iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

My new skateboard fuckin rules

Photo of the underside of a skateboard. Bright yellow deck with a flat, block-print style graphic depicting a red apple floating with a blue shadow beneath. The word “OK” is printed in black on the applr. There is a small white pill-shaped “After Hours Skateshop” sticker on the nose.

Photo of the top of a skateboard, rolling on the sidewalk. There is a strip of grip tape missing that reveals the yellow of the deck beneath. The hardware is multicolored, with red, blue, orange, and green bolts near the tail, and a single yellow bolt mixed with black ones at the nose.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

room for a 39th dog with panda aspirations?

A stunning specimen of a Sharpei dog sitting by a window, and wearing a panda ear headband. His name is Buster.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

My mom died 7 years ago today. I couldn’t help myself, and wrote a poem.

I’m playing basketball
alone in the driveway
and you’ve been dead
for exactly seven years
today, so of course,
everything feels pregnant
with meaning:

The cool breeze rising
to tussle my hair
on the song’s most poignant lyric

(“In the morning when you’re doing
simple things around the house…”)

A bad bounce takes the ball
into the peonies
and a white butterfly
tumbles out.

A pair of Canada Geese
honk their arrival from out of sight
before sailing in front of the setting sun
the full length of the visible sky.

My son joins me, surely
coaxed by his own mother,
moving with the same awkwardness,
the same haircut,
his father had at eleven.

(“…maybe, you’ll think of me and smile.”)

I sit down for a moment
and cross my legs to find
a yellow foxtail
clutching my right sock.
I peel it off, but the seeds
hold tighter to the woven fibers
than to their stem,
and remain.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Watching King Hu’s Dragon Inn (1967) the other day and paused it to do a rough color/shape study of Han Hsieh’s character.

A rough, blocky color study of a frame from the movie Dragon Inn (1967). A man in brownish yellow robes (there is probably a more specific name for these clothes that I’m ignorant of) with a bamboo kasa hat stands in front of a green horizon.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

I saved this panel when I first saw this a few days ago because the dialog was so perfectly Coen-esque à la “Do my tears surprise you sir?”

Screenshot panel of David King’s comic earlier in this thread. Two people talking. “Is he in love with you?” “ I don’t guess so because he told me of a woman on whom he has romantic designs”

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

I tried to draw Pete Martell from Twin Peaks last night. Quite dissatisfied with the likeness but happy with some of the mark making. Time well spent. :)

A digital colored pencil drawing using blue and orange. It's an attempt at a portrait of Pete Martell, a character from Twin Peaks, but isn't a particularly accurate likeness. Sure looks like the guy who drew it had a good time trying, though.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Couldn’t help but try to draw the old feller when I saw this tonight!

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Stylish lil’ Krillin from Dragon Ball

Digital drawing of Krillin from Dragon Ball, based on a panel from volume 4 or 5, as if with watercolor and colored pencils. He’s wearing a big baseball cap and a stylish jacket.

Digital drawing of Krillin from Dragon Ball, based on a panel from volume 4 or 5, as if colored pencils. The base layer of watercolor from the other version of the drawing is removed so this image is overall lighter. He’s wearing a big baseball cap and a stylish jacket.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Hey artists, if you see this, post a dog (These are consecutive panels from a short comic I made 10+ years ago when my childhood dog passed away, you can read the whole thing here: ryanvlower.com/clancy)

Black and white cartoon line art drawing of a young boy petting a dog. There is a needle hanging from the dogs back, it is a faint grey color, as if maybe it isn’t really there, but imagined. The words “hours of sunshine and movement” are printed at the top.

Black and white cartoon line art drawing of a young boy spooning a dog on a metal table. The boy is a faint grey color, as if maybe he isn’t really there, but imagined. The words “I hope he remembered being loved” are printed at the top.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Found a little time to work on this again tonight. Really enjoying keeping everything on one layer and just piling on color.

