March in Ragonia (2020)

Hello, my darling, dearest friends and Patrons. How have you been? I truly hope this message finds you somewhere that you feel as safe and supported as you can feel during these unsteady times. I hope you have lots of comfy blankets, tasty teas, soft sweatpants, and nice smelling candles. I’m listening to some chill jazz music, wrapped in a sweater that used to be my sisters. The construction surrounding my apartment is on pause, so I can finally hear the birds chirping. And I have the joy of writing this letter to some of the sweetest people I’ve ever met.

So, my friends. As with much of the world, Seattle is under a shelter-in-place order. Some effects have directly impacted us. My partner Zach’s job shut down for the foreseeable future. My first convention of the year, Awesome Con in Washington DC, was just postponed until December, and I’ve decided to shut my online shop down temporarily to try to help flatten the curve.

Some days are harder than others, but generally, we’re doing okay. We’re happy to be feeling healthy and safe, we’re talking every day with our family and friends, and we have enough savings and safety nets to feel relatively secure. Zach is using his new free time to work on his concept art portfolio, and I’m taking some extra time to rest and reflect and organize.

Above all, I am incredibly grateful this month for your support here on Patreon. You all are the most stable thing for me in an unstable time in an unstable career. I can’t tell you how many times this month I’ve said to Zach ‘I love my patrons so much.’ Thank you for being here. 

Thank you, thank you.

It’s been a wild month, but I wanted to share some of the happy exciting good things that I’ve been able to work on thanks to your support, and at the end of the article I have some fun recommendations for media, apps, and games to enjoy during this weird time.

I'm gonna illustrate a book!

I’ll start with the most exciting event of the last month, I signed a contract to illustrate a book! I submitted a sample spread last month of how I envisioned the project, and this month I was chosen for the job! I’ll be having my first online meeting with the Art Director and Editor next week to discuss the project. I’m not sure exactly how much I can share, but I’m pretty sure I can say that I’ll be working on it for the rest of the year, submitting final art next April, and hopefully publishing in 2022.

I am so excited to work on such a big project and to collaborate with the author and art director, and to have my illustrations be published. This is by far my most significant freelance gig yet, and I’m so proud that my work thus far has brought me to this point. I’m going to see how much I can share about the process because I’d love for you all to get to see. It’s gonna be great.

The publicity picture I submitted for the book, (taken in my bathroom, shh don't tell.)

Designed new products!

Outside of emailing about the book contract and anxiously reading the news, I’ve amazingly found some time this month to make a little new art: two new letterpress greeting cards, fruit earrings, two sticker sheets, and three washi tape designs. Cute little easy projects that will be fun to sell in the future. 

Washi tape designs illustrated in procreate!

These new product illustrations feel like a minuscule achievement in what otherwise has felt like an extremely unproductive month. But sometimes you need to lift up little achievements for yourself. Be nice to yourself.

Fruit and Veggie sticker sheet designs illustrated in procreate.

Organized storage!

Last small work achievement of the month, I finally organized my Ragonia packaging and storage closet. Not only did it help me do something more active and make me feel a little more in control, but it helped me be more aware of my overall stock. Maybe seeing all those beautiful unprinted shirts will encourage me to make a new shirt block print design! 

Ah, so satisfying.

Staying Home Activities!

Since so many of us are spending all of our time staying at home, I wanted to share a few recommendations of things I’ve been doing and media I’ve been watching to fill my free time and keep me sane. This is of course in addition to cooking, taking walks, Facetiming my family, cleaning the house, and working. Hopefully you’ll find something new to try! (None of this is a paid advertisement, I just really love all of these things.)

A few of Ragon’s favorite things:

+ Hiyori’s Bed and Breakfast on Netflix 

A former K-Pop idol lives on an island with her husband and a bunch of rescued dogs and cats, and opens up her home to be a bed and breakfast. It’s down to earth, relaxing, and has loooong episodes.

+ Bon Appetit Test Kitchen videos on Youtube

Especially It’s Alive with Brad Leone! So funny and wholesome and makes you want to culture things.

+ Critical Role on YouTube/Twitch 

Professional voice actors play Dungeons and Dragons. Fantasy, Funny and Serious. Weeks/months of content, each episode is 3-5 hours long. I recommend starting with campaign 2: The Mighty Nein.

+ Monster Factory on YouTube 

Griffin and Justin McElroy go ham in video game character creators, and then get real silly. Final Pam and the Boy Mayor of Second Life are my favorite.

+ Defunctland series on Youtube

A really dryly funny and fast-talking narrator discusses defunct theme parks, theme park rides, and tv shows in depth. But it's not just about theme parks, it also delves into themes of creativity, capitalism, economics, and America in general, somehow. The Jim Henson series brough us to inspiration tears, and it's all just wonderful.

+ Yoga with Adriene on YouTube

Endless lovely free yoga videos, 5-60 minutes long, any skill level. Give it a try and thank me later.

+ Headspace App 

Free or paid membership, excellent meditation app with spectacular illustrations and animations.

+ Ultimate Guitar App  

Not a perfect app, but if you have a guitar/ukulele/keyboard hangin around maybe learn some new songs! The app let’s you make playlists of favorite tabs/chords, keep tempo, auto scroll, transpose, and more. 

+ Jackbox Games  

Buy any of the boxes on Steam, Switch, etc. and play with your friends online! Once I figure out how to do this better I want to stream this on Twitch and play them with you all. My favorite Jackbox games are Drawful 1 or 2, Quiplash, and Fibbage. This amazing indie game company is also apparently offering Drawful 2 for free on Steam, and 99% discounted on Switch, for the next three weeks to help people connect with loved one during social distancing.

+ Animal Crossing: New Horizons on the Nintendo Switch 

Um, have you heard of a little game called Animal Crossing? Soothing, entertaining, and if you get Nintendo Online you can visit your friends' islands and hang out with them in CYBERSPACE! 

In fact, I was wondering if it might be fun to have a Patron Island Party! We could choose a day and time and I could send out a Dodo code so you can come hang on my island, and maybe I could find a way to awkwardly stream on Twitch (I don’t have a cord to connect my Switch to my computer) so people who don’t have the game can watch?? Comment if you think that would work!

A quick drawing I did of my Animal Crossing character!

There you are, buddies! I hope you found some fun new things to enjoy during your time at home. I'm really excited to see if you all would be into some fun patron games and activities in the coming weeks, to help ease some of the pain of isolation.

Please, let me know how you've been, and if there are any other ways I can help or express my gratitude during this hard time. Share your favorite ways to stay connected and calm. And above all, send me your Nintendo friend code on Instagram and come visit my Animal Crossing island. 

Be nice to others. 

Be nice to yourself.

Wash your hands.

If you can, stay home. 

I love you all. We can get through this. 

xoxo,

Ragon