Happy Chinese New Year!

It’s appropriate that today, I’ve spent most of my afternoon working on a book about dragons. Hint: it’s from one of IMPACT Books’ best-selling, most-loved authors and the art, as usual, is gorgeous!

The Daily Mail has a great gallery of images of the celebrations happening in the East, and the colors and celebrations are absolutely captivating! I think it’s a sign that this is going to be a prosperous, great new year!

So why not celebrate by picking up a copy of one of these three favorite IMPACT Books?

• Dragonworld
• DragonArt Evolution
• Dracopedia

Here at IMPACT headquarters nothing says “Happy Holidays” like a copy of Dracopedia. That’s why we’ve put together a list of our favorite dragon books, DVDs and downloads. Make all the dragon-lovers on your gift list happy with these top picks:

1. DragonArt

2. DragonArt Fantasy Characters

3. DragonArt Evolution

4. Dracopedia

5. DragonWorld

6. Fantasy Artist’s Pocket Reference: Dragons & Fantasy Beasts

7. Sketch Dragons

8. Drawing Dragons (DVD, also available for download)

9. Digital Dragons (DVD, also available for download)

10. Dreamscapes Myth and Magic Section: The Dragon (digital download)

GenCon 2011 is finally here! We’ll be updating Facebook and tweeting from GenCon for the next few days. Follow us for breaking news! Several of our authors, including Emily Fiegenschuh, will be there. Have you seen The Explorer’s guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures yet? Go check it out!

If you’re planning to attend Gen Con in Indianapolis this week, you’ll be able to meet the Emily in person, and get a peek at the book as well as more of this IMPACT artist’s amazing work!

Be sure to check out Emily’s new blog, Fabled Earth, for more information about her appearance at Gen Con, book signings and other promotional events.

Other IMPACT authors who will be there include William O’Connor , Stephanie Pui-Mun Law, Chuck Lukacs, Jim Pavelec, Chris Seaman, and Rebecca Guay.

These authors have helped us create Sketch Dragons, DragonWorld, Dracopedia, Sketch Fantasy Art, Dreamscapes Myth & Magic, Fantasy Genesis, Wreaking Havoc, Ink Bloom, Hell Beasts, and soon to come Fantasy Illustration Master Class.

Check out all these books in the North Light Shop and don’t forget to keep following us while we’re at GenCon!

It’s that time of year again. As 2010 draws to a close, it’s time to reflect on the year gone by, time to start making new year’s resolutions, and time to order your 2011 IMPACT calendar. How about a cool DragonArt Evolution calendar, featuring artwork from the book by J “Neon Dragon” Peffer? Or a Dracopedia calendar filled with the amazing art of William O’Connor? Check out these and other IMPACT book calendars now available for purchase online at Zazzle.

Fan of Dracopedia? Want to learn more about how to draw dragons? Visit Dracopedia author William O’Connor’s blog and check out The Dracopedia Project: Dracopedia Sketchbook to view this IMPACT author’s latest dragon sketches and more.

Dracopedia is loaded with sketches, drawings, anatomical studies, detailed diagrams, brief natural histories and step-by-step color art demonstrations showing the process for how to draw dragons from start to finish. A cross between an encyclopedia of dragons and an artist’s reference book, readers will enjoy learning all about the process of creating dragons. Get your copy in the NLShop today!

We’ve just received an advanced copy of Sketchbook Confidential, and oh boy is it pretty!

Sketchbook Confidential is a compilation of private sketches from more than 40 master artists. That means that you will have access to some thoughts and tips from many experienced artists, some of which you may have heard of. Basically, it’s an artist’s version of Frank Warren’s PostSecret. How cool is that?

Impact author and artist William O’Connor (Dracopedia) is even featured in his own spread! (With dragons that will blow you away!)

So if you’re a fan of art, sketchbooks, dragons or just secrets of others, stay tuned for the coming availability of Sketchbook Confidential. We’ll keep you updated.

If you’re too impatient to wait, go ahead and pre-order at the North Light Shop.

Sketchbook Confidential

Megan Groves, IMPACT Books’ editorial assistant for the summer, forwarded this article to me. For the record, I think D & D is cool. But seriously guys, it sounds like someone needs a nap.

For a no less real, but slightly more reasonable look at the Dragon in D & D, check out William O’Connor’s new book, Dracopedia.

If you are interested in gaming, Gen Con is the place to be! Gen Con Indy has been going on for over 40 years and features some of the newest games on the market, sneak peaks at up-and-comings, and booth after booth of game-related FUN, and runs this year August 13-16, 2009.

The IMPACT staff will be walking the show floor on Friday, August 14, visiting some of our favorite IMPACT authors (Stephanie Pui-Mun Law, Bill O’Connor, Chris Seaman, and Jim Pavelec to name a few), and just seeing what there is to see. We hope to see some of you too!