Rough sketch made with light blue pencil of an old man sitting outdoors with a small kitten. Large portions of the sketch are filled in with rough blotches of various colors that resemble pastels or waxy pencils, with mostly the face and hands of the man still sketched instead of colored.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

dunno what it is, but there’s somethin’ about bunnies

photo of two small bunnies in a strip of grass between two houses. Everything is wet like it just finished raining. The bunnies fur is grey and brown and red behind their heads.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Started an honest to goodness drawing today for the first time in a really long time.

Rough sketch made with light blue pencil of an old man sitting outdoors with a small kitten.

Rough sketch made with light blue pencil of an old man sitting outdoors with a small kitten. Portions of the sketch are filled in with rough blotches of various blues and purples that resemble pastels or waxy pencils.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

haven’t had a great deal of inspiration lately but I’ve been doing a lot of scribbling and mark making, aimlessly layering textures. this one ended up referencing a band I love called saturdays at your place

scribbly, bright blocks of vibrant color creating negative space that says “S@YP” with “Saturdays at your place” written in loose handwriting below

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

as completely fucking brain dead as this meme is, (and however badly it reflects on my own naïveté that it was illuminating to me), I think about it all of the time

A meme with two images: the first is Mario riding Yoshi. The second is Yoshi riding a horse.

The text superimposed over it is a quote from Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, and reads: “when education is not liberating, the dream of the oppressed is to become the oppressor.”

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

“Okay, this feels more natural…”

Screenshot from the show 30 Rock, showing Alec Baldwin’s character holding two coffee mugs because he didn’t know what to do with his hands.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

-14°F (-26°C) in the Twin Cities…nevertheless, cash me outside

Screenshot of a weather app showing a temperature of -14°F (-26°C) and a banner with a Severe Weather “Extreme Cold Warning”

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

I got you! Definitely have lots more in the camera roll though I was frankly alarmed at the amount of “car parked too far into the next spot” photos I have. 😓

Photo of a yellow van at night. It has a fox and flowers painted on the side.

Photo of an airstream camper parked close to a building in an alley. It’s painted in multiple tones of beige and brown, and the paint is peeling throughout. In the front window is a large green “Wellstone!” political sign.

Photo of a weird little stubby purple car/truck hybrid. It’s purplish blue, has a spoiler, and says “x-90” on the side.

Photo of a white car at a red light. It has an Arizona vanity license plate that reads “COLUMBO”.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

I fussed with this some more and I think I prefer this simpler version.

Bordering around the edge in alternating red and black are broken halves of a simplified heart with drops of blood coming out. Centered inside the border in a black letter font are the words “Fix Your Hearts or Die”, a paraphrase of a line from Twin Peaks: The Return spoken by David Lynch.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

It’s been a year since we lost David Lynch. His words still move me:

Black and red words against a white background. Bordering around the edge in red, “Abolish Ice” repeated over and over, with broken halves of a simplified black heart on either side, red drops of blood coming out. In the center inside the border in a much larger size are the words “Fix Your Hearts or Die”, a paraphrase of a line from Twin Peaks: The Return spoken by David Lynch.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

I use a to do list app with that final piece of advice pinned at the top so it appears on my watch face. I’ll never mark it complete because there’s always more to do.

Photo of an Apple Watch on a man’s wrist. The watch face is in the analog style with a long and short hand, the numbers 12, 3, 6, and 9 are large and in contrasting bright colors. The watch face has several complications visible including a compass, Apple’s “activity rings” and most importantly at the bottom, a curved line of text (upwards, like a smile) reads “you’ve gotta be kind!”

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

3d printin’ whistles to give away during the occupation. It ain’t much but it’s honest work.

a photograph of 11 whistles leaned against each other like fallen dominos or sliced cheese. They are also roughly the size of dominos, but are bright orange, with small holes in the end to attach to a keychain or lanyard.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

making drawings to emasculate ICE and 3d printing whistles for my wife to hand out while she patrols the local elementary school. doing my part in occupied Minnesota. 😓

screenshot of 3d printing software showing a model of a flat whistle.

photo of a grubby hand holding a small, bright orange, 3d printed whistle.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Our country’s most pathetic, cowardly, bigoted, bottom of the barrel losers are cosplaying as big strong boys in my home and terrorizing my neighbors.

