In honour of an under-rated skill on deviantART, I would like to introduce a contest whose aim is to revive the artistic comment - with a top prize of £100, and three further prizes of £20.

The best comments can be interesting interpretations, constructive critiques, or simply well written praise. Some can ramble on for hours, whilst others are curt and to the point, taking up barely half a dozen lines.

If you have written a good comment referring to a piece of art or literature on dA, or if you have seen one written by someone else, post a reply below with a link.
Any comment on a deviation made between 1st April 2006 and the closing date will be eligible for consideration.

To prevent flooding no more than two nominations from each person will be accepted, which gives you a chance to nominate your own best comment as well as someone else's.

The closing date for entry shall be midnight dividing the 14th and 15th of April by GMT. The judging shall take place over the following week and, barring catastrophes, the winners shall be announced on the April 21st.

There are four judges, one for each category. These are:

=Suirebit Digital art
*jack-cade Literature
=kkart Photography
¢mynti Traditional art

Each judge shall select a category winner, the author of which shall receive £20. For the comment deemed best of these four the top prize of £100 shall be awarded.

(At current exchange rates that’s $196.55 for the top prize, and $39.31 for the category winners.)

What's more, I'm hoping to encourage as much advanced commentry as I possibly can. There is still time to write a thorough critique and enter it in this competition before the closing date.

When a good critique is written, everyone's a winner. The person receiving it learns how to better themselves at their craft. The person giving it often gains a friend, and can also learn from the experience. Also, those who later read the critique can learn from it too, and draw further inspiration.

Put simply, comments are what really make dA tick, and good ones are priceless. Even if you don’t expect to win, I'd like to encourage you to enter anyway, because even if you don't 'win', good comments will make you a winner.

Good luck folks!
:~)