Huawei has opened submissions for its GoPaint Worldwide Creating Activity 2026, bringing back the global digital art competition with a new category designed for people who might not consider themselves traditional digital artists.
The 2026 edition officially launched on September 2 during Huawei’s Chase the Wild product event in Munich, Germany. Entries remain open until January 31, 2027, with participation available internationally regardless of age, nationality or artistic background.
This year’s most notable addition is the Easy Creation category. Instead of expecting entrants to begin with a blank digital canvas, Huawei is encouraging participants to use everyday photographs as the starting point for their work. Images of travel, food or ordinary moments can be modified using doodles, layered elements, lighting changes and other visual embellishments.
It is a sensible expansion for GoPaint because sophisticated drawing applications can still be intimidating for newcomers, regardless of how accessible their interfaces become. Starting with an existing photograph shifts the emphasis away from drawing technique and towards experimentation, potentially giving casual MatePad owners a reason to explore creative tools they might otherwise ignore.
More experienced artists can continue using Huawei’s GoPaint app for conventional digital artwork. The software includes simulated brushes, high-resolution canvases and low-latency drawing tools, and Huawei positions it as capable of supporting styles ranging from digital interpretations of Chinese ink painting and portraiture to science-fiction artwork, illustration and more experimental pieces.
Huawei says the GoPaint Worldwide Creating Activity has attracted more than 10,000 submissions during its first two years. Those entries have come from a mixture of professional artists, students, children and casual creators, although the company has not provided a geographical breakdown of participation or detailed figures showing how submissions have changed between individual editions.
Submitting artwork is also becoming more integrated with Huawei’s own device ecosystem. MatePad users can share eligible artwork from the tablet’s Gallery through the My HUAWEI app, while entries can also be uploaded through the HUAWEI Community website.
GoPaint is part of a broader push by tablet manufacturers to position their devices as practical creative platforms rather than primarily consumption screens. Stylus support, lower display latency and increasingly capable drawing software have made tablets legitimate alternatives for certain illustration workflows, although hardware and software alone do not necessarily make digital art approachable.
That makes the Easy Creation category arguably more interesting than another round of technical upgrades. Huawei is effectively widening the definition of what qualifies as digital creativity within the competition, allowing photography and relatively simple edits to become legitimate starting points.
Entries for the HUAWEI GoPaint Worldwide Creating Activity 2026 will remain open through January 31, 2027. Whether the easier entry route substantially increases participation remains to be seen, but removing the intimidating blank canvas is a straightforward way to persuade more people to actually start creating.
