Second, DragonCon is in a week and a half!

Here is a map to my table in the PopComic Artist Alley.

I am hoping to finish this Dragon print before the show, but I have some other deadlines pressing, so we will see…

I will have a limited number of the Exclusive Ashcan of Cyber League Baseball #1 (Only 15)

Free Ribbons for Subscribers, old and new.

Free Temporary Tattoos for anyone!

A whole slew of original art, merch, stickers and of course I will be taking commissions! If you want me to get started on yours early, send me a message!

Here are some commissions from previous years.

I look forward to seeing you there!

&

That’s right! It’s gonna be an unusual newsletter, including the San Diego recap, and I thought, let’s start with the rant this month!

I wanted to write a little about FOMO (Fear of missing out).

Beyond how the acronym defines this phenomenon, FOMO is also understood as anxiety derived from missing opportunities, social interactions, and experiences.

Basically, social media.

This is one of the reasons that I have abandoned social media. I used to be a daily user of Instagram. I would engage in a monthly art challenge, comment on other artists' work, discover new creators, etc. All of that engagement led to a healthy number of followers and a few job opportunities.

I won’t deny the good that social media has done for my career and even socially. I have met several of my best artist friends over Instagram.

The more I used social media the more it breed discontentment in me, “Gah I didn’t get that gig that that gal got!” “Ugh, he has more followers than me.” “She’s always hanging with the cool creatives…” and so on.

Social Media has always been about the highlight reel. Obviously, because who would want to watch a lowlight reel? But the result is the false idea that everyone else has it all figured out and is living a great life. That you are missing out on that perfect life. Enter FOMO.

But I want to make the case that calling it “Fear Of Missing Out” is really just to make more palatable what we are really feeling: Envy.

Envy is a feeling of discontent and resentment aroused by and in conjunction with desire for the possessions or qualities of another.

At the Eisner Awards last month, I felt discontent that I was not nominated. But then I realized envy was robbing me of the joy of celebrating my colleagues and friends who were nominated. If I let envy rule the day, I won’t become a better man or artist; instead, I will slowly waste away to a resentful husk.

Envy is a deadly sin for a reason.

So, how is this newsletter any different from social media envy? I’m not sure. I hope that it feels like more of a project log than a highlight reel and showcases the ups and downs. I can’t control how you feel reading it, but I hope it leans more inspiring than enviable.

SDCC RECAP

I flew in to San Diego early on Wednesday. I had nothing much to do that day, so I went to the San Diego Zoo to kill time, and I heard that they have a duck-billed platypus. Turns out, they don’t; their sister location 30 miles away has the platypus. But I still had fun parousing the beautiful menagerie.

Thursday I had signings all day long at the 247 Comics Powered by Tokyopop booth. The first book I signed I promptly smudged, so it became my test cover to see which markers worked. In the evening I went to a party with PSA, did a little doodle on their collaboration wall, and promptly forgot to take any pictures.

Friday was my free day. I got to wander the hall and buy a few books. I said hi to some creators and went to a few panels. I learned that I don’t particularly like attending shows. I would much prefer to be behind my table selling books and working on commissions. In the evening I attended the Eisners. My buddy Jesse Lonergan won best Graphic Album for Drome. Jesse is, I think, the best living Sequential artist. What he does with the medium is truly incredible.

Saturday I had one signing. This was my best attended because the word about Cyber League had started to spread. In the evening I was invited to a pizza party that featured some Marvel relic recreations by a jewelry company that uses real gemstones. This Eye of Agamoto is appraised at around $300k; it was wild. From there I went to the Bad Idea after party, and I got to meet some more industry people. I learned that I am particularly bad at starting a conversation, but once started, I tend to roll with the punches quite well.

Sunday I had breakfast with a friend. It was great to talk comics and catch up. Then I just had to kill time till my flight at 10 pm so I walked the pier.

I arrived home Monday morning at 5 am local time. Ate breakfast and went to bed. I woke around lunch and spent the rest of my day with my family.

Big takeaways

• Too Big: I prefer the middle-to-small shows. This show was so big, it was easy to get lost in the mix. I found myself not wanting to slow the press of traffic to look at a table with art I liked.

• Collectors, not Fans: Lots of attendees were just there to buy one of the limited print run of something to flip it on eBay, not fans excited for a story and wanting to support the arts.

• Shmooze-fest: Everyone was clout-chasing, name-dropping, and schmoozing. I even found myself doing it. Now some of this might be a product of so many influential industry people in the same space, but still I felt a little icky at the end of it all.

• Camaraderie: On the positive side. It was great to hang out with the 247 Comics team and build some camaraderie. This was the first time I met some of them, and it was really great for our relationships to spend 4 intense days together.

Here is my haul from the show. I only bought 8 of these, the rest were giveaways or gifts.

Project: REVOLUTION

I was painting every page as I went, but I decided to just Ink the whole book first and then go back and paint it in one go. Since watercolor requires so much drying time, it will help to have multiple pages that I can work on at a time. I have inked 75/80 pages and painted 6/80

Here is a double page spread that I am really happy with even before it is colored.

BABY #4

My wife is due in two weeks. I will take a week off after the baby comes to be with my family and help transition us to our new life of four kids. I can’t wait to meet this little tyke!

DRAGON CON

Labor Day weekend is next month, and DragonCon is celebrating its 40th anniversary! We don’t have table numbers yet, so look for an extra post sometime near the end of the month with more details.

MAS

Metro Academic Studies is a Homeschool Co-op here in Atlanta, GA where I have been teaching art for the past 8 years. I have a rotating set of class offerings, and this year I get to teach Comics again to 6-12th graders. I love this class and can’t wait to see what my students come up with.

Project: LOCUST

This is a graphic novel that I will start working on in September. It is another historical project; more details to come. I think I have shared this test page for the book before, but here it is again.

WATCH: Wonder Man

This was a one-season spotlight show on Disney+. I really liked this show. it showcased a lot of the angst I feel about “making it” in the arts. I like how it ended but could have done without the last 10 minutes. It end with a classic Marvel setup for future things but the main story was really solid and it stands as a strong single season.

READ: Speaker of the Dead

My wife is in four book clubs, and one of them was reading Speaker of the Dead by Orson Scott Card. I love Ender’s Game but had never read the sequel, so I decided to jump on the train. It is very different from Ender’s Game, much more philosophical. It asks questions about what it means to be human, cultural differences, and empathy. Great book. We did agree at book club that the cover art is nonsensical. It has no relation to the book, even if it is a beautiful illustration.

LISTEN: You’ll Be Alright, Kid

I love the album artwork for this. It feels like looking up at the clouds and thinking about your life.

PLAY: Oregon Trail, Ultimate Trek: the Card Game

I got this for my birthday. It is a fun resource-management cooperative game that I played wrong the first time, but then I realized my mistake and played it with my son last weekend. We literally made it to the last square, and our oxen died, so we failed. Gah! So frustrating, but still fun

Just to close it out, here is a drawing from my sketchbook from photo reference.

Cheers,

&

The Beat, Bleeding Cool, SDCC Unofficial Blog, Smash Pages, AIPT

Most of them are the same, but The Beat article has the best breakdown of all the cool stuff that will be at the 247 Comics booth, including a collectible card chase around the con. For this newsletter though, I’ll focus on my part…

I will have exclusive Ashcans of Cyber League Baseball with cover art by Manix! Its first official printing. We will have a regular and a foil variant.

I’m also bringing the original pages for sale. I have already sold two pages to a local comic shop, but this will be the first public opportunity to buy a page from the book before it pops!

And I will have some free stickers and other cool merch.

*Updated*

I will be at the 247 Comics powered by TOKYOPOP booth #1837. Here is my Signing Schedule for the weekend:

Thursday, July 23

11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Anderson Carman (Cyber League Baseball) & Brian Buccellato (Sons of the Devil)

2-3:30 p.m.
Anderson Carman (Cyber League Baseball) & Sean Chen (Evermind)

4-5:30 p.m.
Anderson Carman & MANIX (Cyber League Baseball)

Saturday, July 25

11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Anderson Carman & MANIX (Cyber League Baseball)

Between signings, I’ll be doing commissions, but I will only take 8 commissions at the show. If you will be at the show and want to pick up a commission, order it now by emailing me to lock in your spot. Here are my rates and examples for the show:

Carl (publisher) and Terry (Editor) had some great things to say about me in a little interview we did on the 247 YouTube channel.

