Get out your pens and your paints everyone, as Square Enix has announced the return of the Final Fantasy XI Fan Art contest! Similar to the previous years' competitions, this year's theme for submissions is the upcoming 10th anniversary for the game. However, unlike usual, the initial entries will be judged by the development and operation teams, and entries selected to make it into the final round will be judged by attendees of VanaFest 2012!

 Is painting, drawing, or sculpting not your forte? Then perhaps the other half of the contest, the Final Fantasy XI Fan Video contest is more for you. Like the Fan Art portion of the contest, the submissions should focus on the theme of the 10th Anniversary, and ones that make it through the rigorous screening process will also be shown at VanaFest!

Have some brilliant ideas for submissions or just want to talk about the contest in general? The ZAM forums have you covered!

From Playonline.com:

As adventurers around the world know, FINAL FANTASY XI will celebrate its 10th Anniversary of official service in Japan on May 16th, 2012!

To celebrate the 10th anniversary, this year the annual Fan Art contest will be slightly modified to enhance the festivities! First the development and operations teams will be judging the initial round of contest entries. The entries that are selected to move on to the final round will be exhibited at VanaFest 2012 (June 23rd & 24th in Japan) where the grand prize winners will ultimately be chosen by the attendees of the event! We'll also be hosting a Fan Video contest this year to further celebrate the 10th anniversary!

We're on the hunt for FINAL FANTASY XI "10th Anniversary"-themed videos! Videos that pass the screening process conducted by the FINAL FANTASY XI development and operations teams will be displayed at VanaFest 2012!

Think back to the great times you've had in Vana'diel, including breathtaking adventures with your friends, new encounters out on the field and hard won battles against mighty foes!

Click here for details.