Hello January! Hello 2024?!
Last month…
I finished a new illustration! “The October House”
It was totally not seasonally appropriate, but I first had the idea in October before we moved and only recently found the time to work on it. So, it would have been cool to get it done in the fall, but I’m honestly just glad it’s done at all!
I’d recently been working on developing my cartooning style with ink and markers. For this piece, I spent a lot of time developing a workflow in Procreate for creating the kind of cartoon drawings I have in mind for myself. Figuring out the best brushes to use, the best coloring techniques for me. I went back to a method of coloring like the one Loish taught on her Patreon. It’s a really fun and intuitive approach to color that I’d really only experimented with in the past. And I ultimately decided on really simple “kawaii” brushes in Procreate — I think it best matches how I draw when I’m using traditional paper and ink.
Hopefully now I’ll remember what I specifically used and did, and be able to keep working this way on my next digital illustrations!
In my sketchbook, I did a little bit of the 24toxmas2023 art challenge by Ilariapops on Instagram.
I tried to use the time to practice drawing characters. It was fun, but time-consuming! I think I do better on art challenges when I just draw and don’t worry about adding color. (That might have been part of the problem with Peachtober earlier too, now that I think about it…) But I did enjoy the challenge. I really liked working in Poscas again on the last two drawings (the cat and the wreath). I’m always worried my drawings with Poscas are “too simple” but like, it’s really cute, so who cares?
I didn’t make any comics in December because I was so thrown off my schedule. And then the holidays happened. In the past I would have scrambled to try to make one anyway, but I just wanted to enjoy the time with friends and family this year, and I’ll just jump back in with the new year!
This month…
Seeing that it’s January, this month I’m excited to get back to work and start tackling my new goals for the new year!
I think I did a good job last year with my primary goal: focusing on cartoon and anime-style art! I didn’t start like, screen-printing, stamp-making or oil painting! I just kept drawing, which I love! And I didn’t start drawing like, detailed color pencil portraits or intricate botanical illustrations. I kept drawing cartoons, which I love! And working digitally in Procreate, as well as in ink, alcohol markers, and some paint markers too! Yay!
I was supposed to make one illustration a month. That didn’t happen… And my comics stopped when the moving process started… And while I made a few t-shirts, which is awesome, I didn’t create nearly as many as I would have liked…
So, focused? YES. But not as productive as I would have liked… Although in my defense, puppies are insane. And moving is so much work. So…
Anyway. I think for 2024 my goal is to just keep at it! Now that I am fully content focusing on the kind of art I want to make, now I can just work on productivity. I think the goals will stay largely the same: one illustration a month, new t-shirts every now and then, sticking with my comic strip’s schedule, and a consistent daily routine in my sketchbook too!
I’m just really really really REALLY hoping that this year will be a bit more …steady… than last year. So, these goals should be reasonable! Goodness, I hope…
Thanks for reading! And Happy 2024!
P.S. – You can support my work (and get cool stuff!) by shopping prints, shirts and more at INPRNT and TeePublic!
Bee Sauls Art 