Note to editors: There are two photos and a video associated with this press release.

Corel® Painter® today officially unveiled its Epic Character Contest, an exciting new art challenge for comic / manga illustrators, concept artists, and everyone who enjoys creature or character design. Enter to win 1 of 3 amazing prize packs with goodies from Wacom, Nintendo, ImagineFX, Smith Micro / Celsys, Corel and more.

Now live on Drawcrowd and running through April 14, the Epic Character Contest asks artists to do one thing - create the most epic character ever! To enter, create an original character in Corel Painter and/or CLIP STUDIO PAINT PRO, two industry-leading apps that come together to deliver the ultimate illustration workflow, then tell us all about your inspiration or introduce your character's unique backstory. Enter today at http://Drawcrowd.com/epiccharacter.

"Corel Painter and CLIP STUDIO PAINT PRO are both extremely powerful art apps. By bringing these tools together, artists will discover a sketch and paint workflow that's a phenomenal game-changer," said Chris Pierce, Product Manager for Digital Arts at Corel. "We want to show off your most epic original character creations and we've put some awesome prize packs up for grabs - plus, this is your chance to see your art appear in ImagineFX!"

Following the close of the Epic Character Contest, the top 3 submissions and their stories will be recognized as part of a feature story in an upcoming issue of ImagineFX, the best-selling magazine for digital artists. The grand prize includes an exclusive one-on-one mentorship with professional concept artist and illustrator Harvey Bunda for 5 to 7 hours, along with additional prizes from Smith Micro / Celsys, Corel and Future Publishing. Runners up will receive prizes from Wacom or Nintendo in addition to the software bundle.

"We're incredibly excited to be supporting Corel's Epic Character Contest on Drawcrowd," said Fahim Niaz, Director of Product Management for CLIP STUDIO PAINT PRO. "This is a great opportunity for artists to design some really fantastic characters and win valuable prizes, all while discovering a streamlined workflow that takes advantage of the core strengths of both apps to get amazing results every time."

Grand prize: Win an exclusive one-on-one mentorship (5 - 7 hours) with professional illustrator and concept artist Harvey Bunda. Plus, take home a Wacom Cintiq 13HD, Painter 2017 and its Manga brush pack, ParticleShop™ and its Fantasy brush pack, CLIP STUDIO PAINT PRO, Poser 11 Pro, and a subscription to ImagineFX.

1st Runner-Up: Win a Nintendo Switch; Painter 2017 and its Manga brush pack, ParticleShop and its Fantasy brush pack, CLIP STUDIO PAINT PRO, and Poser 11 Pro.

2nd Runner-Up: Win Painter 2017 and its Manga brush pack; ParticleShop and its Fantasy brush pack, CLIP STUDIO PAINT PRO, Poser 11 Pro, and a Wacom Intuos Pro Small.

Submission Requirements

--  All submissions must be received through Drawcrowd 
--  Character design in .jpg format (with proof of use of Painter and/or
    CLIP STUDIO PAINT PRO if selected as a winner) 
--  Text description of character (character's original back story or artist
    inspiration) 
--  Speedpaint / Process video (optional) 
--  Deadline for Entry: 11:59 PM PST on April 14, 2017 

Full contest rules and details are available at http://drawcrowd.com/epiccharacter.

Special Offer: Save BIG with Epic Character Contest Software Bundle

There has never been a better time to fall in love with the unique sketch and paint workflow offered by CLIP STUDIO PAINT PRO and Corel Painter! Right now - for a limited time - take advantage of a special Epic Character Contest discount and get Painter 2017 and CLIP STUDIO PAINT PRO for just $249 USD / EUR249 / GBP 188 - a savings of nearly 50% off the regular retail price.

To learn more about our special Epic Character Contest Software Bundle, visit http://corl.co/EpicCharacter.

About Corel Digital Arts

Corel is the proud creator of Corel® Painter®, the world's most expressive digital art software. Whether you're a budding artist or a creative professional, Painter gives you the freedom to create digital art without boundaries. The Corel Painter portfolio also includes Painter® Essentials™, the complete home art studio; ParticleShop™, a powerful brush plugin for Photoshop, CorelDRAW®, PaintShop® Pro and AfterShot™ Pro; and mobile apps that let you create digital art on the go.

Boasting some of the industry's best-known brands, Corel's product lines also include CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite, Corel® PaintShop® Pro, Corel® VideoStudio®, Corel® WordPerfect® Office, Roxio®, Pinnacle™ and WinZip®. For more information about Corel Paint Programs, please visit www.painterartist.com.

For your complete guide to drawing manga characters, go to www.painterartist.com/en/pages/draw-manga.

© 2017 Corel Corporation. All rights reserved. Corel, the Corel logo, the Corel Balloon logo, Painter, CorelDRAW, Essentials, PaintShop, Particle, ParticleShop, Pinnacle, Roxio, VideoStudio, WinZip and WordPerfect are trademarks or registered trademarks of Corel Corporation and/or its subsidiaries in Canada, the U.S. and elsewhere. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners. Patents: www.corel.com/patent

To view the photos associated with this press release, please visit the following links:

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To view the video associated with this press release, please visit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6PZwJBygAA&feature=youtu.be

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/20170301-20170301-EpicCharacterContest.jpg
Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/20170228-1087391Bb_800.jpg

Contacts:
Alex Brazeau
Public Relations Manager

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