June 2023 Newsletter

SHOP

My comics are now available on INPRNT!

I’ve been adding them to the shop the last few weeks, starting with the most recent. Some of the older comics might need to be re-done before I can add them, but a lot of them are now available as prints! They come in a few different sizes too!

Check it out HERE!


COMICS

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

Comic #56
Comic #57

ART

If you recall from last month, I decided that this year I want to focus on my comic strip, anime-style and cartoon illustrations…as well as sketching characters and backgrounds…

In May, I talked specifically about working on cartoon, sketching and starting a landscape.

And that would have been a lot of fun!

Instead, May was wild! (In the best way!)

I started prepping for the landscape, and a new anime-style illustration…But then we went to the beach! And got a puppy!

I didn’t make any art on our trip. I just soaked up sunshine and inspiration, and took dozens of pictures of the ocean… So I suspect the landscape is going to evolve and use the inspiration from the trip! Get ready for some beachy art!

When we got home from vacation, we got a puppy! His name is Spaghetti and he’s super cute! But he’s also a total shock to our routine! So working on art has been a challenge lately!

Good Spaghetti!

I did manage this last weekend to chip away at my anime-style illustration, which was a pleasant surprise! Hope y’all are ready for some dog art too!

This is called “Fetch” and is now available as a print at INPRNT too!

It was a lot of fun to work on this piece in anticipation of getting our new dog! It was also super intimidating— I felt like I was never going to figure out the pose, I’d never really drawn a dog before, and I was nervous about getting the composition right for what I had in mind. It made it really hard to get started on the drawing. I felt like I really had to get it “right.” But I just kept reminding myself the goal wasn’t to make an amazing piece of art (though that’d be nice!) but to just do the work and learn in the doing. In the end, I’ll have a new illustration and a new foundation for starting my next piece!

Fortunately I’m really pleased with the illustration and I learned a ton! I consider it a success! And a healthy mind-set for approaching my work!

As for sketching, I always admire artists with like neat and tidy and pretty sketchbooks. I know I always struggle with mine being a scribbly mess. But I recently got a new sketchbook with just basic drawing paper, and a packet of Pilot Juice pens. They’re ballpoint which is like an old-school favorite style (compared to the fancy brush pens that I tend to use for illustrations). They’re all kinds of colors, which is fun, and I’ve just been taking a few minutes at a time to do my scribbly sketching, but make it cute and colorful! 

I’m really really enjoying it. It feels like super no-pressure drawing again, like the “breakfast sketches” I used to do, but still let me fill the page. And the consistent colors is like a simple art-hack to make it look nice and cohesive-ish! 😉

I haven’t figured if I’ll try to do studies this way too, or stick to just doodles. It might be helpful to do both. I mean, I really should do studies. If I did studies, I wouldn’t have to learn so much on the fly working on an illustration! But it was hard to stick with breakfast sketches as they became more formal studies of artists I admire, and stuff I struggled to draw. So the key would need to be balance…as always.


For June, I’m hoping things will settle down a bit. That I’ll get even more of a routine with the puppy (and maybe a full night’s sleep?!). With the anime-style illustration done, I want to turn my focus back to the landscape project and see where that goes. And I should also start brainstorming a cartoony illustration. And make a new t-shirt. And work on my comic strip. And sketch some doodles. And do some studies, I guess…

Yeah, I better get to it!


Thanks for reading!

May 2023 Newsletter

SHOP

There is a new t-shirt available in my TeePublic shop today!

It comes in a few cute colors and shirt styles, including youth sizes! Check it out HERE!


COMICS

In case you missed it, here are the comics from April!

Comic #54

Comic #55


ART

If you recall from last month, I decided that this year I want to focus on my comic strip, anime-style and cartoon illustrations… as well as sketching characters and backgrounds…

In my April update, I had the goal of making a new illustration AND a t-shirt! (ambitious!). I technically got it done, but only just barely!

I had the Grumpy Weather idea for a little bit, but I didn’t really start working on it until Friday last week, and finished it just yesterday! Oops!

For the illustration, early in April I started a drawing of a building in Vietnam that I found while just clicking around Google Maps. I drew it in my sketchbook first, in pencil then ink. I really enjoyed working in my sketchbook on a more intricate drawing. I then uploaded it to Procreate. I ended up re-inking it, just for fun again, then colored it digitally. Then re-inked it again again with a different brush, and colored it two more times. OOF.

The first color was sticking pretty true to the reference, but it was just okay I thought.

I struggled to figure out what I wanted to do differently on second color attempt, so eventually I just kinda lost it and scribbled with a whole bunch of brushes and settings, and the result was an abstract version that I kinda liked.

The last attempt is probably most “my style” and fittingly my favorite right now. The colors are more fun like the 2nd but are much more tidy like the 1st. I think sometimes it can feel a little boring for me to do things that way I always do them in my art; so it was interesting to shake things up, and ultimately return to my traditional approach with new appreciation.

