Hello October!
Last month…
September was a good kind of busy. Steadily working on various fun projects. I’m shifting away from my own personal deadlines. A bit more go-with-the-flow. Make a comic when I have an idea. Start an illustration when I want to. Sketch when I get a chance. Work on my graphic novel just about every day.
It’s less rules and forced-structure. Rather, small daily goals and consistency for the win. This way I’m not wasting time waiting for inspiration. I’m always working on something now. But I’m not forcing it when a particular area of my work is clearly stuck for a bit. It’s been nice.
Anyway.
I finally finished The Summer Myth #3! I love it. I was originally going for like, early morning, hazy summer heat. I ended up in the 70’s instead. But I’ll take it. I think this one is just so fun.
I’m officially pausing this project, The Summer Myths, for now. At least until next summer, right? It’s been a neat series though, and I think my illustration work has grown and changed quite a bit. But I love the direction it’s going… I mean, they’re all so different, but I love each one. And I learned something different every time, which I’ll use moving forward.
The Summer Myths of 2024!
Available now at INPRNT!
I also created two new t-shirt designs last month.
First, I turned one of my Posca sketches into a fun lil’ Halloween shirt!
The Pumpkin Bun Bun!
I also created a shirt from a little doodle inspired by my corgi dog Soba. She’s tri-color, but it’s available in tan as well.
The Running Corgi!
All three designs are available now at TeePublic, as shirts, stickers, and the corgis are even on coffee mugs!
Check it out HERE.
Puppy tax! My silly Soba girl! (Not for sale. 😝)
And last up, I made a new comic! I got really into reading mysteries while waiting for the new season of Only Murders in the Building. So this happened.
This month…
I guess I should start first with what I’m NOT working on in October…
Inktober.
Alas, it’s just not going to work for me this month. I am just certain I would not be able to keep up with it this year. However, I do have a plan, since I always look forward to trying Inktober… I’m moving it to November!
I’m calling it “Inked-Over” (because Inktober will be Over. And it’s November. Get it? You get it.)
I don’t think I’ll use the official Inktober prompts. I never do. So I might as well also work on it when it works best for me. And that’s just not October. I’m a little sad to miss out this year. But not that sad. (Anyone else struggling with social media lately?? Just me?)
Anyway.
My primary goal for October is to keep working on my graphic novel. In case you missed it on social media, I realized I had way too many panels per page originally. So I’m now on a third draft — where I’m doing a lot more editing and layout changes. But the book is definitely going to be a lot longer now, which isn’t a bad thing! (It was already 100+ pages, so it is a BIG PROJECT).
I also want to start a couple new illustrations. Although it admittedly hasn’t been as a big of a priority as my book. I enjoy illustration. But I originally set out to be a comic book artist — that is, when I moved away from like being an art brand/painter/still-life artist/abstract artist/whatever it was I was doing for years before…
So I definitely still want to do my cartoon illustrations (like The Summer Myths!). But just not at the expense of my big goal, you know? But still… I have another silly animal themed illustration I want to start. And I really want to try some cyberscapes (a term I just learned recently!). I obviously love science fiction, and landscapes. So if I could start blending those in my illustration work more that would be awesome. Something to work towards! A cartoon-style cyberscape?!
Hopefully I can come up with a few comic ideas too. But they tend to show up when I’m just not thinking about it. So, who knows?
I also have a lot of cartooning practice I want to do in my sketchbook. Both to get ready for my graphic novel, and improve/refine my illustration work. It’s definitely not an every day task right now. But currently I’m studying quite a bit from Gravity Falls, which is always especially fun to watch this time of year. I’ll probably share some sketches later this month, so keep an eye out for that on Instagram and/or Facebook.
Thanks for reading!
P.S. – Don’t forget! You can support my work (and get cool stuff!) by shopping prints, shirts and more at INPRNT and TeePublic!
Bee Sauls Art 