iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 02/08/2026

See you all next Saturday 8/8 11am-5pm at the second annual edition of the PhinneyWood Comic Book Show!

A flyer with a cartoony illustration of a child in a batman costume and a cat, advertising the PhinneyWood Comic Book Show happening Saturday 8/8 11am-5pm at the Phinney Center in Seattle

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 19/07/2026

See you next Sunday 7/26 at @seattlezinefest.org! I’ll be at Table 63.

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 04/02/2026

Happy Year of the Fire Horse! Did you know that in addition to the 12 animals, there is a cycle of the 5 Chinese elements, too? These linocut block print Lunar New Year cards are going out to friends and family soon. I printed a couple extra if you're interested in purchasing! wayleeart.square.site

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 16/01/2026

First @urbansketchers.bsky.social Seattle outing of 2026 for me, and I’m glad I braved the cold to paint outside! I really like how this painting of @mohaiseattle.bsky.social came out. #watercolor #pleinair #onlocation #art #painting

A watercolor painting of the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle, held up in front of the museum.

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 31/12/2025

The Maurice Sendak Nutcracker ballet props! This house in Seattle exhibits them every year, hosted by one of the Pacific Northwest Ballet orchestra members. Sketched with mittens on to try to save my fingers, which are getting a little frost bitten. #nutcracker #sendak #sketch #urbansketchers

An ink drawing of the nutcracker and rat king props from Maurice Sendak’s Nutcracker ballet, held up in front of the house exhibiting the props.

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 31/12/2025

Happy New Year, everyone! May 2026 bring you enlightenment. 🧘‍♀️ Made this comic at the monthly DUNE comics jam in Seattle.

A one-page comic titled “Eating Greens”. A young woman takes a bite of a salad and begins to chew and chew and chew, gradually getting frustrated and then bored out of her mind before suddenly something comes to her and light explodes out of her head and eyes as she achieves enlightenment.

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 21/12/2025

Gonna have to get to tennis clinics early more often! #people #tennis #art #sketch #lifedrawing

A page with many small sketches of people playing tennis

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 16/12/2025

Painted another view over Lake Washington from Magnuson Park, this time on a very grey, foggy, cloudy morning, but with great atmospheric light in the distance and the sun breaking through the clouds occasionally. #pleinair #onlocation #urbansketchers #watercolor #art #artsky

A watercolor painting of the floating bridge over Lake Washington in the distance over an expanse of water with heavy clouds overhead and the sun breaking through. The forested shores on the opposite side of the lake fade into the foggy distance.

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 11/12/2025

Holy cow it was freaking windy on this day! At one point my paint brush case, water jar lid, and a plastic bag took to the air and made a run for it. But on the plus side I got this great painting out of it! #pleinair #onlocation #watercolor #artsky #urbansketchers #art #sketch

A watercolor painting of trees by a lake in the winter under cloudy skies. Wind surfers can be seen in the distance.

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 06/12/2025

A little sketch of Pike Place Market while waiting for friends to arrive. A great thing about sketching is you can do it anywhere! #sketch #urbansketchers #pikeplacemarket #onlocation #pleinaire #art #tradart

An ink sketch of Pike Place Market, with the "PUBLIC MARKET" neon sign lit over the market, and many people milling about.

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 02/12/2025

Watercolor is starting to click! The exuberant yellow foliage of these tall, thin trees in Magnuson Park in Seattle struck me as I was looking for what to paint. #watercolor #sketch #onlocation #pleinaire #urbansketchers #landscape #art

A watercolor painting of a path winding through a wood with bright yellow foliage.

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 27/11/2025

Happy Thanksgiving! And thanks to this barred owl for hanging out and letting me sketch it! Feel lucky to have stumbled on it and noticed it camouflaged in plain site. #owl #sketch #lifedrawing

A sketch of a barred owl sitting on a tree branch

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 27/11/2025

Just a fountain pen on this grey Thanksgiving Eve. It’s nice to focus on one tool. Also good b/c it started misting, so I was glad to be able to move faster! Ignore the white paint—I used this sheet as a test sheet earlier. 😅 #sketch #drawing #landscape #urbansketchers #nature #art

A brown ink sketch of the grassy and wooded landscape at Discovery Park in Seattle, with the radar dome in the distance.

