Hello January! Hello 2024?!

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Last month…

I finished a new illustration! “The October House”

It was totally not seasonally appropriate, but I first had the idea in October before we moved and only recently found the time to work on it. So, it would have been cool to get it done in the fall, but I’m honestly just glad it’s done at all!

I’d recently been working on developing my cartooning style with ink and markers. For this piece, I spent a lot of time developing a workflow in Procreate for creating the kind of cartoon drawings I have in mind for myself. Figuring out the best brushes to use, the best coloring techniques for me. I went back to a method of coloring like the one Loish taught on her Patreon. It’s a really fun and intuitive approach to color that I’d really only experimented with in the past. And I ultimately decided on really simple “kawaii” brushes in Procreate — I think it best matches how I draw when I’m using traditional paper and ink.

Hopefully now I’ll remember what I specifically used and did, and be able to keep working this way on my next digital illustrations!

In my sketchbook, I did a little bit of the 24toxmas2023 art challenge by Ilariapops on Instagram.

I tried to use the time to practice drawing characters. It was fun, but time-consuming! I think I do better on art challenges when I just draw and don’t worry about adding color. (That might have been part of the problem with Peachtober earlier too, now that I think about it…) But I did enjoy the challenge. I really liked working in Poscas again on the last two drawings (the cat and the wreath). I’m always worried my drawings with Poscas are “too simple” but like, it’s really cute, so who cares?

I didn’t make any comics in December because I was so thrown off my schedule. And then the holidays happened. In the past I would have scrambled to try to make one anyway, but I just wanted to enjoy the time with friends and family this year, and I’ll just jump back in with the new year!

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This month…

Seeing that it’s January, this month I’m excited to get back to work and start tackling my new goals for the new year!

I think I did a good job last year with my primary goal: focusing on cartoon and anime-style art! I didn’t start like, screen-printing, stamp-making or oil painting! I just kept drawing, which I love! And I didn’t start drawing like, detailed color pencil portraits or intricate botanical illustrations. I kept drawing cartoons, which I love! And working digitally in Procreate, as well as in ink, alcohol markers, and some paint markers too! Yay!

I was supposed to make one illustration a month. That didn’t happen… And my comics stopped when the moving process started… And while I made a few t-shirts, which is awesome, I didn’t create nearly as many as I would have liked…

So, focused? YES. But not as productive as I would have liked… Although in my defense, puppies are insane. And moving is so much work. So…

Anyway. I think for 2024 my goal is to just keep at it! Now that I am fully content focusing on the kind of art I want to make, now I can just work on productivity. I think the goals will stay largely the same: one illustration a month, new t-shirts every now and then, sticking with my comic strip’s schedule, and a consistent daily routine in my sketchbook too!

I’m just really really really REALLY hoping that this year will be a bit more …steady… than last year. So, these goals should be reasonable! Goodness, I hope…

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Thanks for reading! And Happy 2024!

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

It’s DECEMBER?!?!

First let me say, I didn’t mean to skip last month’s newsletter…

I had mentioned in October, I think, that things were pretty busy and chaotic… well, when I realized what day it was, and that I hadn’t yet written an update, it was too late. Because November 1st was MOVING DAY!

I didn’t want to talk about it before it was all settled, but we moved across the country! Again!

We loved the last two and a half years in the SouthEast. And I will miss the food so much. But the MidWest is still home, and I’m so excited to be back!

Packing while taking care of a hyper puppy, and still making time for art, was stressful! For being a “return trip” the logistics were different enough that this move felt a lot more challenging. And just a few days after getting into our new place, before we even had our furniture, we went and got a new BFF for our puppy Spaghetti. A sweet corgi puppy named Soba!

Having one high-energy puppy has been a lot this year, as I’ve mentioned before. But having TWO high-energy puppies has somehow been better??? It’s still a lot of work, and watching them takes up most of my day, but it’s been so cool how much they play together! I’m also starting to get a solid routine and a bit more free time to work. It helps too that as they are getting older, they are a little more okay with just sitting on the couch for like… a minute? It’s nice.