I hope to see you at SDCC. This is my first time at the show, and it’s gonna be pretty crazy! I can’t wait to meet everybody and actually walk the show floor for a bit!

Will you be at the show? Lemme know and definitely say hi!

Cheers,

&

Happy 250th Birthday, United States of America!

I am so thrilled to call this nation home. The freedom to pursue my artistic career, to raise a family in safety, and to have hope in a secure future is a true joy.

Since I have little kids, I’ll likely miss most of the excessive fireworks displays, but here’s a toast to this great country I call home.

HEROESCON RECAP

Here is my haul from the show.

1. Convention Program

2. Power Puff Girls: got to meet the cover artist

3. Sunder by P.A. Comtois: He is a fantastic illustrator; he loves to hatch!

4. Underwinter by Ray Fawkes: I was sitting next to him. His watercolors are amazing! He actually wrote the Fantomah book that I colored that will probably never see the light of day because the publisher stiffed us all. (I’m not bitter)

5. UltraMega by James Harren: I already had these books, but I got to meet James Harren and get them signed. He was so kind. And we got to hang out and chat at the afterparty for a bit.

6. CMYK: this is an anthology by some recent SCAD grads. I particularly liked the Yolk story by Abimael Hernandez.

7. The Lone Ranger, Last Ride: this is by my friend Jon Pinto. I was inspired by his art on Facebook back in the days before Instagram. He is an incredible character designer, and he’s making his own comic now!

8. Lightspeed Delivery, written by Colby McHugh: I worked on a zine with him a year ago, and we have kept in touch. Cool guy and silly comic.

9. Original art drawing by Tommy Lee Edwards: I was eyeing this piece all weekend, and when I was ready to buy, it was already gone. I was disappointed, but as I was leaving, James Harren handed it to me. My jaw was on the floor. Turns out my other buddy Keith bought it and knew my mind would blow if my idol, Harren, handed it to me.

Here are the commissions I did at the show

Including this one I had to ship afterwards to Newell. He collects exclusively Stringray commissions. You can watch his live unboxing reaction on his YouTube.

FAMILY WEDDING

I had a family wedding in D.C. last weekend, and we had the pleasure of being hosted at the Supreme Court of the United States for the rehearsal dinner! They said we couldn’t share pictures, but they didn’t say anything about drawings… Here is a sketch of a bust of John Jay, our first Chief Justice.

And the record of it in my sketch journal. My wife and I standing in front of the courtroom itself.

Politics aside. It was an honor to walk the halls where our nation argues its most important debates. Especially in the 250th year. Truly an incredible experience.

PROJECT: Revolution

Pencils are locked! That means that I can jump right into painting it. I have wanted to paint this book for three reasons.

1. I feel that the grunge of the watercolors will add to the story itself, which is dirty and messy.

2. I think it will actually be faster because I won’t have to scan inks and then mull over the colors digitally. It’s just right there, and it’s done.

3. I want to push myself. I haven’t done something “new” for a comic besides various rendering techniques, and I think this will help me grow tremendously.

With all that in mind, I am terrified to start. I’m sure I’m going to mess it up and have to redraw pages, but I have to just start. Here is a spread in progress.

Peek Behind the Curtain:

I started with page 4 because pages 1-3 are a dream sequence and I want those to be the best, so I’m going to paint those last once I have made all my mistakes and learned my lessons.

Last thing on this project: Cover thumbnails!

Which is your favorite?

Leave a comment

I want to include the Stars and Stripes in the design, and I am heavily inspired by this painting by the great American landscape painter, Frederic Edwin Church:

SKETCHBOOK

I’m starting to get back into a rhythm with my sketchbook. A buddy of mine at Heroes told me that he’s planning to draw for the first hour of his day before touching his phone. I took him up, and we text each other sketches after that hour to hold each other accountable. It’s been really helpful and inspiring to see his work too.

SAN DIEGO COMIC CON INTERNATIONAL!

I’m going to the biggest comic convention in the nation. The OG, SDCC! 247 Comics is publishing Cyber League Baseball this Fall in their 247 Comics Presents/Spotlight anthology, and we are launching the book at SDCC with exclusive covers by several awesome, heavy-hitting artists.

The show is July 23-26 at the San Diego Convention Center, and we will be at Booth 1837. The show hasn’t released a floor map yet, so stay tuned for more details. I’ll put out a special newsletter with a full schedule and exclusives in the next week or so.

Additionally, you can follow the publisher on their Substack here.

I also got a cool write-up in Arts Atlanta. The interviewer, Sally, came over, toured my studio, and asked questions about my process and work ethic. It was a fun time!

WATCH: World Cup 2026

USA is in it to win it! I’ve really been loving following the World Cup. I used to say that I don’t care to watch soccer, but after sitting through several games, man, this is a beautiful game.

READ: The Thirty-First of June by J.B. Priestley

Welp, it’s happened again; I’m behind and haven’t finished this book. But I am loving it! I keep wanting to save the book, and then lo and behold the month is gone. I’ll finish soon I swear!

LISTEN: Des Rocs

Used to the Darkness is a banger. Bonus: the Let the Vultures In album artwork is done by the incredibly talented Nick Pyle

PLAY: Pass the Pigs

This is a classic “Push your Luck” style game. Different pig positions have different points. Do y’all have any house rules for this one? For me, if they stack nose to nose vertically, you win, plain and simple.

I get these questions constantly from friends and fans at shows. But never colleagues. Because they already know the answer. So, here it is, free for all:

We don’t know.

No one knows. The ancient Greeks told stories of the muses, goddesses who touched mortals with higher knowledge. Christianity teaches of the Holy Spirit delivering divine inspiration to the saints. Freud cornered it in the inner psyche of the Artist’s mind. Locke described it as a hall with ideas resonating and associating till they bring forth creativity.

A 2016 Study by Takeshi Okada and Kentaro Ishibashi published in Cognitive Science conducted studies on creative ideation and inspiration. In brief, what they found was that exposure to alternative art styles was most conducive to future creativity.

This makes sense to me. Imagine you lived in a world where the only art that existed was paintings my Marc Rothko.

If all art everywhere were mere blocks of color. You would never consider the detail and grandiosity of the School of Athens as an artistic possibility.

This was why ancient art all looks the same only and slowly, slowly fanned out into different styles. The diversity of thought, ideology, and technique grew.

Herein lies the error of Generative A.I. It is taught to create something that is most like the prompt. But as a human, it is our freedom, our liberty, our great pleasure, to be able to think outside of that box and to create something different.

This leads to my conclusion: Diversity is the key to inspiration.

My challenge to you this month is to experience something that you are categorically not interested in. I’m not saying do drugs or go skydiving. I’m saying read fantasy even though you prefer self-help. Watch soccer even though you prefer baseball. Listen to Jazz even if you prefer Rock. Play Scrabble even though you prefer Catan. You might just get inspired.

Cheers,

&

BASEBALL FIGURES

I was trying to figure out what I wanted to submit to the HeroesCon 2026 Art Auction and I kept bouncing around with varrious characters and realized that I needed to stay in my lane. So behold! Gambit as a Submarine Pitcher!

BRANCHING PERSPECTIVES

I was so bad at taking pictures at my art opening, but it was a great show, I have sold 5 pieces. Here are some process shots for the centerpiece.

MOMOCON

Momo was great. I had several panels. The panel on “making your own comic” was standing room only with about 200 attendees. thanks to everyone for coming out and all the great questions!

Here are my commissions from the show. Looks like it was a black and white show, only one color painting.

I loved the show. I got to hang with some of my favorite people and play Magic: The Gathering. A perfect weekend.

WAITING

I had all my deadlines right before Momo and so now I am waiting.

