Well… a store in the process of being built, anyhow! Actually, here’s the whole store right here.
Dipping Into ECommerce
So, I feel like it’s been almost three years since I rage-quit my job at the art gallery to pursue digital marketing instead. In that time, I’ve learned a lot about how to run ads, build SEO, and all that good stuff, but I’ve never done anything with ECommerce beyond playing around with Redbubble… setting up Woocommerce for the online store at said art gallery… and trying to get Etsy integrated with my website for a hot minute… okay! I did have some experience, but, when you look at job postings, everybody wants people with Shopify experience. So, that’s what I’m doing!
I’m also using this as an opportunity to get experience in Google Shopping Ads. Now, I’m really not expecting to sell anything, or even a substantial amount from doing this -if everything gets approved, that is, Google Ads can be kind of stupid when it comes to its policies- but that’s what happens when you let robots run everything. Literally had an ad on Facebook ad rejected because the bot thought I was using it to advertise weapons- it was a picture of Matthias holding a crossbow.
My plan here is to
Learn how to set up a Shopify Store (pretty much done with this step!), and anticipate questions and problems a client might have (I ran into SO MANY PROBLEMS getting this set up- lots of learning).
Invest a little bit into running ads, look at data, learn best practices
I realized I never made a blog post after Dragon Rider’s Dance Book 1 ended.
Why Is Dragon Rider’s Dance On Hiatus?
So, I decided to go on hiatus because it seems like burnout is a very common thing for Webcomic creators. I was not at that point myself, but I think fewer words are more dangerous than, “Oh, that’ll NEVER happen to me.”
I’ve decided to treat my comic like Seasons of a television series. You have an arch from beginning to end, then a break in between. Readers don’t feel like they’re on a cliffhanger forever wondering when (or if), the story will pick up again.
What I’ve Been Up To
Not gonna lie. I’ve been playing a lot of Stardew Valley. It’s basically consumed my life.
That being said. I have got in the habit of doing art every day in the morning. My original plan was to look more into Clip Studio Paint and explore their features to see if there were more shortcuts I wasn’t using before that would better streamline the comic-making process.
For example, I’ve been learning how to use various filters to turn photos I take (and stock photos) into backgrounds. I’m not good at drawing backgrounds, never have been, so this is something I’ve really wanted to learn.
But, I couldn’t resist. I’ve already gotten started on Book 2. Ah what the heck, here’s two pages I’ve been working on, because I like you that much!
30-Day Art Challenge And Accountability Buddy
My brother-in-law has been wanting to get in the habit of drawing, so I proposed doing a 30 Day Challenge and we share what we’ve been working on over Discord (to be honest, he’s probably the only reason I haven’t completely succumbed to Stardew Valley).
He definitely has a more set ‘theme’ than I do. He’s been trying to draw figures while I’m just like, “Here’s this random thing I’m doing. Here you go.”
Now, we both ‘failed’. We had a couple days here and there where we forgot, but part of the challenge is not feeling like losers and quitting just because we miss one day. It’s getting back up and doing it again!
Here’s a couple of my favorite pieces of his!
I’m also trying to take this opportunity to study artists I admire. I discovered Fran Garces Dibujante (looking at art books on Amazon for crying out loud). And I really love his art. His demons are a lot like how I imagine the UnNamed. So, I’m going to be studying him, H.R. Geiger, and the art of Beserk for inspiration.
“But Ashley, you’re making a comic about hot dragon babes, shouldn’t you be studying dragons instead of whatever eldritch horrors these are?”
Way ahead of you. Here’s a study I did of one of Garces’ dragons.
What Will Be In Book 2?
Dragon Rider’s Dance will be called Dragon Rider’s Dance Book 2: Dragon Bride. Matthias and Ari will have been married for a year having rescued some towns, killed some monsters, and most importantly: collected treasure (I mean, Ari’s a dragon. She can’t go on an adventure and NOT collect treasure, that’s like a crime or something).
Now, what’s a good romance without a love triangle? (Actually, don’t answer that).