So that’s all the big exciting news! A cross-country move! (Again!) A new puppy! (Again!)

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ART

In terms of art, alas, it hasn’t been as much of a priority for the last two months. But I did manage to make some art.

As usual, I’m focusing on ink and alcohol markers, and paint markers. And still cartooning!

I’m still trying to figure out what my style looks like, or should look like, or what I even want it to look like? It’s probably a never ending process, but I feel like lately I’ve made good progress…

In October, I started the Peachtober drawing challenge. I only kept up with it for a few days. I struggled with the prompts as much as time management, and gave up after a really weird drawing for the prompt “grub.”

I also had to pack up most of my art supplies and art books, pretty early on in the process. I’m usually lugging around a stack of books to study from. So clearly the only remedy was to buy more art books while we waited for our boxes to arrive! ha! (…never mind the ones I brought with me…)

I picked up two books on kawaii art. I know, I know… I tried kawaii art last year and struggled with making it work for me. But I am really enjoying Kawaii Drawing by Beck Castaneda (I did her Domestika course too). Her work is just so cute and cartoony! And the practice has been way more fun this time!

I admittedly only kinda follow the instructions. I’m mostly working on sort of translating the cute and simple cartoon drawings into something that makes sense stylistically for me. So I’m not copying the drawings step-by-step, but reading about the process, and asking myself: how do I want to approach this same composition in a way that works for me? Sometimes I use her techniques, but a lot of times I don’t. And that’s okay! And I’ve been super pleased with the results! It will just take a lot more practice to feel confident in using this newly refined cartooning approach on my own!

Since I’m using pen and alcohol markers, media I’m already familiar with, I can instead focus on construction and design!

For paint markers, on the other hand, I just need quality practice using them. So to do that, without the stress of coming up with designs and compositions, I picked up some art kits from Mossery (not an ad!). They have a couple different ones that feature Posca markers and tutorials from different artists. They’ve been a lot of fun too! They’re basically fancy paint-by-number workbooks, but definitely fun! Angela Pan’s kits are far from my comfort zone — her work is so painterly (and insanely good!). James Chapman’s style is a bit more like my own, but his simple and striking color palettes are so interesting!

I started working through the guides in November. The hope is that if I finish all the tutorials, I’ll have a much better understanding of how to use the markers (better craftsmanship, I guess). So then I can start making better (original) Posca art myself!

I haven’t done any comic strips since before the moving process started. I did a single panel comic for Halloween, but that’s it!

I have one idea I’m hoping to get done for this Sunday though, so that’s exciting! I know I needed the break, but I’m ready to get back at it again!

(I also want to try another month long art challenge again, since Peachtober was a bust. Ilariapops on Instagram is hosting a Advent calender art challenge with a bunch of wintery holiday prompts! Fingers crossed I can start it today!)

Lastly, I don’t really talk about the behind the scenes of the business-y side of my shop. (I’m terrible at social media, which is a lot of it. Unfortunately.) If you do follow me on social media, then maybe you saw the updates about my Society6 shop. If you didn’t — they are changing their policies and charging artists membership fees to have more than 10 designs available. It was sad news for me, since Society6 was the first platform I used to sell my art. I’m going to keep my newer cartoons on their site, but I can’t justify their fees when I already make so little per sale. It feels like the end of an era, removing all my older work from my shop.

On the other hand…

I’ve been shifting to INPRNT and TeePublic this year, anyway! I really like their services as an artist, but I also love their products as a fan of other artists on their sites (which is how I learned about them, after all). So YAY!

…As an aside, I’m wondering if I should do some in-person stuff this next year? I was quietly researching conventions near me in the SouthEast. But being back in the Midwest, I’m excited to see what opportunities might be available here again! (Basically it would be nice to not have to rely almost exclusively on social media to share my work!)

…I also still have a big secret project I’m working on too. Slowly but surely! I’m hoping to make big progress on it this next year as well. And maybe even start talking about it?!

