Have you ever been touched by something you saw or read? Did a particular work of art, be it a song, a writing or an image, inspire you to do something new, something different? Inspiration touches each artist in a different way, the work of others moves us to do more, to go above and beyond our normal work, it helps spark our imagination and drives us to create new ideas and works. This contest, titled Inspirations, centers on this very subject.

Look back at your work, what themes do you find surfacing? Look back at your childhood, is there a particular moment, looking at a certain image, reading a certain book, when you decided This is what I want to do? What is that one certain thing which springboards your creativity, which makes creating not just an urge, but a necessity?

Inspirations focuses on the artists ability of imagination. The challenge is for each participant to pick a source of inspiration for their work and, in a single submission, create a representation of a world uniquely their own, yet still strongly and clearly inspired by their source. This is not fan art, but rather an imaginative tribute to a source of inspiration, be that source an artist, an image, a book, a song, anything which sparks the imaginative mind. Using as much creativity and imagination as possible, create something which will show your own ideas in harmony with the ideas which inspire you. How do these things change, expand, grow and evolve in your own mind, in your own story, in your own world?

Why?
Everyone has heard it said: "Originality is dead." "Everything has been done before." While these are rather pessimistic outlooks on the situation, they do possess a grain of truth. We do not exist in a creative void. Artists are inspired every day by the things around them, be it the works of the ancient masters, or that of our peers and friends, we are inspired, every day, in numerous ways. Inspirations is aimed at not only reminding the community that being inspired and influenced by others is not a bad thing, but also offering deviants the chance to see what has inspired their friends, peers and mentors, and how. Participants must examine their work as well as themselves to discover their greatest source of artistic inspiration; observers can find new sources of inspiration and broaden their horizons by gaining exposure to works of art and literature which they may not have known about previously.

Requirements
All entries must be accompanied by the name of their inspiration and a brief explanation of how this inspired their work and how the deviant used, altered and expanded the original idea. Please keep in mind that judges may or may not be familiar with your source of inspiration, so when possible, providing a link to a site with further information about your inspiration would be both helpful and appreciated.
Only one entry per deviant, please. Literature submissions are to be no longer than 6,000 words, images may be submitted in GIF, JPG or PNG formats, and may not be larger than 2,000 pixels on the longest edge, and should not be smaller than 400x600 pixels. Please keep in mind that each submission must be complete, refined, and must depict, to the best of your ability, a world. Please no pin-up-style images, sketches or unfinished works. Literature submissions should be proof read and spell checked, and should be grammatically polished. Entries will be judged not only on technical skill, but also by how well the deviant incorporated the original idea into their own work. In other words: The idea itself counts just as much as does the execution of the idea. The best image/writing can be hurt by a weak idea, by the same token, the best idea can be hurt by a weak execution.

Judging
Submissions will be judged based upon technical skill, the idea, and how effectively the deviant has wed the original idea with their own. The judging panel consists of seven judges, four of them specializing
in a category:
+suzi9mm - Photography
*fleet21 - Literature
*bri-chan - Traditional Art
`disintegration - Digital Art
+amolerouth - General Interest Judge
^voodoo-prophet - General Interest Judge
%sapphiretiger - General Interest Judge.

Submissions will be judged based upon the following rubric:
Image Submissions:
technical skill (cropping, possible ps work, composition, etc.) / 5 points
idea in general (interesting, original?) / 5 points
communication of 'inspiration' (relation to the the topic and ability to communicate it) / 5 points
overall creativity / 5 points
execution (level of skill and effort put into execution) / 5 points
overall impression (the impact of the submission overall) / 10 points

Literature Submissions:
technical skill (spelling, grammar, composition, etc.) / 5 points
idea in general (interesting, original?) / 5 points
communication of 'inspiration' (relation to the the topic and ability to communicate it) / 5 points
overall creativity / 5 points
execution (level of skill and effort put into execution) / 5 points
overall impression (the impact of the submission overall) / 10 points

The winners will be announced on Monday, December 6th, and prizes
awarded as quickly as possible afterward.

Prizes
The best over-all submission will receive a 1 year subscription to deviantART or a print account, winner's choice.
The the second best over-all submission will receive a 6 month subscription.
The third best over-all submission will be awarded a 3 month subscription.
A three month subscription will be awarded to the the best submission in each of the following categories: Photography, Digital art, Traditional Art and Literature.
A one month subscription will be awarded to the second and third place submissions in each of the following categories: Photography, Digital art, Traditional Art and Literature.
In addition, each judge will select a submission for an honorable mention, which will be featured in the news article when the winners are announced.

Deadlines
Inspirations will run from October 13th (beginning when this article is published) until November 28th, midnight Pacific Standard Time. This gives everyone six weeks to brainstorm and complete a submission, this should be more enough time to turn out some wonderful works.

Submitting
All entries must be submitted to deviantART, adhere to its Policies, and must be submitted before midnight on November 28th, 2004. To submit an entry, go to the Submit page, select "Deviation," then "Contests," then look for the "Inspirations" category. Please be sure to include which category your submission falls under, Digital Art, Traditional Art, Photography or
Literature, in the submission description.

Conclusion
Use your imagination and have fun, we are eager to see what the community will produce! `damphyr is organizing and managing this contest, with the help of +amolerouth, so please note either of them with any questions or concerns.

Please remember that this contest is not about fan art. The purpose is not to draw your favorite character, or to draw your personal fan character from a movie/game/series.
Submissions are to be completed and polished. Please no pin-up style images or pencil or digital sketches. Backgrounds are expected for image submissions. Writings need to be spell checked, proofread and refined.
Keep submissions of the appropriate size and/or length. No images larger than 2,000 pixels and no smaller than 400x800 pixels, no writings longer than 6,000 words.
Only one entry per person, please.
Deviants may enter only once, so be sure your submission
is complete and refined before submitting.
All entries must be submitted to the Contests: Inspirations section by Midnight, PST, November 28th, 2004. Any entries submitted after this time will not be eligible to win.
All entries must conform to deviantART's Submission Policies.
Fifteen prizes will be given out, and 22 submissions will be featured, so every entry has a good chance at the spotlight.
Please note `damphyr or +amolerouth with any questions or concerns.

Thank you and good luck to all who enter!
`damphyr & +amolerouth