Blog 7-10-16 – July Update

Hello everyone, Austin Smith here, and it is July 10th, also known as the absolute last day one could possibly consider in the first week of July. Though I must admit I believe I did fail when I said I was going to have an update up during the first week. I did spend some extra time making sure the two posts I put up as tokens of proof that I am still going to update this site were a little more polished. The update is: I have not reached the point yet where I am in a position to fully restart my posting schedule. But I have said all of the things before about how I’ve seen Internet projects disappear, and how not getting things done snowballs. So I won’t go over them again, instead I’ll tell you about some of the things I did that are holding up the content but were still great to do. I’ll post another update by the first week of September.

The first really exciting thing that I did was go out to California and administrate a wedding for a family member. Unfortunately for me right now the photos haven’t come in, and all of the others that have me in them aren’t great (but I wasn’t who people were there to see) so I don’t have a photo from the ceremony right now. So instead here is one of me in Texas in the same outfit that looks like the Lord is shining down upon me.

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I’m also still moving, and here are ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos of what a literal ton of books (as in actually 2000 pounds) looks like boxed up and on the shelf.

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Most recently I went to both of my local 4th of July festivities, in Alpine Texas. The first one, Fiesta del Barrio, I attended as a vendor selling some of my books. But I’m bad at taking pictures so I only got one of the parade, and one of a horned lizard. I also missed the second parade and only got one picture of it as well.

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And here is a panorama someone took of me from the Reds show I was featured in in early April.

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Anyway, hopefully those photos and my posts from yesterday sufficiently prove that I am alive and dedicated to these blogs. Thank you for your patience.

-Austin

Dragoncompany.org    Dragonfunnies.com   Artsupplycritic.com

Blog 3-21-16 – Announcement and Update

Announcement Part:

Hello everyone. Austin Smith, writer of this Blog and other Internet things here, going to talk about something that I’ve been waiting to talk about since last September (sort of). I’m going to be part of a (art/gallery) show with several artists from my local area.

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It’ll be my first show in an actual gallery with me on the flyer and stuff. I’m including links to the other artists (Tommy, Chris), and I know they will be doing some great stuff for the show that I won’t spoil here. But I can say that I’m very happy with what I’m going to have there: including a few new books that will soon also be available on my Amazon page, stickers, bookmarks, postcards, actual work that goes on the wall, and maybe some other really cool stuff.

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If you can make it, I hope to see you there, but I know that it’s pretty far out of the way for most people, so I will be posting as much about it as I can, and trying to figure out how to get some of the cool things I made out to a wider audience.

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Blog Part:

Wow, when I made that post about being late last week I had no intention of it taking a week or more to get back up to speed, but that looks like what has happened. For this I apologize. But migraines carry with them lasting negative effects, and I’ve really only had one good, functioning day this week, and quite a bit of my work time was consumed by preparations for the show that had to be created and ordered in time to make it. Still, I wish I had been able to get more done faster, and I thank you for being patient if you were waiting for new stuff. I will catch up on everything I missed, but it might take a few days to get back to normal.

-A

Review – Field Notes Bic Pen

Field Notes is a company that makes great notebooks, and they’ve always added a bit of a more personal touch to things. One of the ways they did that was by having branded pens and rubber bands readily available (I believe at some point in their orders, single pens and rubber bands were thrown in for free, but they can be purchased in larger packs easily.) The pens aren’t very expensive and fit very well with the brand’s style just on looks, but do they perform as well as the paper?

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The pen is actually just a branded Bic Clic pen, which isn’t a bad thing really. The entire design is a pleasant taper from the middle, where a ring separates the two halves of the pen. On the top there is a chrome-ish simple clip with Bic’s information on it, and a similarly-colored thin clicking mechanism (which give a very satisfying “click” when used). On the front of the pen, the ballpoint protrudes when the mechanism is depressed and the Field Notes information is printed on the barrel. The only colors of the pen are black, silver, and white, making the whole thing quite understated but also very nice.

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The writing is standard Bic writing. It is smooth enough, black enough, and steady enough to be serviceable in the vast majority of scenarios. It is a medium point, which is usually too broad for me, but definitely is unspectacular and fits with what most people are comfortable with. The ink is, of course, essentially waterproof once dry, with minimal skipping or blotting. I’m not particularly impressed by the writing, but I’m certainly not disappointed.

I’m sure the Field Notes Company did a bunch of research to find both a good enough and inexpensive enough pen for their brand that they wouldn’t have to try to make in-house. And I think they succeeded. The pens are dependable enough, sturdy enough, and simple enough to be almost entirely unremarkable (in both a good and a bad way). They fit the utilitarian image of the company, and are worth having at least as a backup pen.

Blog 11-19-15 – It’s Artwalk Time

Hello! This Blog is a bit late, all things considered, since it’s about something that will happen tomorrow. I will be participating in the Alpine, Texas, Artwalk festival this weekend. I’ll have, like the previous years, a stand displaying my work, mostly webcomic collections. But this year I’m going to be adding a novel to the lineup. I’ll be debuting two new books the event, which takes place over the 20th and 21st of Novemeber. But if you can’t make it, the books will also be available to purchase through Amazon, via either the tab in the (dragoncompany.org) site menu (labelled “store”) or this link.

Whether or not you’re planning or able to go to the event, I hope everyone has a great weekend and a restful Thanksgiving.

– Austin

I Enjoyed BBCC

This Labor Day weekend I attended the Big Bend Comic Con and had a blast. After getting things done for a month in advance, moving, and getting my books created and ordered it was great to be able to go to such an interesting and fun event. Meeting new people and seeing some old friends was a blast. I really enjoyed the event and I thank everyone who was both interested in and purchased my books.

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Me and my setup

I don’t know anything about the future of the event, but I would definitely like to attend the next convention. I’m also looking into events around the area in the near future.

I hope you had a good and restful Labor Day weekend. I know I did, and I’m ready to get back to working.