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Anyways! As you can see, there has been SO MUCH going on lately. It’s A LOT! But it’s all been mostly good and exciting stuff! And I’m excited to see what the end of 2023 has in store!

Thanks for reading! And happy holidays!

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P.S. Be sure to check out INPRNT and TeePublic for great holiday sales and gift ideas! My art is available on prints, shirts, and more!

Hello October!

COMICS

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

Prints of my comics can be purchased at INPRNT!

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ART

So… September was wild. It was SUPER busy!

As you can see, there was only one comic last month. I was out of town, visiting my parents, when the 2nd comic would have been done. I thought I could still find time to work on it, but that was silly. I was too busy enjoying the trip! Oops!

It was kind of nice to get a break from comic strips for a little while. If my last comic was any indication, I think it’s fair to say I’ve run out of ideas! The rambling was inspired by Uncle Colm from Derry Girls. And I had recently learned that in fact there is a reserve assistant referee in the Premier League. Like someone’s job is to be at the match just in case a referee can’t finish the match. I thought it was a funny concept… but oh well. Can’t all be great, right?! So anyway, it was a nice lil’ break and refresh!

I did a little bit of sketching in September, but certainly not every day like I had hoped. (Again, ususually busy!). But I did some tree studies, and practiced a few characters. I recently did a little study of the amazing work of Meggie Johnson (it’s sooo good!). Her characters are so fun! So the study helped me kind of workshop and develop my own way of building a character base– combining all the things I’ve learned studying the pros, and adding my own flair with how I like to approach it. I feel like I really have a good starting point now or base for all kinds of characters of my own design!

I also did some practice with Posca paint markers. I really like the medium — it’s like vibrant color of gouache, but I can draw instead of paint! I haven’t used them much, so my linework is still a little clunky or sloppy. It would just take practice to sharpen it up… I went ahead and used two prompts from Ginktober to work from in practicing, and I’m super pleased with how they turned out!

I thought about using just Poscas for Peachtober. It would certainly be good practice! But, it’s such a slow process for me since it’s still so new to me… Plus, my sketchbook didn’t have enough pages for it! oops!

So for October…

I don’t know how crazy busy things will be? Ideally, I’ll get back into my routine a bit more. I definitely want to resume my comic schedule. The next one should be a single panel (more illustrative) comic, which is a bit intimidating, admittedly. But it should be fun! And maybe will let me draw a lot of cool fall and Halloween stuff!

I’m sure Peachtober will keep me busy as well! Like last year, my primary goals are to: draw every day, and include a character for each prompt. Keep building confidence with that newly honed in method for drawing cartoon people! I also want to use mostly ink pens and alcohol markers, but I might try some Posca drawing as well. We’ll see! Mostly I’m treating it as a fun exercise and form of practice! I’m super excited!

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SHOP

While I don’t have any new items in my shops, there are already some seasonal items available now! Get your Vampire Bun Bun shirt in time for Halloweeeeeeen!

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Thank you for your support!

Hello September!

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COMICS

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

Prints of my comics can be purchased at INPRNT!

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ART

Alright! So, what did I do in August??? …checks notes… hmm…What DID I do in August?!? …Right. I just played Baldur’s Gate 3.

I think I made some art too… let’s see…

I didn’t do too much sketching. Like at all, which is a bummer. I don’t really know what happened, especially since I had been so consistent with it recently and really enjoying it. I think I lost some momentum when I turned one of my sketches into a new illustration. I always struggle to work on both.

But I did spend time working on a new digital illustration! I played with a lot with different color palettes, until I found one I really liked. It’s sort of a mix between a reduced palette and realistic colors. I like how cartoony and fun it is, and really enjoyed working on it. It’s called “The Midnight Snack” — a name Mr. Husband came up with so it wasn’t just called “The Pie.”

After the illustration, I worked on redrawing some of my earliest comics. (And I think that largely took the place of sketching for August.) I really like the originals, but my first comics were just scans of sketchbook pages. For those, I enjoyed “remastering” them, and drawing them again in my current style. I’ll always have a copy of the original version, which are so special and a great way to see how far I’ve come with my art!

