D: / :D (or, Motivation Two Ways)

I still find myself reacting more to the threat of the stick than the promise of the carrot. How do I orient toward joy?

New Comic: Federated Learning for Google

Hello, blog friends! I know things have been pretty quiet around here lately, but that’s mostly because I’ve been tied up making this new comic for Google! Federated Learning is a new field of machine learning research that just hit the big-time at Google’s developer conference this week. I landed a gig working with Scott … Continue reading New Comic: Federated Learning for Google

How to Kick Ass at Kickstarter (Video)

Last month I had the good fortune to return to The Animation Workshop in Denmark to teach a week-long course in their Graphic Storytelling department. You might remember the talk I gave two years ago, The View from Aloft, where I distilled my foundational philosophy about social media, online communities, and gratitude economies. This presentation … Continue reading How to Kick Ass at Kickstarter (Video)

Curiosity and Creative Mornings

Hi friends, I am very excited to announce that I’ll be speaking at Creative Mornings this Friday (October 6th) at 8:30am at the Armory Theater here in Portland. Creative Mornings is a free monthly lecture series where speakers appear on stages all over the world to deliver thoughts on a communal theme—all before 10am on a … Continue reading Curiosity and Creative Mornings

Live Event: Demons & Monsters with Jessica Abel

Let’s take a brief trip back in time to January, 2016. When Jessica Abel started posting the podcast adaptation of her storytelling handbook Out on the Wire, I was totally hooked. The series pulled from her own robust career and from interviews she’d done with luminary radio hosts and journalists, but took a wider stance on applying their lessons … Continue reading Live Event: Demons & Monsters with Jessica Abel

New Talk: The View from Aloft

I have new video up from my time at The Animation Workshop in Denmark, where I was teaching a class on webcomics and social media earlier this month. (This is the first time I’ve had video footage of my public speaking—thanks, Sam!—which is really exciting.) If you’re a person who makes things on the Internet, or … Continue reading New Talk: The View from Aloft

Emerald City Comicon This Weekend!

Yes! It’s here! Convention season! Madness! Excitement! Comics! Emerald City Comicon, the Pacific Northwest’s biggest comics event, is THIS WEEKEND and I want YOU to come out and say hello. The show runs all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the Washington State Convention Center. Hours are 10-7 Friday and Saturday, and 10-5 Sunday. Also: event tickets … Continue reading Emerald City Comicon This Weekend!

Sherlock and Nina

Back in October I had the pleasure of working with writer Steve Nicolaides on a children’s book called Sherlock and Nina. Here are a few preview shots of the finished product: The story follows 6-year-old Nina and her inquisitive basset hound Sherlock as they solve the mystery of the old Triplescoop Mansion. I had a … Continue reading Sherlock and Nina

Worthy

I don’t often use this blog for soapboxing about artistic issues, but this comic deserves a bit of an introduction. It’s part of a short conversation I had with my mother (a freelance writer and former cartoonist) a few months ago while working on an illustration job. I’m proud of how far I’ve come in … Continue reading Worthy

Owl Dollars

More arts! A while back I did an illustration for folks over at the Reed College Annual Fund. They’ve just launched a fundraising campaign to get recently-graduated alumni to donate to the college. This is what I came up with for their branding: If you look closely in there you can spot a number of … Continue reading Owl Dollars