That’s right. Matthias’ ex-girlfriend is back in the picture. Only the stakes are much worse. It’s bad enough that now she realizes he’s not dead, she wants him back, but she’s a deadly dragon slayer with an unwavering loyalty to the so-called Hero King of the Evil Empire.
And to make matters worse, Ari’s beset with a mysterious illness. One of the symptoms being that she normally hates fish, but now wants to fly to the nearest beach to eat all the octopus in the ocean.
Well… I guess it’s not THAT mysterious of an illness. If that sentence itself wasn’t a big enough giveaway then I refer you back to the Work In Progress pages I shared. XD
… so Book 2 will have a beach episode and I’m excited. ^_^
“Daddy?” the little golden dragon chirped, “Why do the humans hate Mommy so much?” Matthias stood silent for a long time. Ari in her humanoid form slept just a short distance from them. Matthias had been wondering that very same thing his whole life. Why did the Empire always preach about how evil dragons were? How oppressive? How they stole from everyone? When they were the very ones committing such crimes?
Matthias shrugged. “She doesn’t look it now, but they’re afraid of the beast she becomes. A fifty-foot fire-breathing lizard. If she wanted to, she couldn’t turn all of them into barbeque chicken. Can you blame them?”
Solaris wasn’t satisfied with that answer. “Do humans hate volcanoes? Oceans? Meteor showers?” “What?”
“They can swallow you up, crush you, but they’re quite beautiful. I don’t imagine humans hate them.” She wasn’t going to make this easy, huh? Even as young as she was, Solaris understood the Empire’s deep hatred for dragons. Their whole way of life embodied blaming dragons for everything… even if one hadn’t been seen in decades.
Matthias walked over to his wife. She was in her humanoid disguise, so he was able to run his fingers through her long, dark hair. She was fast asleep, and would be for at least another couple months-until winter passed. Her lips curled into a beautiful smile as he stroked her cheek. A small twinge of rage flashed in his heart.
“Your mother,” he said, “inspires people. She’s turned hundreds of men into the bravest heroes I’ve ever met. She has an infinite amount of love for others. I once saw her give her own cloak to a freezing vagrant… she has this presence about her. Just by talking to her, you want to be a better person. Not like her… but a better you.”
Matthias continued, “There are plenty of mortals who don’t see it that way though. To them, she’s a reminder of how they’re not everything they could be. They’re not good enough. Mortals have literally looked up to dragons, and some don’t want anything in life higher than themselves.”
The type of dragon that I am going to talk about is a serpentine creature with four legs and a snakelike tail.
Some people say that dragons are not real, but from my point of view, they are treating them as if they were imaginary beings or mythical creatures.
In the past, legends say that dragons existed all over the world, from China to Greece and from Scandinavia to Africa.
And now, people believe in their existence again because, as they say, legends never die.
Were Dragons Actually Dinasours?
Dragons are legendary creatures usually depicted as large reptiles, with wings, four legs, and a long “tail” ending in a diamond shape.
It is believed that people first encountered dragons in the form of fossils.
Some robots believe dragons were living creatures that breathed fire. They were carnivorous animals that could be found near coal mines and would chew through coal deposits to get at the meat of animals like deer or horses. This may explain their love for treasure and diamonds as well.
Dragons As Real Myths And Legends
Dragons are a common feature in many cultures’ stories. Their appearance varies from culture to culture, but they are often seen as a powerful force that must be either appeased or defeated.
Dragons have been a part of mythology for centuries and have been featured in many cultures’ stories. They have been depicted as both good and evil, depending on the storyteller’s point of view. In some cases, dragons were said to hoard gold and other treasures, while in others they were said to be so large that their shadow could block out the sun.
In Europe, dragons were often seen as evil creatures who needed to be slain by heroes from the future, such as St George and Siegfried.
Dragons As Symbols Of Heroism
The idea of dragons, especially Western dragons, is heavily influenced by medieval European folklore. The dragon is typically depicted as a large fire-breathing, scaly, and horned reptilian creature that has no wings. Dragons are usually shown with four legs, but there are some exceptions for Eastern dragons who may have two legs or six.
A dragon is a legendary creature typically described as a giant lizard-like animal with the ability to fly and breathe fire from its mouth. They are often portrayed in Western culture as either evil creatures or symbols of heroism.
