So, for the past few weeks, my brain has been chewing on the idea of starting up commissions here on DeviantArt. Seeing as I am in college, the added monetary income would always be good thing. However, before I start anything up, I would need to start up a PayPal account or something of the sort, but if I was to start charging commissions would any of you deviants be interested in purchasing some Ben Mackey originals?

-Ben Mackey

In a matter of 8 days, I will be headed off to college! It's been a fantastic summer, and I can't wait to start the new year, at a new school, with all new friends! (Well, a few old ones too) As far as art goes, you can still expect deviations because I will be pursuing a major in Drawing/Painting at the University of Iowa. Not to be a man to put all my eggs in one basket, I also plan on getting a minor in Spanish and perhaps theatre. I'm not sure what I want to do with my life, but I'm sure college will help me refine my search. Anywho, I figured I would give all my friends and devious watchers a heads up about what's going on in my life. Also, I would like to thank you for all the kindness you have shown me throughout my high-school art career. You guys have been there with warm words and constructive criticisms, and really helped me hone my craft! I must say, without DeviantArt and its community of artists and art fans, my art would be much less prolific. Hope you all have had a good summer, and I wish you the best of luck in the whatever schooling or lines of work are up next in your life!

Ben "kjmarch" Mackey

Well, a big thank you to everyone who participated in BEN MACKEY PRESENTS: THE FIRST ANNUAL KJMARCH SUPERHERO CREATION CONTEST! (A subsidiary of Firstartman Enterprises) . It seems like just yesterday I posted the first journal informing everybody about it. All the entries are in, you can check them out here if you would like I must say that we got quite a few good entries, and the judges and I are excited to go through them and pick out a winner! The results will be posted sometime within the week. Thanks for the entries guys and gals!

Hello there everyone!
Ben Mackey here coming to you from a sunny Wednesday afternoon in the American heartland! First of all, I would just like to thank all you watchers and page viewers out there for the over 100,000 page views! When I first started Deviant Art I never imagined that my art would hit it this big, (guess I have to give some cred to the whole Ben 10 shebang) but low and behold it has come to pass. Thank you so much to everyone out there who have been watchers and favoriteers of my art! You guys are the proverbial bombs!

---CONTEST---
Anywho, I digress. In honor of this momentous occasion, I am hosting my second ever drawing contest! Instead of Ben 10, the drawing contest will be to see who can create the best SUPERHERO. I call this contest, BEN MACKEY PRESENTS: THE FIRST ANNUAL KJMARCH SUPERHERO CREATION CONTEST! (A subsidiary of Firstartman Enterprises)

INFO:
-GOAL: Your goal is to make a new and exciting superhero (or if you are feeling dastardly, a supervillains)! Create a character, give him or her some fantastic new powers and background, and submit your creation to the contest. Who knows, yours just might be chosen to be the best new superhero!

-JUDGING: Like last time, my sister, some friends, and I will be the judges. And no worries, everyone will be judged as if I did not know them. I promise that previous Deviant friendships will be abolished for the duration of this contest.

-CRITERIA: The superhero will be judged on a ten point scale. Factors such as originality, creativity, and costume design will come into play. Skill is NOT a deciding factor, but it can sometimes help you express your character concept

- The deadline for the contest will be Friday, April 17, thunless otherwise stated. Simply send me a note entitled Superhero Creation Contest Entry with a link to you pic. Otherwise, your entry might not get judged. One entry per person. Edits are allowed, but must be substantial. Most importantly, have fun!!! I look forward to seeing some sweet and original superheroes!

-PRIZES:
1st- Superhero Redrawn, 2 picture requests
2nd- Superhero Redrawn, 1 picture request
3rd- Superhero Redrawn

*If the superheroes are judged to be extra cool, they might (upon the creator's wishes) find a place in one of my possible upcoming comics!

Good evening everyone, kjmarch here. Or better known in real life as Ben Mackey! I recently have been announced a finalist in Zinch.com's twenty thousand dollar scholarship contest! However, in order to win this contest I need votes. That's where all you Deviant Art friends come in. I was trying to think of ways to crank up my votes, I thought of DeviantArt. Home to one heck of a lot of friendly and helpful people!

So, your probably wondering: Man, I am feeling really nice today, and also very charitable. How can I help out such a cool guy like Kjmarch? Well, to answer your questions ambiguous question asker, here are the steps:
1. Click on the Link! [link]
2. Scroll down to my name, (that's Ben Mackey) It's about the 17th down
3. Click on the big ol blue vote button!
4. Now, Zinch will ask you to fill some stuff out and become a member, but don't let that stop you! It only takes 30 seconds or so, and the website is quite legit.
5. Once you've done this i believe you will have to re-click the vote button

And that's it! With your help, I could be well on the way to a twenty thousand dollar scholarship! I would be eternally grateful to all you fans and friends if you could lend me a few votes! If I end up winning, you can bet there will be some free commissions to come!

Sincerely,
Ben Mackey

P.S. Wanna join the facebook group that is dedicated to getting my vote count up?
Sign up here! [link]