I certainly didn’t think the piece would be all I worked on this last month, but here we are…

I guess too, I’ve been feeling a little stuck lately. I still haven’t been sketching otherwise. And I don’t know — on the one hand, I think having a focus for my work has been good to keep me from like, starting over as an oil painter or something. I like working in illustration. My work feels consistent. But on the other hand, I think I’m struggling with coming up with exciting ideas in that space, or that I want to work on. And I don’t seem to be doing much character design work at all. Is that because I don’t enjoy it? Or because I don’t think I’m good at it?

I hope it’s just the latter. It just means I need to do more practice. If it’s the former, I don’t know what the means. Especially as someone who likes to make illustrations that need characters to make the narrative…

But I also think it might be okay to admit that not everything I make needs a character either.

I don’t think anyone is expecting me to make the same art over and over again. It’s easy to fall into that way of thinking — there are so many talented artists I admire that are really good at doing their thing. That can be cute doodles, fantastic narrative scenes, glowing character portraits, etc… But I guess it’s okay that my thing is just doing whatever I want. And it changes. A LOT.

I mean, wasn’t I saying last time I tried “kawaii-style” cartoons that I just didn’t think it was for me? And yet, that Grumpy Weather shirt looks pretty dang kawaii, and I really liked working on it…

But maybe that’s okay.

Maybe I’m just focused on drawing what I enjoy.


So for May…

Weirdly my biggest mental hurdle is with cartoon characters. I actually really want to work on an anime-style character illustration this month. I think that could be a lot of fun, so that’s what I’m going to explore!

I also have a landscape idea that I’m working on as well. Something where I can build a rich environment but maybe not have to worry about a character either.

Working on both might be a good balance. And then maybe, just maybe, I work on cartooning in my sketchbook and building that practice. Again. I’m sure once it starts to feel a bit more intuitive it will start feeling more fun too. Hopefully. I just have to keep putting in the work to get there.

I guess it’s time to draw!


Thanks for reading!

APRIL 2023 NEWSLETTER

SHOP

The diptych is finished!

“The Journey” and “The Destination” are now available on INPRNT! Check it out HERE.

“The Journey”

“The Destination”


COMIC

In case you missed it, here are the comics from March:


ART

If you recall from last month, I decided that this year I want to focus on my comic strip, anime-style and cartoon illustrations… as well as sketching characters and backgrounds…

So let’s see how that’s going!


I guess I should start by saying that we lost our beloved cat Chalupa to illness last week. While we’ve had two cats, Chalupa is the one that showed up most in my art. If I’ve drawn a cat, odds are it is inspired by our orange boy. He also loved to spend the day in my studio — so much so we started just calling it “his office.” Taking care of him while he was sick, and losing him so quickly was incredibly hard… still is incredibly hard.

Here’s Chalupa Boy helping me study character design. So helpful!

…And it certainly affected my work.

I had started the diptych in February and had the pencils done for each piece. So in March, mostly while Chalupa was sick, I spent a lot of time just sitting with him and working. First, inking, then coloring the two illustrations in Procreate. It was like creating my own coloring book pages, so the work was fortunately very calming during an otherwise stressful situation. And I’m pleased with how they turned out, even if I hate the circumstances.

For the comic strips, I think both turned out well and are really funny. But wow, working on the second comic for the month was a STRUGGLE. I didn’t think I’d do it all. I had the idea, but whereas working on the illustration was calming, working on a comic sounded horrible. I didn’t want to do funny. But I woke up the Sunday morning it was due determined to get it done while just hanging out and watching soccer, and I’m glad I did. 

My sketchbook was neglected for most of March. I did some sketching. But not much.

An alcohol markers and ink drawing of Adventure Time. I used one of Skottie Young’s daily sketches as the composition reference.

Loose sketch studies of Gravity Falls characters. The gnome started out very weird, but eventually turned out cute!


So for April…

I’m starting to get back into my routine. 

Kinda.

I have a comic due tomorrow, Sunday. It’s supposed to be a single panel comic…and it was supposed to feature Chuck the cat. You know, the silly orange cat from my comics that’s basically 99% inspired by Chalupa…

A better, stronger artist that me might have been able to rally and honor their cat and make the comic. But I’m not that person. I don’t think I could make a fun comic right now about a cute, sweet, orange cat. And I didn’t want to just turn it into a memorial either… so then what do I do?

Nothing, that’s what. 

At least not right now. I think with some time I’d be happy to do a single panel comic featuring Chuck. But I’ll want it to be about Chuck, not Chalupa. All I’ll want it to be fun too, because the comics are supposed to be fun. 

I have some new comic strip ideas queued up, so I’ll be ready to get back at it for next time. But I am taking this Sunday off. I’m sorry!

For illustration work, I think this last piece leaned a bit anime-style, maybe? So I want to focus a bit more on cartoons this month. Maybe see if I can design a new t-shirt? I’d still like to work on my anime-style drawing more too… so ideally I’ll do both — a cartoony t-shirt and a new illustration project!

As always, I’d like to do more work in my sketchbook… my biggest issue, I think, is that I have ideas for how I want to practice in my sketchbook, but I struggle when the results don’t meet the expectations. In other words, my sketchbook pages are usually not PRETTY.

I’m probably just like, rushing? As if I should only be spending a lot of time on a drawing if it’s an intentional illustration project? But with Peachtober, I would spend all day on some of those drawings, and they were great foundations to turn into an illustration later. So maybe I just need to change my general approach…?

