Coloring Dragons (referred to throughout this wiki as CD) is an online artist’s community that has been running since its conception in 2005. Hosting all kinds of media, ranging from Galleries to Video Projects, as well as large community based forums and Reviews Database. Since its launch it has gained a steady following from its members, and spawned multiple original Webcomics that it hosts in-house.

COMMUNITY

The focus of CD is very much upon the community of artists who participate, with regular debates and group projects being devised as well as frequent chat between the members.

To date there have been three ‘collaboration comics’ where an artist has each drawn a page of a comedy comic and passed it on to the next artist in line who can do what they want with the story next. These serve not only as amusing reads, but help to advertise the talent of the artists who take part.

Forums and chatrooms also help to bring the CD ‘Family’ (as it has been referred to) closer together. Debates ranging from critiquing pieces of art and news all of the way to commenting on popular culture. A links section, open for anyone to add their own sites, has a special spot for CD members and those who participate actively on the site are often granted additional advertising.

ARTICLES AND INTERVIEWS

The front page of CD is home to the weekly articles, and interviews with prominent web figures. Whilst anybody can submit news and articles for approval and publication, regular Monday and Tuesday slots are filled by the Webcomic Spotlight and Enker’s Musings. These are also stored in a back-catalogue for later reading on the site after they have been removed from the front page.

Enker’s Musings are regular articles written by Ben Warren covering such topics as retro gaming and popular culture. Normally 600 to 1000 words in length they always voice an equal argument on any subject and then encourage the reader to voice his or her own opinions in the CD forums. The exceptions to this rule are articles charting the history of certain pop culture movements or recounting historical facts. A new article in this series is posted every Monday.

The Webcomic Spotlight is posted every Tuesday and is essentially a series of interviews ‘on the CD couch’ with various webcomic authors and popular artists. At this time interviews have been posted with the likes of Ctrl Alt Del, Dreamland Chronicles, Misfile and MNT Gaiden, among others. These interviews normally run for an extensive period and contain some set questions, but also tailor to the individual subject matter on a case-by-case analysis. Images and sample pages from the comics, as well as links to the webcomics themselves are also included.

Currently the A-Z of classic video games is running as well, featuring one game for each letter of the alphabet that characterises a moment in gaming history. This takes to form of an in-depth look into the game, its story and the process of its creation as well as giving several runners up per letter. Currently filling the tuesday slot whilst a new series of interviews is compiled.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday spots are currently available and being advertised as regular slots for writers to have their own weekly column. The eventual aim appears to be to host at least one daily article from a new writer.

WEBCOMICS

At this time Coloring Dragons hosts eight webcomics, each vastly different than the other and catering to a variety of audiences. Whilst some are drawn by the same people, most are different artists and updated regularly with new material. They are listed as follows:

COIN-OP: A comedy comic based inside an arcade called the ‘Game Pit’, following the exploits of those who work there as they go through a variety of crazy adventures. Characters include a former assassin, the store manager and his double. Written and Drawn by Dan Eller.

ADO7: A sister-comic to Coin-Op also drawn and written by Dan Eller, this time slightly more serious in tone and following the exploits of Coin-Op’s resident former assassin Kaori Tanaka. Still in its early stages, it looks like a promising expansion of the Coin-Op world setting.

ENKER'S TALE: A popular webcomic based upon Capcom’s Mega Man series. Running since 2004, it made the move to Coloring Dragons in 2007 and brought with it an established fanbase. Set around the Megaman X period, it follows the adventures of a lone Robot Master from the classic series as he tries to fit into a new era and atone for his past crimes in a world that both fears and hates him. Written and illustrated by Ben Warren.

ERNIE'S EMPIRE: Written by Kevin Cox and Matt Turner, with art contributed by numerous artists. Ernie is a man who plans complete and total world domination, the only flaw to this plan is that he is in fact a complete loser. Witness first-hand the schemes he concocts to destroy his enemies.