One project kicks off on the 12th, another not until the 17th, so right now I am packing in the writing and sketchbook work to be ready for when the summer hits.

HEROESCON

I am so excited for this show! My ultimate comics inspiration, James Harren will be at the show. I hope I get a chance to meet him again and thank him for all his inspiration.

I’d love to take some preshow commissions! Please hit me up via DM or email.

Along with the Gambit pitcher, I plan to have an array of comic characters as baseball players available. This is my new thing.

SDCC

I wish I had more Cyber League news, but it all has to wait for SDCC in July. I do have a limited number of Hats at my booth at HeroesCon. We just went art lock and sent files to the printer. I just got my flight info. I’m so excited.

WATCH: Survivor

I didn’t watch a single movie all month. I usually watch at least one. I was busier than I thought. Anyway, my wife and I are casual Survivor fans and we just watched the season finale of Season 50. I don’t care for much reality TV because of the Hawthorne effect, but I do enjoy a competition show and Survivor is the GOAT in that respect.

READ: Devil May Care

This is a 007 novel. I have never read one before and this one was great. Plenty of twists and turns, an iconic villain, henchman, and evil plot. This is one I could definetly see them making into a movie, very thrilling.

LISTEN: SPAMALOT

On family vacation, we were celebrating my in-laws 50th anniversary and we had a funny karaoke night. “The Song that Goes Like This” was my favorite.

PLAY: Crossword

This week, the NYT Crossword was free. As a freeloader, I usually only do the Wordle, but I sat down Monday evening to do the crossword and was reading hints to my wife while she puttered before bed. We made pretty quick work of it, and honestly, we crushed it. I felt really smart. We made a habit of it this week and it’s be a fun end of day wind down activity.

I was nominated for an Eisner!

But not for the project I was hoping for. Hope Never to See It was not nominated, which is a bummer, but not surprising because it was pretty limited in its release and was likely lost in the wash.

Stardust the Super Wizard was nominated for Best Anthology! I colored a short story in the middle, drawn by my buddy, Keith. The way that Anthologies work is that the editor is officially nominated. But still! I worked on an Eisner-nominated book! How exciting!

I went on vacation and unplugged from the world. When I returned, I learned that the nomination had been rescinded.

Turns out, one of the contributors used A.I. to generate his one-page script and art. In the book, page 106 was generated by a Large Language Model (AKA A.I.), but importantly, the next page makes reference that 106 was clearly made by A.I. (It is a very meta book) and is inferior to anything created by a human. It’s satire.

There is technically no rule against A.I. in the Eisner’s submission, but the outcry was loud and a rule was added for the future. Van Jensen, the nominated editor, withdrew the book from consideration, and the Eisner judges made it official.

You can read more about the story HERE from Publisher’s Weekly

There you have it, I am officially unnominated for my first Eisner.

Now, it was an anthology. I wasn’t the editor. I only colored 8 pages of an 180-page book. This is not about me. Dozens of artists were robbed of the chance at the limelight by a single page made by A.I.

“Well, looks like A.I. is coming for your job after all. Are you worried?”

“Nope.”

Just like in the book.

Even tho I would love the accolades, mostly for the wider audience it would provide, I’m not in this business for the fame, awards, or recognition. If I were chasing those vices, I would download TikTok and sell my soul for followers and views. Thus, my abandonment of social media- but that’s a rant for another day.

No, I’m in this vocation to tell stories. Right now, I have avid fans in my children, wife, and extended family. Maybe a few dozen superfans, and 1000 or so people who would recognize my name. I have to be patient while my career builds and trust that the right people will hear my stories at the right time.

Thanks to all who submitted me for a Ringo, we will see if that pans out. In the meantime, I hope you are reading good books, enjoying fun comics, and living full lives.

Cheers,

&

I’ve been working on this for a long time.

I built a Soda Tab mail shirt for my son. We went to the Atlanta Renaissance Fair last month, and I had to deck my boy out. He felt like a million bucks. A few tabs were falling off by the end of the day but all in all it was a great success.

NAUTS

I finished Nauts #2 I am hoping to have copies back from the printer in time for MomoCon at the end of this month.

CYBER LEAGUE BASEBALL

I finished uploading through inning 2 of the story to webtoons. You can still read it for free here. I have to catch up on some other work, but I will publish more later this year.

RINGO AWARDS

It’s Campaigning Time! The Ringo Awards are an annual comic award that celebrate excellence in the craft, and I need your help to get a nomination.

The Ringo Awards have made it a little involved to nominate; you have to submit your email and receive a verification email to start, but I hope you will take 5 minutes and do this for me.

Here’s the Link

And here are the categories and work to nominate.

• Best Original Graphic Novel: Hope Never to See It - Andrew Fialka (w) Anderson Carman(a)

• Best Webcomic: Cyber League Baseball: The Naturals - Anderson Carman

• Best Non-Fiction Comic Work: Hope Never to See It - Andrew Fialka (w) Anderson Carman(a)

• Favorite New Talent (Format: Name - Work(s) for which they are nominated): Anderson Carman - Hope Never to See It, Cyber League Baseball: The Naturals

• Best Anthology: Stardust the Super Wizard - Van Jensen (editor)

The goal with this award is to get Hope Never to See It to a bigger audience. There are only a few true non-fiction comics, and I hope this book can help grow that genre.

You can leave the rest of the ballot blank, but please do nominate any other cool comics you read this year!

PROJECT: Revolution!

My wife is currently out of town with the kids to give me a work retreat at home alone. I have a deadline fast approaching to complete the pencils before MomoCon. I also have an art show, whew, my time is scant right now.

Anywho… I have to do at least 2 pages a day to meet my deadline, and that is with zero margin. Yesterday I did 5.5 pages. Today I have a similar goal.

Another cool thing! This project is based on a memoir, and we have some handwritten letters from the historical figure. So, I built a typeface based on his handwriting! I’d love to make a video about how I made this after I reach my deadlines.

GALLERY SHOW

Next Friday, May 15th, from 7-9pm is the opening reception of my gallery show here in Atlanta, GA. I would love to see you and share my work with you. See you there!

BRANCHING PERSPECTIVES

Gallery 1740
1740 Peachtree St. NW
Atlanta, GA 30309

CONS

My first Con of the year is at the end of this month, MOMOcon!

I have comics for kids like Nauts, MechWest, and Stan

Comics for Adults: Operative Auger, Old Man Windu, and Hope Never to See It

Commissions, Prints, and some new merch (if it arrives in time…)

I also have a busy panel schedule.

Future shows:

• HeroesCON - Charlotte, NC - June 12-14 - Details Here

• SDCC - San Deigo, CA - July 23-26 - Details Here

• DragonCON - Atlanta, GA - September 3-7 - Details Here

WATCH: Steve McQueen 1999 Spring Collection

Not sutible for all ages. I have taken a keen interest in fashion recently. I have been watching old fashion runways for character design inspiration as well as the general value of exposing myself to varrious art forms.

LISTEN: The Struts

This band is the core of my newest “Get After It” playlist that I am building. They have that classic Rock and Roll sound and I get so amped listening to them, I could accomplish anything!

READ: Analog: April 1984

I was really looking forward to reviewing this anthology as my April selection because I was being cheeky with the selection. But, look. I don’t have time to read. I want to make time, but I haven’t yet. My problem lies in the fact that I most often read at the end of the day to go to bed. But I have been working such long hours that the end of the day is reserved for family and spouse time. As a result, I have read a paltry 30 pages over the last month from this objectively cool anthology. I haven’t even finished the first novella. I hope to reconfigure my life so that next month I have a solid book review for you.

PLAY: Flags

I want to improve my knowledge of world flags. Mostly as a memory/recall exercise, so I downloaded a flag quiz app (It’s literally called, Flags quiz) I have become familiar with Oceania and most of the Americas. Next is either Asia or Europe. My favorite flag so far is Kiribati

Yesterday was a big workday.

