Tag Archives: snake

Dragon Comics 25

Leave a reply
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 23

Leave a reply
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.

 

 

Dragon Comics 15

3 Replies
Some comics are just darker than others.

Some comics are just darker than others.

A storyline of sorts is coming into play here; this is going somewhere, other than to a place where every punchline is either Snake insulting Dragon or Dragon killing the snake (not that that will never happen, because it’s still funny to me, but there ought to be some degree of meaning what equates to verbal slapstick.

Cat is working well; she basically looks the same cat every time. I’m starting to get a feel for her, unlike Rabbit, who still doesn’t look right in any drawing. It occurred to me last night, as I was falling asleep, that this in, in part, because I am drawing her mouth all wrong. Rabbit will be cuter the next time she appears.

OK, I Lied

Leave a reply

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 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.

As good as it gets, really.

We can all get better with practice, amirite?

What are you doing, Dragon? Part 5

Leave a reply
This is a webcomic.

This is a webcomic.

This concludes the 5-part story arc. I learned a lot this week, and the results are pretty heartening. One of the things I learned, though, is that I’m not quite ready to draw dailies, regardless of whether the world is ready to read them. Even in this very rough style, it still took me about 3 hours to do each of these pages. It’s just too much of a time commitment right now, although you haven’t seen the last of this Dragon. The next arc has already presented itself, and I may try some single-panel comics in the near future. However, I want to devote more energy to the graphic novel as well as to a couple new T-shirt designs. But, as silly as it sounds, what I’ve done here this week fulfills a dream I’ve had for a long time. I’ll come back to this. 

In case you’re missing mandalas, here is a special mandala for your Friday pleasure: 

And by special, I guess I mean that if this mandala was a kid, it would ride the short bus.

And by special, I guess I mean that if this mandala were a kid, it would ride the short bus.

What are you doing, Dragon? Part 3

Leave a reply

Just to set the record straight, nobody bullies me about art. I am a grownup with an MFA in creative writing. If someone steps to me, I eviscerate them with my razor sharp intellect and sesquipedalian vocabulary. Trolls don’t know what hit them. The snake represents my own crippling sense of self-doubt.

Set up, conflict, resolution. That's what it's all about, kids.

Set up, conflict, resolution, denouement. That’s what it’s all about, kids.

There’s at least 2 more of these, maybe more. But I’ll still post a mandala this week just in case anyone’s here for mandalas.

What are you doing, Dragon? Part 2

3 Replies

OK, I lied yesterday. This is at least a 3-part comic. Maybe longer. Apparently I can get away with whatever it is I’m doing here, because yesterday was this blog’s best-ever day for page views.

Yeah, the snake's sort of a jerk.

Yeah, the snake’s sort of a jerk. We’ve all met the snake. 

So: conflict! Is Dragon just going to lie down and take this crap? Can she retaliate? Who let that snake in, anyway? Come back tomorrow for more answers.