Hello people,

I realize I’ve been away for a while–I have been preoccupied with a lot of changes life-wise (full time work schedule, cooking most of our food from scratch, working out to prove I can do it, even though I’m lazy and shiftless, and to a very small extent, household chores–which means, barely keeping up with laundry and dishes enough to not have roaches.) However, I intend to begin work on re-organizing this site a bit. I want the front page not to be this blog update, but rather a page with samples of my art. I’m not abandoning these posts, I just don’t feel they need to be the page people see when they come to Cerulean Dreams.

I also intend to have some focus be on art I’m creating for art’s sake, in addition to the comic art I work on (which unfortunately has needed to be set a side for a while.) I have been working on Dark Horse, I just had some upset regarding losing a lot of work I did on the computer, which dispirited my efforts. And, instead of buckling down and working harder to make up for the losses, I drank and played The Legend of Dragoons and other video games. You know….like an adult.

But, I haven’t given up. I just had to take a break. And I’ve been working on a lot of stuff. For one thing, I’m going to finish off the last 2-3 pages of Dark Horse Act 4, and then I’m going to start inking and making progress in Act 5. Today, I am going to share some of my sketches for Act 5. But you have to earn it by slugging though all this crappy text. Or you can just skip all this and get to the goodies.

Finally, as there’s going to be more paintings and things like that, I am also adding an additional page regarding things I cook. But…wha? What has that to do with art? Well, if you go over to that page, I explain a little more about it, but much of my art, as with many people who create art, is informed by my personal beliefs, life experiences, thoughts, observations, and lifestyle. As such, much of what I consider to be part of my identity is in these pieces (the ones that are not commissions.) My life choices revolve a lot over what I chose to consume, and the reasons behind this. So, in many ways, my diet and lifestyle really provide an impetus behind a lot of the art I produce for myself that doesn’t really see the light of day–but will soon.

I don’t intend to use this blog to argue any points or try to convince others to belief the same things I do–my art speaks for itself, and if it helps get people thinking about the issues I hold important, or influences people to find out what it’s about and form their own views, that’s groovie. I will post things, and I will let people look at it and find meaning in it. If I am asked questions, or if people place meaning I do not intend as fact in the comments, I’ll expound upon the pieces and my thoughts. But…regarding the food blog portion…that shouldn’t really be an issue unless people be trollin’, so just go look at yummy food and appreciate it for what it is. Right now I have a painting hanging around there…so feel free to stop by.

Okay, so the real last thing I want to say, is I’ve been working super hard on improving Dark Horse. Not just regarding the characters (although damn, Mark Crilley is amazing and every aspiring manga artist needs to go over to his youtube,) but also the backgrounds, the framing, and the story-telling (or “showing”) in general. And while I am working on Act 5, I am also still plugging away at upgrading (or revamping) Dark Horse Act 1. My hopes is to get it finished, clean up the rest of the acts, then put together a couple acts and print a few hard copies. I would like to start participating in conventions in my area, and I need to have something to sell! I guess I’m not getting any younger, and I need to work better on actually achieving some of my life goals.

So this was a loooong update, but it was also a long time coming as I haven’t posted anything in a while. I have finally gotten a weekend to myself (not blaming my partner at all–I distract myself plenty) so I’m finally taking some time to work on this!

As always, to anyone reading, my sincerest thanks and keep on truckin’!!!

Blue Dragon
aka
Ashleen

And now for something…completely the same: