Background paintings by Shuichi Kusamori for Ghost in the Shell (1995), dir. Mamoru Oshii, Production I.G

Hey it is #portfolioday and I wanted to focus specifically on cover design. These are all covers from my own books/zines but I love doing freelance, particularly in publishing, editorial, posters, comics, and games.

Something from the stack of weekly giveaway drawings, an early In The Mood For Love study.

So many hideous AI ads hitting my instagram these days. Has anyone else noticed that or is it a sickness particular to my algorithm?

I like this drawing of Neko Case even though it is a bad likeness

Looking for work, starting in August. Please let me draw some weird stuff for you 🫥

I'm basically drawing the whole movie at this point. #inthemoodforlove

I've got something in my shop that lets people give me a variable amount of money. It is mostly for private lessons, commissions, tattoos etc. but every now and then some angel just gives me a tip. This is nice but if you don't TELL me it is just a tip I have to wonder what it is for.

I just dropped the last page of my story The Vanishing Man over on patreon. Written by me, drawn by the incredible @katherinelam.bsky.social you should check it out! It is also available in print.

Awake at 1AM, completely unable to sleep, just thinking about how Will Davies handled the staircase here.

An AI take I have is that I’ve never yearned for any being to be subservient to me and I continue to think it’s weird that it seems to be people’s main motivation for pushing technology

I recently finished FF7 for the first time so here is my take on Cloud. I'll be adding this to the next batch of patreon giveaway drawings so let me know if you're interested.

We are entering a heatwave here in Baltimore and it made me think of this piece I did for The Marshall Project last year.

😍

Nancy 7/1/26 … “Summer Camp” Part 1

Continuing to work my way through these in the mood for love compositional studies

Added a little color to this Bill Evans drawing and it is available as a patron print for another couple of weeks or until we run out.

I updated the soapbox on my patreon to more accurately represent people's take home pay after taxes. I'm grateful to say that in the first half of this year patrons have helped offset 27% of what it costs me to do this work. Thank you! patreon.com/jmarshallsmith

A cartoonist named Daniel "Des" Rolando Sanchez Estrada was tried as a terrorist and sentenced to 30 years in prison for having anti-Trump comics in his car. Prosecutors connected him to a 2025 anti-ICE protest he didn't even attend because he was in the same book club as others who were.

democrats who don’t take loud and firm stances in favor of the regulation if AI and prediction markets are leaving votes on the table. also easy ways to demonstrate your independence from SV billionaires www.semafor.com/article/06/2...

Garffeld

Front cover self portrait for sketchbook no. 118. This is kind of what I look like.

"You can either fry or not give me a lot of money" is one hell of a pitch

Agreed. Call me a curmudgeon but the lexicon of fandom (and social media shorthand/euphemism more generally) leaking out into wider online vocab is one of the most tedious things to contend with as a working artist today, and I think it genuinely detriments audiences’ mindsets when engaging with art

Perfect ("satirical") summary of the AI bubble. The whole thing is gold: www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/ai-...

Some recent sketchbook/journal stuff

This is probably a very popular take on game that is like 25 years old, but the introduction to the junction system in FF8 is so bad that it makes me want to stop playing 20 minutes into the game.

The sign up form is on my website! We are going to be reading Le Guin's book about writing and storytelling on zoom! There are a few spots left so jump on them now! www.jmarshallsmith.com

Highlighter fills have been a fun experiment in my sketchbook recently.

Angry about my landlord continuing to not fix the roof even though water was pouring in yesterday and it’s looking like more rain soon. Happy about drawing Ping Lam Siu’s beautiful face.

Please Use AI

An art and design school just asked me to fill out a poll on what kind of AI tools I use and what I think they should be teaching their students and THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANY "NO AI" OPTIONS! In case there are any art students who follow me: Using AI does immediate and lasting harm to your career.

I couldn’t sleep so I knocked out a couple more ITMFL studies this morning and that really turned my mood around.

I need to be making more comics. I’m not saying time to work on comics would fix me but it would put a smile on my face.

Everyone should adopt a stable of artists at $5/month.

I'm very excited for TCAF and in my ongoing quest for transparency/financial literacy in comics I'm reporting the estimated cost to exhibit (fees, travel, hotel, food, etc) not counting production or overhead costs is... $1943 USD! So, you know, don't be shy about supporting artists.

I love drawing. I love writing. I love comics! I'm so lucky to have my meager shining little life. (excited to see all my comics friends at TCAF)

The poll for my next virtual book club is live! Steering the Craft / Making Comics / The Sky is Blue with a Single Cloud! You don't have to be a patron to vote so get in there and let me know what we should read next. patreon.com/jmarshallsmi...

Can't wait for TCAF!

I don't remember if I every posted about this on here but you can sign up for a whole year of original drawing giveaways directly in my shop if you're not interested in the other patreon benefits. www.jmarshallsmith.com/shop

A silly little comic I did about dreams, love, fiction, and food for this year's @bettysbooksstl.bsky.social anthology zine:

Finally reading the Bluest Eye and you know what, Morrison could write!

Okay, I’ll confess to being anxious about it, I don’t do a lot of interviews, but apart from disliking the sound of my own voice I think this was good. Listen if you don’t care about Testament spoilers and want to hear about process, inspiration, etc.

I haven’t listened yet and I don’t know if I sound like an idiot, so if I do don’t tell me. I’ll find out when I listen.

Last day to register to vote in the Eisner Awards! You need to work in some fashion in the expanded world of the comics industry, and having previously voted doesn't give you a pass for this one. Applications to vote close today!

I haven't made a self indulgent sad sack diary comic in a while. Here is one from a couple weeks ago about when my dog died.

this was so beautiful i'm genuinely in tears

Historian of abolition here, history tells us how we got here, to put it succinctly “John Brown was hanged for treason and Robert E. Lee was not.”