We finally saw the "Art of Manga" exhibit at the De Young museum. I have some thoughts, and I gave myself homework for the new year.

There may be one final burst of life-sized dinosaur sketching tomorrow to complete the 2025 spree. Fingers crossed!

A final batch of figure drawing tips for 2025. Following up on hands, we investigate what happens when we stick 'em in our pockets... (1/3)

Merry Christmas and happy holidays! I tidied up this little thumbnail (of approximately 100 × 60 mm). It's all I could manage for now. 🥲

"Isn't it a reverse Christmas movie? Three wise men follow a star that comes from the pit, and spread the bad news that humanity can't be saved from original sin." "So 'Quatermass' was a good programming choice! What about 'Hot Fuzz,' though?" "I think that's more of an Easter story."

CASUAL REMINDER AS MORE JAPANESE FANARTISTS APPEAR HERE— Do not quote repost! Just repost art you like and then make a separate post squeeing about whatever art you like. Quotes are considered rude and can get you blocked or just put someone off a platform.

Happy holidays, and best wishes for the new year from me and Julie!

Finished updating all the images on my "Gundam ZZ" production history page, for prettier display on phones and high-resolution screens. Plus a few extra additions... www.gundamunofficial.com/production/g...

Coming up on Boxing Day: @zeonicscans.bsky.social and I join the @giantrobotfm.bsky.social crew to jawbone about Char's Counterattack novelizations. Merry Gabool Bergson Type-2, everybody!

A quick account of our silly weekend dealing with a two-day power outage here in San Francisco.

Save the date for a day of memories, music, and mementos honoring the life and legacy of Claude, San Francisco’s beloved albino alligator. Join us for a free community celebration on Jan. 18 11am-1pm in Golden Gate Park, or worldwide via livestream. bit.ly/ClaudeForever

Figure drawing tips, round five. This one's all about hands, and why they're impossible to quick-sketch in detail... (1/3)

Working on another people-drawing tutorial. This one's about quick-sketching hands; the first 50% is about why that's actually not possible, and the second 50% is about what I do instead.

This is a pretty minor issue in cosmic terms, but as a freelance artist, you're sometimes dealing with clients who are incapable of articulating what they want or engaging in back-and-forth discussion. Having them spam you with slop and expect you to slavishly replicate it is a workaround, I guess.

Whew, finished this year's holiday card! It's a bit crowded, so I had to leave out the Yule Cat and the Ukrainian tinsel spider. Those of you on our physical and digital mailing lists should be receiving these over the next couple of weeks... :-)

Thanks to @ozkai.bsky.social, we now have scans of the second "Gundam ZZ" laser disc memorial box, so I've translated a couple of the staff interviews from the booklet... www.gundamunofficial.com/production/g...

Another round of figure drawing tips! This time, we're gonna talk about shoes. But first, another way of thinking about proportions of clothed human people... (1/3)

Sunday was the last day for the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco (ICASF) in their awesome temporary downtown space. I wanted to go back and sketch the awesome art installations, and then it turned out they were also holding a holiday gift boutique...

Let's play! Introduce yourself with five animals you've seen in the wild: Tarantula Hawk Wasp Velvet Ant Grey-headed Chachalaca Red-whiskered Bulbul Coyote

Happy Krampusnacht! Let's celebrate with another round of figure drawing tips. This time, I'm pondering sketching crowd scenes. (1/3)

Claude⭐

Yay for the science, but also, this preview photo beautifully captures the uniquely weird silhouette of these gorgeous animals.

A pictorial retrospective of Claude, the @calacademy.bsky.social 's beloved albino alligator. First, some sketches from 2014-2015... (1/2)

We plan to hold a public memorial in the near future, but in the meantime please share your memories of Claude and messages for his dedicated animal care team at [email protected] or to California Academy of Sciences, Attn: Digital Engagement, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA 94118.

Sad news. But it was lovely seeing the entire city - especially little kids - come out to celebrate Claude's 30th hatchday this year. I know there's a nice hot rock waiting for you in the next world.