SPRITE CHRONICLES: A fantasy story that tells of sixteen halfling warriors, who were recruited to defend and preserve the Forest of Unicorns, which acts as a spiritual gateway that maintains the balance of the world. These halflings, when gathered together, will also be able to call upon the legendary Sprite Princess, a powerful being of white light. In the present time, these halflings were reborn as humans without any memories of their past lives, and must be gathered once again by a cute and innocent apprentice sprite named Cheval. Written and Illustrated by KamieChev

KNAVE: Webcomic and Card Game, Knave tells the tale of the world of Corel torn apart by a war over mysterious jewels that bring the bearer great power. Cartoony in appearance with a touch of adult fantasy, it’s an epic tale that everybody will love. Written by Ben Warren and Matthew Sangster, and illustrated by Ben Warren.

MATTMAN!: Mattman is the latest crime fighting vigilante to hit the streets, tough masked and ready to kick ass wherever he can. Linked into the same setting as Coin-Op, it’s a brain child of Matt Turner and Can Eller.

THE POWER OF THE CUTE: Written and illustrated by Laura Trout, the power of the cute is a series of one-off strips demonstrating why women can get men to do anything they want. Starring Kitty and Sammy, her long suffering boyfriend.

In addition to the above, Coloring Dragons also hosts regular 'community comics' drawn one page per member and displayed in their own particular section. At the present time there are three such comics in circulation, ranging from the strange to the downright weird as the stories pass through each artist's individual style of narrative and illustration.

DRAGON PRESS

Dragon Press is a section of the CD site that contains many of the artistic resources and literature. A recently opened section, it has galleries to showcase the artwork of members who actively contribute to the site, as well as sections to house original and fan fiction stories that can be read by anybody and new stories are always welcomed.

The Art Tutorials section is by far one of the biggest projects CD has undertaken, gathering together tutorial sheets from many different artists and collating them under one roof where newbies can come and learn anything they desire. Updated regularly, a backstock of over 300 tutorials will be appearing over the coming year with additional material being submitted all the time.

The Reviews Database on CD is open for anybody, be they a member or not, to contribute. Alphabetically categorised it covers films, books, TV shows, anime, games and comics amongst other things and updates to the database are showcased on the front page of the site. Growing daily, with submissions ranging from the latest movies to retro classics.

The Dragon Press section is the fastest growing part of the CD site and submissions from every corner of the world are steadily pouring in.

OTHER AREAS

The site houses a downloads section that is split into four main sub-sections. These are Extras, Music, Video and Games. Extras contains a variety of CD merchandise and wallpapers for your computer whilst Music and Video are based around showcasing the original media efforts of the members. Lastly Games contains original computer game projects made by the members and available for download for your enjoyment. This section is currently in the middle of a large overhaul to increase the quality of the content and make it easier for newcomers to use.

In addition to everything else, CD runs a commissions line, where they match up artists to job offers to achieve the best possible results for the client. These jobs are anything from comics and art to website design and maintenance.

THE FUTURE

Future plans for CD revolve around expanding the existing areas and the inclusion of an in-house store from which merchandise can be brought such as posters, clothing, badges and bound copies of the webcomics in-house. The CD label of books is also planned to extend out into literature from members and collected special edition works that contain previously unseen material.

SOURCES

Coloring Dragons http://www.coloringdragons/ Knave http://www.coloringdragons.com/knave Enkers Tale http://www.coloringdragons.com/enker ADO7 http://www.coloringdragons.com/aod7/ Coin-Op http://www.coloringdragons.com/coinopthecomic/ Ernies Empire http://www.coloringdragons.com/erniesempire/ Protectors of Unicorn Forest http://www.coloringdragons.com/hwpouf/ Mattman http://www.coloringdragons.com/mattman/ Power of the Cute http://www.coloringdragons.com/potc/ interviews with multiple members (unpublished) including Ben Warren and Kevin Cox.

LINKS

Coloring Dragons Main Page http://www.coloringdragons.com/

Knave Wiki Entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knave_(webcomic)