I started with a few hours finishing up pieces for my gallery show. Then I finished up the half page of penciling I hadn’t completed the day before. I reached my minimum goal of two pages before noon. But it is a work weekend, so I knew I would blaze past my minimum, so I went for double. I got to four pages by 3:00 pm. “There are still two hours in the work day…” I thought, let’s see what is possible. By 6:30 pm (an hour and a half past quitting time), I had made it to five and a half pages for the day. I ate my dinner, Had a video call with some writing friends to critique each other’s work and then a little gallery work before slinking off to bed by 10:00 pm

No lesiure.

But I really loved it. Maybe I am a glutton for punishment, but truly, I loved working all day and I created some truly fun pieces that I can’t wait to share with the world.

I look at how productive I was yesterday without my family here, and I see the allure of a life without “distractions.” I penciled almost triple my goals as well as some ancillary work. I feel rested this morning and ready to do it again! Why did I pin myself down and make life harder by having a wife and four kids on a comic artist's wage?

St. Valentine has many accounts of his life that are unconfirmed, but one that I have heard was that he was imprisoned for marrying Christians under Roman Emperor Claudius.

The Emperor didn’t like this because he thought that the husbands would not want to go to war for him as soldiers now that they were married. Valentine gave his retort, “But now they have something to fight for.”

I have a reason to get out of bed. In fact, I have five.

My family depends on me. Yes, it means long hours. Yes, it means intense deadlines and project timelines. Yes, it means delicately balancing the budget month to month. (Future Rant on this…)

But at the end of the day, I love the scamper of tiny feet coming to call me to dinner. My eldest telling me about the new book he just learned to read. A twirl from my youngest in her tutu, princess crown, and arm full of bracelets. The desperate, squeezing hug from my youngest. And the adoring smile from my wife.

That’s all I need. I hope you find that. I hope that when you wake up in the morning and stare at the back of your eyelids, groaning at the grind, that you have someone, something, that makes you smile and leap out of bed to go to war for.

Cheers,

&

Instead of visual art, here is a poem.

I don’t know what I want to do
Should I draw up something new?
Something fresh that fills the need
Something fresh to fill the feed
Something to appease the crowd
No one asked, and yet it’s loud
If there’s no art, they might just leave-

huh.

Then, I might have a full reprieve?

I know now what I want to do
I will wonder how about you?

FanCon 2026

I was down in Dublin, GA for a one-day show, look ma! I’m on a library poster! It was a fun time. I gave a keynote about my process. It was great to see a small town rally for an event this niche. The big shows are fun for the sales and networking, but little shows like this just feel like a chill halloween party in March.

The winner of the raffle is: Dave W.

Send me a DM or email reply with your mailing address and I’ll send that original King Kong drawing to you in the mail.

NAUTS

I am in the midst of inking this book, and I am really loving it. So silly and quirky. Here is a panel I really love.

PROJECT: Revolution

I just finished thumbnailing the 80-page book. Now on to penciling. I have a pretty tight deadline for this project, so I am trying to clear my plate of other projects so that I can focus on this full time.

GALLERY SHOW

I have a gallery show coming up on May 15th at Gallery 1740 in Atlanta, GA

The show will be in conjunction with fellow artist, Kathy Stair. The theme is ‘Organic.’ Here is a preview of one of my pieces that will be in the show, the leaves are gold.

CONS

I added MomoCon since the last newsletter. I hope to see you on the road!

• MomoCON - Atlanta, GA - May 21-24 - Details Here

• HeroesCON - Charlotte, NC - June 12-14 - Details Here

• SDCC - San Deigo, CA - July 23-26 - Details Here

• DragonCON - Atlanta, GA - September 3-7 - Details Here

READ: Middlemarch

I did it! I made it through this behemoth in the Month alloted. I did listen to a large chunk on some long road trips, but I was locked in. I love the writing of George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans). I particularly enjoied chapters 18-22 as they describe the mind of an artist and artistic expression quite well. The final line of the book rocked me.

This statement runs completely counter to our culture of a life lived in the spotlight, live-streaming 24/7, and incessant social media interactions. I know that a monthly newsletter isn’t exactly hidden, but I feel inspired now to take conscious steps on the path of that noble hidden life.

LISTEN: Classical music y’all!

It warms my soul. I have had quite a bit of writing and deep work recently that has required non-lyrical music, and the classics have been sweet honey to my ears.

WATCH: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Whew, that’s a long title. This movie came out in 2007. I had the privilage of going to see it at my alma mater SCAD for a special screening with a panel discussion by Cinematographer Roger Deakins and his wife James. The movie was fantastic. Beautifully shot, edited, and written. But one thing got me. In the intro, Jesse is described as having an eye condition that caused him to blink excessively. But in the movie… Brad Pitt. barely. blinked. once. Really bothered me. But once I got over that, I was able to enjoy everything else about it.

PLAY: Mastermind

It’s like wordle but with colors. My wife and I sat up late in bed the other night playing each other. It’s a simple logic game where you attempt to create the same color combination as the codemaker in 10 or fewer attempts. The codemaker then places pegs, black for correct, white for correct color but wrong placement, and no peg for completely wrong. Fun and Chill.

I had a list of AI rants, but I’m kinda tired of the subject, so I’m gonna talk about something that has popped up multiple times this last week.

If it doesn’t work in Black and White, it won’t get better in color.

Should probably switch segments for this…

At the show in Dublin, One of the attendees came to my table afterwards and asked me to take a look at some of her art for feedback.

The first thing I noticed was that the values were all muddy and the compositions had no clear light source. I didn’t get a screen cap of her work, and I wouldn’t want to put her on blast, so I can’t show her work as an example. In lieu of that, here is a drawing I did 14 years ago that has a similar problem.

Honestly, there are so many problems with this, I almost don’t know where to begin, so let’s start with the value.

It actually deceptively looks a little better in B/W. It is a dark value on a lighter value, which helps separate it from the background. But the real problem is in the rendering.

In the Character Design and Comics classes that I teach, my assignments are always black and white, and my students always ask, “Can I color it?” My standard reply is, “No. You can color it on your own time later, after the assignment, if you want.” And if they follow instruction, then the project will be good in black and white and therefore easy to add color to.

So, back to Beastie Boy here, the problem is that all the “Shading” sits in the middle values. There is no contrast; let’s boost the contrast to show the rendering more easily.

Now that the lighting is exagerated we can see that there is no clearly defined light source. The shadow on the ground would indicate a strong shadow from above, but if that were the case, then the shadows would look like this on the right.

Now, really, I should have started with the structural anatomy problems, because as I started to render out the shapes according to the light source, I realized that the figure is just fundamentally broken.

In an effort to show you a holistic breakdown, I have redrawn the figure with better contours and anatomy. Really, this accentuates my broader point with this rant to artists, particularly students learning the craft: Don’t polish a turd!

If it’s broken, have the humility and perseverance to restart. Now, this example that I am working on is old. 14 years old, I didn’t know what I know now. I remember drawing it and thinking, “It’s not quite right, but it’s the best I can do.” Now, I can do much better, and I’m obliged to.

Now the cool thing is that I can just throw some flat color on this more structurally sound black-and-white drawing and badda bing badda boom! Without any additional rendering, it looks far superior to the original.

If it doesn’t work in black and white, adding color won’t fix it.

If you have to start over, that’s okay.

If it’s a turd, flush it.

Leave a comment

Cheers,

&

We are expecting baby number four! The baby is already bigger than an orange, but we affectionately call the baby “Baby Orange” because that’s how big he/she was when we told our other kids.

Arriving mid-August! Leave your praise and best wishes for my wife in the comments; she’s the real hero. She’s literally making a person.

Leave a comment

CLB Inning 2

I just finished the art for Cyber League Baseball Inning 2. in total that puts be at about 60 pages of story. I’ll continue to post the pages to Webtoon HERE

In addition to the title being updated i have updated the inworld CLB logo

I had a marketing meeting for the print launch this fall and I can’t wait to share more goodies with you all soon. In the meantime I will start thumbnailing out Inning 3 and I hope to start publishing those pages late summer.

NAUTS #2

I just finished the pencils for this project. I will now commence with inking.

Project: REVOLUTION

I have thumbnailed Act 1 of 3 and I just met with the writer about the first draft of Act 2 I will start thumbnailing this week.

