iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

In Japan this is called tsundoku, and rather than shame, think of it as the promise of future knowledge and proof of a curious mind. At least that’s how I justify my piles upon piles of unread books.

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Reposted by John Martz

Chuck Groenink @cgroenink.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Realised I never posted this Rivendell drawing I did from my Lord of the Rings phase last year.

a black and white drawing of a grand house built against a cliff with waterfalls, some blue colour was added for added lighting and to suggest evening.

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John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Summer’s long reign of terror is over. Let us rejoice at the return of the light jacket.

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John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

AI is not going to end humanity. Stop being hysterical. Without us humans, who are the robots going to stuff into the biofuel battery goo pods?

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John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

It’s been a minute (or a few years) since I drew a Machine Gum strip, but I’m at the beach, so that seemed like a good beach activity. johnmartz.com/comic/swim/

A robot goes swimming at the beach. It goes about as well as can be expected.

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Reposted by John Martz

Bob Flynn @bobjinx.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

On the theme of efficiency culture wanting to lock you into systems of numbers, and how that will always be at odds with the creative spirit. From the latest Animation Obsessive newsletter about 'What's Opera, Doc?':

He did know it was a bit ambitious. At a cost of $35,510 (almost $430,000 today), it was spendier than most Warner cartoons. It took seven weeks compared to the standard five. To get the extra work done, Jones and his crew secretly shaved a couple weeks off other, easier films and faked their time cards. It was something they did on occasion. (The mysterious price increases angered the managers, Jones said, but they were "not very bright" and didn't figure out the trick.)

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John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Nice to see some Pluto Rocket love!

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John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Would be happy to discuss! I can see how a font with a bunch of alternate characters would work with your art/lettering style to not look too mechanical/digital.

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John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Another rec for VueScan. I won’t use anything else for scanning. Even with a new scanner that has working software, I think VueScan is better.

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John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Fi’ve Seen What You Did Last Summer

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John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Skulls aren't meant to look badass. They're meant to say, "Look at this poor dope. This is going to be you someday."

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John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

But there WAS another ewe: the clone of Dolly seen on the cover. “Will there ever be another ewe?” doesn’t work because the answer is already yes. Using “you” here IS the pun. The question is whether they’ll clone humans next, and the ewe/you connection is still implied by this (imho) stronger joke.

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John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Beyond just “style” (who cares!) I mostly want to be surprised and delighted by an illustrator’s work, or to get a sense of their personality as an artist and the things they find are important in making an image.

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John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

The choice of what to put in your portfolio is entirely dependent on the kind of work you want to get! For picture books I want to know you can draw kids and animals and backgrounds and do it all consistently, for example.

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John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

I used to insist that a portfolio website make it easy to download images, but the rise of closed systems like Squarespace, Wix and the like has made that a moot point, so I just dive into my browser’s development tools to grab images or screenshot things as a last resort.

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John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Honestly, the only thing I care about is the quality of the work and the ease in which I can find your contact info and maybe a little bit of info about who you are and where you live!

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John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

If you’re a Whopper, I bet it feels so good to get flame-broiled.

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John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Guess I should turn to my one true love: brass pens.

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John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Sounds like I dodged a bullet.

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John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

I would love to have the space, tools, resources, money, skills, knowledge, dedication, time, energy, and motivation to give woodworking a go.

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Reposted by John Martz

Geoffrey D. Wessel @gdwessel.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

This is how I found out Aimee Mann is also a cartoonist. (H/t @tonybreed.bsky.social )

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John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

They never explained how E.T. went to the bathroom. That closet must’ve been foul.

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John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

When I needed someone to draw an anthropomorphic fart, there’s only one illustrator I could turn to, and that’s @joyang.bsky.social

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John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

What if they made a Yoda but smaller? I bet that thing would be ugly as hell. Can you imagine? Just a little green goblin in a diaper? No thank you!

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John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

“You’ve read your last free article.” (pulls out gun)

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John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

My version of the Turing Test is asking a music streaming algorithm to make a playlist based on Randy Newman’s music and have it not be filled with Disney songs.

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John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Time to dig in to these later…

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John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

I hope they solve this energy crisis soon. I need those data centers to keep pumping out pictures of me and Sonic the Hedgehog in which I have washboard abs and Sonic has huge naturals and is named Sonique. We’re in love, you see.

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John Martz @johnmartz.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Every Space Between is out now from Groundwood Books! Words by Naseem Hrab, and pictures by me! Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review, saying "Attentiveness underpins Hrab and Martz’s celebration of life’s countless liminal stages"