Monthly Archives: October 2014

Dragon Comics 27

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Admittedly, I have not spent my time wisely. Things I have done this week instead of drawing include hiking Madera Canyon, stuffing myself at Tucson Meet Yourself, attending the Glow Festival, getting a tattoo, and soaking in the hot tub while awkwardly dangling said tattoo over the edge.

In fact, as this blog updates, I myself am at the Grand Canyon, communicating the glory of nature to my stepchildren and being more or less unplugged. I had intended to complete 2 weeks’ worth of blog posts this week. Instead, I barely scraped out 1 week, and today’s comic does not meet my usually low editorial standards. Panel 4 does not have quite the right expressions, and The Man’s head in panel 3 is sadly misshapen, but at least there is a comic.

Introverts married to extraverts...you know *exactly* what I'm talking about.

Introverts married to extraverts…you know *exactly* what I’m talking about.

 

 

It’s comically dragonalicious

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Frantically uploading blog pages while my horrible cat (not to be confused with the amusing cats in my comics–this cat is truly a trial) tries to sneak her little furry foot onto the keyboard. She’s sort of languid and lackadaisical about it, as if she either doesn’t notice she’s doing it, or somehow thinks that I won’t notice she’s doing it, even though I’ve removed her foot from the keyboard 20 times in 5 minutes. She knows very well what she’s doing. Now she’s purring atop a mountain of junk mail.

Good grief.

As an antidote to all that, here is a humorous dragon, whose sole purpose in life is allowing me to gratuitously use the word “flocculent.” Look it up.

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Capricorn, a flocculent dragon

Beyond dragons and mandalas, I’m at a bit of a crossroad here. I have tons of T-shirt ideas, but I’m spending 10 or 15 hours a week on the comics, and my tendonitis can’t take that much more time on the table. I’ve got about a month to get the shop in order for the holidays. I don’t want to give up anything. But I can’t do everything.

I may try cartooning with pencil and paper on vacation and see if I like the results. It might be a little faster, if less impressive and less colorful. Anyway, just going where the road takes me.

Dragon Comics 26

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Sigh…optimistically, I’d like to believe that writing a sizable number of comics (let’s say 100, in which case we are 25% of the way there) should help develop my cartooning skills to a somewhat higher level. And yes, they are improving, but realistically, I think I need some more formalized instruction, if only through some kind of web module.

What I’m saying is that Dragon jumping up on down on the snake’s corpse is not quite right. There’s something missing from my depiction, both in terms of accurately portraying the act of jumping up and down in a recognizable form, as well as in terms of the comedic value that such a drawing should communicate to the reader.

Not funny enough?

Not funny enough?

However, The Man asks a perfectly cromulent question. How long has Dragon been sitting inside that magical cave, drawing? Also, the expression on The Man’s face, and the way he’s desperately trying not to look, maybe are kind of funny.

In panel 3, the way the snake is lolling on its back, it’s sort of asking for a beatdown.

Mandalas Make Your Mind Go Round

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There’s plenty of room for this colorful rainbow mandala in your happy Tuesday, is there not?

I am a little ray of sunshine.

I am a little ray of sunshine.

Love the colors in this one, and the rosace quality of the mandala itself. Without making an effort to wear my crayons down equally, I would most likely compose all drawings as rainbows, or in shades of blue. I do try to explore the full chromatic spectrum, but it takes work, especially when exploring oranges and yellows and neutrals, to which I am not at all drawn.

This is one of the mandalas that might get turned into a T-shirt in the future. And speaking of T-shirts, if you would like to purchase a fine one, RedBubble is still offering a site-wide sale on shirts until midnight tonight. Just visit the QWERTYvsDvorak RedBubble shop, select any of our exquisite merchandise, and use coupon code RBTEES15.

Dragon Comics 25

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Rage comics: Dragon style

Rage comics: Dragon style

Originally, I sketched this one out with Dragon talking to Dragon’s reflection in the mirror, but ultimately, the backgrounds seem to make this one for me.

The last couple weeks have been leading up to this moment, and there will be more fallout down the line. At heart what this is really about (and many readers probably understand this in their hearts) is the tendency of some people to devalue their own outrage. The belief that we do not have the right to be angry is a pervasive one, particular among women, and often this legitimate anger is funneled through some other channel. You may have heard the expression, “Depression is anger turned inward.”

Dragon is embracing the anger and saying that it’s OK to be angry.

Besides that, I’m rather pleased with the typewriter in panel 4. This follows the discussion of funny weapons. The Man still thinks typewriters are inherently humorous. Plus, using the typewriter offered the opportunity for a punny punchline. The snake doesn’t need to get the last word in, and the sentiment, “words hurt!” is a lot more powerful when accompanied by a projectile weapon that is used, generally, for the purpose of forming words. Anyway, Dragon throws a typewriter would be a good name for a punk band.

Bonus news: RedBubble is offering a site-wide 15% off coupon code for T-shirts. There’s never been a better time to purchase a Dragon shirt, or other fine QWERTYvsDvorak designs. Just check out our web shop and use coupon code RBTEES15 any time before midnight Tuesday for great savings.

Dragon Comics 24

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The Man is the one with the real vendetta against the Kindles, they're a convenient focus for Dragon's rage.

The Man is the one with the real vendetta against the Kindles; they’re a convenient focus for Dragon’s rage.

This was a fun one to draw. I’m particularly enamored of the Godzilla stuff going on in panel 3, and I was pleased to figure out how to draw the second panel without using a source image or looking at myself in the mirror. My only sorrow is the SFX words in panel 4, which are OK, but didn’t seem quite right.

