Bee Sauls Art

February 2025 Newsletter

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!

January 2025 Update

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!

December 2024 Updates

Hello December!

Last month…

As anticipated, most of my time was spent working on Inked-Over (my version of Inktober in November). My goal was to draw a fan art character for every prompt on Inktober’s official list. And I wanted to practice both cartoon and anime style drawing. I focused on using Dan Hipp, Carles Dalmau, and Li Chen as references & inspiration for poses and expressions and details I just couldn’t figure out on my own. I didn’t want to copy them, but learn from them and improve my own style! A month of learning from artists I consider some of the best!

I think I got waaaay better at the cartoon-style characters for the first 15 days. It really started to click for me, how I wanted to draw each person. Even if the reference material was super different (see Cursed Homer Simpson). I never got as confident with drawing anime-style, which is admittedly disappointing. But I do think I still made good progress and learned a ton! So that’s still a success! Quality practice! (…even Mr. Krabs, while not my own style of drawing, I think I managed to still make it my own…)

I also managed to come up with some new comic ideas in my spare time, which is exciting! I wrote them down, so hopefully some of them are still good. (Not all my ideas are great, or hold up… nor do all my notes make sense when I go back to read them later…)

And I made sure to keep working on my graphic novel, just about every day. It is still a priority! Since it’s such a big project, I try to spend at least half an hour every day working on it. So after a month, I’ve gotten a lot of re-writing done, and pages and pages of layouts planned. It’s slow progress, but it’s still progress!

I didn’t get to work on any illustrations or actual comic strips. But I didn’t figure I would, so that’s okay.

Last week, I hung up my prints of the Summer Myths in my studio! I usually save wall space for artists I admire, but I made an exception for these, because they’re super cool and I’m still really proud of them. Also they look awesome there. 😀

Available at INPRNT!

This month…

I already know I have too much on my to-do list…

Quite a bit was put on hold to do Inked-Over. So, it makes sense that I won’t be able to continue the challenge now that I’m wanting to get back to work on everything else. I mean, if I could just do both, I would have already. But hopefully I can keep showing up to my sketchbook with some sort of consistency and keep working on drawing characters and improving at anime-style drawing (along with everything else I want to get better at!).

But I’m also looking forward to working on illustrations again (I feel like I haven’t done that since the Summer Myths!). I’ve been thinking more about what kind of illustrations I want to do. My ideas can be all over the place, but I’d really like to focus again and get consistent (and better!) in my work. The focus is basically what I’m already doing, but with some new subjects I think I could probably start attempting, whereas before I think I lacked the skill or confidence to try it… But I also have some projects I’ve already started but haven’t made any progress on in months…so I should probably do those too…

And I want to make at least one comic strip this month, from one of the new ideas I had…

And I also picked up some new paint markers to try out (Ohuhu instead of Posca this time!). I’d love to try to do something cute and fun with those on some of the canvas board I bought months ago… But I have no idea what…

And finally, and this is a big one! I think it’s time for a re-brand!

I started Summer Child Designs in 2016. Eight years ago. I am now a totally different artist than I was back then! I’ve changed so much, and I just don’t think that name makes sense anymore (it also feels VERY 2016. Designs). Fun fact: the name was partly a low-key silly reference to Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire… so that hasn’t aged well either.

I think I’m just going to use my name moving forward. Bee Sauls. (Friends, I know that probably looks weird, but I don’t think I can claim “B” as a brand. Family, thank you for understanding that I can’t be bothered to spell my full name every time I talk about my art. Heh.)

So yeah. Bee Sauls.

It’s already on a lot of stuff anyway as my name. But I’ll start slowly but surely rebranding all my stuff that way to match. I don’t have a new logo, so I’ll have to do that too. But a little consistency there doesn’t seem like a bad idea for now… But I’ll work on it!

On the one hand, end of an era, right?! But on the other, I’m so excited for this update! I’ve been thinking about it for a loooooong time. So if you start seeing Bee Sauls on stuff, that’s me! Hello!

So yeah. It’s a lot. A lot a lot! But I’m excited about all of it!

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!

November 2024 Updates

Hello November!

Last month…

I went to France!

