A Picture Paints A Thousand Words - Contest Result

It's finally that time; the entries are in, our panel of judges (me, and err... well, me ) have reached a decision.

Firstly, thank you to everyone who took the time and effort to enter this contest.  I hope it was an enjoyable experience. After a fair amount of initial interest I was a little saddened to see only a few entries.  But I think thats my own fault for making the entry period so long that people forgot or lost interest.  Ah well, live and learn.

The premise was to take a piece of literature here on DA and use it to inspire a piece of visual art, or vice versa.  In the end we had two entries in both catagories.

VISUAL ART:
Unfortunately, the first entrant left DA a week before the end of the contest and all their deviations were removed.  That left only a single entry; the winner by default.  But don't get me wrong, having glanced briefly at both entries I have to say that the entry below would have placed 1st in any case.

1st Place:
by
This piece scored highly on technique; the perspective is very good and gives the viewer a feeling of intimacy with the whole scene, like they are part of it.  The background, something many artists (myself included) often forget or dispense quickly with, is detailed and effective.  The whole scene is dynamically captured without feeling crowded.  It has a strong visual impact on the viewer, demanding attention.
It lost a couple of points on accuracy; the fight scene is in a castle laboratory, not on the airship, but that doesn't detract from a very strong visual piece, and a deserving winner.

LITERATURE
This was difficult to judge even with just two entries as both were very different in both style and form.

2nd Place
by
The first thing I noticed about this was a similarity to my own style of writing, which meant it scored highly on overall feel.  A great deal of effort went into describing the scene in the reader's mind's eye.  Every detail of the inspiration piece was described here, scoring highly on accuracy.  I was also taken with twist where the scene is not set where i first imagined.
I did like the idea that the contest title was taken literally, and the author placed a thousand word limit on themselves; very inventive and subtle.
The problem with being familiar with the style is I'm also familiar with it's pitfalls; the flowing style was occasionally broken up by words that just didn't feel or sound right; slang terms or modern phrases.  In this style they tend to jar greatly.  I also felt more could have been extrapolated from the scene, for all the description of character and scene, there wasn't actually much story told.  A few hints or teases could have lifted this from good to great.


1st Place
In My EyesIn My Eyes
9-10-14
In my eyes
Sorrow seeks solace from seething thoughts;
Tears I cry,
Tears you will never understand.
In my eyes
Wind whispers welcome to wide-eyed wonder;
Thoughts I have,
Thoughts you will never need.
In my eyes
A thousand years flicker through a shadow;
Immortal I am,
Immortal you will never be. by
I'll be the first to admit that I don't know a lot about poetry.  I've dabbled with traditional rhyming couplets myself but that's about it.  What I can see about this piece is it successfully adheres to a definite structure and tempo.
The lead phrases of each verse are beautifully turned and it flows seamlessly from the first verse to the second.  Somehow the last verse; the ending, lacked that link, but felt complete in and of itself.
That last verse carries the poem, it's simple and yet haunting.
One thing I would say is that the poem feels truncated.  Another few verses could have added a much greater depth.  As it was I was left feeling a little cheated
But all told it's a touching ode that strongly picks out the definitive emotions and features of it's inspiration piece.



Congratulations to all the winners.  Points, features and prize commissions will be doled out very soon.  For prizes from artists other than myself, please contact the artist in person.  Again, I'd like to thank everyone who took part.  I enjoyed seeing and reading both your original pieces and the works they were based on.
And I'd also like to thank and for generously donating prizes.



Look out for further contests next year, as well as possible art jams and other projects which might randomly occur to me   And fell free to drop by for a chat, to commission me, or just to say hello.  I don't bite.  Honest.  (Unless you ask really nicely )