Don't be ridiculous--it's not a scam unless fraud is involved.
Every contest entry gets a prize immediately upon entering--the *chance* to win. Actually winning the contest is then icing on the cake.
Anyone that enters a contest thinking, "Oh, cool, a hundred bucks? I could use that to help buy [item]!" without considering that a) they might not win, or b) that if they don't win they would have done the art for no monetary gain is, quite frankly, an idiot. That doesn't make the contest holder a "con-artist".
Many people use art contests that are judged by quality to impress their skill--it's a wonderful thing to brag about if someone picked your peice out of, say, a hundred others, regardless of whether or not you generally make more/less for a paid commission. The prize is the chance. Having a "OMG ur all speshul so evurrbuddy winz have a medal for participating :D!" attitude is a pussyfooting, silly, and detrimentive mistake.
Don't be ridiculous--it's not a scam unless fraud is involved.
Every contest entry gets a prize immediately upon entering--the *chance* to win. Actually winning the contest is then icing on the cake.
Anyone that enters a contest thinking, "Oh, cool, a hundred bucks? I could use that to help buy [item]!" without considering that a) they might not win, or b) that if they don't win they would have done the art for no monetary gain is, quite frankly, an idiot. That doesn't make the contest holder a "con-artist".
Many people use art contests that are judged by quality to impress their skill--it's a wonderful thing to brag about if someone picked your peice out of, say, a hundred others, regardless of whether or not you generally make more/less for a paid commission. The prize is the chance. Having a "OMG ur all speshul so evurrbuddy winz have a medal for participating :D!" attitude is a pussyfooting, silly, and detrimentive mistake.