We as human beings are creatures of habit. We settle into routine and we thrive on the familiar. There's a reason they call it your 'comfort zone'! There is nothing wrong with habit; its natural and, in many cases, its positive. It helps us, as artists, hone our skills and expertise--to focus on one particular vision and utterly perfect that vision.

Still, there is always room for more. Take an hour to browse the pages of some of your favorite human artists on tumblr. Study the characters, the recurring similarities, the trends. Notice what is lacking in that artwork; or even in professional artwork--video games, film, comic books--even books. Whether it be cultural influence, societal prejudice, or the things we grew up admiring as children: there is a disturbing lack of diversity in artwork today. On average, most artists online today have mostly Caucasian original characters. Some of those artists have a couple other races thrown in here or there, but for the most part, the characters we see at the forefront of stories, webcomics, video games, and even just someone's tumblr page, are very similar.

This event is not an attempt to criticize or belittle any one artist, culture, ethnicity, or race. This is merely an attempt to encourage artists of all kinds around the web to expand their horizons and try something new. Discover something unfamiliar, give one of the millions of non-caucasian people around the world a character that they can relate to. Do research, share ideas, modify old concepts, build worlds together. Create an African character, a Muslim character, a Navajo character, a Hindu character. Go crazy and, most importantly, have fun!

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But I already have a lot of racially diverse characters!
That's great! I'm not suggesting that anyone is better or worse than anyone else depending on the range of their concepts. In fact, this isn't a contest! By no means should you feel superior to someone else just because you have an Indian character, or a Buddhist character. There is always room to grow, and always cultures to explore. Use this time to indulge in something you haven't done! Or, hell, create a Caucasian character if you don't have any yet! Just do something different for you.

I don't feel comfortable portraying a culture I'm not a part of!
This is a concern I've seen from a lot of people and, if you feel this way, there is nothing wrong with that! Plenty of people worry about mis-representing a certain race or culture, or unintentionally feeding into stereotypes. Unfortunately, this is a real problem, but it shouldn't be a preventative. If you're worried about mis-representation: do your research! Google is your friend! Study the culture you're interested in exploring, ask friends that are part of that culture! There is always an opportunity to learn!

I'm not attracted to -Insert race here- characters!
Unfortunately, this is a sentence I've heard far too often. For some reason, some people seem to think its okay to suggest that they are simply not attracted to members of a certain race, ethnicity, or culture. Maybe they don't realize that they're instantaneously combining millions of people into one image or stereotype, or that they're disregarding millions of people they've never seen. Or, maybe, these are people that have only seen stereotypes, and caricatures. Maybe if we had more representation of, say, African characters in our media, people would begin to realize just how appealing, attractive, and interesting these people can be! Participating in this event is not just an attempt to be inclusive, or to test your own boundaries, but also to maybe educate people in the definition of beauty and attraction!

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This event is obviously NOT mandatory, but certainly encouraged! Spread the word, reblog it on tumblr, post journals on any art communities you're a part of! Please do not pressure others to participate, or make anyone feel bad for not participating! This event is meant to be fun, experimental, and most importantly, all-inclusive!

There is now an official Tumblr page where you can direct curious parties! Once this event begins, please tag all participating artwork or literature as "ADE2014" and your wonderful creations will be showcased on the official tumblr! Don't have a tumblr? No problem! Link submissions to me on FurAffinity or DeviantART, or through a friend, and I will upload the piece to Tumblr with proper credit and sourcing back to you! If you'd rather take part in the event but not share your creations: that's fine, too!

Most importantly, I hope this event will grow and expand across the web as something positive and accepting! Lets take two weeks out of our lives to forget the anger, the discrimination, the self-righteousness, and just focus on DIVERSITY!

AUGUST 2ND - AUGUST 16TH 2014