I also really enjoyed doing those fan art studies last month for Adventure Time and Gravity Falls, where I focused more on general ideas and shapes and “how would I draw this subject?” instead of just like trying to recreate it. So more of that sounds fun!

I guess it’s time to draw!


Thanks for reading!

MARCH 2023 NEWSLETTER

SHOP

For the month of March, I’m running a sale on my INPRNT shop! Use code 6ET08G for 15% off!

Look at all the fun art available! Check it out!


COMICS

In case you missed it, here are the comics from February!


ART

If you recall from last month, I decided that this year I want to focus on my comic strip, anime-style and cartoon illustrations... as well as sketching characters and backgrounds… So let’s see how that’s going!

Comics went okay as usual. It’s still such a weird routine — just waiting for inspiration to strike (hopefully before the weekend!) while I work on other stuff. Then taking a day, or two, to draw and finish it. It’s kinda stressful. It feels like procrastinating. But so far, the routine has continued to work so I’m sticking with it!

I have started a new illustration project! …but it’s not ready yet.

I really wanted to take my time and focus on creating an interesting composition, doing thumbnails and really exploring ideas first before just diving in to the drawing. But I realized for this particular idea, the best way to make it work was to split it up, turning it into two illustrations — a diptych of sorts!

To keep the pieces cohesive, I’m working on them at the same time. So first up was the rough layouts for both, now I’m working on the refining pencils, then I’ll be adding some characters… before I start inking and color…

I’m working fully digital this time, in Procreate, which has been interesting. I haven’t been very comfortable sketching in Procreate. Like, usually I only move to digital work for inking (sometimes) and color (always). But it’s just taken some practice and now I quite like it!

It helps too that I signed up for Loish’s Patreon in February. I signed up because I love her use of color (and I struggle with color), but her workflow is largely digital, so I’ve been learning all kinds of neat stuff about Procreate! I thought I knew the software pretty well already, I just didn’t love it compared to traditional drawing. So, it was really cool that there were a few new surprises about working digitally that I hadn’t considered (and she’s one of the best to learn from!). I still don’t love Procreate MORE than traditional drawing, but both definitely have their merits and I enjoy having two solid options now! Yay!

So, all that said…while I don’t have any new illustrations finished for February, in theory I should have TWO new illustrations done in March!

Lastly, I always try to balance sketching and illustration work. But I find it so challenging! I wanted to work on building my sketching habit — focusing on cartoon characters and environments/backgrounds, doing simple sketches and studies. For this, I didn’t do awesome in February.

I think I started out strong doing some practice sketches from the book How to Draw Adorable by Carlianne Tipsey (I picked up a copy just to shake things up). I maybe did some urban sketching too while running errands, but that might have been in January? I know it was a short month, but I really don’t recall doing much sketching. Except for super small thumbnail scribbles for the illustration project. I did A LOT of than to workshop the composition and decide to turn it into two pieces.


So for March!

I think my first goal is to finish the illustration diptych project!

Next is to be more consistent with sketching — cartoons, characters, and backgrounds (so buildings, landscapes, environments). I keep thinking a new daily challenge like Inktober would be helpful to keep me drawing a little bit everyday, besides illustration work. It’s just so dang important! But I haven’t any ideas… But I am certainly open to suggestions!

And finally, gotta keep to my comic schedule! Fingers crossed I’ll get an idea soon, since there should be a new comic, on Instagram, this Sunday!


Thanks for reading!

February 2023 Newsletter

SHOP

Shirts are now for sale!

Not just shirts, but also hoodies and kid’s apparel!

Right now, it’s mostly cartoons from Peachtober. 

But I have added new designs, including Kaiju Squid!

Apparel is available at both Society6 and TeePublic! The Kaiju Squid is also available as a print in my INPRNT shop! Check it out!


COMICS

In case you missed it, here are the comics from January!

“Action Panda” is also available as a shirt!


ART

If you recall from last month, I decided that this year I want to focus on my comic strip, anime-style and cartoon illustrations. So let’s see how that’s going…

I sketched a lot of cartoon poses. Alternated between anime-style, and cartoons like Teen Titans Go. (I don’t know how to refer to the latter, I’d say “calarts” style, but that’s usually used negatively.) So that was all good practice. I didn’t draw any full characters, I don’t think. I mostly just focused on general posing and then smaller details like hand studies. I don’t have any pictures to share because it’s mostly just scribbles in colored pencils.

But I did do some more complete studies this month that I can share. I tried acrylic paint markers again. I really like the way they look, but I still just prefer my ink pens I’ve decided. I’m trying ink and alcohol markers instead, like I used during Peachtober. My sister-in-law gifted me a large set from Ohuhu, so now I’ve got all kinds of colors to use! 

A study of the art of Derek Laufman, done in Poscas.

A study of Spider-man. Done digitally in Procreate, using True Grit Texture Supply’s KolorMarc studio markers. They recreate the look of alcohol markers, which is so cool!

