Recent practice. Procreate released some new brushes, so I've been exploring . . .

We are hearing reports of increased federal agents in Portland. Let me be clear: Trump wants to tell a story of Portland that does not reflect who we are. The Portland we love is strong, compassionate, and unwavering in our commitment to protect our neighbors.

I’m excited by the attention on free speech issues now. But we’d be remiss if we focused just on Kimmel. Or even the FCC chair Carr. The entire environment is retaliatory, affecting the most vulnerable who have the least infrastructure for support. That’s why speech for all matters more than ever.

Roughly one year ago, Trump was in the middle of the racist lie about pets in Springfield. He was floundering and desperate. It was not clear that he would win the election. He did win the election, but history is full of plot twists.

Recent portraiture practice. Not enough hours in the day!

I love when I can see the work in a piece of art. Practical effects in film, brush strokes on canvas, strange sounds in music, "impossible" visuals in games. It puts me in conversation with the artist. That's why - ethics aside - art created with AI is just so disappointing. There's no work to see.

🧵Today is Friday, July 4. Good morning ❤️ We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all [people] are created equal that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights,

A contender for the most “Show me your budget and I’ll tell you who you are” bills in modern history. An act of breathtaking moral monstrosity and nearly unprecedented self-sabotage for the country.

My life lately is focused on writing and drawing people. I don't know a lot, but I read people a lot. I study body language to build it into characterization. I study subtleties of facial expression to better capture likeness and mood. What I see here is a man who is full of shit and who knows it.

Today, my NIH colleagues and I did something scary but really important. We spoke up about egregious harms we are seeing happen to research participants and public health through thoughtless and politicized policies at NIH. 🧵1/3 apnews.com/article/nih-...

The right statement from the woman who should have been our president. My heart breaks for what might have been and for what we now face.

Some recent digital paintings. In May, I forced myself to start working with color, which has not been my comfort zone. Happy weekend!

I'm trying to be more diligent about posting recent drawing practice.

America cannot long remain free, nor first among nations, if it becomes the kind of place where universities are dismantled because they don't align politically with the current head of the government.

The comment period for this ends in 3 DAYS. Please leave a comment telling them EVERYONE should be able to get covid boosters. www.regulations.gov/commenton/FD...

The chatbots aren't hallucinating when they "get things wrong," WE are hallucinating when they "get things right" People think LLMs are "smart" for the same reason they think the moon has a face.

The take I needed to hear tonight!

"With glowing hearts we see thee rise / The True North strong and free!" Cheers to my Canadian friends. Thank you for tonight's good news!

Exactly. Thus, an important juxtaposition with today's arrest of Judge Hannah Dugan is ICE's being forced by court losses to restore SEVIS status for thousands of foreign students. As the regime weakens, they'll lash out more. The best response to that will be to increase the pressure more.

Remember: reading is fundamental, even when (maybe especially when) the world is chaotic. Here's something I recently finished. A collection of short stories that somehow managed to be surreal, disturbing, comical, charming, intriguing, and uncanny all at once. Recommended!

this site should not be a place for you to wreck your mental health. if it does that, you should not feel bad about leaving. having a hole to shout text into that sometimes has information about politics and sometimes is for making friends is good but sometimes, it's also bad

A reminder that performance IS an action. If it quickens the pulse, it serves a purpose. It's not the winning move, but it's a move in a winning direction. And especially when faced with mass demoralization, it MATTERS. Thank you, @booker.senate.gov.

As Bluesky has grown, I've seen a lot of backsliding on alt text. Please try to be considerate to others and include alt text with all of your images. It helps everyone. Indeed, in the "accessibility" setting in Bluesky you can set it to make sure you add alt text, which is a useful thing to do.

More portrait practice. From an unknown reference.

Mister Rogers never misses

Recent portrait practice.

"The loudest voices . . . are saying that what the Democrats need to be doing is . . . repairing their brand. This is wrong . . . There is only one issue today in American politics: President Trump’s hacksaw attack on the American Republic. The only available position is opposing it."

This administration is not operating anywhere near reality.

Recent portrait practice. From an unlabeled reference photo.

Now reading. "Cheerfully dystopian" may be just what I needed.

$10/year is a steal for a publication doing such vital work.

Currently reading. Almost finished, actually. A brisk, creative, poignant, and timely story. (Alas, I wish it wasn't so timely.) Another winner from Forest Avenue. Highly recommended.

I'm grateful for this context. I was skeptical of the original story, but irritated enough to share it to FB. An easy St. Patrick's Day post. But misinformation is unhelpful even when it favors the side you agree with. Maybe especially then. I edited my post accordingly. A reminder to GO SLOW.

This morning's portrait practice: Saoirse Ronan. Unfinished, but I need to give my eyes a rest and come back to it fresh.

KEEP CALLING. PEEL OFF ALL DEM SENATORS YOU CAN. ☎️: (202) 224-3121 Tell them to vote NO on Cloture and NO on CR. Vote is pushed to after 1:15ish for now. Situation is fluid. The only public YES votes are Schumer and Fetterman. They need 7-8 total. KEEP CALLING. Call retiring Senators too!

We're now at 17 senators listed in our new cloture tally. Significantly a number of senators who were in doubt are now in the hard no category. So Dems are getting close to locked in. talkingpointsmemo.com/senate-clotu...

If this is real - and we should verify it is - we all really HAVE to demonstrate we have Senate Dems' backs. Next week is congressional recess. If this holds, be ready with a loud and enthusiastic THANK YOU if you have a Dem Senator. This is how we build a unified opposition party.

Tonight's portrait practice: Chiharu Okunugi.

A brilliant new album from Mogwai. Recommended!

Such an important point. Describing an administration action using the administration's framing ultimately serves the administration's goals. There are always larger framings—the rule of law, the Constitution—that are far more relevant and thus crucial to the reporting.

You find more and more of these stories once you start paying attention. I share this one because it is also relevant to the publishing industry. Book Island makes exquisite picture books with great art.

Tonight's portrait practice: Michael Shannon.

A second German tourist is being held in a detention centre after having her Visa revoked by the U.S. It’s the same detention centre holding Jessica Brösche, the German tattoo artist who spent 8 days in solitary. She’s been held for 6 weeks. The U.S. is not a safe place to travel anymore

Canada’s next prime minister, Mark Carney, used his leadership victory speech to warn Canadians that the U.S. “president” wants to “destroy our way of life.” “America is not Canada. And Canada never, ever, will be part of America in any way, shape or form,” Carney said in his victory…

Tonight's portrait practice: Emilia Clarke.

A crucial qualification of a great piece. Renee DiResta points out how political narratives are shaped in the digital world. Republicans use that for the worst ends, but it can be used for good. Digital activism matters because of how much of our discourse occurs online.

I wrote about how Trump is destroying American democracy, along with eight crucial lessons about how to counteract it, drawing on my 14 years of studying brave pro-democracy opposition movements in authoritarian regimes across the globe. We’re in serious trouble, but there’s still hope.

Recent portrait practice: Michaela Coel.

Knowledge is power. Lack of knowledge is tyranny.