A cartoon of an ICE officer slipping on literal ice and falling on his ass. Balloon letters say the words “get out dumb fucks”.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

What was the last movie or TV show you watched in 2025?

Poster for the movie Aftersun (2022) showing a young girl hugging her dad.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

In so many ways, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. really got it. Here is an excerpt from Timequake where he is (vengeful) teaching his brother a lesson about art, and accidentally explaining the uselessness of gen-AI “art”:

Photo of an ereader on a wooden table, with a passage from Kurt Vonnegut’s Timequake:
"There are virtually no respected paintings made by persons about whom we know zilch.
We can even surmise quite a bit about the lives of whoever did the paintings in the caverns underneath Lascaux, France.
"I dare to suggest that no picture can attract serious attention without a particular sort of human being attached to it in the viewer's mind. If you are unwilling to claim credit for your pictures, and to say why you hoped others might find them worth examining, there goes the ball game."Pictures are famous for their humanness, and not for their pictureness."

I went on: "There is also the matter of crafts-manship. Real picture-lovers like to play along, so to speak, to look closely at the surfaces, to see how the illusion was created. If you are unwilling to say how you made your pictures, there goes the ball game a second time.”

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

People always praising the match cut in Lawrence of Arabia but no one ever puts respect on A Christmas Story’s smdh

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

I have the cutest dog to ever live and I could never possibly capture his majesty

Several sketches of the same wrinkly shar-pei in different styles

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

A conversation about reading at a New Year’s party last year was the kick in the butt I needed to spend more time reading this year, and I’m so glad I did.

Screenshot from an app with a cute cartoon of a happy flower. The heading at the top says “Reading goal” and further down it says “40 of 40 books finished.”

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

“Take a little ride on my donkey, I love that donkey. Hell, I love everybody.”

Goodtime Jesus

Jesus got up one day a little later than usual. He had been dreaming so deep there was nothing left in his head. What was it? A nightmare, dead bodies walking all around him, eyes rolled back, skin falling off. But he wasn't afraid of that. It was a beautiful day. How 'bout some coffee? Don't mind if I do.
Take a little ride on my donkey, I love that donkey. Hell, I love everybody.

James Tate (1979)

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

My wife and I rewatched this bit from @makesomenoiseshow.bsky.social on @dropout.tv over and over and I felt compelled to draw Jacob Wysocki as the sweet cherub he is.

A black and orange illustration of Jacob Wysocki praying an enlightened variation of Jenny’s prayer from Forrest Gump: “Dear God, make me a turd, so I can fart far far away.”

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

If you see this, post a knight (or two)

An illustration I made for Robin Sloan’s Christmas 2017 reading of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. A plucky, strapping young knight (Sir Gawain) in fantasy-inspired armor with a red cloak stands next to a much taller, broader-shouldered, burlier, and green-skinned fellow with an axe resting on his shoulder (The Green Knight.)

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 27/06/2024

I nearly bought that copy of the shuttered room at a book store yesterday based on the strength of the cover alone. These are two others that tempted me.

Photo of an old paperback book titled “house of ghosts” by Marilyn Ross. The cover shows a house with a face superimposed over it in a grainy almost pointillist style.

Photo of an old paperback book titled “night monsters” by Fritz lieber. The cover shows three cloaked, strange humanoid figures painted in an angular, technicolor style.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 01/06/2024

I thought of @scottwampler.bsky.social’s BMD interview with Rian Johnson just a day or two ago when I paid $5 United States dollars to buy Dragula in the video game Fortnite. This person who I did not know pressed untold quantities of joy into the creases of my brain.

