Hello, patrons, and happy Friday!
I was scheduled to have this month’s Friday Update out today, but am going to need to share the update next Wednesday (the 30th) instead! I’ve just returned from setting up my table at Jet City Comic Show in Tacoma, Washington, an hours drive away. (The photo above is of my set up at this con!)
I’ll have SO much to share next Wednesday about this crazy busy good good month: Like ordering tons of new products, ...
2019-10-26 03:43:08 +0000 UTC
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Hello again, my darling Patrons and Friends, and welcome to another episode of the Arty Business series! This article will be all about packaging for small Arty Businesses! How to package all your delightful Arty Goods in a safe, affordable, and memorable way, before you ship them off to their new homes.
Packaging feels like it should be fairly obvious. We've all mailed a letter or shipped something in those USPS flat-fee boxes. But mailing your art...
2019-10-12 01:35:28 +0000 UTC
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Hello hello hello, my darling patrons and friends! It's Ragon, your newly healthy illustrator pal! I'm so excited to share with you another update. The sun is shining after a rainy night, there's a fresh chill in the air, and my favorite season is fully here. My shelves are stocked with pumpkin beer, pumpkin-spiced ginger ale, Halloween Joe-Joe's, butternut and acorn squash. I am FEELIN' it.
As usual, I want to kick off this update by welcoming our new...
2019-09-27 23:12:54 +0000 UTC
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Hello my darling patrons and friends, and welcome to another episode of the Arty Business series!
As the days start to get colder and the leaves change from green to yellow, red, and orange, I start to see one thing in my future. That's right, I'm talking about holiday portrait commissions.
Since I've started my business, one of my most reliable sources of income has been portrait commissio...
2019-09-21 04:44:21 +0000 UTC
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Hello Patrons, and a very happy Friday to you! I hope you're doing well, getting excited for the weekend, getting excited for AUTUMN! It's still pretty warm and sunny in Seattle, so I'm trying to maintain some of that outdoor warm spirit, because I know the endless clouds and rain will be upon us soon. But... I do have my pumpkin spice candles sitting out, ready for that first Autumnal day.
I'm writing to you on Wednesday, because I'm leaving at 5 AM tomorrow morning...
2019-09-06 20:00:00 +0000 UTC
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Hello my buddies and patrons, happy Friday! It’s me, Ragon, writing to you from THE PAST! That’s right, my thoughts are traveling to you from the distant past of... Thursday. Because from Friday through Sunday I’ll be playing video games, watching talks, and definitely not catching a cold at PAX West. Nosiree, I’ve got a wedding next weekend and a convention the next and I definitely will not catch a cold for any of those events. I will NOT.
2019-08-31 00:00:00 +0000 UTC
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Greetings and salutations, my beloved Patrons! Guess what, it's FRIDAY! Another week passed on Earth experienced through the lens of our human bodies, that's what we call time. And, I'm wearing my sparkly star leggings and listening to a Bossa Nova playlist, which we all know means it's Friday Thoughts time!
I also just ate three cookies, so is this the sugar talking? Very possibly.
Anyway, some announcements!
We have three NE...
2019-08-23 20:09:31 +0000 UTC
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Hello hello, my sweet friends and Patrons and art lovers! Another very happy Friday to you! I hope this post finds you relaxed and hydrated. If not, brew yourself a big cup of your beverage of choice, and plop down in your favorite seat. Sit back and let me share with you the tale of the last two weeks as a freelance illustrator.
To begin, we've had quite an influx of new patrons this past few weeks! Join me in welcoming our eight new patrons: Ann
2019-08-17 01:07:01 +0000 UTC
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Hello my Patron buddies, and a very happy Friday to you!
I have had a bit of a weird, up-and-down week, so I think it’s the perfect Friday to share a new process video! This is a digital commission I finished this week for a customer who wanted a witchy portrait of herself and her cat, in the vein of Kiki’s Delivery Service. I really enjoyed working on this one and I hope you enjoy seeing the process of creating it! Let me know in the comments if you have any spe...
2019-08-09 20:15:54 +0000 UTC
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Hellooo patrons and friends, artists and creators! Welcome to another episode of Arty Business with Ragonia! This episode we will be going over the eternal question of how to find your artistic STYLE!
I am especially excited to talk about this right now because:
1. It is an extremely frequently asked question, for good reason!
2. Last year was my first huge push in developing a style I could see myself in and feel proud of, an...
2019-08-03 02:16:09 +0000 UTC
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Hi hello and salutations, my delightful patrons, another very happy Friday to you!