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 25/11/2025

Took my new gloves for a test drive, and I'm happy to say that they work! Kept my hands a workable temperature on a day where I had to pull up my puffy jacket's hood. Really like how this sketch turned out. Playing with approaches continues. #watercolor #onlocation #pleinaire #urbansketchers #art

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 19/11/2025

I've come a long way with my on location sketching techniques and materials since the end of 2023! It's great to look back and see healthy progress. Enjoyed a great #urbansketchers Seattle chapter outing this weekend at KEXP. #art #sketch #onlocation #watercolor #tradart

An ink and watercolor sketch of the Cafe Vita colocated with KEXP radio station, held up in front of the scene depicted.

A split image comparison a sketch of the Cafe Vita/KEXP location done by the artist at the end of 2023 compared with one done in November 2025.

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 13/11/2025

I'm making an effort to spend more time in nature and away from screens. This means I'm gonna get gud at on-location watercolor. #sketch #watercolor #pleinaire #onlocation #artsky #art

a watercolor sketch of trees in fall along a path leading by a yellow house.

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 11/11/2025

More watercolor trees! Now with humans! Tried hard to keep it in a narrow warm register. #sketch #watercolor #pleinaire #onlocation #artsky #art

A watercolor sketch page with two trees and some figures done from life.

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 28/10/2025

If you're in Seattle THIS SATURDAY NOV 1st, see me and 150 other indie comic artists at Short Run Comix Festival 2025! Admission is FREE!

A festival map of Short Run Comix Festival 2025 with table F79 highlighted, where cartoonist William Chen will be, and his three comic books, "Phased", "The BOOK of DEATH Haiku Comics", and "Blood of My Blood".

An event poster for Short Run Comix Festival, November 1st, 11am-6pm, at the Seattle Design Center in Georgetown, Seattle.

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 26/10/2025

Hey there! I'm an artist, cartoonist, and writer based in Seattle. I write and illustrate metaphysical comics and draw and paint landscapes en plein aire focusing on water-based media. My latest comic project was The BOOK of DEATH Haiku Comics, pictured with my other two! More at zenosarrow.net.

Three comic books against a wooden background, with the titles "Phased", "The BOOK of DEATH Haiku Comics", and "Blood of My Blood".

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 20/10/2025

Sometimes it’s good to just do studies to focus on something more particular. I love how the trees came out by the end. #sketch #trees #pleinaire #tradart #inkdrawing

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 16/10/2025

Didn't start out trying to take this approach, but really like a lot of what happened and learned a lot! This sketch is from Discovery Park in Seattle. #pleinaire #watercolor #sketch #art #naturalmedia #urbansketchers

A watercolor painting of a tree and plants on a bluff overlooking Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains in the distance.

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 16/10/2025

Playing with new approaches. This is at Carkeek Park's demonstration garden in Seattle. #pleinaire #sketch #watercolor #naturalmedia #urbansketchers #art

A brown ink and watercolor sketch of a lush garden, with fountain pens and a travel watercolor palette nearby.

A brown ink and watercolor sketch of a lush garden, held up in front of the scene depicted.

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 14/10/2025

Definitely top secret science stuff going on at a structure like this in the middle of a big field. (The radar antenna dome at Discovery Park in Seattle.) #pleinaire #watercolor #art #sketch #urbansketchers

A watercolor and ink sketch of the radar antenna dome with trees in Discovery Park, Seattle

A watercolor and ink sketch of the radar antenna dome with trees in Discovery Park, Seattle, held up in front of the view that is the subject of the sketch.

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 08/10/2025

It's funny looking at the past's vision of the future. One day, people will look back at our movies of today and chuckle. This was fun to draw/paint. The Space Needle and Monorail are somehow still iconic in their retro futuristic glory. #artsky #art #illustration #pleinaire #urbansketchers

A blue and brown ink artwork depicting the Space Needle and Monorail car speeding overhead above cars on the street below.

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 29/09/2025

Help @outsidercomics.com move shop if you can! Picked up a few books from the moving sale this weekend. 😃

Three graphic novels: Friday, Abbott 1979, and Y The Last Man

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 23/09/2025

Ballard's farmers market is a busy attraction every Sunday. This was done in the afternoon, as the market was clearing out, which is why I had a little more space to see down the avenue and draw. #urbansketchers #art #pleinaire #sketchbook

A sketch in blue and brown of a street with people walking, sitting, and sketching, cars and trucks lining the sides of the street, and a restaurant's outdoor dining shelter.

