We couldn't decide which mythical fantasy creature we loved best -- fairies, mermaids, yetis, dragons, unicorns -- they all capture our hearts and our imaginations. Use watercolors (or digital watercolor brushes) to create a whimsical surface patterns inspired by fantasy creature motifs.
Overview
We are so excited to announce this month's challenges sponsored by Skillshare! Skillshare is an amazing an online learning community where anyone can discover, take, or even teach a class. The top winners each week will take home Spoonflower credit and a Skillshare Premium subscription to start learning everything from how to create a surface design using motifs (taught by Spoonflower community favorite SammyK) to "The Basics of Photoshop", "Hand Lettering" and so much more! And, for the first time ever, all submissions into May's design challenges are automatically entered to win the grand prize full of design goodies worth over $1000! Ready to get started? Then dust off your watercolors because this month's themes are all about using this soft, painterly medium to create motifs and surface patterns. If you’re more of a digital kinda person, there are plenty of great watercolor Photoshop brush packs out there to give you a similar effect that are a lot of fun to play with. We can’t wait to see what you create!
Prizes
- 1 first place winner each week (5 total, 1 per theme), chosen from the top 25 by Skillshare, will receive a 1-year Skillshare Premium subscription (valued at $96) and $200 in Spoonflower credit.
- The 2nd place (5 total, 1 per theme) winner will receive a 6 month Skillshare Premium subscription, along with a $100 Spoonflower credit.
- 3rd place (5 total, 1 per theme) winner will receive a 6 month Skillshare Premium subscription, along with a $50 Spoonflower credit.
- Remaining top 10 designs will receive a $20 Spoonflower credit. The top 25 popularly-voted designs from each theme (100 total, 25 per theme) will be automatically made available for sale in the Spoonflower Marketplace (provided they are a verified seller) where they will receive up to 15% commission on every sale -- no $5 swatch required.
- In addition, all design challenge entries submitted during the Skillshare partner design challenges (04/12/17 - 05/23/17) will be entered into a drawing; one lucky contest entrant will be randomly selected by Spoonflower for the Grand Prize on Tuesday, May 30, 2017. The grand prize winner will receive a 1-year Spoonflower PRO membership (valued at $249), a 1-year Skillshare Premium subscription (valued at $96), one Wacom Intuos Pro Pen and Touch Small Tablet (valued at $218) and a 1-year Adobe Illustrator Creative Cloud subscription (valued at $240). The grand prize winner will be announced Thursday, June 1, 2017.
The Winner
The rest of the Top 10
Fantasy Creatures Skillshare Whimsical Watercolor Details
- The deadline for entries is Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at 3 PM EDT.
- Designs will be previewed at 150 DPI in a fat quarter size (21” x 18”) on the voting ballot.
- All designs will be eligible for public voting, and the popular vote determines the top 25 winning designs. Skillshare will choose one first place winner from the popularly-voted top 25 designs.
- Public designs previously uploaded on Spoonflower.com are not eligible for this contest. Designs do not require printed proofing to enter the contest.
- Moderation will take place at the close of the contest deadline.
- See our blog page for even more Design Challenge details and a list of previous themes.
Timeline
- 04/12/2017: Submissions open
- 04/25/2017: Submissions close at 3pm EDT
- 04/27/2017: Public voting opens
- 05/02/2017: Public voting ends at 3pm EDT to determine top 25 entries
- 05/04/2017: Spoonflower will announce the winner
Active Challenges

Reimagined Damask Wallpaper
See the ChallengeWinners to be announced January 28

Yellow and Gray
See the ChallengeSubmissions close January 26 at 3 p.m. EST,
Voting begins January 28

Year of the Ox
See the ChallengeSubmissions close February 2 at 3 p.m. EST,
Voting begins February 4

Patchwork
See the ChallengeSubmissions close February 9 at 3 p.m. EST,
Voting begins February 11

Talismans
See the ChallengeSubmissions close February 16 at 3 p.m. EST,
Voting begins February 18