It's sunny and 80 here in Seattle, Washington, on the warmer side for this city, and oh boy does it have me feeling like summer. This autumn lovin' lady is dreaming of sitting in a hammock on a beach drinking a rummy beverage. Are any of you doing that, or have plans of doing that? Let me dreeeeam through youuu.
You can probably tell I've been a touch overwhelmed the past month o...
2019-07-26 23:48:43 +0000 UTC
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Greetings and salutations, Patrons and friends! It's Ragon again, typing atcha from Seattle, Washington on this sunny and (dare I say it) slightly humid Friday! The sun is shining outside, Pumpkin is napping on the coffee table like a weirdo, and a peppy Classic Oldies playlist is boppin' out of my iPad.
Before we get started I wanted to say welcome again to our 5 new patrons in the last two weeks. Jocelyn, Mariana, Christina, Claudia, and Mallory, welcom...
2019-07-19 22:29:30 +0000 UTC
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Hello lovely Patrons and friends, a very happy Sunday evening to you!
First I have to say welcome to Jocelyn, Mariana, Christina, Claudia, and Mallory: our FIVE NEW PATRONS THIS MONTH, waaaaah?? Welcome welcome welcome! I’m guessing that the Arty Business article is what brought you over, in which case I’m so happy that it’s something people are connecting with. I’m continually striving to improve all of the content I share here on Patreon, because...
2019-07-15 01:49:27 +0000 UTC
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Hidey Ho, patrons and friends! Welcome to another episode of Arty Business with Ragonia! Today, I'm excited to tell you all about markets!
Tabling, vending, selling your wares in person, however you want to call the process of putting yourself and the things that you made physically in front of people who want to buy it. If you've never sold in person before then I totally understand that doing it for the first time c...
2019-07-09 01:59:53 +0000 UTC
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Hello Patrons, friends, buddies, pals, a very happy FRIDAY to you all! It's on the cool side of warm and party cloudy in Seattle as I write this, fresh air is flowing into the open window, and I've got one of those cheesy 10 hour jazz youtube videos playing.
Let's get started with a welcome to our newest patron, JENNIFER! Jennifer is a local Washington watercolor artist who I met at U...
2019-06-29 02:06:34 +0000 UTC
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Hello hello patrons and friends! It’s Ragon, popping in to wish you a Happy Tuesday and to give you a quick update in the midst of this month’s craziness! Before I talk about what's been goin' on in Ragonia this week, I have two things to mention.
NEW PATRONS: To start I wanted to give a big welcome to our THREE new patrons this week; hello and welcome to Erika, Natalie, and Kayla! I’m so happy...
2019-06-18 18:52:08 +0000 UTC
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Hello Patrons and friends, happy Sunday! How's it going? Have you had a nice weekend? We're back with the first Sunday Thoughts in quite a while, are you excited?
First of all, I wanted to give a big welcome to my newest patron, LAUREN COOK! Hello, welcome, and thank you so much for your support! I'm so happy you're here, and I'm sure the other patrons are as well! Feel free to say hello in the comments, or let us know if we can help you out with anything. And ...
2019-06-10 02:35:54 +0000 UTC
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Hello folks, and welcome to another episode of the Arty Business series!
Today I'm excited to talk to you about starting and running an Etsy shop, but you can generally use these tips for any online shop platform. Whether you've been dreaming of starting an online shop or have been running an Etsy for 10 years, I hope you'll find something new, interesting, or inspiring in this little guide. Or maybe you can teach me something! Either way, enjoy.
Fo...
2019-06-03 23:02:25 +0000 UTC
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This spring we were offered the generous gift of one of the Turcich family cars, a rad 2011 Toyota Rav 4! The only catch being the car was in Pennsylvania, and we live 3,000 miles away in Washington.
The perfect opportunity arose when I made plans to fly to the East Coast for my youngest sister's college graduation. We would load up the car in Pennsylvania, drive down to Virginia for the graduation, then drive back to Seattle.
Of course we would sav...
2019-05-30 00:50:57 +0000 UTC
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Hello and happy weekend, my patrons and friends! As of Wednesday I am back in Seattle after my long cross-country road trip, and it has been CRAZY! We picked up so much stuff from our parents' houses while we were there and had to put it all away lest we be surrounded by boxes. All of that plus tons of emails, opening up my shop, getting our car registered in Washington and fixing a cracked windshield :( has left me a little overwhelmed.
