Hellooooo! Here it is, ladies and gentlemen, the call for participants for the latest and greatest (Okay, only.) contest planned by myself, Neko!

The theme of this contest? STYLE SMASH!

The concept is simple: Sign up to participate, and you will be assigned an artist - most of them illustrators, cartoonists, and comic artists from around the world.

Then, you shall create your own piece of art - in their style!

For this contest, there shall be a panel of CELEBRITY JUDGES! The celebrities are as follows:

We are all celeribites and those who say otherwise are liars.

RULES

There are several rules, most of which are common-sense things such as "Your entry cannot be hyperviolent racist child porn." Some other rules shall be detailed here:

- 1 entry per participant, please.

- Judges, alas, may not participate. However, everyone else can! This includes people who have donated a prize. :]

- NO TRACING, RECOLORING, EYEBALLING, OR "HEAVY REFERENCING" ALLOWED. This contest is about your art in their style. Simply giving us their art all over again is lazy and deceptive and gross. People who trace shall have their entries immediately disqualified, and we will also pelt your house with water balloons filled with shame.

- To further discourage tracing, we ask that you not use characters from universes created by your assigned artist. For example, if you were to be assigned Masashi Kishimoto, creator of Naruto, you could not include a Naruto character, or a fan-made Naruto character, in your entry.

However, you would be free to include your own original character, a character from the Marvel universe, a caricature of James Dean, or any other creation that Kishimoto did not significantly influence!

- The focus of your entry does not have to be a person, but do keep in mind that it will be much harder to convince us that your drawing of a chair is in "Lynda Barry style."

PRIZES!

They make contests all the more fun.

The prizes layout will be a little odd in this contest. for there will be NINE prize slots to win!

First, there is the CLOSE MATCH category, where the judges shall decide which entries are most successful at adapting the assigned style into a new image. The prize layout is, currently, as follows:

1st CLOSE MATCH:
- Color “full” image from *HinoNeko.
- Mini-plush by *skei.
- One de-luxe feature journal from *HinoNeko.

2nd CLOSE MATCH
- Line “full”/color ”toon” image from *HinoNeko.
- Approx. one week of Shoutboard feature from *HinoNeko.
- One commission from ~GothicSky.

3rd CLOSE MATCH
- Line “toon” image from *HinoNeko.
- Animated icon and stamp set from ~StarAnsine.

Next is the EXCEPTIONAL category! Even if a participant can't quite match their assigned style, they could still win some lovely prizes by wowing the judges in some other area. Humor, inventiveness, pure awesome, etc.!

1st EXCEPTIONAL
- Color “full” image from *HinoNeko.
- Mini-plush by *skei.
- One feature journal from *HinoNeko.

2nd EXCEPTIONAL
- Line “full”/color ”toon” image from *HinoNeko.
- Approx. one week of Shoutboard feature from *HinoNeko.

3rd EXCEPTIONAL
- Line “toon” image from *HinoNeko.
- Animated icon and stamp set from ~StarAnsine.

The final category is the POPULACE category, where all the entries shall be put up for a public vote!

1st POPULACE
- Color “full” image from *HinoNeko.
- Mini-plush by *skei.
- One feature journal from *HinoNeko.

2nd POPULACE
- Line “full”/color ”toon” image from *HinoNeko.
- Approx. one week of Shoutboard feature from *HinoNeko.

3rd POPULACE
- Line “toon” image from *HinoNeko.
- Animated icon and stamp set from ~StarAnsine.

Such are the prizes that have been finalized so far. If there is anyone out there who wishes to contribute more prizes, or wants to fit a previously-offered prize into this setup, please contact me!

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:
If you wish to participate, please post a comment on this news article! We ask that those who intend to participate include the phrase "100% Grated Parmesan Cheese" in their comment, to ensure that you are indeed signing up to participate and not just commenting on something else.

After you have signaled your bid for participation, I shall reply to your comment with the name of your assigned artist, as well as some links to examples of their artwork. If you need to further study their style, a little Google searching should come up with something - but do keep in mind that, as artists, their work may include images with gore, nudity, and/or political views that you are uncomfortable with.

Then, you shall have until midnight of SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7TH to submit your entry and present it to me, HinoNeko, in some fashion! Preferably by replying to the very comment that gave you your assignment, but a note entitled "Style Smash Entry" will work in a pinch.

After that, the judges and I shall discuss our choices for the CLOSE MATCH and EXCEPTIONAL categories, and pave the way for the POPULACE voting.

Now! Start your engines, ladies and gentlemen, and let the STYLE SMASH begin!