community who manipulate the results in such a fashion may also be subject to a permanent ban. Scores will be allocated in four categories, each with a scale of 1 to 10. They are:
- Drawing Quality - The overall quality of the drawing. One might consider detailing, shading, and accuracy.
- Design Realism - How realistic is the design presented? Any accompanying text may be considered.
- Originality - Does the submission present a new and unique design, or is it a copy of an existing one?
- Suitability - Are the requirements of the challenge satisfied by the design? Does it suit them well?