Mr. Husband and I spent two weeks of October in France, visiting Paris, Bayeux, and Rouen! It was our first BIG vacation in years and was an amazing adventure! We got to see SO MANY art museums and so much history!

Paris, Bayeux and Rouen

Before the trip, I worked a lot on my graphic novel. Right now, I’m still in the middle of editing the script and planning page layouts. I’m currently done up to page forty-two! And we had super fortunate timing on our trip that we got to see a comic exhibition at the Pompidou Center! I’m inspired by all kinds of art, but seeing a collection of original drawings from some of my all-time favorite comic artists was a dream! I also learned about many other cool artists and books to add to my reading list! (By the way, I just started Head Lopper, and read Detective Beans: The Case of the Missing Hat in October. They are both soooo good! Detective Beans is the best!)

Bill Watterson, Mike Mignola and Nicholas de Crécy

Our last hotel in Paris was in a neighborhood surrounded by manga shops and video game stores! Even some of the cafes were manga-themed! It was super neat and a fun surprise! (I mean I expected to be inspired by all the super amazing art at the Louvre and L’Orangerie, right? But I didn’t expect to see a whole bunch of cute manga art too for inspiration! So cute and fun!)

Waiting for our coffee in a cool little cafe!

Now that I’m back home, I’m super inspired to get back to working on my book and sketching again! I took a sketchbook to France, but did not use it once. There was just too much to see! (And too much rain! It rained like the whole time!)

I’ve already started sketching little characters, in both cartoon and chibi styles. I’ve dabbled in manga-style characters before and wasn’t going to keep working on it. But chibis are so darn cute and I love to draw cute stuff! So it’s been fun to work on both styles and mix it up just a little bit after seeing all the fun manga art in Paris.

Doodling different ways to draw the same pose, chibi and cartoony…but now that I’m looking at it, I’m thinking it’s very minute differences and I’m stressing over not much? …but also a chibi coffee enthusiast!

I had also been playing around with a loose, scribbly drawing and inking style that I really like…And I do really like it. But it also just doesn’t feel like ME. So recently I’ve been going back to my usual, tidy drawing and inking and just owning it. (FINALLY). It’s encouraging to embrace my own style before starting a belated Inktober!

Scribbly vs tidy… again, not HUGE differences…but they feel important in the world of cartoons?

This month…

The first priority for November is Inktober — or “Inked-Over” as I’m calling it. It’s always a challenge, daily drawing, but in the best way. I think I grow so much as an artist every year I try it. So better late than never, right? I couldn’t come up with my own theme, so I’m going to actually try the official Inktober prompts this year. I don’t love ’em, to be honest. But that will just make it an extra challenge, I guess! My personal goal is to include a character in each drawing, since it’s something I always want to practice. (Maybe a fan art drawing for each prompt? Dunno.) We’ll see how it goes, but I’m excited to get started…

After seeing the work of comic book greats up close, I’m both super inspired (and completely intimidated) to work on my own graphic novel. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to chip away at my remaining script and layouts to do, a little bit every day…after I’ve finished the drawing for the day…

I didn’t get any comic strips done last month, and realistically I won’t have a ton of time left to work on them this month too. It’s a bummer because I do love it. But it’s just a lot right now. I just can’t do it all at the same time. But maybe if I get a super fun idea, I’ll take a break from my book for a couple of days to work on it…

Same with a new illustration. Maybe this month? I have a lot of ideas, but again, maybe I’ll get to them after Inked-Over. Who knows, maybe with a month of consistent practice, I’ll make them even better than I would if I started working on them now?! (Plus I just really really want to get done with the book script so I can move on to the next steps…)

Anyway, time to get to work!

Thanks for reading!

(And thanks for the continued support! I know I’ve only gone all-in on cartooning for a few years now, but I’ve been working as an artist and Summer Child Designs for eight years now! WOW!)

P.S. – Don’t forget! You can support my work (and get cool stuff!) by shopping prints, shirts and more at INPRNT and TeePublic!

October 2024 Newsletter

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!

September 2024 Newsletter

Hello September!

ART

So, last month…

I got Covid for the first time. Yaaaaaaaaay.

Which means, I didn’t get much done for like two weeks.

