Yes, I spent an hour of my life drawing snake sushi.
Even if you don’t like the comic or deride my sense of perspective in panel 4, you have to admit I drew some cute little dragon hands. The santoku knife and the package of organic seaweed are also pleasing.
It’s all about silencing the critic.
Before the Wacom tablet, when I was just writing novels, an extra four hours a day working on the computer didn’t really affect my brain, because I touch type, fairly accurately, at around 70 words per minute, and didn’t have to actually look at the screen. When I first started learning digital painting, staring at the monitor for hours on end gave me constant headaches. Eventually, my eyes seemed to adjust to the strain (plus, as I improved my control over the stylus, I didn’t have to work on the pixel level with the screen 8 inches from my eyes.
I’m starting to wonder, though, if staying up all night on Photoshop is contributing to my insomnia. It’s been pretty bad for the last couple months.
That is my excuse for not having anything really pithy to say about art, beauty, creativity, or writing at this time.
I do however, have your weekly dose of mandala and fanciful dragon, all rolled into one!
Wyndolyn, a cheerful, airy dragon, looks like she would make a good friend. She would totally take you on magical rides to fantastic lands, or, if you were just looking for a sympathetic ear, would be willing to listen to all your problems. She would never even complain about the fact that she was born without arms or legs.
That is a good-looking dragon.
This mandala was drawn for Rabbit, who, in addition to kale and organic carrots, is also fond of textiles and cottage industries associated with women. For example: quilt making. This design is based on common quilting designs. I have tried my hand at quilt making in the past, which resulted in 5 broken sewing needles and very lopsided, unsymmetrical blanket, which fell apart in a couple years. Rabbit made me a quilt once as a graduation present and the angles are brain-breakingly perfect. Some people just have talents and skills.
And that is a pretty mandala.
Honestly, I did have some pseudo-pithy words about art, but I put them all into next Monday’s comic, so no need for redundancy. All I need is regular sleep. Which I can’t have.
White dudes: so oppressed, so voiceless.
Every night is basically a Man talking party in certain company.
All I really have to say about this comic is that I had a lot of fun drawing hands this week. Friday’s comic has some even more amusingly drawn hands. The Man looked it over and informed me that Dragon is using the wrong finger in panel 3, but I guess that says more about his worldview than my ability to draw hands. It’s funny, because in a lot of circles the ability to draw hands is sort of considered the benchmark. I think hands are only medium-hard; it’s faces that cause me the most grief.
What I’m not entirely satisfied with is the placement of the word balloons in this comic. That’s another important skill in creating a visual narrative, and it’s not always obvious how to line them up so they’re read in order. I’ve actually read quite a bit on this, and I get that it’s part skill and part art. And if you think it doesn’t matter, you should read this hilarious takedown of inexplicable newspaper comic Mark Trail in Cracked. Actually, the whole article is hilarious. But actually, people have written much more serious pieces about word balloon placement. And it’s even more important in a bigger format, because then you also have to think about panel placement. Simply placing 9 or 12 equal-sized boxes in a grid over and over gets boring. The best artists can create a magical flow of images that sweeps the reader along from action to action in a visual way that somehow reflects the action, but done incorrectly, this method can just confuse the reader.
I’m fair from having to worry about that. But it is interesting to consider how the chosen format affects the storytelling. I’ve already got a little story planned out that examines this, but first, Dragon has a few things to say about art, friendship, truth, and beauty. Stick around!
You keep on using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Good news! I was able to complete 3 comics over the weekend, so I’m going to try to update 3 times a week for the foreseeable future, with an end goal of eventually having the ability to deliver dailies. This is dependent on whether I can deliver dailies and make progress on the graphic novel. Time will tell. But I’m pretty confident that I can stick to this schedule, and actually get far enough ahead that I don’t miss any days if I have an off week or go on vacation someplace without electricity. Plus, I’m really happy that my hand lettering is improving. I know I could just type the text, but I love hand lettering and would rather do it myself, even though it’s less than perfect.
In further good news, I had dinner with the real life Fox and Otter and made sure that they knew how much I really love them both. Fox said, “In all the years you’ve known me (about 8) I’ve never had a boyfriend.” I said, “I’m fine with you having a boyfriend. I’d just like you to have a boyfriend somewhere in the vicinity of where I am.”
What else? This comic is based on a real life conversation I had with the Man. I can never tell if he’s serious, but apparently he felt left out because his comic persona was not invited to the fictional comic drawing party. Well, now you can all suffer through enjoy a week’s worth of the Man. Because he spends the most time with Dragon.
