Central Coast Comicon is the annual fundraising event for Regional Youth Support Services (RYSS), supporting local young people through creative and community-driven initiatives. As part of our event, we celebrate the incredible talents of artists, illustrators, and creatives—and we want to inspire young artists to showcase their skills!
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We’re excited to host the Design an OC (Original Character) Competition for 2025! This is the perfect opportunity for young artists who love drawing manga, fantasy, or original character designs to get involved. The competition is open to all creative mediums, so let your imagination run wild!

Age Categories
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The competition is open to young artists aged 8 – 25, with entries judged across three age groups:
🖌 8 – 12 years
🖌 13 – 16 years
🖌 17 – 25 years

All submissions will be exhibited at Central Coast Comicon on Saturday, 17th May, at The Entertainment Grounds, Gosford.

Prizes
🎨 Creative Prize Packs
🎟 FREE entry passes to Central Coast Comicon
🎬 Hoyts Movie Tickets

A First Place and Highly Commended will be awarded in each age category.
Winners will be celebrated and receive their Creative Prize Packs on stage at the event.

​First Place Prize -
Family Entry to Central Coast Comicon
Creative Prize Pack
Hoyts Movie Tickets

High Commended -
Single Entry to Central Coast Comicon
Creative Prize Pack
Hoyts Movie Tickets
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Entry Guidelines & Terms
✔ Your OC must be an original design that you have illustrated yourself – don’t forget to sign your artwork!
✔ Your OC can be created using traditonal mediums or digitally.
✔ Your artwork can be in the style of manga or fantasy.
✔ Your illustration must be on a white background in vertical/portrait format.
✔ Upload a hi-res photo or scanned copy of your artwork to the application form.
✔ One entry per participant.
✔ A copy of all entries will be displayed at Central Coast Comicon.
✔ We will verify the originality of all submitted artworks.

Judging and Key Dates

📅 Entries close: Friday, 2nd May, 11:59 PM
📅 Judging takes place: Monday, 5th May
📅 Winners announced: Friday, 9th May

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Social Media & Artwork Sharing
We would love to showcase some of the entries on Central Coast Comicon’s social media! However, we respect your privacy:

✔ We will only share artwork if you have provided consent on the application form.
✔ Young artists will not be tagged in posts.
✔ The artist’s first name/creative name and age will be included in social media posts and the exhibition.



We can't wait to see your designs!

If you have any questions about the competition, please email them to comicon@ryss.com.au or call RYSS on (02) 4323 2374.

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* 1. Contact Info

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* 2. What is your age

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* 3. What age category

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* 4. Do you have a creative name you would prefer to be known as? - We will use this on social media and in the exhibition. 

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* 5. Do you give permission for us to share your illustration to Central Coast Comicon Social Media Feeds?

Please note that we will not tag you and will only mention you, the illustrator, by your first name or chosen creative name and age.

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* 6. If you are 15 years and younger we will need your parent or caregiver's consent to share your illustration on social media. Please write their name and number in the box below.

Now the fun stuff! - Tell us about your OC
Please note this application is judged on your illustration abilities, not the writing of descriptions.

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* 7. What is the name of your OC

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* 8. In 100 words or less, give us a description of your OC.
What kind of character are they?
What are they like?
Do they have special powers?

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* 9. Give us a brief description of how you illustrated your OC? What mediums did you use? ie Coloured pencils, textas, digital artwork?

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* 10. Upload a good-quality image or scan of your OC illustration.

PDF, DOC, DOCX, PNG, JPG, JPEG, GIF file types only.
Choose File

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* 11. Do you agree that you are 100% the designer/illustrator/creator of this OC illustration? - We will digitally verify if the artwork is authentic

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