Today we’ve got the runner-up entry to this year’s...

Today we’ve got the runner-up entry to this year’s Graphic Short Story Prize. Don’t know about you but I love this cute, furry yeti guy. He does seem quite lonely though…

Here’s a bit about the illustrator:

Though the standard for entries was perhaps a little lower than in previous years, it was still tricky to choose a runner-up. In the end, we went for “I, Yeti” by Steve Tillotson, a gorgeous tale of loneliness and ice, starring a very large, very hairy yeti. Tillotson never intended to be a writer of comics; having done an MA in print-making at the Royal College of Art, he always thought he would be what he calls a “proper” artist. Gradually, though, his work became ever more driven by narrative and in 2005 he started writing his Banal Pig comics. His influences include Daniel Clowes and Chris Ware, but also the comics that he grew up with: the Beano, the Dandy, Buster and Whizzer and Chips.

Like Wilkin, he has entered the competition before. “Twice. My plan was to keep entering every year until I won. [But even being runner-up] is surprisingly vindicating. A lot of cartoonists are extremely self-critical and I’m no exception; it’s quite a lonely business. This is a big morale boost and it’s nice to see how much I’ve improved since the first time I entered in 2009.”

He designed his story so he could play around with scale in his pictures: “I really like drawing mountains for some reason… my yeti character has been in my sketchbook for a while.” What’s his plan for the future? “I’ve got a few ideas for graphic novels bubbling away that I’m really excited about, and I’m involved in organising the Leeds Alternative Comics Fair. Comics events are a bit under-represented in the north.”