"Best" of 2025. Or 'Art vs. Artist,' though I used a self portrait for the middle square. 54 pages of "The City Silent," 11 portraits and two landscapes. I guess it wasn't a bad year? Still going too slowly on the comic. Still, I grew, expanded as an artist so that'll have to do.

Been working on this one way too long. I maxed out layers on two of the four Procreate files I used for this. Never done that before. I referenced a Caillebotte painting of Paris for this as a part of Harvard Square always felt like that painting to me.

Happy holidays, all, whichever you might celebrate, whenever you celebrate it. This is an old one as I don't do holiday cards any more but it was my favorite. My husband's the otter, I'm the coyote and our cat's in the middle. I hope you all find some moments of peace.

Managed to finish the page today. Getting the text in is easy once everything else is in place. But yah, don't care for word balloons.

And here's the WIP version after arranging the characters and doing the highlight cutting. I can already see where some of the text is going to go.

And here's a video of me cutting the overlay to show where the light falls on the dancing mice. The overlay is a dark blue filled layer set to 59% opacity and multiply. I just cut out the parts I want to look highlighted...using a mouse. :D Any questions welcome.

No idea if this will be helpful or not, but this is how I compose an average page of my comics. All characters are drawn separately then added, moved about, resized, etc until it looks good. Here I had to make a change as Rooster was on the wrong side. Ask any questions you like, if it'll help.

Saw another artist talk about changing styles and how much fun it can be to play. I always worried it threw people off. These are from my major comics projects; "Fite!", "Harlon," "The City Dreams of Tamino the Cat," and "The City Silent." Styles are all over the place. Probably not a good thing.

When I was doing the Zippa section of "The City Silent," I really wanted to capture the feel of 80s/90s local rock band fliers. I took it far enough that I printed some out, wrinkled them and then scanned them, vectorizing the results. That was too much but I still liked the results.

Not much to look at here, but if you came to my panel at MFF, this is a kind of follow up. Working on the next page of the comic. All I have is an idea and some ref. So I draw one figure, get him set, draw the second, try and make him fit. Will fiddle about with the third, later. Lots of fiddling.

Inked some of the Smatt images and threw in a punk coyote I sketched as well. I think the band's name is 'Filth.' :D

Wandering through Instagram, listening to some jazz and messing around with some angular styles for the rotten mice.

The first four pages of my comic, "The City Dreams of Tamino the Cat." The whole story is told in a four page 'rhythm.' Best of all, it's finished and you can download it for free here: tblue.gumroad.com

Made a little sketch for @nemera.bsky.social awhile back. Just a little something for him to play with. He'll add his finished version as soon as I get off my ass and post this. :D

Just back from MFF, which was a lot of fun. So I haven't drawn a lot lately. So here's some more stuff from the far past. I used to do a lot of fashion based stuff with made up labels and brands. Here are some of them. They don't make a lot of sense. :D

I want to thank everyone who came out to my panel at MFF. It was really wonderful that you not only attended but had such great questions and things to offer others that want to get started in comics. I hope I was able to offer something you found of use.

Hey folks attending MFF, I will be doing a panel on Sunday, December 7th at 3:30 in the O'Hare room called, "How NOT to Make Comics." It's all about the method I use, why it's weird and why it's not recommended but also why it works for me. If you're at the con, why not drop in and have a seat?

Another member of the band. Shoegazer McLongtorso.

Hey folks attending MFF, I will be doing a panel on Sunday, December 7th at 3:30 in the O'Hare room called, "How NOT to Make Comics." It's all about the method I use, why it's weird and why it's not recommended but also why it works for me. If you're at the con, why not drop in and have a seat?

Got one more in. PunkYote LongTorso. :D

I don't know who he is, but he seems to be having fun. Just a little quick sketch while I'm working on something more labor intensive.

Do you hunger? Sure, we all do! At this time of year, we all need to sate our hunger the way Deneuve and Bowie did in "The Hunger": with the blood of the innocent! Nummers! Hanh? What is this "cranberry sauce"? Weird. Give a listen and we'll surely give thanks! maxmikemovies.com/episode-361-...

I've been in retail all my adult life. Art never seemed a viable option for making any kind of money. I still make it as often as I can. At least my current job has introduced me to teaching. I do like that a lot.

And here's the weird-ass, 20 minute sketch version. For fun.

Ok, here's the cheating version. Because of the way I work, it was easy enough to turn off the head layer, make a new, coyote head and plunk it in. Still valid (?) as it was my original animal.

Taking a break from the comic because the spark just isn't there. When in doubt, do another self portrait. This is just the start. The background is going to be a big thing. But I might also do a 'fursona' version as the head was done separately. Or is that cheating?

