Wip?

u need to keep in mind that competitions tend to be very subjective with regard to the judges' preferences and your place in the results may not necessarily reflect your ability.

All the best for it tho Quoted for truth. And thank you.

hey Charlie, got a vid cam?

Wanna try posting pics or a video of a small example of your shading technique? I'd love to see it :P Possibly, my shading technique really isn't anything out of the ordinary - to me at least. Frankly, it just boils down to your control over the pressure of the led point against the paper surface. It's just a gradual and controlled build of light to dark with minor nuances here and there. Trying to think of what else to add to that without sounding like I'm repeating myself

I could go into the finished rendering techniques like lighting, though that falls more under life and anatomical studies.