But! My patrons are always on...
2019-05-26 18:25:54 +0000 UTC
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Patrons and friends! I’m writing to you from my campsite in the teeny tiny town of Paxica, Kansas to say hello!
I had hoped to be able to write a Friday Thoughts article last Friday, but this trip has been a true whirlwind. Pennsylvania for two days, Virginia for two days including my sister’s graduation and mother’s day. Then driving for nine hours from Virginia to Kentucky, visiting for a day with my partner’s extended family in Louisville, and now driving ...
2019-05-16 01:16:01 +0000 UTC
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Last spring I left my full-time Assistant Kitchen Manager job to start an art business, with a modest cushion of savings, maybe 10 sales on Etsy, and around 250 followers on Instagram. I started advertising this change on Instagram, uploaded some new items to my store, and got a nice little bump in sales that quickly dropped off. I was so happy to have that early support, but quickly realized that I needed to broaden my audience if I was going to ge...
2019-05-04 01:20:19 +0000 UTC
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Hello Patrons and friends, happy Thursday!
Exciting news, tomorrow I am releasing the very first Arty Business to my Patrons! If all goes well I should have a fun, helpful article that goes more in depth in to some of my most frequently asked business questions, hopefully with an illustration or two. And I have decided that the first topic is going to be on... SOCIAL MEDIA! Well, more specifically, growing your social media audience. There's a milli...
2019-05-02 22:21:10 +0000 UTC
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Hello friends! It's Ragon, comin atcha from the living room studio of Ragonia Art in Seattle, Washington! A very happy Friday to you all, I hope you're doing well. Grab a cup of coffee, get comfy, and enjoy this celebratory thank you video because...
Today we're welcoming our five newest Patrons: Émilie, Emily, Davis, Kelsey, and Kayli all joined the Ragonia patron this week! Welcom...
2019-04-27 01:26:56 +0000 UTC
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Hello Patreon family, and a very happy Easter to you!
As always, I hope you're having a relaxing and joyful or productive and fulfilling weekend. I'm here to share a little bit about this week's Ragonia Art activities!
This week I was so happy to open up my traditional commissions in time for Mother's Day! Last year my mother's day commissions were my first coupl...
2019-04-21 21:55:51 +0000 UTC
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Hey friends and patrons, happy... Wednesday?? What!?
That's right! I'm poppin' in mid-week to share with you the complete process video from my recent exciting Game Day Poster project for the Seattle Storm women's basketball team!
I'm having so much fun getting more of these poster-style projects, because this kind of design is honestly fairly difficult for me. But as with everything, with each experiment I learn more and more.
Some things I experim...
2019-04-18 02:29:41 +0000 UTC
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Hellooooo buddies! Hello hello hello! Happy Sunday! I'm here for another weekly update of the goings on in the life of this little blossoming independent art business!
It is chilly and grey here in Seattle today, I am drinking peppermint tea and bundled up in layers on layers. But it's April, which means the bright pink cherry blossoms that line my street are in full bloom, and there are flowers of every color all over the city. And as Zach pointed out, the grey skie...
2019-04-15 00:27:16 +0000 UTC
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Hello hello hello friends and patrons! (It's the same thing!) Another happy Friday to you! It doesn't seem like it's been that long since we last talked, does it? In fact it's been exactly a week!
First off this week we are joined by two new patrons, Alona and Lotus! I'm so happy that you two are here! I am super flexible when it comes to this Patreon, I am open to suggestions, feedback, and requests. And that brings us two closer to...
2019-04-05 22:41:35 +0000 UTC
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Hey everybody, hello! Happy Friday to you! How's it going, what's up?
It's a cloudy day in Seattle, kinda cool and kinda warming up. We're moving in to normal spring weather after the unusually warm days last week. And therefore I can't wear the super spring-y clothes I feel like wearing BECAUSE it's so cold in our little cave apartment during the day! But that's spring, isn't it?
So, you guys! You know how I've been saying the last two months that I so badly w...
2019-03-29 19:18:19 +0000 UTC
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Hello hello hello buddies, friends and pals! How's it going? What's up? Did you have a nice week? I'm so happy to see you again!
I hope it was a nice first week of spring for you! It was an interesting week for me, returning from the busy weekend of Emerald City Comic Con. I felt very inspired and excited to return to work this week, partially because I knew I was finishing up the majority of my projects and had some free space to work on new personal art. Which is i...
2019-03-24 22:52:28 +0000 UTC
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