Visual Arts – 2 Dimensional Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

A solo flat-artwork item in which one student makes a drawing, painting or similar two-dimensional piece on the spot, marked on composition, originality, technique, presentation and a write-up with a video.

Visual Arts – 2 Dimensional is the flat-artwork item of a school arts festival. One student in classes IX to XII makes a single piece on a flat surface, such as a painting or a drawing, rather than a model or a sculpture. It is the first of the four visual arts sub-categories on the national school arts festival template, beside a three-dimensional item, an indigenous toys and games item and a local crafts item.

The artwork is made on the spot, not brought in finished. The source rules for the festival give the visual arts items three days of making, and no minute limit is printed, so none is set on the template. The finished piece has a printed size ceiling of about two feet by three feet, and each student works in a marked workspace of about six feet by four feet. Those size and space limits are not modelled as fields on eTalenter, so the organiser enforces them at the venue.

On the template the item is an individual entry for boys and girls together, with no language, and it is marked out of 100 on five equal criteria of 20: Composition and style, Originality, Technique, Presentation / Narration, and Write-up and video. The last criterion is unusual for a drawing contest. Alongside the artwork the student prepares a short written summary and a short video describing the idea and how the piece was made, and these are judged for 20 marks.

Organisers run the item because it tests more than drawing skill. A student must plan a composition, choose a medium, finish within the days given and then explain the work in their own words. That makes it a good fit for a festival that wants art entries to be judged on thinking and finish, not only on the final look of the paper.

Where Visual Arts – 2 Dimensional is run

On the eTalenter templates this item appears on one: a national school arts festival in India for classes IX to XII, where it is the first of the visual arts sub-categories. Painting and drawing contests themselves are run in schools, colleges and community festivals in almost every country, usually as an on-the-spot or take-home item, but the three-day making period, the size limits and the write-up and video marks belong to this festival’s rules, so organisers elsewhere should set their own.

• India

Key facts

• Individual item: one student, classes IX to XII, boys and girls together
• Marked out of 100: Composition and style 20, Originality 20, Technique 20, Presentation / Narration 20, Write-up and video 20
• Made on the spot over three days in the source rules; no minute limit is set on the template
• Source size ceiling for the finished piece is about 2 x 3 feet, with a workspace of about 6 x 4 feet (not modelled; the organiser checks it at the venue)
• A short written summary and a short video are prepared and judged for 20 marks
• Idea: a day in the life of a street near the school, shown as one composed scene (an idea, not a rule)
• Idea: a local festival, harvest or market painted from memory and sketches (an idea, not a rule)
• Idea: a portrait of a family elder drawn with a single medium such as charcoal or ink (an idea, not a rule)

On eTalenter, Visual Arts – 2 Dimensional is filed under Art and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, Visual Arts – 2 Dimensional is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 100.

What judges look at in Visual Arts – 2 Dimensional

What a Visual Arts – 2 Dimensional panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• Composition and style (20): a clear focal point, balanced use of the whole sheet and a consistent style; a crowded or empty corner loses marks
• Originality (20): the student’s own idea and way of seeing it; a copy of a well-known picture or a stock scene earns less than a personal subject
• Technique (20): control of the chosen medium, clean edges, sensible mixing of colour or shading, and no smudging or overworking
• Presentation / Narration (20): a finished, neat piece within the size limit, and a clear spoken or written account of what it shows when the panel asks
• Write-up and video (20): a short summary and recording that match the artwork actually made; marks are lost when they describe a different piece
• Finish within the days given: an unfinished area is visible to the panel and costs marks on composition and presentation

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Visual Arts – 2 Dimensional under Scoring Setup, or start from the full painting & drawing judging criteria guide.

How to prepare for Visual Arts – 2 Dimensional

How entrants and their teachers usually get Visual Arts – 2 Dimensional right on the day:

• Choose one medium you already control well, such as watercolour, poster colour, pencil or ink, and practise only with it in the weeks before
• Practise composing a full scene in about the time you will have on the day, starting each practice with a small thumbnail sketch to fix the layout
• Keep to the size ceiling by practising on a sheet cut to that size, so the proportions are second nature
• Build a kit list in advance: sheets, board, brushes or pencils, water pot, cloth, tape, and a spare of anything that can break or run out
• Pick a subject with a story you can explain in a few sentences, because the write-up and video are marked and must match the artwork
• Draft the short summary early, then record the video once the piece is done, speaking clearly and showing the work from close and far
• Let each layer dry before adding the next, and step back regularly to check balance rather than finishing one corner at a time
• Practise explaining your piece aloud to a teacher who asks why you chose that subject and colours

Frequently asked questions

Is Visual Arts – 2 Dimensional judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Individual entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

Is the artwork made at the venue or brought in finished?

The source rules describe the visual arts items as made on the spot over three days, so the artwork is made during the festival rather than brought in finished.

What is the difference between the 2 Dimensional and 3 Dimensional items?

The 2 Dimensional item is a flat piece such as a painting or drawing. The 3 Dimensional item is a made object with depth. They share the same five-criterion sheet but are separate entries.

Does the video matter if the artwork is excellent?

Yes. Write-up and video carries 20 of the 100 marks, the same as the composition, so a strong picture with a missing or mismatched summary can still lose a fifth of the total.

Is there a time limit?

No minute limit is printed for the visual arts items, so none is set on the template. The limit is the three days of making and the size and workspace rules.

Want the full judging picture? Read the full painting & drawing judging criteria guide, or browse every art competition item.