I decided I want to work on backgrounds a bit too, not just characters. Both are just so important for interesting illustrations. And even though I used to draw a lot of buildings and landscapes, the style was more realism than cartoon, so it’s worth practicing and figuring out a new approach. Plus it’s a lot of fun. I learned a ton in studying Hokusai’s landscapes, and I really liked working from Laufman’s drawing — I didn’t have to figure out composition or subject, but instead focused on how I would draw the same thing. That’s really all I mean by study — learn from the original but interpret it in a way that makes sense for how I want to draw.

A study of Hokusai’s print “Bai Juyi” done with my new alcohol markers!

Another study of Derek Laufman’s art. I just really like how and what he draws! (His inks are way more loose and expressive than how I’ve done it here, and this color palette is all me. haha.)

I created Kaiju Squid last month. I really enjoyed working on the buildings, and cartooning a squid! I often think I want to draw monsters and animals, but it doesn’t come up usually in my project ideas. So that was a lot of fun to work on.

For my comic strips, I was going to do an action hero illustration that was to be totally over the top, ridiculous and dare I say it “rad.” But when it was time to do a single-panel comic, I had no ideas. So I just borrowed the original concept and used Panda as my hero!

Comic strips are more challenging, thinking up a new joke. It usually takes a few days just to think of an idea, and a couple days to make it. It’s weirdly kinda stressful, and it’s the only work I do with a hard deadline. But it’s also usually the most rewarding, when I’ve made a comic that makes me laugh, which is why I keep at it. 

For February, I think I’m going to try to stick with my current routine. I’d like to make one new illustration, do weekly studies in ink and alcohol markers, and do regular sketching. Hopefully I’ll start moving beyond pose studies and do actual character drawings. I also want to focus more on that “calarts” style I enjoy. But I also want to keep working on backgrounds too. I also have my comics to do, every other week. Next up is #50! Which is pretty cool! 

It sounds like a lot, so I better get to work!


Thanks for reading!

January 2023 Newsletter

Hello January!

SHOP

A new illustration is now available at INPRNT! The Sci-Fi Gardener! Check it out HERE.


COMICS

Here are the latest comic strips from December!


ART

With it being the new year, I’m focusing on my new goals for 2023! 

Mostly, this year is actually about…well, FOCUS.

I realized going into the holiday that all the art I was “newly” focusing on and enjoying felt awfully familiar…

I kept saying things like “I’m going to work on anime-style characters and illustrations, and cartoons, and my comic strip! It’s gonna be awesome!”

It felt so specific and exciting, THIS was going to be where I put my attention and energy for 2023!

But man, it sure sounded familiar…

Maybe because in April of 2022 I wrote in the Newsletter that I wanted my work to be: “Largely inspired by cartoons, comics and manga, but basically simplified and stylized characters…”

But I hadn’t really done much of that… at least not until Peachtober when I really really started to work on cartooning.

I had over the course of the year gotten distracted by: mixed media, gouache, kawaii-style art, urban sketching, and I don’t even know what else. I explored a whole bunch of different styles of cartooning too. I guess it wasn’t time wasted, and I think the theme of last year was learning what kind of art I don’t want to make. But I guess ultimately it also reaffirmed the kind of work I want to do too!

So now it’s just a matter of focusing, and avoiding distraction, so that this time next year I will have actually spent a year working on: my comic strip and anime-style and cartoon illustrations!

Now that I know where I want to focus on my art, I’m mostly left trying to figure out what a reasonable goal is for my productivity. I have a fairly strict schedule for my comics, which is helpful. But I know last year I struggled with creating illustrations on any kind of schedule. One a month seems doable? Should I aim for two? It’ll largely depend on how well I can think of new ideas. But I don’t have any new strategies for that… So we’ll see, I guess!?


BOOKS

I picked up the hardcover Catwoman: Lonely City by Cliff Chiang in mid-December. He did Paper Girls, which I LOVE, so I thought I’d try it. It’s so good! I admit I know very very little about DC, but it didn’t matter since it was a self-contained story and I think there was only one character that showed up and was clearly like a reference that I didn’t get. Regardless, it’s gorgeous art and colors, and a great story and I highly recommend it!

Since I don’t really know anything about Batman besides some of the movies, I thought I’d try a few volumes. So far I’ve read the New 52 Batman Volume 1: The Court of Owls. It was okay. For being a supposed reboot of the franchise, I understood way less than I did with Catwoman. I’ve started Knightfall next, with the classic Bane cover… it’s fun… wild and kinda silly, but fun! Next up I plan on reading Batman Year One and a few others I’ve seen recommended online. Should be interesting!


MISC.

Part of why I wanted to try more Batman comics, besides reading Catwoman, is that I’ve been binge watching Teen Titans Go for weeks now. Like nearly non-stop. And so I wanted to learn more about the DC universe, since I admittedly know way more about Marvel (but also not a lot…).

It first started as a silly excuse to work from the couch. “If I want to draw cartoons, I should watch more cartoons…you know, as research!” It was in jest!

But now it really has become a deep dive study into cartooning, character design, and the work of Dan Hipp (the art director of the show, but separately an artist I admire a ton!). It’s ridiculous, but a blast! The show is also the ridiculous, and I just absolutely love it. I mean, I’ve been watching it for years anyway, but to marathon it has been a treat! A zany, silly, treat! And I’m weirdly also learning a ton for my own cartooning, which is frankly just a bonus!

