In the book, this is beautifully expressed with blackout poetry by one of its characters, Juan Gay, makes within a copy of the very real 1941 psychological study of homosexuality, "Sex Variants: A Study of Homosexual Patterns". My reimagined cover illustration draws on these themes and connections.
The book's portrayal of queer people is reverent and tangible, and it captures how our lives and identities are often expressed through moments and acts of concealing and revealing, whether by choice or by force.
My friend Alex gave me his copy of Blackouts by Justin Torres a couple years ago. Its hazy storytelling and poetic visuals left a lasting impression on me.
Cut to this January, when my agent Kristina asked me to create a speculative cover for my favorite book for an agency newsletter.
More fun with watercolors on this piece, especially to help depict the hazy marshes of South Carolina's Lowcountry. Thank you again to Julia for the opportunity to lean into surrealism and thanks to my agent Kristina 🫴🏻 📖 🤲🏻
The Tides That Bind, for Garden & Gun Magazine, with art direction by Julia Knetzer
I really enjoyed making this one. The story, written by Kevin Van Valkenburg, describes the writer and his daughter's connection over Pat Conroy's book 'The Prince of Tides'.
i've decided not to listen to the audio of a teacher reporting a kindergartender because frankly I don't want to become the person that that event would turn me into. but one thing I hope we are collectively coming to grips with is what it meant that we have lived among such people this whole time
So SCOTUS, with its fabricated-out-of-thin-air immunity doctrine, has actually made American presidents less accountable than LITERAL royalty.
A watercolor and graphite study of the model Jhona Burjack, referencing photographs of him taken by Xavier Samre and others ✨
In person! I enjoy it so much more than drawing from virtual sessions.
5 minutes, ink pen, sketchbook
10 minutes, ballpoint, sketchbook
20 minutes, ink pen, Strathmore
Some drawings from a really, really stellar session with Angel at @doableguys.bsky.social
20 minute pose, graphite and conté on toned paper
OK "god bless america" and then naming every country in the americas from south to north is absolute king shit
Doing art badly is good and sacred
Definitely seems like they destroyed the country on purpose.
This is the most astonishing graph of what the Trump regime has done to US science. They have destroyed the federal science workforce across the board. The negative impacts on Americans will be felt for generations, and the US might never be the same again.
www.nature.com/immersive/d4...
It's 2026 and we don't listen to losers who don't do anything. We block and keep it moving.
"Renee was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known,” her mother said. “She was extremely compassionate. She’s taken care of people all her life. She was loving, forgiving and affectionate. She was an amazing human being.” www.startribune.com/she-was-an-a...
!!! Oh Judah, I hope you're on the mend and that the immunity boost is a saving grace and not TOO too hard on you 💖💖
"Coming at you live in studio with a special view of Michael: dessicated, cold, and particularly sleepy."
overdid it in my fitness yoga class and chased it with a combination covid booster + flu shot
my body is now a vessel for aching muscles, lactic acid, and a blessed immune response
I keep seeing regular Americans taking more risks every day to fight tyranny, want, and cynicism than I see from the opposition party, and I imagine many of those regular Americans are asking themselves what the value proposition of such an opposition party is, really
🏳️⚧️ For US-based trans people 🏳️⚧️
The applications for Point of Pride's Annual Trans Surgery Fund will open on Nov 1, 2025.
This is a fund that aims to provide direct financial assistances to trans people who can't afford gender-affirming surgeries.
More info:
www.pointofpride.org/annual-trans...
I call bullshit though. I think that these narratives are intentionally wielded to instill hopelessness, fear, and submission. self-inflicted helplessness as a trap.
so keep doing what your doing. anything. something. try to be as effective as you can, of course. but just don't stop trying.
nothing but infinite, unknowable pitfalls for the Left and incredibly powerful, invincible bludgeons for the Right, apparently!
it's as if everyone agreed that the will to power itself is exclusive to the Right, and that endless fecklessness is exclusive to the Left.
nothing that anyone on the Left does, whether individually or collectively, could ever be politically effective, and for every possible reason imaginable.
meanwhile, anything that people on the Right do will be effective, and somehow also SO effective that nothing can stop them from gaining power?
the popular political framing for how effective any given form of civic engagement is for the Left and the Right is so comically, insultingly lopsided.
and it seems to be codified by every institution imaginable. just endless consternation for the Left and ultimate reckless abandon for the Right.
