Spectrum Fantastic Art

Spectrum 17 Call for Entries poster, designed by Paola Rivera
Listen closely. You might hear the rushing of artists around the globe polishing their entries for the 17th edition of Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art. The January 22nd deadline is approaching at lightning speed. It always surprises me how many people don't know about this fantastic (yeah, I went there) publication. I was clueless until I dated an artist that participates every year. And if you're a fan of art period, but especially fantasy, science fiction, surreal pieces? Well, you should run out or clickety-click and get any of the 16 editions that you can find.

A piece featured in Spectrum 11 by artist Tim Baker
Artists can submit as many entries as they wish with a nominal entry fee. The entries are judged by a jury of five. The books cover a lot of categories, so you'll see everything from sculptures to oil painting to surreal photo manipulations. The categories are: Advertising, Book, Comics, Concept Art, Dimensional, Editorial, Institutional, and Unpublished. The winners are announced about March. The edition is quickly published in November of the same year. I am not an expert on art competitions, but that seems like an insane and impressive turnaround.

Read lots more about the history of Spectrum here. They also have a FAQ.