ORGANIC SERIES

The show is fast approaching and I have made little progress last month so I am planning to buckle down and make some pieces this month.

CONS

I will be pretty sparse on the shows this year, but here are the ones that I have on the schedule. I hope to see you out there!

• FanCON - Dublin, GA - March 28 - Details Here

• HeroesCON - Charlotte, NC - June 12-14 - Details Here

• SDCC - San Deigo, CA - July 23-26 - Details Here

• DragonCON - Atlanta, GA - September 3-7 - Details Here

WATCH: Miracle

The USA Hockey team just won Gold against Canada in the 2026 Olympics 46 years to the day of their last Gold against the Soviets. Miracle is a great sports movie, but more than that it is a great movie about brotherhood and general teamwork. It’s a huge inspiration for CLB as I am trying to write inspirational speeches.

READ: The Towers of February

Okay, so this is why the newsletter is late. I really wanted to finish this but had to admit defeat and put out the newsletter. I found this book and was really excited to read it, but I could only find it on eBook. But I hate reading ebooks. So it has been very slow going. It’s super short, only 200 pages. I am about halfway and loving it but I have not finished.

LISTEN: Triplets of Belleville

Great movie and fun soundtrack. I found the Soundtrack on CD at a record shop and now my kids are listening to it on repeat. Side Note: if you have kids, get a CD player. It’s so great beacuse it gives them agency to pick music, but you as the parent don’t have to stress about ads, or explicit content online. Most of our disc collection is showtunes and disney soundtracks.

PLAY: Tournament at Avalon

We hosted a game night with family recently, and I played this game with my niece, nephews, and brother-in-law. The game is a trick-taking card game where each trick is a combat and if you take it you take it as damage. When someone dies, the knight with the highest hit points wins. Throw in some merlins, godsends and trickery and this makes for a fun game. I particularly like the extra long cards.

An excerpt from my life: Playing in the mud.

Friday afternoon, 5 o’clock, and it was time for me to leave my home studio and enter family life. I walked into the play room and was greeted by my 1 year old, “Da-Dee!” his little legs pumping fast, and his arms stretching to wrap around me, though they barely met around my neck. My 3-year-old daughter was entranced by the book she was parousing, and my 5-year-old eldest son was preparing a surprise attack on my legs. He tackled me and I dramatically tumbled to the ground, writhing around with my two boys while my wife looked on with satisfaction and contentment. V, the eldest, asked if he could go play outside. “What a great idea,” my wife encouraged, and he bolted out the back door. His younger brother, nicknamed ‘Pudge’, animatedly followed after. Their sister could not be bothered. I was tired. My mind was still on my work. I have a pressing deadline and it would be better if I just went back into my studio…

I stood in the kitchen asking Laura what the dinner plan was and I peeked out the window. There were my two sons knee deep in the mud from the recent rain.

I froze. The grump in my soul yelled in my mind, “Ugh, that’s gonna take forever to wash off! I’m so tired. I just want to eat dinner and get these kids to bed so that I can lie down and relax. How are we even gonna get them cleaned off? They’ll stain the carpet for sure. No way, they aren’t tracking some of that dirt inside. Gah, then I’ll have to stay up later cleaning-”

But then, a joyful voice slipped into my cerebal soup, “Looks like fun…”

I knew if I hesitated, the moment would pass. I threw off my shirt and socks and sprang into the back yard. My feet squelch, squelched into the thick mud. The minerals caked my ankles. We sank our hands into the mire, making brown gloves for our hands out of the earth. We shook our hands and sprayed each other with brown rain. We laughed.

A few minutes later, my neighbor casually walked over and we discussed what crops we planned to plant in our little gardens this year. Shortly after, my wife and daughter came out in old clothes to join us. We threw mud at each other, giggled, and danced.

It did take a while to clean up, and there might be a stain on the carpet. But it was worth it.

Cheers,

&

I want to use some Gold Leaf in my organic series. Here I am testing it out. The edge isn’t as crisp as I want, so i still need to do some testing…

THE DANG MOUNTAIN TOP

Shameless plug for my other Substack with artist Keith Browning. The Dang Mountaintop is a blog where we challenge each other to do the coolest illustration based on a monthly theme, last month was Bicycle. I just asked another buddy and he might be joining also… Okay, I won’t mention it again, subscribe or don’t.

The Dang Mountain Top

NAUTS #2

I am back at it with Mike making another installment in the Nauts franchise. Nauts #2: Stowaway. We just finished the thumbnail stage. Here is a sequence I am excited to draw.

Project: REVOLUTION

New project siren! I got contacted by a prestigious historical press to work on a graphic novel adaptation of a book about the Revolutionary War. The year of course is fitting, we doubt it will come out this year, but if I put my nose to the grindstone, maybe it will be out in time for Christmas? Here are some character designs.

CINTIQ

Okay… so I mentioned that it was acting all funny… well, I replaced a cord, and it acted fine for about 2 weeks, and then the issue started happening again. So I replaced one more cord, and now it appears to be fine? I’ll give another update if it reverts to its glitchy ways.

CLB

You guys are not ready! I got a legend to do a cover for the book. I rebranded the logo. Here is the new CLB logo for the print edition:

I have finished coloring all the pages for the first print run coming this summer, and I just finished penciling issue 2. I plan to continue posting pages to Webtoon next week, just in time for MLB spring training.

WATCH: Wake up Dead Man

I am a Christian and was a little nervous about watching this and just grimacing through two hours of bible-bashing, mocking “blind faith”, and an emphasis on hypocrisy as if that were the preferred outcome of a Christian worldview. Instead, this movie presents a balanced critique and defense of Christianity. Apparently, the director, Rian Johnson, was raised Christian and left the faith, and this film is him kinda processing all that and struggling with questions of faith. At the core, the movie is a whodunit, and it delivers on that front with some wonderful twists and turns. I did clock the perpetrator pretty early, but it was still a great ride.

READ: The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

Okay, so this year I have decided on a silly reading theme. I plan to read 12 books, one a month, and here is the kicker: Each must have the name of the month I read them in the title. January was a treat because not only was January in the title, it is the first name of the main character and, wildly, the name of the audiobook narrator. (I did listen to this one)

tTTDoJ is a thrilling coming-of-age story. It’s hard to say if it is more science fiction or fantasy. Harrow does a great job of placing the reader in history and the world(s) she builds feel real and lived in. I don’t understand the main villain’s motivation. I would sum it up to madness, but that doesn’t quite work either. Other than a slightly weak villain, I loved the journey and definitely recommend this fantastical read.

LISTEN: Cartographer: Grief Keys

I am honestly very biased, this is a friend’s musical group, and i did the album artwork. It is wonderfully atmospheric and choral while also having some wicked riffs and drumlines. I listen to it while I write often.

PLAY: Azul

Another Christmas gift, what I love about this game is that it is fairly low-key, and you can come back from behind pretty dramatically. It has tons of tactile pieces, which are really fun to play with. The scoring is a little tricky, but once you get it, it flows.

All about me.

I have started writing a memoir.

I truly don’t think anyone under 45 should publish a memoir because, my goodness, what could you possibly know or have experienced that is worth sharing? I’m 32, and I know I’m an idiot. But I have decided to start writing it all the same.

I have found myself in several memory loops where I think of one childhood memory, and it jogs another, and I hope not to lose any of them, so really it’s just me jotting everything down while it’s 20 years fresh instead of 40 years old.

One of my favorite autobiographies is Tick, Tick… Boom! by Jonathan Larson. In truth, I never saw the original musical; I was first introduced to it by the 2021 film of the same name. It breaks my rule by being a specifically pre-30th birthday autobiography, but that is really the reason I have decided to start writing mine now. I want to capture my naive 30-year-old idiocy while I am in it, not projecting from an older mindset.

I am currently working on a graphic novel adaptation of a soldier’s memoir (Project: Revolution), but that one was written by the author as an elderly retired veteran, not whilst in the trenches. I want to write while in the trenches.

One way that I have already been writing in the trenches is my daily sketch journal.

