To answer a
Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) about my "non-competing" entries over the years at BlenderArtists.org,
I am archiving my most recent response to this inquiry (which I
originally published at WC # 544)
here, at my own website, simply so I can link to it and refer to it in the future, whenever the question arises:
I enter as "non-competing" (or, as they say, "non-participating") for several reasons.
One reason being for the honor of participating in a creative and friendly challenge in such a way that could be as considerate as possible
- where I would, at most, be "competing" with myself.
Another reason being the surprise of each weekend's topic when someone else picks it.
I have participated in many WCs in the past, and with encouraging feedback and results, all of which helped me grow as an artist and as a person, but it has come to mean so much more for me, over the years, to have that encouragement shared with and preserved for others.
Above all, I really want everyone in the challenges to do well and have a chance to use these WCs, as I have (and continue to do): to learn and develop technical, artistic, cognitive, and other potentials.
And this really does happen! I can see Blender artists improving all of the time, and that's such a wonderful thing.
These challenges continue to produce incredible positivity, and I'm grateful for that.