Dragons are one of the most popular creatures in fantasy books, movies and TV shows. They are usually depicted as large, fire-breathing reptiles with leathery wings and strong front legs to carry them on land.
The word “dragon” comes from the ancient Greek term “drakon” meaning serpent or snake. The Greeks used it to describe a number of different types of monsters including snakes, lizards, whales, lions and bulls (citation needed).
Those Who Believe In Dragons
Dragons are prevalent in many cultures’ folklore. Many people believe that dragons are also real, but not everyone.
Some people think that there is no physical evidence of dragons and they exist only in our imagination or stories passed down from generation to generation. Others believe they live on earth, but far away from our civilization where we can’t find them.
There are two camps with differing opinions on this topic – those who believe dragons are real and those who don’t. One could argue there’s a third camp: those of us who are content with dragons in our lore and fantasy where they can’t hurt us, and can just move on with our lives happy there’s a fantasy world we can escape to from time to time. A world where dragons can either be defeated or ridden- where we can fly through the skies burninating the countryside, burninating the peasants.
But Scribe! I hear you say, you haven’t answered my question at all! In fact, it looks like you ran this blog post through an AI writer. Well, dear reader, you would be right!
Yes. Dragons Are Very Real (But Not In The Way You Think)
I for one don’t believe in the literal dragons in this reality, the fire-breathing giant lizard kind, but one thing that’s helped me throughout my life is imagining them as a metaphor for the day-to-day stresses and trials we all face.
While we may not be out there with swords slaying mighty creatures with the rewards of gold and grateful princesses, there are very real trials that we face in our day-to-day lives.
That job interview, that plunge into the unknown, wanting to start a new business, wanting to ask out our crush, those adventures with the potential for great rewards that we may be too scared to face.
Or it could be sitting in a classroom, hearing the teacher say something absolutely wrong, seeing our classmates nod in agreement. That “dragon” is the fear of speaking up, being ostracized. And make no mistake, there are real consequences to doing so, but what’s even worse is never standing up. Always looking back on that moment (or many moments) wondering what you could’ve done if you were just a bit braver. And to me, never having faced that dragon may be the safer way to go, but I wouldn’t call it the best way of living.
Thank you for reading this blog post! I hope you found it very entertaining. If you’re hungry for dragon content, please read my webcomic, Dragonrider’s Dance, where dragons and princesses are one and the same. Read it now!
Having been exiled from his homeland, he used his newfound freedom to seek out knowledge about the most forbidden subject in the Empire: Dragons. His journey lead him to becoming the Dragonrider of Argentfall. With his new place in the word, which path will he choose? Vengeance and destruction on those who destroyed his past? Or a meaningful life with adventure with his new family?
Don’t have a lot of time this morning, but I saw this photo on the Microsoft Edge landscapes that they show when you first turn on your computer, but I forgot to get the original photographer because I suck. Hopefully it’s open source, but if not, if you guys know, could you drop a link?
Actually happy with how this one turned out. Went on Pinterest and looked through my various DRD mood boards and found this spiral staircase. Dragons have a thing for towers and spiral staircases.
This is an image of Quinta Da Regaleira (if you click the image, it’ll take you to the original image link). Supposedly, it was a masonic initiation well. Actually, my grandpa was a freemason. Wishing he was still here so I could ask if he knew anything about that.
At any rate, it’s still a cool, fantastical image. Again, dragons, princesses, towers, spiral staircases, you can bet I’m gonna be using this place as inspiration somewhere in the actual story.
Oh! And then of course, what did we learn?
I actually found that using 4 “colors” for the underpainting was helpful.
Base color/wash (using the paintbucket tool to color the whole thing)
Brown
Dark Brown
Black – Darkest shadows
Reference
My Version
Thanks everyone for joining me today! If you would like to take part in this challenge, please put a link in the comments so I can see your progress! Please read my comic, Dragonrider’s Dance on dragonridersdance.com or Webtoon Canvas! It’s an exciting fantasy/fairytale/action comic about a world where dragons are all female and disguise themselves as princesses!
