As I browse DA lately I can’t help but notice what seems to be a rising trend in the lack of descriptions on a piece of art. In trying to decide what is causing this, I’ve managed to come up with a few reasons why I think people neglect to put anything in their descriptions. I will keep most of these to myself for now, and instead focus on what I hope is the –main- reason why people are not posting information in their descriptions.

Ready for this? They just don’t know what to say! Well I am here –hopefully- to help with that by giving a few tips to get you going and also to direct you to some images I have found with nice descriptions.

Before I go on to the tips I want to clarify why I am harping on this. To me, the description of someone’s work is practically as important as the work of art! I’ll pause for a moment while I let you get over the collective gasp I just heard from half of the community.

Ok, moving on. Yes, really – the description IS important! It adds so much to the piece of art we are looking at, it lets us – for a brief moment – get inside of the head of the creator and see where they were coming from. It adds to the emotion of the piece, it gives it more depth. It shows that you – the creator – are human and have thoughts and feelings about what you are posting. And here is a little secret: the majority of people LOVE to read what you had to say about your newest work!

So now that is out of the way, let’s look at some things you could write about in your description if you are feeling like you really have no idea what to say:

What were you feeling when you created it?
Does it have any special meaning to you?
Why those colors?
How long did it take you to make? (shoot, paint, draw, write, etc.)
Was it made for a contest? If so, which one, what made you want to enter it?
Why did you choose whatever it was you choose to represent whatever it is you are representing?
What was the hardest part of it?
What was the easiest?
What were you trying to capture at that exact moment? (for photography)
What is the story of the picture?
How do YOU think it turned out?
Things you do like about it.
Things you don’t like about it.

There are so many more ideas that could be added, but I think this is enough to give you something to think about when you upload your next deviation and get to the ‘Description’ box.

In closing I would like to leave you with some images with nice descriptions that I feel really add to the image we are looking at. Won’t you take a browse and see how a good description can really add to someone’s art?