
What is a trope? These days, "trope" is synonymous with "cliche." It's a reoccurring, often overused or trite theme, image, characterization, or idea that's so ingrained in a work that it becomes part of it's identity. Or, depending on how it's used, a running gag. I've been drawing Ben and Winslow since high school, and uploading their adventures online since 2003. A fair number of Ben & Winslow-exclusive tropes have been born in that time. Most of them unintentional.
This contest is about some of those tropes. You'll have to take one or more of the following tropes from Ben & Winslow and incorporate them into your entry:
Tiny Things: Ben and Winslow are already pretty short, but they've encountered all sorts of people of particular tininess. The most common have been tiny clowns, but tiny versions of ninjas, ghosts, pirates, the Grim Reaper, and even an assortment of gnomes have all made their mark on the Ben & Winslow universe. Here are some examples:



Bladed Weapons: Winslow has an axe collection which he stores in his axe hole, but he's a fan of sharp edges in general. Whether necessary to the story or not, Winslow has appeared in numerous strips holding an axe or other bladed weapon. This trope came about because I like drawing axes. Here are some examples:



Guys in Green: Ben and Winslow live among cartoon characters, and as everyone knows, cartoon characters have legendary regenerative powers. Winslow often takes advantage of this, injuring nearby people without much thought. Early on, due to my limited color palette, Winslow's victims all wore green shirts. That hasn't changed much. If you're wearing a green shirt in a Ben & Winslow comic, you're prone to death and dismemberment. Here are some examples:



Ninja Panties: Winslow introduced ninja panties way back in the Before Time, and they've shown up several times after that. Often as a hat. You can tell ninja panties from the regular sort because they have shuriken embroidered on what my wife likes to call the "crotchal area." Here are some examples:


Mature Content

Head Modification: This is probably the most common trope. One of Winslow's "hobbies" is modifying his head, whether by mutilating it in some way or replacing it completely. He's used his head as a morning star and as fish bait. He's carved it like a jack-o-lantern and turned it into a bowl of ice cream. He's replaced it with a gumball machine. And sometimes, people nearby are his victims instead. Here are some examples:



The Rules: Please read ALL the rules before entering! In addition to following the contest theme above...
1.) All entries must include at least one character from this list: www.defenestrationmag.net/ben-… . That means your entries will have at least one Ben & Winslow character in them! (Note: While Little Winslow is technically a "tiny thing" and actually stems from that trope, Little Winslow does not count as a "tiny thing" as far as this contest is concerned. So simply including Little Winslow in your entry is not enough to satisfy the trope requirement)
2.) Entries may include your own original characters.
3.) Entries may include characters from movies, comics, books, or other media.
4.) Entries may be in any medium. This includes both traditional and digital works, photographs, sculptures, prose, poetry, and anything else you can think of. Be creative. Creativity will be rewarded.
5.) Entries may include violence, (tasteful) nudity (though preferably not of my characters; Attention Whore has special stipulations you can read here: ak-is-harmless.deviantart.com/… ), and profanity as long as they adhere to deviantART's policies. Pornography, hate speech, or anything that could be reasonably construed as such will not be tolerated, so don't create anything you think might be offensive. Entries with mature content must be labeled as such. If you have any concerns about your ideas, query me before you start working on your entry!
6.) Despite content being in line with deviantART's policies, you do not have to be a deviantART subscriber to enter. If you are a deviantART subscriber (and you probably are), post your contest entry to your gallery and send me a message with a link to it inside. Otherwise, send your entry or a link to your entry to my Defenestration address, andrewdefenestrates(at)gmail(dot)com.
7.) Entries should have the appropriate copyright information. Ben & Winslow and all of its characters are copyrighted by me, Andrew Kaye. If you post your entry on deviantART, please include a link back to my gallery or this contest journal entry.
8.) You may enter as many times as you want.
9.) Entries will be judged on creativity, humor, and use of the theme. Like all of my contests, your artistic abilities aren't being judged here. I encourage everyone to enter, regardless of your perceived artistic ability.
10.) The contest starts today, November 15th, and ends Monday, March 7, 2011 at midnight U.S. Eastern Standard Time. That means you have three and a half months to get your entries in, and lots of lovely school holidays, winter breaks, and (at least in the U.S.) three-day weekends in between.
11.) Every month, I will take all of the entries received and randomly choose one for a free black-and-white sketch. That means that on December 15th, I will take all of the entries I've received and randomly choose one. Then on January 15th, I'll take all the entries received between December 15th and January 14th and choose another entry at random. Someone who enters something for each month has three chances to win a free sketch! Hopefully this will encourage more entries and prevent any dead periods as the contest goes on. Because if there's one thing I hate, it's dead stuff. Sometimes.
12.) A winner will be chosen for each category: Creativity, Humor, and Use of Theme. These winners will be determined by me and an impartial panel of judges. Each of these winners will receive a two-character drawing commission from me. Once these winners are chosen, all of you will get an opportunity to vote on the overall winner. The overall winner gets their free commission upgraded to a three-character drawing AND also gets $50 of my rich doctor money. Maybe I'll add other prizes, too. It depends on how many people enter.

So get out there and start drawing. And tell your friends. Let the games begin!

---AK
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2009 Publications
"From the Desk of Mr. Yogmirth, Dean of Admissions" (Comedic Fantasy Fiction) everydayweirdness.com/e/200907…
"Earning His Wings" (Dark Fantasy Fiction) www.byzarium.com/earning_his_w…
2008 Publications
"My Devil" (Poem) www.poormojo.org/cgi-bin/genni…
"Men Without Shirts" (Poem) www.thievesjargon.com/workview…
"The Cat Will Play" (Fantasy Fiction) vagabondagepress.com/81001/V1I…
Defenestration
Magazine: www.defenestrationmag.net
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The Defenestrati Group Comic Project: ak-is-harmless.deviantart.com/…
Commissions: ak-is-harmless.deviantart.com/…
AK Merch: www.cafepress.com/ak_is_harmle…