It’s DECEMBER?!?!
First let me say, I didn’t mean to skip last month’s newsletter…
I had mentioned in October, I think, that things were pretty busy and chaotic… well, when I realized what day it was, and that I hadn’t yet written an update, it was too late. Because November 1st was MOVING DAY!
I didn’t want to talk about it before it was all settled, but we moved across the country! Again!
We loved the last two and a half years in the SouthEast. And I will miss the food so much. But the MidWest is still home, and I’m so excited to be back!
Packing while taking care of a hyper puppy, and still making time for art, was stressful! For being a “return trip” the logistics were different enough that this move felt a lot more challenging. And just a few days after getting into our new place, before we even had our furniture, we went and got a new BFF for our puppy Spaghetti. A sweet corgi puppy named Soba!
Having one high-energy puppy has been a lot this year, as I’ve mentioned before. But having TWO high-energy puppies has somehow been better??? It’s still a lot of work, and watching them takes up most of my day, but it’s been so cool how much they play together! I’m also starting to get a solid routine and a bit more free time to work. It helps too that as they are getting older, they are a little more okay with just sitting on the couch for like… a minute? It’s nice.
So that’s all the big exciting news! A cross-country move! (Again!) A new puppy! (Again!)
ART
In terms of art, alas, it hasn’t been as much of a priority for the last two months. But I did manage to make some art.
As usual, I’m focusing on ink and alcohol markers, and paint markers. And still cartooning!
I’m still trying to figure out what my style looks like, or should look like, or what I even want it to look like? It’s probably a never ending process, but I feel like lately I’ve made good progress…
In October, I started the Peachtober drawing challenge. I only kept up with it for a few days. I struggled with the prompts as much as time management, and gave up after a really weird drawing for the prompt “grub.”
I also had to pack up most of my art supplies and art books, pretty early on in the process. I’m usually lugging around a stack of books to study from. So clearly the only remedy was to buy more art books while we waited for our boxes to arrive! ha! (…never mind the ones I brought with me…)
I picked up two books on kawaii art. I know, I know… I tried kawaii art last year and struggled with making it work for me. But I am really enjoying Kawaii Drawing by Beck Castaneda (I did her Domestika course too). Her work is just so cute and cartoony! And the practice has been way more fun this time!
I admittedly only kinda follow the instructions. I’m mostly working on sort of translating the cute and simple cartoon drawings into something that makes sense stylistically for me. So I’m not copying the drawings step-by-step, but reading about the process, and asking myself: how do I want to approach this same composition in a way that works for me? Sometimes I use her techniques, but a lot of times I don’t. And that’s okay! And I’ve been super pleased with the results! It will just take a lot more practice to feel confident in using this newly refined cartooning approach on my own!
Since I’m using pen and alcohol markers, media I’m already familiar with, I can instead focus on construction and design!
For paint markers, on the other hand, I just need quality practice using them. So to do that, without the stress of coming up with designs and compositions, I picked up some art kits from Mossery (not an ad!). They have a couple different ones that feature Posca markers and tutorials from different artists. They’ve been a lot of fun too! They’re basically fancy paint-by-number workbooks, but definitely fun! Angela Pan’s kits are far from my comfort zone — her work is so painterly (and insanely good!). James Chapman’s style is a bit more like my own, but his simple and striking color palettes are so interesting!
I started working through the guides in November. The hope is that if I finish all the tutorials, I’ll have a much better understanding of how to use the markers (better craftsmanship, I guess). So then I can start making better (original) Posca art myself!
I haven’t done any comic strips since before the moving process started. I did a single panel comic for Halloween, but that’s it!
I have one idea I’m hoping to get done for this Sunday though, so that’s exciting! I know I needed the break, but I’m ready to get back at it again!
(I also want to try another month long art challenge again, since Peachtober was a bust. Ilariapops on Instagram is hosting a Advent calender art challenge with a bunch of wintery holiday prompts! Fingers crossed I can start it today!)
Lastly, I don’t really talk about the behind the scenes of the business-y side of my shop. (I’m terrible at social media, which is a lot of it. Unfortunately.) If you do follow me on social media, then maybe you saw the updates about my Society6 shop. If you didn’t — they are changing their policies and charging artists membership fees to have more than 10 designs available. It was sad news for me, since Society6 was the first platform I used to sell my art. I’m going to keep my newer cartoons on their site, but I can’t justify their fees when I already make so little per sale. It feels like the end of an era, removing all my older work from my shop.
On the other hand…
I’ve been shifting to INPRNT and TeePublic this year, anyway! I really like their services as an artist, but I also love their products as a fan of other artists on their sites (which is how I learned about them, after all). So YAY!
…As an aside, I’m wondering if I should do some in-person stuff this next year? I was quietly researching conventions near me in the SouthEast. But being back in the Midwest, I’m excited to see what opportunities might be available here again! (Basically it would be nice to not have to rely almost exclusively on social media to share my work!)
…I also still have a big secret project I’m working on too. Slowly but surely! I’m hoping to make big progress on it this next year as well. And maybe even start talking about it?!
Anyways! As you can see, there has been SO MUCH going on lately. It’s A LOT! But it’s all been mostly good and exciting stuff! And I’m excited to see what the end of 2023 has in store!
Thanks for reading! And happy holidays!
P.S. Be sure to check out INPRNT and TeePublic for great holiday sales and gift ideas! My art is available on prints, shirts, and more!
Bee Sauls Art 