I LOVE THESE REVIEWS in no small part because the inclusion of Ignorance and Want is part of the review rubric, as it should be, always

Once again, the Secret Spy Notebook proves its value! This was a quick trip to San Francisco's famous Dickens Fair with family, but I managed to do some quick little sketches. I might go back and spend a day drawing it up all fancy-like.

As I idly threatened, I've begun the process of updating all the graphics in my Gundam production history pages so they look better (much better!) on phones, tablets, and fancy high-resolution computer displays. Behold the upgraded "Z Gundam" page! www.gundamunofficial.com/production/z...

I was just randomly reminded of this unfinished 24-Hour Comic I started way back in 2019. (I only finished the first 13 pages, but I had the whole thing plotted.) I guess I've been snarking about techbros for a while.

Doodles for Hong Kong (for @kobayashimaruu.bsky.social) Carnotosaurus

I'm going to have to put off my next drawing tips installment until after Thanksgiving, but it'll be about drawing crowd scenes, so I've been practicing in my little 4x6" secret spy notebook.

Today’s xkcd made me cry. In a good way. xkcd.com/3172/

Aw heck, while I'm indirectly replying to people: I enjoyed hearing @mecha-tho.bsky.social and @ninagonzalez.bsky.social taking a break to enjoy 1983's "Aura Battler Dunbine" in a fill-in episode of their never-ending Gundam podcast...

Since I was just pondering this: I feel like people are less likely to jump into conversations with strangers. (Case in point, I'm quote-reposting Ben's comment rather than replying directly like a normal person.) Perhaps we're all just burned out and gun-shy after years of social media experience.

What might be my favourite fossil has been just published by Kiat et al. 2025. Years ago I saw a pic of this Anchiornis specimen in nat geo article and I audibly gasped.preserving not only the feathers but also the original patterns as well. I made this drawing on the spot. Maybe its time to do v2.0

And I'm finally done with my comprehensive update to the First Gundam production history! Took me seven months, but it's literally tripled in length, with lots more source translations and better-quality art. "The next is... in expectation of your heart." www.gundamunofficial.com/production/f...

Now for a second round of figure drawing tips! This time, I'm following up on a throwaway reference to "the trademark shapes of body parts"... (1/3)

The ultimatemark.com website finally gets a facelift (and content updates)! This format should enable me to update the graphics whenever I have new stuff to show off.

THREAD. The definitive list of the absolute best interdimensional portals I have photographed on walks in the British countryside. 1. Gateway To The Land Of Leaping Dogs.

I've been dragging my feet, but it's time to update the portfolio website. Somehow I never got around to putting this 2019 SF Zoo poster on there...

I wanted to do some little tip sheets on quick-sketching people from life. So here you go! First, an introduction to my outline-centric approach -- I'll get into technique points later. (1/3)

Added a couple more poses. Now it's time to clean up the model sheet...

And here's a rough character model sheet from the comic project. Not necessarily a major character, but she's in a lot of the initial pages.

So! I've been working on an original comic project, and it occurred to me that I can repurpose the character and mecha poses from the page layouts to make some model sheets. Since these roughs are based on comic panels, they're pretty perspective-y. Now to refine!

Almost done updating my production history of the 1979 "Mobile Suit Gundam" TV series and movies. It's taken me most of the year, but all I have left to do now is the final "Gundam III" movie! Here's the section on the movie production: www.gundamunofficial.com/production/f...

Birthday bugs, hosted by Stephanie "BeetleLady" Dole and featuring a cast of dozens of two- and six-legged friends.

From this month's rent cover letter, a little seasonal greeting from me and Julie. Hope it was spooky for you!

Speaking of bristly butts on ceratopsians, I see Adam Savage got a preview of some new models under construction at @amnh.org. Evidently Moab Giants hasn't completely sated my interest in life-sized dinosaur replicas. youtu.be/JC6kCWmJe20?...

I always love bristly tails on ceratopsians, and this is such a nice Halloween-y color scheme!

It's finished!! "My Avian Neighborhood": in total almost 100 hours of work in the span of 27 days to complete. So very proud of this one, it's going to be hanging in its first show over the next few months. Thank you to everyone who cheered me on, the species are in the alt text of the image! ✨