For the others, I’m just simply redrawing as best as I can in a larger size. Mostly because I had no idea what I was doing as a beginner and they are just too small for anything besides Instagram. I’m not worried about updating the style at all with these, I just want them to look nice in print! (Personally I enjoy seeing older comics from other artists. It’s usually so obvious now that they are older, despite the gradual progression to their current work. I find it so charming!)

I haven’t uploaded any of the new versions yet, but you know I’ll be sure to share when they are available in the shops!

So… I guess with working on new art, making new comics, and fixing up the old ones, I did stay fairly busy! Yay!

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For September…

I want to get back to sketching again! I’m thinking maybe set a small goal of like 15 minutes a day? It’d be a bit like those “breakfast sketches” I used to do. I kinda miss those. That’s not a lot of time, so no excuses! I mean, ITS MY JOB… Plus, it’d be good practice for Peachtober, the daily art challenge in October! (I can’t wait!!!) So maybe working on that daily consistency habit is certainly not a bad idea!

I also want to start a new seasonal illustration! I love late summer — it may be my favorite time of year! But also, like everyone else, I am looking forward to Fall! Last year I made the floating pumpkins piece, “The Pumpkin Patch,” which was one of my favorites that I’ve done. So I’m excited to see what I come up with this year! (No pressure!?)

Last month, I was focused on experimenting with color. This month, I want to focus more on the lighting and like, mood? Normally I stick to just shading. It’s a simple way to create depth, especially for my comics. I will sometimes do a transparent or glowing effect, but overall I tend to skip any kind of highlights. I’ve found that with cartoons in flat colors (how I work), highlights can make everything look like it’s shiny? So, I want to see if I create cool lighting effects that create an interesting atmosphere but without making everything look like it has a bright, glossy shine. Shading is great, but shading AND highlights is probably where I can push my art to the next level. (And you know, keep building off what I’ve learned in color theory too!? Keep making new fun and interesting palettes! And use lighting to make it even more exciting!)

So, that’s the plan! I better get to work!

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SHOP

“The Midnight Snack” is available now!

Shop INPRNT for prints!

Shop TeePublic for apparel and stickers! So many shirt colors to choose from and make it your own!
Check it out!

Thank you for your support!

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Thank you for reading!

Hello August!

COMICS

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

Prints of my comics can be purchased at INPRNT!

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ART

At the mid-point of the year, my goals had shifted from being an exhaustive (and exhausting?) list of areas to focus my art on… and instead has now turned into “draw what I want but cartoon it!”

So for July, I spent most of my time working on fundamentals in my sketchbook. After deciding to refocus on “Cal-Arts style” cartoons, it was mostly a practice in rebuilding confidence and honing my style. Some of that was aesthetic, like studying Teen Titans Go character designs.

But it was a lot less about just copying, but actually learning what makes sense for to me for constructing a character. Or trying different ways of drawing clouds, and which way do I like most? That kind of thing.

It was really just a lot of practice, focusing on things I’m interested in and areas I want to improve. (I love comparing the two house and cloud doodles. The one with the blue sky I drew second and looks a lot better! Progress!) It seems a little underwhelming to have just a few nice sketchbook pages completed after a month. But overall I think it was an effective study, a lot of fun, and gave me a bit more confidence to start approaching the cartoony art I want to make moving forward!

So for August, I want to spend more time out of the sketchbook and onto the (digital) canvas. I still want to keep my sketchbook practice, obviously, but start taking some of those ideas and expanding them and turning them into finished art. I have one piece I’ve started already, which is exciting!

I also want to spend more time working on coloring techniques, not just drawing. I’m using a limited color palette in my sketchbook pages, which I really enjoy. I tend to use that approach in my finished pieces already too, but I definitely want to play with it a bit. I love when other artists use just a few colors and a striking contrast. I personally like using similar colors throughout a piece, but when I think contrast I just default to a complementary color. But there are so many other possibilities! I’m not quite sure how to practice that, though? I usually only work on color for art pieces, which isn’t as frequent as sketching. Like, maybe I need to find some digital coloring books? Re-color older pieces? I don’t know!