In case anyone gets the wrong idea, I never take my aggression out on the children. That stuff is reserved for The Man. Don’t worry; he can take it. But the thing is, when dragons get angry, you don’t want to get in their way. Fortunately for the world, Dragons are slow to true anger.

 

My Sister and Brother-in-Law Look to the Future

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My future brother-in-law is the only man my sister has ever brought to a family gathering. It was my wedding, and I’m glad they got engaged, because he’s in the family photos, and it would have been awkward otherwise.

Those hats!

Those hats!

I took the source photo a few days after the wedding. In fact, this is another section of the image used for the “My Nephew Goes Wading” drawing. A rather rich image!

A few weeks ago we went back to that place and The Man took some magical photos of the girl sliding down the dam. Might be another cool design.

I printed 50 of these and sent them to sissy for an engagement present. I’m uncertain as to whether she’s received them or not, but I’m pretty sure she doesn’t read QWERTYvsDvorak or check Facebook on a regular basis, so it can probably remain a surprise. I hope she likes them!

I think I’m coming to the end of my infatuation with this style. Although it was obviously insane, I started a huge painting based on a really complex image; after a week, it’s maybe 15% finished, and my thumb is all messed up and who knows if I’ll ever be able to wield a stylus again.

I hope yes.

For now I’m wearing the brace and typing slowly, with 9 fingers.

Dragon Comics 23

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Surprisingly enough, the hardest thing I've had to draw in these comics was that freaking easel. It's still wrong, but it's the best I could do without a reference image.

Surprisingly enough, the hardest thing I’ve had to draw in these comics was that freaking easel. It’s still wrong, but it’s the best I could do without a reference image.

Painting. I wish I had the money to take some classes; it doesn’t seem like something I’m likely to puzzle out on my own, at least not without spending even more money on materials. An expensive hobby. Even using the computer, it’s tolerably difficult and takes some getting used to.

The song whistled in panel 3 should be “Chinese Work Songs” by Little Feat. Somehow, I couldn’t find a YouTube track for this one, only a remix or the whole album. Little Feat is an eclectic jam band that formed in 1969, but, unlike most rock bands of that era, they managed to not destroy themselves, although the lineup has changed over the years. The album Chinese Work Songs  was released in 2000. Their most recent album came out in 2012.

I guess what this comic is really about is the way a good mood can be so easily destroyed, like cotton candy when you dump water on it, while a bad mood is far more tenacious, like bubble gum stuck in your hair.

 

 

One Hundred!

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Happy 100 blog posts to me!

Ooohh...cake...

Ooohh…cake…

I’m curious about how the above image came to be, since it’s not at all what I intended to draw. In hindsight, the thing I was going to draw would work better as a Valentine, so I’ll just save it. Plus, I can reuse the cake image if/when I get to 100 Dragon Comics! Anyway, 100 blog posts. A couple hundred pieces of art. It’s something! Yes! It’s not nothing.

To celebrate this milestone accomplishment, here’s some more of what I do. We’ve got mandalas!

 

An early plant-based design.

An early plant-based design.

The first couple dozen mandalas I did in this series were drawn on the flip side of the crossword pages hubby used to print out every day, but we’re rapidly reaching the end of these. When I started to take the project a bit more seriously, I used fresh paper without an image bleeding through the other side.

Beautifully blue

Beautifully blue

As I’ve mentioned before, my “blue period” was about 30 years long. Usually, I make a conscious decision to not draw everything in blue. But sometimes it’s nice to get back to your roots.

And speaking of roots, here’s a lovely dragon for your pleasure.

Crustofer, a Microscopic Aquatic Dragon

Crustofer, a Microscopic Aquatic Dragon

I think I’m more pleased with Crustofer’s appellation than his image, although he’s a cute little dragon. I guess a microscopic aquatic dragon would be considered a cryptozooplankton?

There you have it. Dragons and mandalas. As always, if you think my work doesn’t completely suck, please consider shopping my store. Stickers and notecards are only a couple dollars, and while the clothes may run a couple bucks more than in other T-shirt shops, the money does go to support an artist. If you’d like a T-shirt featuring any work on this site that isn’t in the store, drop me a line and, if I can, I’ll get it onto a shirt for you. If you’d rather buy a book off Amazon, you could also support me by clicking any book link on my Amazon Affiliate book review site. You don’t have to buy that particular book; any book you buy after clicking one of my links will refer a small percentage back to me and I will be one step closer to my goal of making money more or less on my own terms. Otherwise, I will have to go back to copywriting, and believe me, no one wants that.

 

Dragon Comics 22

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Remember when you were a kid and your could ignore anything?

Remember when you were a kid and your could ignore anything?

Vampire Bat fits into the scope of this comic, I think, and creates a nice contrast to some of the other characters. I could probably draw a better bat, but I’ve been sick and frankly I don’t even really remember drawing most of this comic, which I apparently did in the middle of the night with a mild fever while watching 3 episodes of The X-Files on Netflix, which I also don’t remember. Thank you subconscious mind. Way to be way more functional than my conscious mind, even if you do keep it all to yourself.

In panel 4, the girl is, of course, rocking out to Taylor Swift. They really do like those big headphones, which are a lot more comfortable than earbuds. As adults, it’s sometimes hard to know how to handle kids and technology. We don’t want them on their devices all the time, but we also don’t want them constantly complaining that they’re bored. We don’t like hearing the random sounds their devices make, but we also don’t like them being completely checked out and unable to hear anything you say to them because they’ve got the headphones on.