Change of painting competition voting system

[Francesco Giova]

I personally don't think people should have to justify their votes

I can't understand why "motivate" has become "justify". See :

It's that, if one votes for a figure and not the other one, he should explain why.

If voters could motivate their vote, that would be great

The meaning is entirely different. I was basically saying that, beside the vote, there should be some other buttons for options like "I voted for it because I liked the paintwork", "... I liked the general idea", "... I liked the basing", "... I liked the use of colors". This way you are not "justifying yourself" (why, since you haven't committed any crime ), only give some insight that could be useful for everybody .

[k.b.]

Chose my word badly Francesco. Sorry. "Clarify" would have been better. Maybe that's where the problems begin. You see most people on this site are communicating in a language which is not their mother tongue (that's not my case may I add) BUT you can see that even I expressed myself badly when I used the word "justify". It's one of the things that marvels me about this site that so many people are able to get their ideas across in a language that is not their own and for the most part they do so extremely well. My hat is raised to you all because I 've learned from experience that communicating ones feelings articulately in a foreign language can be very difficult at times and lead to lots of misunderstandings.

In short I think some people might be deterred from voting if they had to give their reasons for their choice. At the end of the day "feelings" can often be hard to express in ones native tongue let alone a foreign one. I for one don't mine explaining my choice but what about others who have difficulty with English.

However ,I have reached the conclusion that this is a fun competition and I will no longer despair at my work being knocked out by a competitor whose entry exhibits less skill or talent. (In my opinion, of course )

Yet i believe that more, bigger and clearer photos would lead to less disagreement and most winners would practically be unanimous. Surely that is what we all would like.....not that we cannot have different opinions but instead that the evidence is IRREFUTABLE that one entry is THE best for the VAST majority.

[Francesco Giova]

No need for excuses, Keith, my message was not an angry one . Moreover, I am not an English native tongue, so imagine how many mistakes I do .

I've come to the same conclusion - the competitions must be seen as a game. You have to have fun in everything related to it - partecipating, voting, and, obviously, accepting the final "verdict". If you somehow get bad feelings from it, possibly related to some "unclear" mechanisms, it's better to avoid taking part.

Moreover, from what I have seen, painting skill, technique and a good paintjob do not mean clear victory - the whole idea of the composition, the humorous part of it, the feelings that it is able to convey, the quality of the photograph are as important in the final judgement. After all, people vote for what "they like best", not for what it is best painted

[Paul]

After all, people vote for what "they like best", not for what it is best painted

Doesn´t that sort of kick the pants off the titel.......??