But I’m excited to keep learning, practicing and make more art!

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SHOP

INPRNT has recently launched new print sizes! Which means some of my art is now available in mini-print and poster format! Yay! Check it out here!

And don’t forget, I have apparel and stickers available at TeePublic!

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Thanks for reading!

SHOP

I added two of my drawings from Peachtober to my TeePublic shop! Check it out!

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COMICS

I said to expect some dog art, soooo…

Comic #58

Comic #59

Prints of my comics can be purchased at INPRNT!

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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…

I figure going into the second half of the year, it would be good to re-evaluate not just how well I’m doing focusing on my goals, but also whether my goals accurately reflect the direction I want to go.

I’ve had a lot of time to think about this — the last month was much less occupied with making art and was largely spent taking care of a very cute but not very bright puppy!

If I remember correctly, after Peachtober I was super excited about focusing on cartooning. But gradually the “focus” has expanded to include anime-style cartoons, and environments or backgrounds. It became so broad that it was basically “draw whatever I want.” Which is great as a concept, I should be making art I want to make. But it’s not exactly helpful as a personal guide or directive.

I think a lot of it is that I’m inspired by all kinds of art. But that doesn’t mean I want to make it myself. And my specific interests do ebb and flow, if you’ve been following along there are times where I’m like “heck yes, kawaii art is so fun” and “eh, I love it, but it’s not fun to create” and also “I think I accidentally made kawaii art and really enjoyed it!” So a lot of it depends on mood, maybe — my own or the mood of the piece I want to make.

That’s largely a matter of style. But also some of it is a problem of inspiration too. My goal was to make cartoon character designs. But I struggle with the elements that go into a character. I’m not really interested in hair styles, fashion, or like action posing. I’m far more inspired by nature — landscapes, the sky, the stars and space… so then of course I’ve found myself working on landscape or environment illustrations instead, where the character is not a main element.

I think I really do want to work on cartoons. And a lot of that includes characters. I think I even want to focus more on simple cartoons (“Calarts” versus anime-style). But also, and this is weird to admit, but I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing. I love cartoons, but I don’t think that way by default. It’s difficult for me. I have to practice and study a lot. But I love it. I love the work, and I enjoy the final results.

Alright, so now what?

I think my goal should be to spend the second half of this year refocusing on simple cartoons, a la “calarts” style. Very much like what I was working on enjoying so much in Peachtober last year. I think some kawaii and anime-style elements are totally fine, but maybe shouldn’t be the first consideration for approaching a piece anymore.

For subject matter, I want to continue to challenge myself to work on character designs. But I also think if I want to draw anything else, especially landscapes, why not? Especially if I use it as an opportunity to work on it in a cartoon style, keeping it simple and using color as a large component of interest (have you ever noticed how dang pretty cartoon backgrounds are?!). Also, maybe try to combine those nature elements that I find so inspiring with my goal of character design. Characters don’t always have to be human, right?!

So here we have it:

Draw what I want, but cartoon it!

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The good news, is that in June, I kinda got started on this new goal with the small moments I was able to sketch. I’m really enjoying sketching cartoons with colorful ink pens, as well as brush pens and alcohol markers!

I can’t imagine why I feel insecure about my cartooning… other people draw all kinds of cute sketchbook pages and I make this while watching all the Star Trek movies for the first time. (But to be fair, how else would a whale wear a Starfleet uniform?!)

I’ve been replaying Assassin’s Creed Odyssey during puppy naps.

For July, I think it will be a matter of just carving out more consistent time to make art, for starters. Admittedly when I get the puppy to rest for a bit I’ve been far more interested in either a nap or filling my creative well, so to speak, with video games or movies (obviously). But the puppy is already getting a little more chill in the last week or so, and I anticipate being a bit more ready to work consistently again. Which means, hopefully, a new cartoon illustration, and maybe a separate new t-shirt design too! Yay cartoons! (And keeping to my comic schedule too, of course!)

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I hope this was interesting ramble! Thanks for reading!