Screenshot of Scott Wampler starting an interview with Director Rian Johnson by asking him about the Rob Zombie song Dragula

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 01/06/2024

I’ll never forget when @scottwampler.bsky.social sold “the greatest Star Wars character name” to @rianjohnson.bsky.social on Twitter. What an absurdly funny thing. What a loss.

A screenshot of a long conversation on Twitter where Scott Wampler sells Rian Johnson “the greatest Star Wars character name” for forty dollars.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 01/06/2024

I was never more than a Twitter follower. But when B.D.M. shut down in 2020, he and Vespe started the Kingcast and he started getting regular writing jobs in Fangoria, I subscribed with a note telling them I’d stay subbed as long as they kept giving him work. I’m very sorry for your loss.

Screenshot of a fangoria magazine subscription page with a “special instructions” field that says “Keep giving Wampler writing jobs and I’ll keep subscribing.”

A note I received from Fangoria editor acknowledging the note.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 31/12/2023

My wife bought me this super fun sampler from teenage engineering for Christmas. I saw that it has holes on the side and they looked LEGO size, so after a few hours of digging through my kid’s giant bin, I’ve got a pretty great stand for it.

Photograph of a KO2 sampler showing that there are LEGO sized holes on the side.

Photograph of a KO2 sampler from the side. It is propped up at roughly a 30 degree angle by a homemade LEGO stand. The desk on the background is a nightmare of poor cable management.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 30/10/2023

Today is the Monday that kicks off the last two weeks before we close on a new home and move… a period I expect to be incredibly busy and stressful. Therefore, I hope to channel the casual, justified confidence of Baguette Man, who knows exactly how full his paper bags are.

A digital drawing of a man smiling with his whole face. the cigarette dangling from his lips and two massive bags under his arms full of baguettes virtually guarantee his French-ness. One look at him and you know that he understands how good he has it.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 26/10/2023

For a while, I pretty much only drew what I think of as “fashion drawings” of people who look cool in their clothes. This one is from 2017, and I love how peaceful she looks.

A digital illustration of a Black woman sitting on a skateboard. She has wavy, voluminous hair and is wearing jean shorts and a bright yellow t-shirt under an oversized jacket.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 23/10/2023

Somehow, I got the idea in my head that while he was missing he had actually died and gone to some kind of doggy paradise, but saw how sad we were without him in our awful frozen Minnesota winter and made the choice to come back to us for a little while to let us say goodbye.

A digital collage of a beautiful green paradise. Mountains with waterfalls in the background and a walled garden full of and surrounded by flowers in the foreground. A small dog stands outside the walled garden, and looks into the doorway to it, seeing a portal to a frozen grey place instead.

A digital collage of a cold, icy wasteland. Snow-covered impassable mountains in the background and slightly more sloping snowy hills in the foreground, jagged rocks piled across the ground. A small dog stands outside a doorway set inside some columns. Looking into the doorway, it appears to be portal, inside is a path to a lush, green, verdant place.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 23/10/2023

Here’s something I little different from most of my art. I used to have a beautiful little sweet poodle named Tobias. My wife and I got him when we were dating in college and he died a few years ago. Shortly before, he had gotten out and run away and was missing for a few weeks.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 20/10/2023

crusted up some Brussels sprouts and vegan bacon on the baguettes I made yesterday, topped it with a little chili crisp oil and salt and pepper. not going to change the world but it did a fine job filling my belly.

A photograph of four tiny slices of buttered bread with strips of vegan bacon and crispy Brussels sprouts on top. On a paper plate because we’re not fancy.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 20/10/2023

I mean they’re the best (only) ones I’ve ever made! but honestly I have no idea, it tasted like bread and had little pockets of air inside?

A photograph of two slices of a baguette on a cutting board. The photographer is unsure if it was well baked.

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Ryan V Lower @ryanvlower.bsky.social · 20/10/2023

Not REMOTELY on the same level but I just made some baguettes for the first time and I feel like a wizard or conjurer

a photograph of an unhinged man next to some baguettes

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