Comments from judge - Zero

I think this first photo that was posted immediately captured my attention. There are a lot of fine elements inside the photo that lend it a beautiful balance. Particularly I was found myself impressed with the use of the negative space around the elements of colour. It lends the composition a sense of balance. My eyes start "travelling" down the brush, flow around the photo, tracing the space. The background looks to be some fine paper, slightly textured. The fact that the brush is wet, suggests that a painting might just have been completed. I love the fact that the seal (Hanko or Jitsuin - though sometimes called a "chop") is wet with the red ink paste, as if a painting has just been stamped. Perhaps a masterpiece for someone to treasure one day. There are some lovely lines in this… the line created by the elements of ink pots - a diagonal from bottom left to upper right. The other diagonal line formed by the brush is almost perfectly echoed by the stamp. The only distraction in the photo is the "white" at the tip of the spoon, which seems a bit blown out. Tricky metal! Grr.