I don’t think I have shared much about this Today’s Sketchy, but over the last 12 years, I have drawn a log of every day on a 4x6 piece of sketch paper. Here is my February 9th for the last 12 years.

You can see that some are very vague, and I have added more text and images over time for clarity. It has become a habit of daily life, the first thing I do in the morning. One great thing to come out of it is the honesty of my record-keeping. There were a few relationships that I recorded as the best thing since sliced bread, but later realized that I was looking through rose colored glasses. My journal captures the rose color. When I look at the drawings, I feel the innocence and joy that I did at that time, despite what I know now to be true.

Anyway, what’s the rant?

Write your story. There were several people close to me who passed away last year that I would give anything to go back and record an hour chatting with them, telling me stories. As much as legislation, politicians, power, and money all make things happen in society, stories are what truly shape the world. Stories make a difference.

Write what you know, and who do you know better than you? I would hate to miss out on the next Confessions, Anne Frank, Maus, On Writing, or Cheaper by the Dozen just because you didn’t take up a pen and tell the world a little about you.

Again, stop consuming. Create. Write your story.

Cheers,

&

For Christmas, my wife simply desires a portrait of our children; here is the rough.

2025 ARTIST WRAPPED

in lieu of sharing my Spotify Wrapped (Apparently I’m 56 years old), here is my Artwork from the year in review.

2 Book Tours

4 Comic Conventions

8 books published:

1. Nauts #1 Self-Published(Artist, Letterer, Book Designer)

2. Hope Never to See It UGA Press (Artist, Letterer, Book Designer)

3. Soccer Stars Penguin Random House (Artist, Colorist)

4. My First Day of Homeschool Apologia (Artist)

5. Operative Auger #1 Self-Published (Artist, Letterer, Book Designer)

6. Mech West #1 Anim School Comics (Artist, Colorist, Letterer, Book Designer)

7. Basketball Stars Penguin Random House (Artist)

8. Stardust the Super Wizard Zoop (Colorist)

My work was featured in The Civil War Monitor and Johns Creek City Lifestyle

25 pages added to Cyber League Baseball, and a Contract signed to move to print. (Read Here)

~90 total comic pages illustrated

EYE OF CHRONOS

Remember that one-page comic I shared last month? welp, it won the grand prize! A part of the grand prize is 3 years subscription to Clip Studio Pro. I do most of my digital drawing in Photoshop and Procreate. I have heard some great things about Clip Studio, however, I am nervous about getting comfortable using it over 3 years and then having to get that subscription instead. For context, Procreate is a one-time fee and I get Photoshop through one of my part-time jobs.

You can buy a perpetual license, so my plan is to try it out for 3 years, see if I like it and If I have to have it then I’ll look into a permanent license.

SKETCHBOOK #23

Another Sketchbook complete and full. I started my next one and not sure if I like it, might be a false start. I haven’t done a sketchbook tour video in a while, I hope to do one early next year.

CINTIQ

My cintiq is having power issues. I thought it waas the cable, but I just replaced that and I am still having the same issue. It will spontaneously shut off, but only for about 2 seconds. It is long enough to break my flow, infrequent, and without cause. the combinaton of these makes for an infuriating digital workflow.

I am terrified to open it up to diagnose further, but also nervous to take it to a tech. I’ve had it for almost 10 years so it’s prolly just old wiring, but these things are built like tanks so I’m hoping I can get it rolling again soon.

ON BREAK

I took a big break over the holidays, to the joy of my family and the shagrin of my artist brain. I am chomping at the bit to get back to work.

THE DANG MOUNTAIN TOP

This is a new blog I’m co-creating with my friend Keith. It’s a kind of monthly drawing challenge, more specifically drawing and process-oriented as opposed to the updates and rants here.

The Dang Mountain Top

Welcome to the Dang Mountain Top!

Heyo, Anderson here, just introducing the idea of this publication. My buddy Keith and I love drawing things and want to push each other to become even better artists, to reach the dang mountain top! Therefore, we are making this shared blog where we will pick a monthly prompt, and each try to make the best illustration possible…

Read more

8 months ago · Anderson Carman

GALLERY SHOW

I worked on the first piece in the series the other day. I am working to juxtapose organic and geometric forms. I’m thinking of calling the series “Fractals.” More to come.

WATCH: The Portable Door

I stumbled upon this little gem. It is produced by the Jim Henson Company which was sold me wthout watching a trailer. It’s got some dry british humor and feels like it’s made for kids even though the protagonist is early 20’s. It’s a fun whimsical adventure for the whole family.

LISTEN: Plantasia

I’m listening to it now as I write. It was already in my atmospheric synth playlist, but then a friend told me about Mort Garson and I decided to play whole albums. (you guys, bring back whole album listening, it’s very nice)

READ: A Christmas Carol

A classic for you, the language is so rich. My wife read it to our kids out loud this year and they loved it. It was also helpful when we watched Mickey’s Christmas Carol and they emphatically kept saying, “Don’t worry, Tiny Tim won’t die!” Thanks, kiddo.

PLAY: Quarto

I was recommended this from a podcast and gifted by my parents. Great game, simple fast, puzzling. It’s connect four but with four winning possibilities at all times. very fun.

Pantone’s color of 2026 was just announced:

Naturally, a lot of people had opinions about “white” being chosen. Many are talking about the similarity to stark asylum padded rooms, literal white-washing, and plain bleakness. I, however, had a different thought: White is not a color.

Before I go into that rant, however, it is worth noting that 11-4201 TCX is not actually white. The Pantone name is Cloud Dancer (Pretentious nonsense), but really it would best be described as a warm ultra light grey.

White is not a color… in subtractive color mixing. I have discussed the difference between additive and subtractive color mixing previously but here is a primer.

In additive color mixing, you add pigment to get white. In subtractive color mixing, you remove pigment to get white.

Additive color mixing occurs when a color is mixed with lights on a screen. When the screen is off, it is black. When all the pixels are lit up at full brightness, it will be white. So it could be argued in additive mixing that white is ALL color.

Subtractive color mixing is pigment mixing in the physical world. All paint colors added make black; if you leave the paper blank it stays white. Some people make a useless argument here that the paper could be a different color. To that I say, you cannot mix any paints to get white; you would have to subtract pigment to achieve white. That is the core mechanic. White is NO color.

So there you have it, Pantone is stupid right? They named white as their color of the year and white isn’t even a color! Wrong— kinda…

First off it is important to know what Pantone is. Pantone is a color-matching system for other companies to maintain consistent colors in their various products. Pantone sells books for thousands of dollars that are just full of colors, their code numbers, and arbitrary names so that a furniture manufacturer can clearly and objectively communicate with their fabric client what color they want their corduroy couch to be. In essence, Pantone sells continuity.

The color chosen is technically Off-White (white with just a whisper of pigment). They wrote an entire defense of their color of the year on their website here. They argue it is,

Sure. But it’s also just shy of literally no color. I understand the uproar. When you have millions of colors at hand and you choose off-white it seems hopeless, empty, bleak.

Personally, I love Cloud Dancer, not because of what it is, but what it can be. It is space to fill, to draw, to write, to create.

I aim to make 2026 a year that starts 11-4201 TCX and by the end is full of a story. It might be desaturated, it might be vibrant. I don’t know, but I’m pretty excited to see what this year brings.

I hope you enjoied this year’s collection of art and rants. Let me know in the comments anything in the art, comic, creative world that you would like to hear me rant about or explain.

Leave a comment

Cheers,

&

End of Year Sketchbook dump!

O, ANTIPHONS

A church in Virginia commissioned me to illustrate the 7 Antiphons, which are commonly adapted in the Advent hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” Here is the first one. I’ll share the rest next year after they have been published.

MURAL

My church commissioned me to paint a mural on our front windows again. Here is the design and a time-lapse of me applying the front half.

DRINK AND DRAW

I went to a local Drink and Draw with a buddy of mine, Jake, you can check out his work here. It was a lot of fun; we got to chat, drink, and draw live cosplay models.

CAPTAIN ABSOLUTELY

Cranking away at this series, I have finished January and February, and I am halfway done with March’s spread. The panels have a lot of text so the art pages end up with this lovely negative space.

Subscribe to the Magazine here!

CLB

I still have new pages being posted weekly on Fridays you can read it all here.

Next year Cyber League Baseball will debut in print, keep your eyes glued to this newsletter for updates.

GALLERY SHOW

I am collaborating with a local artist in Atlanta to make a gallery show in May 2026. The loose theme is organic forms. Here is a test that I did in my sketchbook.

I so often draw figurative and narrative works that I want to explore more static compositions. My goal is to create some pieces that you would want to hang over your mantle.

WATCH: Heist (2001)

I watched this with my wife. Good movie, very dated which is funny to say about a movie made post 2000. I love a good heist movie and this delivers. there is a great shoot out scene that feels very real with a bunch of guys awkwardly shooting their guns in all directions, kinda made me laugh out loud.

LISTEN: Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

This is a podcast about Satanic Panic of the 70’s-80’s in america. the show is exceptionally well produced but it can be a bit long winded. It takes a solid 3-4 episodes to set the stage before they really start to dive in. Also pretty harrowing, lots of murder, cults, and abuse so listener’s be advised.

READ: The Human Target Volume 1

Just pure gold. Greg Smallwood kills with his 50’s style artwork in this classic murder mystery. The color palettes are exquisite and the compositions are unmatched. I would like to do a deep dive once I finish volume 2

PLAY: Trivia

My wife and I made a Narnia trivia game for our family over Thanksgiving. It went well, and it made me think about what my best category would be in regular trivia. I’m definitely the Zoology dude. I’ve got animal facts for $1000 easy.

Last year, a certain company put out an AI ad. And I made a point to talk about how terrible that was but refrained from saying the brand because I don’t want the bad press to benefit them. Welp, they did it again. It really made me sad to see another AI Slop ad for a product I would generally enjoy.

I’m still not going to give them press, but I am going to showcase a different ad that I really like this season.

What is great about this ad is that they don’t show you what the gift for mom was. because that isn’t the point. The point is that it came from one human to another, and another, and another, to its destination.

Sure, you can ask Chat GPT that question or prompt. But dont deprive yourself of deeper meaning via self reflection and careful thought.

This is often thrown around to excuse poor actions or lack there of. But I would argue that it is also a charge for our current age where we actively choose to let something else think for us.

I don’t like doom-mongering about AI without action points, so here is a simple thing that you can do to fight for humanity in an increasingly digital world

The next time that you have a question that you want to ask Chat GPT, like, How many fish are there in the ocean? Instead, I want you to pause and think of someone you know who might have the answer. Then, either call, text, or wait till you see them again and ask them to their face. They might not know the answer, but you will definitely have formed a human connection. That person will feel empowered by you and you don’t know what growth might come from it for either of you.

I mean, heck, this IS friendship. asking people random questions and learning from each other’s knowledge through fun civil chats about the pisces population of this petulant planet.

Merry Christmas, see ya next year.

&

Rat and Toad

I was on the road, and my son is learning to read. He had my wife text me to ask for an illustration of his learning exercise, “The Rat is wet, the Rat is Sad.” In his art direction, there is also supposed to be a happy toad for contrast. Because, you see, Toads like being wet.

BOOK TOUR 2.0

The Hope Never to See It book tour 2.0 was a great success. Our goal was to sell 10 books at each location, and in the end, we sold 94. Twelve of which were not our stock. Over 8 locations that exceeded our goal by two. Same as last time, some locations were better than others, but on the whole, it was great fun.

The publisher is considering a second print run! We only have 400 copies left in the warehouse. This holiday season may be your last chance to get a first edition!

Order Now for the Holidays!

CAPTAIN ABSOLUTELY

When I was a kid I got this magazine (remember those?) called Clubhouse. It had short stories and bible lessons and stuff, but my favorite were the comic pages: Johnny Grav. It was the first serialized comic I read, and I loved it. Now a decade and a half later and Clubhouse just hired me to be the artist for their new comic series Captain Absolutely! It’s based on a character from Adventures in Odyssey, another cornerstone of my youth.

My run will begin in January 2026. I have already completed the first spread and am halfway through February’s pages. I am replacing their former artist who wanted to pursue other projects. Our styles are quite different, I am more cartoony, so I had to be careful with my designs to keep the spirit of the old while staying true to my own voice.

You can subscribe to the Magazine here for you or your kids!

CLB

I have a publisher!

I can’t say who, as it has not been officially announced, but I have signed with a publisher, and we are looking at a Q3 2026 print run in full color. The series will remain on Webtoons for now, with more updates through the new year. I’ll keep you posted.

DEJA VU

I entered this one page comic contest where the theme was Deja Vu.

I would love to hear what you think of it.

Leave a comment

SHA

Today I am flying down to St. Pete’s FL for the Southern Historical Association annual conference. I will be there with Andrew meeting with other historians to discuss our book Hope Never to See It and potential future projects.

I’m nervous because it is not my crowd and I don’t get much experience with networking but I am excited for the possibilities!

HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

With the holidays coming up I have made this handy gift guide for what you can purchase from/by me for the loved ones in your life. Links Below

Email Me

Fish Coin

Amazon

WATCH: Bedknobs and Broomsticks

This oldie passed me by as a kid, but now that I have little ones of my own we watched this as a family. What a joy. The kids loved the soccer game in the middle. Very silly, wholesome, and british.

LISTEN: Church History for Chumps

Even if you are not a Christian, this podcast can be pretty entertaining. The three hosts talk about a church period or a leader and the wild stories of their lives.

READ: Kroma

I picked this up on the last tour and tore right through it. The book boasts beautiful art and story by Lorenzo De Felici. The story is short and bitter. It warns of the danger in rules without reason.

PLAY: Risk

I played Risk for the first time in my life, Game of Thrones edition. and it did not dissappoint. It was a 3 hour grind and in the end I, like the other 4 loosers, was only 1 or two moves away from total domination! The victor won gracefully and a good time was had… But I will have my revenge, A lanister always pays his debts!

I’m very grateful for all the love that I got after my last newsletter. September was a rough month, but October was great. I got lots of great time with family, friends, some exciting work, and some quality downtime.

I don’t have a bee in my bonnet about anything in particular, let me see…

Well, actually, here is a small rant.

Today I was teaching my Character Design Class and one of my students was telling me about all the reference she was looking up for her project, but her sketchbook only had the one drawing from last week.

I told her, “You have to stop consuming and start creating.”

And as soon as I said it, I heard it in my own head as well. I have a regular habit of browsing Pinterest for reference images and compiling boards of concepts for future and current projects. But I just lapped myself in my sketchbook. I started it October last year, and I still have a solid 1/6th left blank. I need to be creating more, not consuming.

To that end, I plan to not pin anything else in Pinterest until I fill my current sketchbook. Some of which will be drawing pins in my “Warm up” and “To Draw” boards.

I hope you will join me in less consuming and more creating. This holiday season, as you have some vacation time and you have a moment to yourself, instead of scrolling all the cool things, places, and people on your phone, consider writing a poem, singing a song, drawing a sketch, making a movie, telling a story, playing a game, or baking a pastry.

Go forth and create!

Cheers,

&

Tours are tricky because you never know what you are gonna get, some stops are duds, some are absolute bangers. In the end we surpassed our sales goal by two books, so Andrew and I are very pleased.

Thanks for a great tour! Welcome, all new subscribers! I will return to the regular once-a-month post schedule on November 7th, and Boy, do I have some fun updates!

The final Raffle winner is: Josh B.

Please send me an email with your mailing address, and I will send you your original drawing when I return home.

I will hold the Raffle winners till the next newsletter, at which point I will raffle them off to newsletter subscribers.

Cheers,

&

Yesterday was our best day of both tours! We were at Impulse Creations in Tulsa. I got to meet my Grand Uncle, and I also ran into some copies of my first comic published: The Oblivion Trials.

I signed some copies for the store as well as some copies of Hope Never to See It.

Today’s Raffle winner is: Serina H

Please send me an email with your mailing address and I will send you your original drawing when I return home.

Next stop is University of Arkansas tonight: 10/16 at 5pm in Old Main Auditorium. We will host s Q/A and sell books and original art!

Cheers,

&

Sunday we left Springfield and drove down to Bentonville for a quick signing at Two Friends Books. Outside there was a boulder, Andrew and I are both climbers, so we took the opportunity to conquer the rock

!

That evening we arrived in Tulsa.

Yesterday we spent all day at Wizards Asylum. It was our best day yet, great shop owners, great community, great conversations. I sold an original page from the book and we have almost run through all of my stock which is half of our total

!

Today’s Raffle winner is: Jame C

Please send me an email with your mailing address and I will send you your original drawing when I return home.

Today is off, no signing, just gonna be doing some work at the house and getting rest.

Next stop is Impulse Creations in Tulsa for New Comic Book Day 10/15 see you there!

Cheers,

&

Yesterday, we were at Comic Force in Springfield, MO. We visited the Bass Pro Shop next door and had a great day at the shop visiting with friends, old and new. Great shop, lots of stock

Today’s Raffle winner is: Casey P

Please send me an email with your mailing address and I will send you your original drawing when I return home.

Next stop is Two Friends Books in Bentonville, AR 10/12 from 2-4. We will be signing books, answering questions and all the other regulars!

For all the remaining dates visit my website

Cheers,

&

Yesterday we were in Joplin, MO. I had the best brunch of my life at a little place called The Bruncheonette. Do not pass through Joplin without stopping by.

We spent the day at Hurley’s Heroes, in case you missed us, we left some signed and sketched copies at the shop that you can buy.

Today’s Raffle winner is: Logan M.

Please send me an email with your mailing address and I will send you your original drawing when I return home.

Next stop is Comic Force in Springfield, MO today, 10/11 from 12-6 see ya there!

Cheers,

&

Great start to the second tour! I flew into Springfield MO in the morning, got some time in my sketchbook.

In the evening we drove to Joplin where Andrew gave a lecture on the book at MSSU, we did a Q/A and signed books. It was a great turnout and we are very grateful to the faculty at MSSU for hosting us.

The winner of the original art is Richmond A.

Please send me an email with your mailing address and I’ll send your sketch of Carl Von Clauswitz to you when I arrive back home.

Next stop is Hurley’s Heroes in Joplin today, 10/10 from 12-7 see you there!

Cheers,

&

Andrew and I are about to hit the road again this weekend for our Graphic History: Hope Never to See It

You can find all the addresses and times for each day on my website

We will have a giveaway along with the book and original art as well as Stickers!

I will be doing a recap after every stop for those of you who can’t make it.

Cheers,

&

I completed this right before DragonCon

DragonCon

I was on panel with Tony Moy and Paul Jenkins and we had a great time discussing war comics.

I did a few commissions at the show and generally had a lot of fun with friends and even made a few new ones.

I had to miss the last day due to a family emergency. I feel the need to say that I’m fine and my family is fine, thoughts and prayers appreciated. I might share more later, but it’s a little to tender and close to home to just throw out on the internet. I do think sharing that I’m having a rough time is important to dispel the idea that social media propagates of “my life is perfect, I have no worries, blah blah blah.” But I’m also of the mind that I don’t owe strangers anything, and the point of this newsletter is to share my artistic ventures. Anyway, this is turning into a rant.

In short, DragonCon was good.

CLB

I am loving Cyber League Baseball right now. I am hammering out pages and staying true to my schedule. A new page will continue to post on Friday’s through the end of issue 2 which should be right around Christmas. Read Here (best on mobile)

NARNIA

I have been reading the Chronicles of Narnia again and was inspired with whimsy. I have start working on some sample pages for my portfolio of when Lucy first enters Narnia, here is one page penciled.

DOOR!

I got a door on my office! I have been working the last few years in my home with just an open doorway to the rest of the house, but I took soem time this month to install a pocket-door and wall. I just need to finish and paint it.

BOOK TOUR Part 2!

I am going back out on tour with Andrew for Hope Never to See It! We will be doing lectures at Missouri Southern University and University of Arkansas. Inbetween we will visit 6 new comic and book shops in the Midwest. Please come out and say hi! we will have giveaways, books, merch, and original art.

All the Shop locations can be found with a quick Google search or on my website calendar.

WATCH: K-Pop Demon Hunters

A simple narrative but super fun and visually stunning. The Sony Animation Creative and style team has been on point since Spiderverse, and this film is no exception. If I were to sum up the style guide in one word it would either be Pink, or pearlescent. The movie also has a popping soundtrack. My only critique is that it does wrap up very suddenly. But it leaves you wanting more which I feel is the best place for an audience.

READ: The Chronicles of Narnia

My wife started rereading Narnia and so I wanted to join her. I just finished The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. We are reading them in release order. I forgot how simply elegant these books are. I can’t wait to read them to my kids in a couple more years.

LISTEN: The Chronicles of Narnia

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I’m double-dipping on Narnia, so sue me. This soundtrack is right up there with my all-time favorites:

• The Chronicles of Narnia

• The Lord of the Rings

• How to Train Your Dragon

• The Incredibles

• Stardust

• Whiplash

It’s not often that I leave the theater just wanting to listen to an orchestral soundtrack, but that was the case with all these movies.

PLAY: Caper: Europe

This is a fun 2-player game. The learning curve was kinda steep on the first play-through, but now it is very comfortable and plays fast. It is 6 rounds, and round games have become a favorite of mine and Laura’s. The game has multiple goals, so part of the strategy is trying to decide which goals you can best achieve and in what order. Definetly a rec for a couple game night.

*Maturity Warning* This rant has some written profanity, I need to write out certain words for clarity within the rant.

It has been a really #$%^*@ month so far.

I had a personal family emergency, in addition, my son had, it was planned ahead of time, but he is in a cast now recovering and therefore a little incumbered. I have lost both games in my soccer rec league. And now I am waking up with a sore throat. So like I said, pretty &^%$#@

I don’t like to use swear words because I believe that they lose their power if they are just thrown about willy nilly. I also believe that they are a great tool in storytelling to establish a character’s attitude or demeaner. At the same time, I prefer my stories, like Cyber League Baseball to be read by all ages. Therefore, I opt to use “grawlix”.

Grawlix are a long standing tradition in comics where symbols are used in lieu of profanity.

The first known grawlix was in 1901 in this comic by Gene Carr.

Clarification on Grawlixes were made in Mort Walker’s 1964 book, Lexicon of Comicana. The book created farcical terms and descriptions for all the visual elements of the comics trade.

Grawlix was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in March of 2025

What I like about Grawlix is the individual nature of them. If I write:

I had a *&^%$ day!

You could technically transcribe that to read “I had a rough day!” or “I had a shitty day!”. To me it is the comic equivalent of when the camera cuts away from the monster before you see it and a character screams at the visage. The viewer’s mind creates an image far worse than what a filmmaker could possibly create. With Grawlix, the individual reader inserts profanity of their own caliber for the situation.

This is also the main shortcoming with Grawlix: Specificity. There is a scalable difference between having a rough day and having a shitty day. That’s why they are different words. So, there might be an instance where using Grawlix can actually confuse the reader by suggesting a stronger word than what is meant for the situation.

On the whole, I like what the great George Carlin has to say about profanity,

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with any of those words in and of themselves. They’re only words, it’s the contexts that counts. It’s the user. It’s the intention behind the words that makes them good or bad. The words are completely neutral.”

I don’t think words are neutral perse, because they are tools and they are only ever what they are when being used, and profanity is used for… drumroll… emphasis. Could be bad could be good. Context, I do agree, is key.

This is why I prefer Grawlix. Despite their lack of specificity, I do like The general approachableness of them for all audiences and it is also something specific to the medium of comics.

In closing, here are some examples of Grawlix in comics.

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow

Calvin and Hobbes. Here the Grawlix represent violence but I feel Profanity is also communicated.

The Wake. This book doesn’t shy away from profanity, but it also uses various fish symbols as even stronger language in parts.