At least, nothing big — outside my sketchbook. However, I did work with Posca markers a lot. I completely adore them now. For years I’ve liked them, but wasn’t quite sure what to do with them. But now, I can’t stop playing with them. And I’ve even picked up some canvas panels so I can try to work BIG. (But you know, reasonably. 12” x 12” so way bigger than my sketchbooks but not like, a wall…)

Obviously, I also started getting really excited for fall and Halloween. I know it’s still late summer, and it’s fantastic. But also, I love drawing low-key spooky stuff, so why not get started now? Last year I finished my big halloween illustration AFTER the holiday. Oops. (Also, Target has a whole bunch of like neon Halloween decorations this year that are super fun and nostalgic. I am obsessed… Not an ad. Some it is junk quality. But it IS a lot of fun!)

I did not finish the last of my Summer Myth illustrations. It was being stubborn. But the inking has begun, so we’re on the home stretch and I should have it finished in just a few more days!

While I was recovering from being sick, I used a bit of time to clean my office again. It never feels like a good use of my time, or what I’m supposed to be doing. But now I’ve got a mostly tidy office ready for all kinds of art shenanigans again! So I’m super glad it’s done and happy to be working in my office again sometimes! I set it up to be extra convenient for working with my favorite (non-digital) art supplies — alcohol markers and paint markers! Yay!

OH.

And lastly — I closed my Patreon.

It was a lot of work. Which was all good. But admittedly I never got any patrons, which made it feel a lot harder. And it was such a bummer to have so many of my sketches and works in progress shared with hypothetical patrons, instead of sharing them with everyone… I decided I’d rather just share my art with everyone! Which, hopefully, means I’ll start sharing my work online — here, and on social media more consistently!

(I did no comics in August. It’s hard to be funny when you don’t feel well. And when I did feel better I just wanted to catch up on all my other projects. So it was actually nice to just take a break.)

This month…

I’m ready to get back to work on comics, this week actually!

And I’m going to start working on my graphic novel again. It’s kind of been on the back-burner for a while. But it’s a spooky book, so obviously I’m feeling inspired as we move into fall! …Plus if I don’t keep chipping away at it, it’s never gonna get done! So, I’m just going to have to edit it the way I wrote it — one page at a time.

As mentioned, I should certainly finish the Summer Myth #3 this month (this week!). And I’ve got a couple fun sketches from August that I want to turn into t-shirts! Including some fun Halloween & fall themed drawings!

I also have my next illustration idea already figured out, which is exciting! It may get delayed if I think of something super fun and seasonal instead. But I’m grateful for this renewed momentum!

Time to get back to it!

Thank you for reading!!

P.S. – You can support my work (and get cool stuff!) by shopping prints, shirts and more at INPRNT and TeePublic!

August 2024 Newsletter

Hello August!

COMICS

In case you missed it, here is the single-panel comic from July!

You can buy the print at INPRNT!

ART

Last month…

I finally have finished art to share! After so much prep work in June, I’m so pleased with everything I got done in July!

First, I really enjoyed working on the single-panel comic (above). I mean, it’s basically a full illustration. I wanted it to be seasonal, but also wanted Ghost to be the central character. And I love the concept of “Summerween” (Thanks Gravity Falls!). So a mash-up of summery and spooky stuff just makes me happy. Plus, late summer is the best summer.

Second, The Skeleton is done!

I tried to stay as close as possible to the original Inktober drawing for this one. The line art is really thin, which I haven’t done a lot. It was something I was experimenting with in Procreate, and I really like how it looks!

And then last, but absolutely not least, is the next piece in my Summer Myth series.

The realism of colors in The Summer Myth #1 was so good for making it really feel like watching a storm roll in. But with The Summer Myth #2 I was determined to play with the colors. I wanted dramatic colors, and a pink and gold combination. It’s so warm, like the heat of summer — but it’s not cozy, it’s electric! My default, again, is literal colors. Literal shading. Lighting. This was not that. This was pushing myself to play and have fun and it shows. It really feels like all my study on style is starting to pay off with this series. I LOVE IT.

I’m sure it’s not unrelated that I’ve been sketching a lot in July too. That practice is really so important. And I’m often reframing how I approach sketching, and I think I’m starting to find what works best for me. (I’ll talk more about it below!)

