Ragon

July in Ragonia (2020)

Added 2020-08-01 00:11:04 +0000 UTC

Hello patrons, and happy Friday!

It's your pal Ragon, writing to you from the beautiful Seattle summertime. In true Seattle fashion, my apartment has no AC so my windows are wide open, letting in the sounds of (also true Seattle) multiple constructions of two luxury townhome buildings my street.

It's the end of another weird and rough and uncomfortable month in a weird, rough, uncomfortable year, and I'm here to tell you about what happened in my freelance art work life!

Sorry to share a low-quality meme in this monthly update but nothing has represented how I feel about my art career and business, and talking about it online, as much as the above. Everything is awful and too many people seem to not care, but you don't need me to tell you that! It's 2020! Let's talk about Ragonia!

Sarcasm aside, I don't know who needs to hear this, but life goes on even when times are tough. If this update can inspire one person to keep going with their art career or dreams, then it's worth it.

Your voice is worth it.

Taking care of yourself is still worth it.

Staying connected is still worth it.

Art is still worth it.

. . . . . .

I'd like to begin by welcoming my twenty-one new patrons this month: Rachel, Bryce, Wooly, Msael, Mari, Micaela, Sonia, Martyna, Jennifer, Javi, Rachel, Nutnuts, Aidan, Alex, Natalie, Vanessa, Ashley, Karla, Robin, Hannah, and Gabe! WELCOME friends, thank you so much for your support! Please feel free to share in the community tab, in the comments, or reach out if there's any way I can make this Patreon more awesome for you! And please DM on Instagram if you'd like to be added to my Close Friends' stories! All thank you gifts will be mailed after the first week of the month, after your first pledge processes.

I also want to thank ALL my Patrons for your continued support through this hard year. I want none of you to feel any pressure to maintain your pledge, and I appreciate any little bit people are able to share. Thank you, Patrons.

SHOP REOPENING!

This month I FINALLY RE-OPENED MY SHOP after three months closed, complete with the new products I've been sharing with you all, like washi tape and sticker sheets. The opening weekend was lovely, with sales rivaling after-Thanksgiving weekend in 2019. It's been a huge boost to be able to re-start my sales after all conventions for the year being postponed.

It's also been hugely helpful to my mental health to have my shop back open, it feels like I have my job back again!

BOOK ROUGHS FINISHED!

The majority of this month has been spent on finishing the roughs for my first book illustration job, and I just finished yesterday! Yeeeeehaw! Ready to send in for review with the editor, art director, and author! I can’t share the art but I can share the above tiny snippet and the below examples of quick reference photos I took of myself.

I'm not supposed to talk in detail about it yet, but once the book is published (in two years) I aim to make an in-depth post on the development process for people looking to illustrate books in the future.

Those who follow my Close Friends' stories on Instagram have seen that the last 10 days have been a kind of crunch time to finish the roughs. I had a strict schedule of 7-9 hours drawing 9 pages every day for 10 days, planning for weekends off and a full sleep schedule.

I don't recommend drawing that many hours consistently, but it was super effective and satisfying to get into that drawing rhythm again. Highly recommend to my future self. Drawing every day feels good, who knew?

PAPER MACHE!

Between my shop opening again, finishing the book roughs, and writing the Patreon Making It Guide, I was actually pretty busy with work this month! Who'd a' thunk?

But before things got busy, I took all of Independence Day weekend to make a real-life version of my favorite item in Animal Crossing: New Horizons: the Paper Tiger!

It was a huge amount of work, but as always, so very deeply satisfying to work with my hands on something low stakes that makes me happy. I think that to maintain creative flow and balance in my art career I need to make room for these kinds of new materials and projects. It rejuvenates the rest of my art and life.

. . . . . . .

So that's my July, finally back to real work and it feels so good. But! I am SO excited to be taking a SUMMER STAYCATION next week to celebrate sending out my book roughs and surviving this year. My partner and will be logging off the internet and phones, reading books, napping, laying in parks, buying bottled wine instead of a box (I know,) and taking a long at-home spa day with face masks and bath bombs. To prepare I'll be deep cleaning the house this weekend and just generally prepping to make next week a real treat. So so so looking forward to it.

Have you ever taken a staycation? What did you do? Any tips on making it feel special and relaxing?

How has your July been? What have you been doing to stay sane and creative and (possibly even) productive? I hope you and your family are doing well out there.

I look forward to hearing from you in the comments!