Teen Titans Go!

Thanks for reading! Happy New Year!

December 2022 Newsletter

Let me just say that I was surprised by the end of November…and now that it’s over, I’m not sure how much of it I remember… with that in mind, let’s get to it…!


ART

My first goal for November was to work on a new illustration. I started a new sci-fi themed illustration, and so far have most of the pencils done. I had to do a fair bit of practice and study in my sketchbook as well, since I’m still not well-versed in sci-fi motifs. It’s learning a whole new way of thinking. I’m having a lot of fun with it though. And I should hopefully start inking and colors pretty soon, since the background was the most complicated part. By the time I’m inking, most of the big decisions have been already made. It’s just play at that point!

Pictured: A few progress shots of the sci-fi illustration. Also a page of my sketchbook — a recent episode of Bob’s Burgers included a colorful sci-fi cityscape and this is a study of some of the buildings and windows.

I’m hoping that my workflow will be a little faster moving forward. I really want to be able to do a hand-drawn illustrations and digital illustrations simultaneously. I really liked taking breaks from penciling to sketch in Procreate. I’m still working on figuring out how I want to draw digitally — mostly figuring out which brushes I want to use for outlining and colors. I have a lot (like A LOT) of options. So it’s mostly just trial and error and personal preference. Sometimes it feels just hard to decide!

Whereas in previous months I’d been focusing on how I wanted to draw cartoons stylistically, now I’m going to be focusing on the finishing details. So like I said, figuring out what brushes I want to use digitally to outline my work. Also figuring out how I want to add color. There are so many different styles for coloring, just like there are styles for drawing. I tend to keep colors simple, but I do like when other artists add more texture and details in their colors. So it’s just a matter of figuring out what feels most intuitive for me. I also want to explore some physical color media as well. I still like the idea of alcohol markers, and acrylic markers. So I’ll need to make time to work with them as well and see if that’s something I want to use in the future.

I think for December though, my focus will largely be on that trial and error. Drawing in my sketchbook and in Procreate to build that confidence and figure out what approach I like the best. I learned so much during Peachtober, and I just want to keep up that momentum. 

I’m excited about where I want to go with my art, now I’ve just got to make it!


COMICS

I only managed one comic in November… I thought I could get one done over Thanksgiving, but that was silly, and definitely didn’t happen. The good news is that I’m very very pleased with the comic I did.


BOOKS

I’m still reading The Expanse series, slowly but surely. It’s still so good. Seriously some of the best characters I’ve ever read. But I’m also taking a little break to read other books that have been sitting on my shelves for so long now. I’m in the middle of Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. I loved his book The Martian, and I LOVE this book too. It’s sooo good.

I’m also trying to read The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett…again. I loved Good Omens, which he wrote with Neil Gaiman. But I’m just not sure I get it. Like, I can tell there are comedy beats, but I don’t always find them funny (or even understand what’s going on?). I really want to like it…but also it makes me feel stupid…

Which is kinda funny, because I felt so smart reading The Martian. Like, “yeah Mark Watney that makes total sense! Good idea!” And then I remember I suck at math and science and have no idea what Weir is writing about really, but he explains it just well enough that I can nod along like… ”hmmm, yes yes, I concur…”

I am silly.


MISC

This is the part where I get really fuzzy on details for November. I know I worked. I got to visit my family for Thanksgiving, which was really nice. But anything before the holiday is just gone. I know we watched a lot of Taskmaster on Youtube. I still love that show…

My family was a good sport and watched some really wild B-movies during our visit. We watched Trancers which was definitely in the camp of “so bad it’s good.” I even watched the first of many sequels when we got back home…Yikes…

OH. I remembered why I don’t remember November… I decided it would be a good idea to watch all the Resident Evil movies.

That was NOT a good idea.

In fact they might be some of the worst movies I’ve EVER seen. They were all consistently terrible. The writing, the effects. Just bad. All bad. I think the second one might have been the best? But ultimately it didn’t matter. Not just because the rest were awful, but they specifically retconned the story of the second movie later on as well. Bad… But really it was kinda fun. Again in a “so bad it’s entertaining” way. Love it. 

So silly.


SHOP

It’s not too early to start holiday shopping! May I suggest gifting some art?! I know Society6 regularly offers sales, and the framed mini-prints would make a cute stocking stuffer! There are also cute mugs! Everyone needs a cute mug for hot cocoa! Check it all out here!

Pictured: my Compass Bloom framed mini-print and my Kant Remember coffee mug!

I also have quite a few larger prints available at INPRNT as well! Available here!

Pictured: The Library and The Guardian prints!


Thanks for reading!

Peachtober 22 Sketchbook Tour

A new sketchbook tour is here! Yay!

Set Up…

October is full of daily art challenges. I’ve done my own prompt lists for “Inktober” in the past. Last year, I followed the emoji-based prompts for “Mosstober.” This year I decided to participate in Peachtober!

