When you are getting started as an artist regardless of whether you are a naturally gifted artist or you are someone who has trained yourself to be an artist, there is tremendous enthusiasm to get your work out into the world. This is such a good spirit and you need to harness it and use it effectively. If not, it could die out slowly even without you really realizing it. To keep the fire burning and to improve your skills, you can be part of the 2018 art contests. There are numerous contests announced and these contests will help you sharpen your skills and help you get better at what you do. If you do not allow yourself to continually practise and use your art skills then will be running into the folly of not taking advantage of the talents that you have.
Having said that, here is a warning too. Do not pick your art competitions randomly. It is a wonderful thing that you have so many options and so many choices. This does not mean that all these choices are equally good. It only means that you should choose wisely. Pick the best contests after you have screened multiple competitions. What are the factors that you need to look for when you are selecting your competitions?
Who is organizing the competition? Some of the contests are run by prestigious organisations. Taking part in such art contests in itself will be such a great thing for your profile. At the same time, you could also be coming across contests that are run by bodies that are not known to anyone. You will need to choose the contests correctly so that you are not wasting your time.
The goal of the contests varies too. Sometime, the contests are run to help a social cause and to create awareness. Other contests are to promote a brand. You will need to know what type of contest it is before enrolling. What is going to happen to your artwork that you submit, will it gain any visibility or will it be seen only by the judges. If you are lucky, the winning work will be published in the magazines and that could give you amazing visibility. You will therefore need to be looking for such opportunities too.
How much are you required to pay to get into the contest? If there is an entry fee, you will need to be cautious because this is where most of the scams lie. You do not want to be a victim of one such scam. You can easily protect yourself from dubious contests and all that you need to do is to just take time to decide and not rush to pay the entry fee before you have checked the credentials of the organizers. You can actually find many online competitions with free entry. Why not try them before you joined the paid contests? These free art contests are also equally good.