If Cox took all the energy they direct into trying to sell me cable and long distance for 2 devices I don’t even own and devoted it to maintaining the network that renders the device I do own fully functional, this post would not be so late.
For your Friday pleasure, please browse an assortment of 3D dragons, I models with my own little hands.
Dragon number 1 sprung forth into existence some 2 or 3 years ago when a game-maker friend mentioned that 4 little lumps of clay were reserved for the construction of a dragon figurine to be used in a game she had created. I took control of the project and came up with this handsome fellow, Perhaps his details are a little rough, but he’s only 1 inch high, and my hands aren’t that small.
It took 4 shots to encompass all his adorable qualities.
Next on our list we have a rather old dragon. In 1993, student teaching at a private elementary school for hippie children with rich grandparents, I came across a lump of dried clay, in which I couldn’t help but see the whorls and angles of a dragon’s face. The principal told me that I was wasting my time, that the lump would crumble, that it was too thick to ever be fired. I ignored him and coaxed this friendly face into the world.
A rather serene dragon, with only a little chip missing from his horn.
Finally, completing our triumvirate of dragons, a dragon pendant I made in 2006 while playing with my ex-boyfriend’s daughter.
Of course, the fuchsia fellow on the right is actually a cat, not a dragon, but he came into existence at the same time as the dragon, and they are the best of friends and go everywhere together.
Wait, what’s that you say? You want a hardworking bubblegum punk mandala before you go. BAM. Enjoy.
Pentagram mandala is in the house!
In case you wondered what Dragon is up to, Dragon is doing well, thanks! I already have one comic for next week, and if I finish a second one this weekend, maybe I’ll try to create them on a M-W-F schedule.
I apologize in advance to any splendid otters who may just randomly stumble upon this comic strip, and also potentially any foxes even though obviously any similarity of these characters to any people/animals/mythical creatures, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Clearly, drawing a comic that is really only a thinly veiled depiction of ones friends and family could be a very dangerous pastime, unless all of ones friends and family have a really great sense of humor. Which, of course, mine do. But still. Purely coincidental.
I drew that otter around 1 a.m., looked at it, and then laughed for about 10 minutes straight.
I definitely do not know any large, muscular, barrel-chested otters. That would be utterly ridiculous.
INTROVERT PARTY! Talk at your own risk.
Yes, we live an exciting life here in Dragon’s cave. Almost too exciting, if you ask me.
Three cheers for insomnia! Weirding up my world since 1977. This is the comic that Dragon deserves, but not the one that Dragon needs.
Is this a webcomic? Everything is confusing when your brain forgets to power down once in a while.
Truthfully, silencing my demons is a full time job. This comic is OK. The lettering is influenced by my lack of sleep. Sorry about that first word bubble. Too tired to see straight. If only someone would buy some T-shirts, I might have more time to write better comics.
And I am only escaped to bring thee this webcomic.
From now until eternity, everyone who enters that cave will enjoy the gift of glitter.
The persistence of glitter and dragon’s identity issues notwithstanding, how much more magical could it get? This comic seemed to take a very long time to draw. I don’t know if it’s because I tried a few new things, or because I drew it while coming out of stomach bug and finished it after a night of insomnia. Per usual, I’m pretty satisfied, although I of course still see a bunch of things that could be improved. But I can get better with practice.
I didn’t anticipate that my Dragon Comics would get so much positive feedback, so now it feels like I ought to keep drawing them, even if I can’t do dailies. Two a week should be possible, maybe on a Tuesday/Thursday schedule. There are already a half dozen ideas floating around my brain, so all I really need is the time each week to draw them. Anyway, I went to a party last night, and almost everyone there had read at least one, and they all seemed to love them, and my 9-year-old stepdaughter read them and said they were funny, and she doesn’t lie.
So, in the spirit of whatever it is that I do, I took one of the panels and turned it into a T-shirt (phone case, notecard, pillow, tote bag, etc.). If people are interested, I can do more. Obviously, I need to draw more Dragon Comics first. But here is a T-shirt featuring a hilarious panel that will really confuse people.
If this doesn’t provide you with hipster cred, I don’t know what will. You can proudly state that you liked Dragon before anyone else.
If you’re coming in late, we’ve got a dragon, roasting a chicken, by hand, while murdering a snake, with fire. “I can get better with practice,” the dragon says. The dragon is talking about killing snakes. It’s all very philosophical, I promise you. Anyway, go on and buy a T-shirt if the mood strikes you.
Here’s a better view of the image, which may very well turn you off to the whole thing, but that’s life. In the words of Gahan Wilson, “I paint what I see.”
As good as it gets, really.
We can all get better with practice, amirite?
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