"I Vant to Vatch Your Feelm"! "The Lost Boys"! So many vampires! So many Coreys! So much 80's! So much Joel Schumacher! So listen, already! maxmikemovies.com/episode-360-...

Just a quick sketch of Howard, down in the coffee shop poetry slam.

Let's get down with some more vapiric "I Vant to Vatch Your Feelm" as we ask: who's that Black vampire who's a sex machine with all the chicks? "Blacula"! Damn right! Wait, am I mixing movies? Listen and find out if I'm just a jive turkey or possibly a jive capon! maxmikemovies.com/episode-359-...

Just a reminder, all my comics can be found on my Gumroad store. Most of them are free. "The City Silent" the first half is a $1 only because its file is too big. You can find them here: tblue.gumroad.com

Page 259 of "The City Silent." FWIW.

Bleah! Bleah! Bleah! Vere you scared, mortal? We have a brand new series, "I Vant to Vatch Your Feelm!" with off-beat and largely Dracula-free movies about vampires, starting with "Only Lovers Left Alive" by Jim Jarmusch. Bleah! Very scary! maxmikemovies.com/episode-358-...

Well! Today my cat is suddenly missing one of his canine teeth!! I’m calling the vet tomorrow when they open, but money is super tight for me right now, so if you’ve been eyeing something in my shop or considering getting a comm, now would be a fantastic time to do it! ko-fi.com/xylographica

I've been going through old stuff as I prepare my panel for MFF. I can't believe I didn't post this. Awhile back, I recreated this four page spread from "The City Dreams of Tamino the Cat," which was a major pain. I miss that comic.

Commission for @liom.bsky.social !

Some more old stuff! This was a short comic with a different crow, Crawford, and the spirit of something, the wolf, Cromwell. I forget which collection I did this for but it was fun to do. I tried to go kind of wild with it. And there's the mice being bastards.

Hear Max, Mike; Movies With “Directors in Short Pants.” Kurosawa’s first. Our thoughts on movies Flow like a winding river. Bumpy drowns in it. --- Two haikus, attributed to Yotta Bakamono maxmikemovies.com/episode-356-...

It's been forever, but I've been in a very low creative spark ebb lately. And, to be fair, there's a page or two missing between last track and this one. That's what you get when you don't plan ahead of time. :D

Poll! What is your favorite martial arts movie and why? (Boxing counts.) Comment or leave a message at: 617-398-7266!

That last one got me thinking about an old piece I only posted once under another name. I never posted anything else under that name and I don't think I even have the password for the account. Secret, dark unicorn.

One of the people I follow had a fun 'draw this in your style' thingie, so I decided to do it. @beatrizrebolloart.bsky.social #rebchallenge

Our "Directors in Short Pants" continues with Spike Lee's first outing "She's Gotta Have It." Please give a listen. Please. Please, baby please, baby baby please, baby please! maxmikemovies.com/episode-355-...

I've been slowly working on the next track for "The City Silent." Sometimes that allows me to wander into something I hadn't seen or had forgotten that will be the key I need to move ahead. In this case, it was seeing classic animation smears. I do love me some smears...

(Click on the thumbnail for all three panels) I was reminded of this comic, "Smart's Journey" recently. It was probably my most 'designed' (over designed?) comic ever. This was made to help me express the grief of losing my mom in 2013.

Ach du Lieber! It's another "Directors in Short Pants" entry and this time it's Robert Rodriguez's first work, "El Mariachi". I'm afraid that app this time, I thought the character's name was "L. Maria Chi". Turns out, I was not entirely correct. Enjoy! maxmikemovies.com/episode-354-...

Haven't posted anything in a bit. I've been struggling with the next track on "The City Silent," but I think I finally know what I want to do. Here are some sketches and black and white drawings for what's coming. Smatt, Terry and Rooster.

Our "Directors in Short Pants" series is a gas, gas, gas! Or maybe that's just this week's movie, Penny Marshall's first effort! Give a listen, and if you're in a cross-fire hurricane, don't bother howling, just find shelter! maxmikemovies.com/episode-353-...

Poll question! What ingredient, if any, do you feel is missing from today's movies? Leave us a comment or call our hotline at 617-398-7266.

Had a little fun with one of @nemera.bsky.social 's sketches tonight. His is the third image. The middle one was my inked version and the first was the final color version. Haven't don't one of these 'style trades' in a long time. It was fun. Thanks, @nemera.bsky.social !

Not my usual, but this is a painting of my favorite theater, The Brattle, in Harvard Square, Cambridge. It's an awesome little repertoire theater that's been there since 1955 or so. I've seen everything from "Wages of Fear," to "Plan 9 From Outer Space" there.