DPW Monthly Contest
Previous Contest | March 2026
judged by Sherri Aldawood
This contest has ended - view the Current Contest.
Winners were announced on April, 8 2026
First Place wins $300   2nd wins $150   3rd wins $75
Plus the top 15 artists win a free month as a Featured Artist!

1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place Winners
  Alan Chaney 6
  Charles Young Walls 2
  J. Dunster 5
The Judge's Picks
  DJ Lanzendorfer 0
  Svitlana Lee Mark 4
  Phil Couture 1
  sigrid junold käppeler 9
  Inas Dessouky 4
  Robert Bashford 2
  Natalia Clarke 9
  Shari Buelt 2
  Emiliya Lane 7
  Elena Katsyura 6
  Alex Movchun 4
  Thorgrimur Andri Einarsson 5
  Bhavna Misra 4
All Contest Entries (76)
The DPW Monthly Contest
Rules and FAQ
Who can enter?
Anyone can enter - you do not need to be a DPW member! You do, however, have to be registered (free, quick, and easy), if you are not already, and signed in.

Be sure to register using the email address you use for your PayPal account or you will not receive the prize money, if you win. You can change your email address on your Account Info page.

Is there an entry fee?
Yes. $10 for DPW members and $14 for non-members.

What can I win?
Every month, you could win one of three cash prizes and be selected as one of the 15 Featured Artists for that month!

Three cash prizes:

1st prize $300
2nd prize $150
3rd prize $75

One Month free as a Featured Artist!

In addition to the three cash prize winners, 12 Judge's Picks are chosen each month. These 15 artists will receive free DPW memberships for one month, and be featured artists during that time! Their work will be on the Featured page, and at the top of the What’s New page.

How do I enter?
You enter by going to the current contest page and uploading a high quality image of your artwork.
How often can I win?
There is no limit to how often you can be picked for one of the featured artist slots, however, you can only win a cash prize once every 6 months.

Additionally, once a work of art wins a place prize (1st, 2nd, or 3rd), you cannot enter it in another DPW Contest.

Only one entry per artist can win a place or a Judge's Pick per contest.

What can I enter?
Only Natural Media

You can enter any 2-D natural media, original fine work of art created by you. Reproductions, digital or otherwise, are not allowed.

Artwork and Image Size

There is no limit to the size of the actual work of art, however you must upload a high quality image of it, at least 600 pixels tall or wide, with a file size no larger than 10mb.

Watermarks

If you include a watermark, please know that it may interfere with the judges appreciation of your artwork and may reduce your chance of winning. So, if you include a watermark, make it as subtle and small as possible!

Professional

Make sure you take the time to properly edit your image: take a good photo, in good lighting, crop out everything that isn’t the work, and edit the image so that it resembles the original as much as possible.

Subject Matter

Subject matter is not limited. Nudes are welcomed, however they cannot be explicitly sexual in nature. We reserve the right to remove any entry we consider inappropriate and will fully refund your entry fee.

How often can I enter?
There is no limit. You can enter as many works of art you want in each contest and enter as many contests as you wish.
What if I don't have the artwork anymore, for example if it is sold?
You don't need to physically own or possess the artwork to enter. All you need is a high quality image of your artwork to be able to submit. If your painting is sold, then congratulations!
What is the timeline of a DPW Monthly Contest?
Each contest will begin and be open for submissions at midnight (CST) in the morning on the first of each month. You will be able to submit to that month's contest until midnight on the last day of the month, after which the contest will be in judging for one week and the next month's contest will begin. Winners will be notified by email at the end of the judging week and will be listed on the contest page, as well.

The cash awards will be paid when judging ends.

How is the month I am featured free?
If you are not yet a Member

You will automatically be set up as a featured member when judging ends one week after the end of the contest and you will not be charged for that free month of membership.

If you do not want to continue your membership past that month, do nothing and it will end automatically. You will not be charged! In the week before your free month ends, you will receive a reminder email. If you do want to continue your membership then you can do so by clicking a link in the email or the "Join Us!" link at the top of the site.

If you are already a Member

You will get your next month free, beginning at the end of your current billing cycle.

How do I receive the Award Money, if I win?
All award money will be paid by DPW directly into your PayPal account. Unfortunately we cannot make any exceptions, so you have to have a PayPal account to win. You will not be charged any PayPal fees to receive the award, DPW will pay all fees.
Who is judging?
Each month we will have a different guest judge that we invite. Their judgement is the last word with no input from us!
The DPW Monthly Contest
Judging Instructions

Judging Process Overview:
Judging a DPW Monthly Contest begins on the 1st of the following month and continues through the end of the day on the 6th. For example, if you are judging the August contest, you can begin judging on September 1st and will need to complete judging by the end of September 6th.

Judging a DPW Monthly Contest consists of picking 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners and at least 12 Judge's Picks.

You do this by looking through the entries on the contest page, viewing any you wish larger, and then chosing candidate winners. Feel free to select as many candidates as you want - at any time, you can review them, and remove any to narrow it down to the final number.

Finally, you drag and drop three of the winners to the top as your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places, and then commit your selection of winners.
Step 1. Pick Candidate Place and Judge's Pick Winners:
Pick both place and Judge's Pick winners by hovering your mouse over a thumbnail and clicking on the green circle with a plus sign. When you do, the artwork will disappear from the page. No worries, you can click the View Candidate Winners button to view your currently chosen candidates at any time.

Of course you can also click anywhere else on a thumbnail to open the standard pop-up to view the artwork larger.

All winners, including the three place winners and the Judge's Picks, win a free month as a DPW Featured Artist.

Picking Constraints

Only one entry per artist can win a place or a Judge's Pick per contest.

Our goal is to have 15 new featured artists each contest, so if any of your selected winners are already permanent DPW Featured Artists, then please pick one additional Judge's Pick beyond the 12 for each place winner or Judge's Pick that is already a permanent DPW Featured Artist.

Additionally, do not pick an artist for a place if they have won a place in the last 6 months.

To make all this easier, there are icons on each thumbnail to show you who is a permanent featured artist and also who has won a place within the last 6 months:

Step 2. View or Remove Candidate Winners:
Click the View Candidate Winners button to view only your currently chosen candidates. While in this view, you can remove a candidate by hovering your mouse over a thumbnail and clicking on the red circle with a minus sign. This works only when you are in the View Winners view.
Step 3. Drag to Rearrange the Candidates to Rank them:
After clicking the View Candidate Winners button, you can click the Rearrange to Rank Place Winners button to pick the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. Do this by simply dragging your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd picks to the front of the line of your candidates.

You only need to drag and drop the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. The order of the remaining Judge's Picks does not matter.
Step 4. Commit Your Winners:
When, and only when you are done selecting all the winners, click the Commit Winner Selection button to commit your winners. Then, on the 8th, your selected winners will be announce on the contest page and receive notification emails.
Thank you for judging!

- David
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