That included some fan art, finally! This time I drew Piccolo, from Dragon Ball Z!

This month…

I need to keep working on comics. I only did one single-panel comic last month. I’d like two get two comics done this month… Though admittedly, there is supposed to be a new comic on Sunday and I just don’t know if I’ll get it done yet. This week has been a bit of a mess. So we’ll see… not getting off to a great start, I know. But hopefully I can rally!

For sketching, July’s sketchbook theme was probably my last monthly art theme for Patreon. They’ve often been fun to work on, but they aren’t always the most helpful. I don’t work quickly, so I spend a lot of time working on themed sketches, when I’d rather be using that time practicing something else…

I love the direction my art is taking. And I want to get even better at it. And while making more art is a great way to do that, intentional sketching practice is just as important! I’ve expressed that sentiment in the past, talking about where I wanted to improve. But usually it’s been sketching to get better at something I could do. Or trying something new.

At this point, right now, I want to focus and get really really really good at what I’m already doing. I spent some time reviewing my favorite work (can you believe I’ve only been doing cartoons and comics for a few years??? I’d started out ages ago making all kinds of different art!). Anyway, I thought about what elements, characters, subjects, and themes kept showing up. I thought about what I wanted to improve on to make those pieces better. That kind of thing. The results of that review of my work are the things I need to be sketching!

Sketching can be messy or pretty or a little bit of both. But ultimately for me, it’s practice. Working through ideas and testing out approaches. So I need to keep practicing over and over, to get better! In my art, I keep coming back to the same things over and over. My sketchbook should reflect that too (not that I can’t explore entirely new stuff either, but that shouldn’t be the primary focus of sketching). The Patreon art theme was fun, again, but it was taking time away from that focus. So this month, I’m just going to keep drawing and practicing the things I need to do better to make better art! And I’ll share an overview of my practice on Patreon, and keep sharing some of the sketching on social media throughout the month.

Here’s a little doodle of a ghost playing rugby! Because I like drawing ghosts! And rugby is dope!

Lastly, I’ve gotta keep working on illustrations!

I’ve started drafting The Summer Myth #3. Hopefully I’ll get that finished this month. And I want to start brainstorming my next illustrations. I’ll take a break from the myths for a bit. I suspect I’ll return to it again though. But it might be fun to work on a t-shirt design again. It’s been a while since The Donut!

So, let’s do this!

Thanks for reading!

P.S. – You can support my work (and get cool stuff!) by shopping prints, shirts and more at INPRNT and TeePublic! And can you tell I’m on Patreon now? Because I’m totally on Patreon! Just $3 a month! (And you can sign up for free to get my social media updates all in one place!)

July 2024 Newsletter

Hello July!

COMICS

In case you missed them, here are the comics from June!

Now available as a shirt at TeePublic!

Both are available as prints at INPRNT!

ART

Last month…

June was one of those weird months, where I know I stayed busy with my work, but I don’t have a ton to show for it yet.

I spent a lot of time working on thumbnail-ing my next illustration in The Summer Myth series. I’ve finally got the composition figured out, but I haven’t started the final piece yet…

Working on that also got me thinking a lot about style again. How I want to keep inking and coloring my digital illustration. So, I spent some time playing around with brushes and techniques in Procreate. I think I’ve reaffirmed my interest in blending clean, simple, mono-line characters with loose, flowy, brushy, backgrounds. (Something I’d decided in the past, but haven’t actually implemented!) I always think they are so opposite, since most artists don’t do both. But then I was watching Gravity Falls again recently and they do both on that show and it looks awesome. So hopefully this style decision will make The Summer Myth #2 (and other future work) look awesome too!

But again, not much to actually share…

Although I did take one of my old Inktober illustrations and use it to practice and experiment with my set up in Procreate. It was a sort of test piece, but it’s coming together well. But it’s not finished yet…sooo…. I’m not ready to share it either. Oof…

At least, here is the original POSCA sketch from Inktober last year!

In my sketchbook, I mostly worked on the thumbnails for the illustration. But also the themed drawings for Patreon. The theme was Monsters and it was such a blast to work on! So, I didn’t really work on anything else…Oops.

This page was more creatures than monsters but I still love it so much.
And it got me sketching a lot, which is the whole point!

And lastly I worked on my Super Secret Project (my graphic novel). Which takes a lot of time. But obviously is not ready to share yet…

So yeah. That’s it!? Which doesn’t look like much right now. But that just means I should have a lot more to share in August!

This month…

I should have two comic strips done this month. Yay! Next up is a single panel comic, which is always a lot of fun!

I’ll keep working on my graphic novel too. (I should have a book update on Patreon this month!)

For sketching, I want to make time to work outside of my Patreon’s art theme. (This month’s theme is all things NAUTICAL! Yay!) I still have a bit of fan art I want to do that sounds fun. And I just want to draw whatever for a little bit, you know? Like random characters, and fun clouds (I’m always taking pictures of clouds…), and just whatever else inspires me this month.

And last, but of course not least, I want to finish some dang illustrations! I’m so ready to get to work on the next Summer Myth piece. And to finish the Skeleton Inktober drawing. And who knows what will come after that!

…so it’s time to get back to work!

Thanks for reading!

P.S. – You can support my work (and get cool stuff!) by shopping prints, shirts and more at INPRNT and TeePublic! And can you tell I’m on Patreon now? Because I’m totally on Patreon!

ALSO PATREON MEMBERSHIPS ARE NOW ONLY $3 A MONTH!
You get early previews of my comic strips, progress updates on illustrations, graphic novel updates, all the themed sketches, and shop discounts! Whew!

But, did you know you can join my Patreon for free? Without a membership!

Starting in July, I’m going to make all my social media content on Patreon available for free memberships. I’m treating it like a “I don’t use social media” tier (without being an actual tier). Because I get it. Social media is wild. You won’t get all the cool stuff for members, but you’ll get the link to my monthly newsletter here (in case you’re not subscribed!), comics as they are posted, new illustrations, sketchbook pages, and shop updates and promos! Basically if it’s something I’d share on social media, I’ll share it there too! So you can stay easily up to date! (And the newsletter here is not changing or going anywhere! Yay!)

Thank you for your support!!

June 2024 Newsletter

COMICS

In case you missed it, here is the comic from May!

Available as a print at INPRNT!

ART

Last month…

In May, I worked a little bit on a lot of different stuff!

As for the goals I had set, I didn’t do as many comics as I would have liked. And I didn’t do any additional formal artist studies like I had planned…but I still kept fairly busy.

For sketching, early in the month I did some drawings as study for the illustration I was working on. Scribbly trees and weird cartoons. (I still love Santa Shark).

The monthly Patreon sketchbook theme was Castles. I did not enjoy that theme as much as I had hoped. I normally love drawing buildings, but I wasn’t feeling it this time. They’re oddly complex but also really simple, and I didn’t know how to make them effectively cartoony, you know?

Separately, I did some pose studies to get back into drawing characters and I really enjoyed that, despite how simple it was. It was just fun and it felt like it clicked. (Credit to Carlianne Tipsey’s book How to Draw Adorable for the inspiration/instruction).

Anyway, I went back to the theme and it was a lot more fun when I started drawing castle-themed characters instead!

I don’t know why I worked in pencil. I never do that anymore. It felt old school, like drawing in high school or college for me. But I was just playing with values and while I meant to go back over it in ink, I didn’t feel like the drawings needed it so I just left it alone.

Recently, I also participated in a Draw This In Your Style (DTIYS) challenge on Instagram. I always think about joining them, but never make the time. This one, by Pachestage, was announced right at I had both free time and energy! So I played around with my take on it — first in my sketchbook. When I liked how that turned out, I decided to turn it into a finished piece in Procreate and actually share it! For being just a little doodle, it was a lot of fun!

And finally, I worked on a new illustration! The Summer Myth #1

I took my time with this piece– worked on it off and on all month, doing lots of preliminary sketches, thumbnails, and drafts to get it just right. And while not perfect, I’m very pleased with it! I tried to build the composition using what I had learned from Natalie Andrewson’s delightful work and Domestika course. And I tried to push the colors and textures a bit more like Dan Hipp’s work. I realized I’m a big fan of grainy textures and gradients, and while I may have overdone it on this piece, I love it!

So overall, I’m pleased with what I did accomplish in May and hopefully can keep the momentum going in June!

This month…

It would be great if I could get back on track with my comics again.

And I’d like to keep sketching more often too (always), particularly the pose studies and characters again (especially since I’m enjoying it and seem to be improving at it!). The Patreon sketchbook theme for this month is Monsters, which I’m super excited about. And I have a few other DTIYS challenges I want to participate in. And some fan art I really want to attempt for fun!

The Summer Myth #1 is obviously the first, in what I have planned as a three piece series. So I’ll get started on the next one right away!

And slowly but surely, I’m getting back to work on Super Secret Project #1 — my graphic novel!

So much to do! Time to get back to work!

Thanks for reading!

P.S. – You can support my work (and get cool stuff!) by shopping prints, shirts and more at INPRNT and TeePublic! And can you tell I’m on Patreon now? Because I’m totally on Patreon!

There’s also a big update to my TeePublic shop! They’ve started offering hats!!! I normally keep my designs limited to shirts and stickers, but I LOVE HATS. I have sooo many hats and wear one most days. So I couldn’t resist and now a selection of my designs are available as hats!! YAY!!

May 2024 Newsletter

COMICS

In case you missed it, here is the comic from April!

Available as a print at INPRNT!

ART

Last month…

April was busy! There were some days I didn’t get much done at all… There was no second comic for the month, because our lil’ Corgi girl Soba broke her toe! It was really challenging figuring out a new schedule. She needs lots of rest, but she’s also our super hyper Aussidoodle’s playmate. So now what?! I spent most of that comic week stressed and exhausted from playing with one dog and taking extra care of the other. I did not have any funny in me… but, fortunately, that week was followed by a week of vacation at home with Mr Husband and the puppies! So now we have a new routine practiced and puppies are doing well! Which is such a relief, because recovery is 6-8 weeks! Ouch!

I did sketches for last month’s Patreon art theme, which was ELEMENTS! I used paint markers and alcohol markers, which was a lot of fun! I really enjoy both media.

I liked playing around with my inking styles on this page, using both really loose sketchy scribbly drawing, and neat tidy kawaii drawing. It worked surprisingly well together!

I also did some fan art just for fun. I love Lilo & Stitch, it’s one of my favorite Disney movies. So I drew Stitch! I think he was designed by Chris Sanders, and I love the shapes he uses for his characters. They’re so round and flowy! I tried to stick with doing my own thing, but I learned a lot just looking so closely at his work!

I love how this turned out, but the colors are soooo saturated! So I got some new pastel markers from Ohuhu that I’m excited to use!

I didn’t get much more sketching done than that. And I stopped doing the artists studies I was doing in March. But I was also still just keeping busy with illustration work, so that’s not all bad right?

I’ve almost forgotten about it now, but in early April I did a t-shirt design. It’s for the fan art partnership on TeePublic! I didn’t realize a design has to be reviewed and okayed first (I mean it makes sense…) and I guess that can take a while. Sooo… I don’t want to share it yet, while it is still pending review. But hopefully it will be accepted and I can share it soon! I worked so hard on it! Exciting!

I also turned two of the sketches I’ve done for my Patreon themes into illustrations! (all the more reason I should be doing even MORE sketching!)

The Olive Tree was originally made during the month of Posca drawings.

The Fish Underwater was originally drawn in Poscas as well for this month’s elements theme.

Both are now available on INPRNT!

This month…

Hopefully I can get back on track with comics…starting with this week!

I’d like to do additional sketching, outside of Patreon’s art theme (Castles!). Draw some more fan art, and just whatever sounds fun! And I’d like to take a little time to continue the artists studies from before. It’s always fun to deep dive into art that I love. It’s a great source of inspiration.

I was also inspired by our vacation at home, and already have some illustration ideas I want to explore this month (maybe a triptych?! or at least a series!). And I recently learned about the work of Natalie Andrewson — I started her Domestika course last week and it’s dope. I love the color in her work and the interesting framing in her compositions! You should definitely go check out her stuff!

…well, that’s quite the to-do list, so time to get back to it!

Thanks for reading!

P.S. – You can support my work (and get cool stuff!) by shopping prints, shirts and more at INPRNT and TeePublic! And can you tell I’m on Patreon now? Because I’m totally on Patreon!