The challenge was open to all art media, but I naturally went with ink, since it’s my favorite. For some extra excitement going into the challenge, I used all new (to me) materials — a set of 3 Kuretake brush pens, a small set of Copic markers, and a Midori MD notebook. I’d been intrigued by the markers and notebook for a while, and I’m always looking to try new pens! So I thought this would be a great time to try them all out. As extra incentive, if I finished the challenge, I could get another small set of Copic markers. (If you aren’t familiar, they are fancy alcohol markers for illustration, and are not cheap…)

The last element was the prompts and my approach. I have been doing a lot of practice and study with cartooning this year, and wanted to use this challenge to as a resource for that. I didn’t review the prompts or prepare any sketches in advance. I figured whatever the prompts, they would push me out of my comfort zone and practice a lot of different kinds of cartooning. I had just finished my kawaii online course and Ghost comic, so that was my initial headspace, but I figured I’d practice all kinds of cartoon styles and learn along the way!


How It Went…

Well, I definitely got A LOT of practice…

As for the materials, I liked the pens. I really liked the Copics, at the start. I had a limited palette, but I liked the colors, and I liked how smooth they blended. I prefer flat colors and markers can get soooo streaky. But these markers seemed to largely avoid it… But also, I don’t love them? I still like them, but I ultimately didn’t buy more after the challenge was completed, because I don’t think I’d use them.

I do wonder if maybe the combination of markers and the sketchbook was an issue. I honestly have no idea if the paper was ideal for alcohol markers, and I just didn’t care for the texture and off-white paper. It probably would be a great sketchbook for pencil sketches. I liked the size and layout of it. But I definitely have other sketchbooks I prefer for ink.

With the prompts and cartooning…Oh man, it was like I jumped in the deep end. Each day was a challenge of “I think I’ll draw this for the prompt” realizing I don’t know how to draw this, studying how to do this, practicing it and figuring out how I wanted to draw this and then actually drawing it in my Peachtober sketchbook. Every. Day. Although some days I skipped the study part, and just dove in– knowing I just needed just something done, it didn’t have to be awesome everyday… and it wasn’t…

I did learn so much about cartooning though. 31 days of daily practice and study was a great, albeit exhausting, way to brute force experience. I learned a ton of what I don’t like in cartooning, when playing with different styles. In only took a few days to burn out on kawaii. I think I mentioned it in the newsletter, but kawaii cartoons, among other styles, I tend to prefer in the works of others and I don’t particularly enjoy making myself. Now I know!

Ultimately I learned that I really enjoy simple cartooning (think Adventure Time or maybe Bob’s Burgers), with clean minimal line art. It’s just what I naturally gravitate towards, enjoy the process AND the results (which, both are so important!). I also really like anime-style cartoons, especially influenced by artists like Carles Dalmau. I tried to include some practice in that style as well, but mostly worked on half-portraits so it would fit the page and still leave room for details (that style of character is very tall!).

I also did a lot of study of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy, for how to simplify structures and other elements. Originally I was going to focus a lot on composition for each cartoon, but it quickly became overwhelmed. But in studying how to simplify, I eventually was able to do some more complete compositions that I’m really pleased with in the end. I also studied Mignola’s shading, using large areas of shadow to build his images. I definitely pushed myself to add more (as in any) shading in my cartoons, and I think it worked well. It’s not as natural feeling to me, but I loved the effect so I definitely want to keep including it in my work moving forward!

Beyond the style of drawing, I noticed too that for the prompts I kept wanting to find a way to tie-in certain elements. Mostly science fiction. I don’t have a ton of experience drawing in the genre, so this was a fun way to work on it and build that visual library of sci-fi looking elements that I admire. Also on my short list of things I want to learn to draw is monsters. I really only did that once or twice, which is my bad. But it was still fun to try. And I also remembered how much I still enjoy drawing buildings in perspective! So these are all areas I want to focus on in future work, in my sketchbooks, and in illustrations!

Overall, I’d say it was a successful challenge. A stressful, challenging, challenge. But also a great learning tool and practice resource!

I also turned two of my favorite Peachtober drawings into finished illustrations and they are now available in my INPRNT shop! Check them out HERE!


The Sketchbook


Cave. For being the first, it’s still one of my favorites. I really like the line art and fine details. It’s simple but fun. I focused a lot on the composition and while I was nervous about adding a character, I think the little adventurer guy turned out well!


Dandelion. I didn’t like this one at all when I drew it. I thought it was too simple. But now, having drawn so many characters in the challenge, I kinda like ’em and all their little details. Feels like my natural style of drawing and I’m comfortable with that. But I had to do a lot of experiments first before I could embrace it.


Trees. I definitely want to do more experiments with characters in different environments. I don’t think the animals and the landscape have the same style, so in the future, I’ll want to work on making it more cohesive.


Potion. I focused on anime-style cartooning for this drawing and the next.


Boulder. This is based on a photo I took on a hike. I started really studying Mike Mignola’s work here, pushing myself to include the large black shadows. I think they made my usual landscape drawing style really pop! I love it!


Lantern. I tried to add large black shadows again, but also used the Copic markers to do some additional shading. I think it worked well!


Lava. I had fun working on the lava-monster design. The clouds are very Mignola-inspired here, mixing it up from my usual puffy clouds (that I don’t love…) and I really liked this approach!


