that's really ****** up

I had a similar experience. If you're doing naturalist art, be aware that art competitions judge you on more than your ability to replicate a scene like a camera. These days conceptual art is where it's at. Try again next time and do a bit of research about the scholarship so you can be more prepared for the type of art they might expect. No sense doing Renoir when they're expecting Picasso. As an aside, most people who think about Picasso imagine his Guernica, but in his earlier years he was a brilliant naturalist painter. That's not what he's known for. So in short, you've got to do something to grab the judges attention.

Sorry OP. :( I can imagine that sucks terribly. Personally; I dislike most modern/conceptual art because I don't think something an average child could do or that doesn't take much effort deserves to be called "art". But I am very critical of it. I much prefer the impressionists and expressionists. But well. To each their own; the judges must have been those who prefer the other kind of art.

And then there is the possibility that (while you surely have worked hard) your understanding of art is insufficient even to comprehend why your work was inferior to the winning one.

"i lost, they must have cheated".

I also find it weird that when aspiring artists mess up on perspective it is called a **** up, but when a professional artist like matisse messes up it is an "aesthetic choice" Not complaining too much, it is just that art competitions are very weird.

Did you talk to the person who won? Did they tell you it was nothing except shit they glued together without really giving a ****? Because I doubt it. Stow the sour grapes and take a few art history classes, maybe your next piece will win if you have the slightest understanding of the beauty of abstract pieces.

You know there is a lot more to art than just making it look pretty.

My heart goes out to ya bud. I know that feeling :(

Know the feeling - for my final project in art & design, I painted a great picture that took alot of time and effort to make. I found out later it got the same grade as somebody who submitted a rotten old door they found in the shed, covered in cobwebs. It sucks.