Hello February!
But first, let’s talk about January!
I made a new comic! Yay! Finally!
Prints of all my comics are for sale at INRPNT!
It has been MONTHS since I’ve worked on my comics. It was a really nice break, admittedly. But now it was actually a lot of fun to work on it again and draw familiar characters!
I worked on my graphic novel pretty consistently throughout January. I wonder sometimes if I should have started with a smaller project. Like a single-issue short story kind of thing. But nope! It’s a full-length graphic novel. It’s a bit intimidating… but I’m still really excited about it! Just have to keep at it!
The panel layout for page 90?!
I’m getting much better about working in my sketchbook so far. One of my other big priorities for this year is to improve my drawing. So much days I’m working a lot in my sketchbook. It’s one part: figuring out how to draw stuff better, and one part: practicing those techniques over and over until they feel more natural and can be repeated more easily.
I’m giving myself permission to make a mess. I don’t plan on sharing these sketches since they are so rough and scribbly and full of notes to myself with what I’m learning as I go. But they are the foundation to something better and it feels important!
For January, I worked on drawing anime-style characters again. I was determined to figure it out! There are so many different ways to draw anime. I tried a whole bunch and studied the styles I like most. I worked on figuring out a way to draw figures (heh). With all that practice I think I’ve learned a way that I like! (Because for real, using those rigid cylinder pose models and stuff that I’d done in the past was so tedious and my drawings felt so stiff and it was just very much not for me! This new way is FUN to draw and CUTE!! and I hope you guys like it when I start using it in my work!)
Two pages of a tidy sketchbook with drawings I did before I went all in on anime-style practice. Here I was playing around with doing both anime and cartoon styles (because ultimately I want to be good at BOTH).
Lastly, I’m slowly but surely working on an illustration (like, since last November or something??). It’s just been something to do when I don’t want to write at my desk, or need a break from studying figure drawing. I’m finally on the inking step (drafting this piece took forever!). It shouldn’t take tooo much longer. But it also just hasn’t been the priority and that’s okay!
Hehe
Now for February!
I want to do another comic for sure! I still have ideas waiting, so it’s just a matter of making time to work on it throughout the month!
I’m definitely going to keep working on my graphic novel. Editing and laying out all the panels. This part is taking so long, but I don’t want to rush it! The story is just so important for the whole thing to work! (But also, this part has been a lot of fun?! I actually really like writing. I think one day I’d like to write a book that isn’t a graphic novel… but one thing at a time!)
For drawing, I feel more confident drawing the base figure of a character now. So next I want to practice developing more finished character studies (like maybe even nice sketches to share?!). I think part of that will be working out the features — so like, how to draw faces, hands, and feet (but more likely, shoes!) for characters… I also have a Domestika course from anime artist Nemupan that I want to try this month. I want to use what I’ve learned so far on my own and what she teaches on the course (she’s sooo good! and I learned so much just from the intro portion!). So yeah, I want to try to do an anime-style illustration! (Super long term goals — I’d love to be able to sell my art at an anime convention. I’m nowhere near ready for that yet. But it’s part of why I really want to hone my drawing skills and get there! That and my book!)
Lastly, I’d like to finish the illustration too, ideally. But who knows? And I also know I want to work on some paint-marker pieces too this year. So, it might be fun to do that next, as like a side project outside of sketching and my book. It certainly sounds fun!
That’s a lot! Time to get to work!
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 