Tail. I was nervous to do shadows on the main character here. But I’m super pleased with how it turned out. It’s my favorite part! Also drawing the buildings was a lot of fun. I was a bit rusty on one-point perspective but really enjoyed it.


Town. At this point, I’m pretty much just focusing on studying Mignola’s Hellboy, can you tell?!

I didn’t use reference for the town. I think it might have been better if I had. The ghosts didn’t look very ghost-like either. It might have been better to do white windows or smoke…But this kinda stuff is how you learn!


Bun. This is Mister Bun Bun, who I created for a gouache illustration earlier this year. I knew right away I wanted to draw him again. But since it was October I thought it’d be fun to give to him some Halloween flair!


Globe. I drew this guy on a weekend, at my computer, while playing a video game. Like, just could not be bothered…

…Globe? …Theatre? …Shakespeare? …Hamlet? …Pig? …Done.

I adore him.


Sprout. Same.

He may just be a simple potato. But he’s my favorite simple potato.


Sleepy. I was going to do a self-portrait for “sleepy” because I was just so exhausted by the end of the challenge. But it was Halloween! And I was excited for it! So that’s what I drew instead!

I don’t love this one, but I do really like the colors and shading, and I still think it turned out pretty well. I definitely looks to me like it reflects a lot of the techniques I’d practiced all month! Success!


I hope you enjoyed this sketchbook tour! And thanks to everyone that followed along on social media! I really appreciated all the encouragement!

Let me know your favorites in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

November 2022 Newsletter

COMICS

Here are the comics from October!


ART

October was all about the Peachtober drawing challenge. 31 days of ink drawings.

I found it way more challenging than similar challenges in previous years. I think a lot of it was focusing on cartooning, which I’m still learning and not very confident with… although, I did a lot of cartooning for last year’s Mosstober challenge, so I don’t know for sure.

I am glad I did it though. And I managed to finish it! I learned a ton in the process. About cartooning and style. There were a lot of design choices to make each day in how I wanted to approach the drawing. I learned, sort of brute force, how I like to ink my cartoons, shade them, and what kinds of shapes I’m drawn too and what artists and genres inspired me the most and felt most intuitive to learn from and influence my own work…

For example, I went into Peachtober really into kawaii-style cartoons (if you remember the Ghost in the Garden comic…like that!). I still really enjoy the style, but apparently mostly when other people do it. The kawaii drawings I did early on in Peachtober were some of my least favorites to make. But on the other hand, I was reminded what an incredible resource the work of Mike Mignola is for me. It’s not cute, his subjects are usually way darker than anything I do, but his use of simple shapes and linework and large black shadows was so fun to experiment with in my own work and I was usually super pleased with the result. I wasn’t trying to copy him obviously, just learn and apply what I’ve learned to my own drawings and combine with my other drawing habits…if that makes sense…

I also realized that while I know that I would like to make more sci-fi themed artwork, I have like zero visual library for it. As in, I haven’t really practiced it much. So when I wanted to do a Peachtober drawing that used sci-fi elements, I had to study and practice them before I could do the work for real. (This happened with a lot of other elements too. Apparently I have a very small visual library.) I think it helped keep the challenge fun, to use it as a chance to learn how to draw a lot of different things that I haven’t really worked on before. But that probably made it more exhausting, because it did take so much practice and study every day…

And even on days where the drawing was ultimately very simple, it was an interesting experiment in cartooning styles too. Like, it turns out I’m not super into like classic Disney animation cartoons, or Hanna Barbera, right? But I LOVE drawing cartoons like Adventure Time and Bob’s Burgers. But I also still enjoy the anime-style of Carles Dalmau so I got to experiment with that a bit as well.

 All in all, no wonder I’m exhausted! It was a lot to work on and work through, even if very little of that was in my Peachtober sketchbook. But I’m super glad I did it!

I definitely plan on talking about it in even more detail in an upcoming Sketchbook Tour post. So, be sure to check that out later this month! For now here are some of my favorites (and you can see them all on my Instagram!):

For November, I’m hoping to get back into something resembling my old routine. Balancing sketching with larger illustration projects. I would’ve liked to do an illustration this last month, but I was just relieved I got my comics done! So I’ll definitely be focusing on my comics again, and a new illustration. And I think I’ll do something like breakfast sketches again… I think I’m going to move a bit away from fan art studies, and work on intentionally building that “visual library” and practice drawing all kinds of stuff that I want to be able to include in illustrations in the future.


BOOKS

Reading? What’s that??

I started October reading a bit more of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy— because spooky scary, right? But I didn’t get very far, and eventually was just using it to study for Peachtober. Oops. Towards the end of Peachtober I picked up copies of The Movie Art of Syd Mead, and the Beginner’s Guide to Sketching: Robots, Vehicles & Sci-fi Concepts. The former is just gorgeous and fascinating, but the latter is especially helpful. I really enjoyed reviewing the approaches of the artists included. Since I kept gravitating to sci-fi subjects for Peachtober prompts, it became a super interesting resource that I’ll continue to study and practice from, I’m sure. 

If I read anything else, especially not art related, I don’t remember it. Meh.

