CALL FOR COMIC SUBMISSIONS

Short Story Comics Wanted for Cloudscape’s Fifth Annual Anthology

Cloudscape Comics is currently taking submissions for our fifth annual anthology from dedicated local comic artists. We are looking for 15-20 exceptional artists to showcase in our new book based on Journeys.

We are looking for dynamic and compelling stories about people travelling in a contemporary setting- either around the world or to the corner store. They can be fictional or auto-biographical. It is important that stories focus on an individual or group of people travelling through an environment as our focus will be on the journey, not the destination. Stories will be formatted for a book six by eight inches, full colour with stories done in traditional or traditional-looking media. For more information on our formal requirements, please check our forum thread here.

Submissions must be for stories between 4 and 18 pages long including a title page. Stories should be in odd multiple pages (3,5,7 etc.) plus a title page in full comic script format and/or page thumbnails. Submissions must also include examples of already completed comic work in the style of which the story will be drawn. We are also happy to accept submissions from writers and artists who are open to collaboration with other artists. Please indicate in your submission if you would like to be paired with another writer or artist and include one or two samples of your best work.

To ensure a standard of quality for our anthology, all artists with accepted submissions will be working closely with an editor to complete their story from thumbnails to pencils and finishing. If you are interested in submitting, please send your submission package to info@cloudscapecomics.com

Our deadline for submissions is Wednesday August 4, 2010 at 11:59 PST

Cloudscape is also offering a unique opportunity to workshop submissions at our weekly meetings. If you would like to have your package reviewed and critiqued before submission, or are interested in participating in the many events of our comics collective, please join us on Wednesdays at the Grind & Gallery Coffee Bar (4124 Main Street, Vancouver) starting at 7:30 PM or visit us at www.cloudscapecomics.com

Not So 9 to 5:The Inaugural Year of an Independent Comic Artist

The Humorous

I like it when people feign intense conflict, or engage in competition. Working within the rules of a competitive game encourages problem solving, dedication and a host of other positive attributes that everyone wants their first grader to develop. Well, we’re not in first grade anymore, but we can still enjoy games and competition!

Cloudscape, over yonder, has started something called a Comic Battle. It’s where artists, based on an arbitrary yet interesting theme, create a short comic strip that is then subjected to the scrutiny of an internet poll. They’re not offering anything more than notoriety, but who needs incentive to challenge themselves, eh?

I’m going to be making one, for sure. I, however, am going to create a personal rule to help encourage my sequential development. All of my Comic Battle entries are going to be wordless, so that I can focus on the message being delivered by the art. This is, of course, until I’ve either succeeded or ended up a crying mess, and then I will focus more on dialogue and word use.

The first theme is going to be announced tomorrow. I better go sharpen my pencils of victory.

Not So 9 to 5 is a blog chronicling my first year trying to be a successful independent comic artist. Hopefully some of my experiences will help others in some way as well. If you are new to the blog, why not start from the beginning or check out the category archives?