Author Archives: saulsbee

I thought I was struggling with making art because I wasn’t creative enough (or anymore). Or maybe I was too lazy. I knew I wanted to create, but I still found myself hesitating to make any mark. Normally the wisdom for “creative block” is to press on, to create anyway. And yes, this can absolutelyContinue reading “Creative Block”

Hello March! I didn’t do a lot of art this last month, admittedly. I spent a lot of time thinking about and figuring out what it takes to keep myself feeling inspired creatively. Some of the more successful approaches surprised me and I plan to talk about it more in depth in my next blogContinue reading “The Shallow End – March 2020”

Starting new art is intimidating. But I’ve found that there are two approaches that help me to get started on a new illustration. First, I start with the “next smallest step.” Fortunately, that rarely starts with a blank sheet of expensive paper. In fact, it usually starts with my sketchbook — testing out different layouts,Continue reading “Small Steps”

Hello February! This year I thought I would shake up the blog a little bit. I really like offering a second post for the month, but I don’t quite work fast enough to regularly post a sketchbook tour. When I do have a sketchbook or project to share, that will stay at the mid-month post.Continue reading “Introducing: The Shallow End”

Happy New Year! 2019 was a whirlwind. I quit my job to make art full-time, turned thirty, went to Italy, and had my first expo booth! It was all super exciting and incredible experiences! But a lot of the year was spent in the quiet normalcy of routines that I love — trips to theContinue reading “Forward”

Surprise! Another sketchbook! I’m really pleased with how this one turned out. I think watercolor landscapes might now be some of my favorite work. But I’m also exhausted! I’m working on a new sketchbook challenge currently and one of the prompts was “landscape painting” and I was like, “yeah, no thanks…” and improvised something elseContinue reading “Sketchbook Tour: Watercolor Landscapes”

This year I’ve been trying to work on gratitude. I’m not very good at writing it down — things that I’m grateful for — because it almost gives me weird test anxiety. I worry that I’m not including the right things, or that my list is too repetitive. I just didn’t care for it. ButContinue reading “Gratitude”

A few months ago, I wanted to challenge myself to drawing everyday. As an extra challenge, I wanted the sketchbook to be cohesive. So, the task was two-fold– be consistent, and don’t get bored. (I usually can handle a “theme” but I don’t typically draw the same subject matter multiple times in a row.) ButContinue reading “The Neighborhood Sketchbook”