(I really want to read more… it’s just finding the focus, time, and well, making it a priority… I always feel like there is something else I should be doing… If you have any advice for making time to read, let me know in the comments!)


THE REST

As is tradition, October is spooky scary movie month! I think we watched a horror movie every single day this time! I prefer a bit of ridiculous in my horror movies, so my favorites were The Blob, Lake Placid, and Scream 4. I don’t care for Stephen King’s work, despite The Shining being one of my all time favorites. Prey, the new Predator movie, is excellent (although I kinda viewed it as more action than horror but it was still fantastic!). For the scariest: Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum.

If you have any Halloween movie recommendations, definitely comment and let me know! Especially like, fun not-horror movies? I was trying to find one to watch during the day for Halloween, and could only think of Casper, Hocus Pocus and the 90s Addams Family movies… All great, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve seen them a ton!

I also started playing RimWorld this month. It was recommended in an online course about character design and world building. I’m not really sure why, since as a player you don’t seem to have an exceptional affect on the design or world (that I’ve found yet…) But that said, it’s like Banished (one of my favorite games) with sci-fi flavor text. So naturally, I’m obsessed…but it’s like totally research… right?


Anyway, thanks for reading!

October 2022 Newsletter

SHOP

I have two new prints available in my INPRNT shop!

Ghost in the Garden 

The Pumpkin Patch

They are both available as 8” x 10” prints and start at $15 plus shipping! Check it out!


COMICS

In case you missed it, here’s the comic from September!

The Ghost in the Garden was actually my 2nd comic for September too. It was time to do another single-panel comic, where I usually experiment with style and do an illustration with my comic characters. This was the first time I included just one character, but it was a lot of fun to just focus on a spooky scene for Ghost.

My single-panel comics are usually seasonal as well, so with Ghost as the character, Halloween made way more sense than just like Autumn. I was also taking a course on kawaii-style illustration at the same time. I really admire that style, but never know how to approach in my own work. So I thought it’d be fun to try for this comic, and it totally was! I really liked how it turned out!


ART

Obviously I managed to stay pretty busy in September. I am so excited to be doing illustration work again, and not just sketching all the time. I’m even managing to still do some sketching, like my breakfast sketches, while also working on my comics, and illustration projects. Usually I focus on one or other, so it’s nice to have more balance to do both — the practice and learning part, and the ideas and creating part!

Most of the work outside of my sketchbook has been digital. I do my first illustration drafts in my sketchbook, but the rest of the process has been in Procreate. So I’m kinda wanting do some illustrations in physical media too, like ink and acrylic markers. They are a little more intimidating, since they require a lot more planning in advance, since I can’t edit in the same way as I do digitally… 

I did some breakfast sketches this last week as a bit of practice. I underestimated the patience required. They dry quickly, but not immediately. So it got a little messy… oops! I’m still just learning. I can’t decide if I like it more than gouache. I definitely like that it’s drawing and not painting, but I’m struggling to figure out the best paper for it, and the palette is definitely more limited since it doesn’t mix well… Still fun though!

A breakfast sketch!

I’ll also get plenty of practice in inks this month — it’s Inktober!! YAY!!!

I never do the official Inktober challenge. But I love doing a 31 day ink drawing challenge. I’ve made my own prompts, or picked a theme. Last year I did #mosstober which was a lot of fun, using emojis as prompts. (You can see the sketchbook tour here!)

This year I’ve decided to do #peachtober! Many of the artists I follow on social media are participating, which is how I heard about it. I like the prompts, so it should be fun. I’ve got a dedicated sketchbook, some ink pens ready to go, and a small selection of Copic markers. I’ve never used them before, but they intrigue me, so this should be a fun way to try them out!

I’m mostly just going to focus on making cute characters and compositions for each prompt. The markers will be just to try out shading, without having to worry about color palettes. It’ll be very cartoony, of course. But I’m definitely planning on experimenting with different styles of cartooning, since there are so many ways to approach it. And it’s mostly just a matter of decision making for each part of a cartoon’s design. I don’t have a consistent approach right now, so I’m just practicing a lot to see what looks right and feels most intuitive for my own work! 

I’m so excited and can’t wait to share the results of #peachtober!

Here’s day one! Got it done this morning!


BOOKS

This last month I started reading some manga again, since I’ve been trying some anime-style art lately. It’s honestly been hit and miss. But I did start reading Sailor Moon and it’s been pretty good. I’m actually reading it while watching the show, so it’s been entertaining to compare the two. I’m enjoying them both!


MISC.

This was also the month of video games. I won’t list them all, but I will say The Procession to Calvary was my favorite. It was the most fun, and just absolutely bizarre. It was horrifying and I loved it.

I also started watching my first Korean drama, What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim? It’s been really good! It’s a super sweet rom-com, but also very very dramatic. I like the characters a lot, but weirdly I think the side characters and plots might be my favorites. Huh. Can’t say that happens often.

October is the month of spooky scary movie marathon! I have no idea what’s on our list this year. But it doesn’t matter. It’s going to be awesome!


Are you doing an art challenge for October? Do you have any movies you love to watch for Halloween? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading!