J. Marshall Smith

Blind Alley No. 421

Sketchbook. Folks at an art market.

Finally taking my own advice and I’m making slow progress an hour at a time on a zine I’ve been wanting to make for years. Be proud of me, internet strangers.

Some books ask big questions loudly. Testament by @jmarshallsmith.bsky.social does it in a whisper.
This is sci-fi that trusts silence. It allows space for doubt. It understands that sometimes the most profound stories about faith aren’t about certainty, but endurance.
okcomics.co.uk/products/tes...

Thanks to all the wonderful folks who have enjoyed my little comic I may sell out of Good Girl Laika soon and I'm not sure if/when I will be able to make a new edition so if you want one now is the time to order it.

I'll send you my whole boilerplate contract but basically it is "you can't feed my work for data training/slop and if you use gen ai / steal anyone else's work while im under contract you are terminating our agreement and you still have to pay"

Not that I have heaps of clients knocking on my door but I finally added a No AI / Data Training clause to my freelance contract and that feels good.

Sketchbook spread with a Gregory Orr poem and two class warm up prompts. "Upside-down drawing of a cartoon character" and "Draw a writer from memory after looking at their photo for 2 minutes."

Thank you! That's so kind.

Sorry for making you sad!

Oo I can't wait!

What if everyone is starting cool art cults and nobody is inviting me!?

Reading about Vuillard.

I try not to idolize past eras that were also shitty in their own ways, but I do like how early modernists all started semi-mystical little painting gangs and clubs and wrote manifestos and such. I really love this painting of Toulouse-Lautrec cooking.

Sketchbook

We have to update the benches to say #1 nice freak city.

We will see a great many things… yes, I do believe we will.

“Going Up” is a new comic drawn by J. Marshall Smith and written by myself. You can read all of it below, or—if you wish to show your support—buy a high-res .pdf on Gumroad for a price of your choosing.

5987842792553.gumroad.com/l/GoingUp

Thank you for reading! I'm glad you liked it.

House Sparrows

Thank you!

Putting together something for an upcoming reading. These two panels are still some of my favorite drawings from the whole book.

Hey my virtual book club is reading Berger and I want my cool art mutuals to join!

You don't have to be a patron, I'm just using patreon to keep things organized:

www.patreon.com/posts/book-c...

Want to come to the Ways of Seeing book club on March 17th???

Sketchbook

Voting for my next virtual book club ends on Monday! You don't have to be a patron to vote or join book club.

If you're in the St Louis area, come say hi! I'm giving away an original drawing and hanging out at my favorite comic shop!

Sharing shit in leftist digital spaces is nice and all but a LOT of people outside of them have no idea Baby's First General Strike is planned for Friday because they don't see that stuff on their feeds or in the news. People want to do something! Progressives shouldn't squander this opportunity.

Obviously there are awful people who don't need to be in your life, but a lot of people feel lost and helpless and are vulnerable to the messaging of the right because no one told them they can be part of the solution on the left. Or at least come and see it first hand.

How many conservatives believe awful things because they have no first-hand experience and they get everything from the 24/7 imperial propaganda machine? What if you invited your parents to a protest? Or just asked them not to spend money on Friday as a personal favor to their pinko offspring?

Also, just because you're seeing a lot of people talking about striking on social media doesn't mean everyone is. Directly invite your loved ones to participate to whatever degree they can. Even moderates and conservatives. Treat them like they they are an important part of the movement.