Here we go again – entering the Comica/Cape/Observer graphic short story contest

It’s that time of year again: entries are open for the sixth Observer/Comica/Cape graphic short story competition.

I’ll post my completed entry after the closing date, but for now here are some pictures showing work in progress.

Thumbnails

I hate cars, so I don’t often draw them. But I needed to be able to for this storyline. You can also see some thumbnails trying to pin down the right mood/scenery:

Character sketches

These were useful to refer back to, even though the final style ended up being very different to the pencil sketches:

Trying out media

I decided on watercolour and used a palette of just three colours plus white: deep cadmium yellow, magenta and manganese blue. It’s amazing how many shades you can make with just those.

Pencilling up the frames

And some shots of the final piece in progress:

 Other people’s entries

This is a contest that throws up some really strong entries, and, as only a handful of them can be shortlisted, not all of them get the exposure they deserve.

So for the last couple of years I’ve rounded up as many entries as I could find and linked to them:

• Here’s last year, 2014
• And here’s 2013
• Here’s a Flickr pool someone made all the way back in 2007, when the competition was for a one-pager.

So – are you entering? How’s it going?