Hello January! Hello 2025!
This time last year I was all like, “I’m gonna work on cartoooons! And anime-style art! And make art digitally, and use alcohol markers! And paint markers! It’s gonna be awesome!!!”
And it was?! (I gave up on — uh, took a lil’ break from — anime-style art for a while, but I’m back at it now!) So yeah! It was kinda awesome.
I did think I was going to make one illustration a month (LOL), stick to my comic schedule (hahahahaha!) AND make new t-shirt designs (well, at least I made a few shirts!). So, my productivity goals were missed. By a lot.
However, some of that was because I went back to working on my graphic novel a whole bunch. It was not the original plan, but it was not time wasted! Plus, I made the Summer Myth illustrations, which I’m still just so darn proud of. And I even made some prints of fun drawings I did with paint markers. I got a lot better at sketching in a way I enjoy. And cartooning. And I’m starting to make some good progress with anime-style drawing again too!
So yeah. I think I did… okay!?
And this year?
I don’t even know. Normally, I use the new year to re-evaluate priorities, figure out what I want to work on. But I feel like I’ve already done that recently. This new years feels a lot less like a shiny, brand-new sketchbook. And more like pausing to celebrate right in the middle of a messy, chaotic, scribbly sketchbook that also doubles as a coaster for coffee cups, you know? It’s not a glamorous start. It’s just doing the work. (Which sounds actually pretty cool, in a way. Just different.)
And when I think about the art I want to make this year? The goals that I’m already working towards? That sounds pretty cool too. I have a whole year to make all kinds of art, and to get a whole lot better at what I do! Like, that’s really exciting.
And a lot of my goals are focused around the same goals as last year. It’s awesome to have found that kind of consistency as to the kind of artist I want to be! Again! I mean, my notes for this year already include “cartoon! anime-style characters! digital art! alcohol marker sketches! paint marker drawings!” I hadn’t even looked back at last year’s “resolutions” yet. I just know FOR SURE now that kind of art I want to make. YAY.
So, I thought about it a lot over the holiday, what kind of goals I wanted to set for 2025. I decided to try it a little differently this year… moving away from BIG and specific productivity goals. (It helps that I’m not secretly planning on launching a Patreon next month to waste so much time on… Oof. Last year definitely had it’s ups and downs, still.) Instead, I’m just going to focus on what I need to be working on each day, each week, to reflect where I want to be as an artist this year…and start becoming now the artist I’ll want to be this time next year.
Work on my graphic novel. Draw just about every day. And make comic strips again. In that order. (I’ll make illustration prints and t-shirts as I can. But they aren’t the main focus for right now.) I’ve got daily and weekly goals for how much I want to work on each thing. Which feels more manageable than trying to imagine a year of work in advance. I just can’t do that. But I can plan my days, and hope they add up to something great over time, right?
In 2025, I just want to get much better at my silly cartoon art, and make some really fun comic projects. Simple enough!
So let’s gooo!
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 