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 18/09/2025

Finished another book on the out trip so it’s sketch time on the homeward trip. #lifedrawing #people #sketchbook #art #artsky #inkdrawing

Sketches of three people on a bus on a sketchbook page held in hand

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 14/09/2025

Georgetown Steam Plant has so much cool and dramatic machinery and environment. Had to run early so I had to add the blues later on. #urbansketchers #inkdrawing #art #artsky #drawing #illustration #seattle

An ink drawing in brown and blue of the interior of a historical steam plant, with giant machinery and pipes rising above a catwalk

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 13/09/2025

Lil cafe sketching. Mineral water is a great cafe addition for us non-caffeinated folks! I’m still amazed by what just black ink can do. #artsky #sketch #cafesketch

A sketch in black ink of a small bottle of San Pellegrino mineral water and cap on a table with a glass nearby.

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 07/09/2025

If you’re in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, you can now find my graphic novella Blood of My Blood at Haunted Burrow Books!

A book rack with a range of indie author’s books, including the graphic novella Blood of My Blood

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 28/08/2025

This one goes out to the late X-ers and Elder Millenials! Silly comic I made for DUNE comics night at @hugohouse.bsky.social. #comics #animals #bird #artsky #illustration

A one page comic illustrating the song lyric “small things so sad that birds could land” from the song “Lump” by The Presidents of the United States. The strip shows a bird flying over a sad elephant (“too big”), then a leaping happy kangaroo rat (“too happy”), then a sad mouse (“just right”), and finally the bird lands with its wing around the sad mouse’s back.

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 24/08/2025

Great talk by @keezyyoung.bsky.social today! Really appreciated hearing about their journey to comics and getting published, having to think about whether to publish (ahem Eisner and Ignatz nominated) Sunflowers, and their approach to research. Thanks for sharing your experience, Keezy!

Graphic novelist Keezy Young standing at their laptop with their art projected on the screen behind them, giving a talk.

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 21/08/2025

Forgot to share this one! Farm day for #urbansketchers Seattle chapter, visiting the east side of Lake Washingngton. #artsky #sketchbook #art #illustration #indrawing #farm #barn

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 16/08/2025

Got to attend a great haiku comics workshop led by @davidlasky.bsky.social tonight!

David Lasky speaks to a group of students working on their comics at tables

A haiku comic done in pencil: “air like heavy breath / the ghost of today’s downpour / short summer spoiler” showing a woman weighed down by the air, ghosts rising from puddles, and a woman trudging along with steam rising from the ground

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 15/08/2025

Heading into the weekend like- ❤️📚 Sketching with @urbansketchers.bsky.social #Seattle chapter at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park. #urbansketchers #booksky #art #illustration #sketchbook #artsky #drawing #inkdrawing

A sketchbook with a drawing of a bookstore interior with a person obscured by a large monitor on a big table of books, held up in front of the scene that it is a drawing of.

A sketchbook with a drawing of a bookstore interior with a person obscured by a large monitor on a big table of books.

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 11/08/2025

Human artists, use only one piece to convince people to follow you.

A book cover image: An ethereal cuckoo flaps it’s wispy wings, rendered in gold and silver, with the with the title, “The BOOK of DEATH Haiku Comics”

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 09/08/2025

Here at Phinney Center till 4pm!

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 08/08/2025

Regardless of whether you think you have influence over your own originality, I think the suggestion to be sincere and try to find out the things that really move you and that you really like is great advice for life.

“Originality is a quality over which an artist has as little influence as over the shape and distinction of his features. All he can do is be sincere and try and find out the things that really move him and that he really likes. If he has a strong and original character, he will have no difficulty in this, and his work will be original in the true sense.” -Harold Speed (1913)

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 04/08/2025

Comics talk went great! We had a good crowd with a full shop, lots of laughs, and great vibes. Thanks, everyone!

Two comics creators holding their books in hand with audience members standing behind them, everyone laughing.

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 26/07/2025

Doing a comics convo with another Seattle Asian American comics artist, Bread Lee next Sunday! Join us at Mam’s Books on 8/3 at 1pm! We’ll talk why comics, inspirations, and our latest comics, and do some audience Q&A Mam’s insta: www.instagram.com/p/DMk5s2Rx3g...

The author holding a copy of his comic book Blood of My Blood

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 24/07/2025

If you imagine someone carrying the moon as they walk a starry path, it could be an allegory for the moon traveling the night sky. And to think of the #moon guiding people to the next world seemed to me a beautiful and satisfying image to end the compilation with. #haiku #stars #comic #illustration

A three panel comic illustrating a haiku translated from Japanese. The first panel shows the full moon over a starry night sky. In the second panel, a pair of translucent hands hold a glowing traditional Japanese lamp up to the sky, covering the moon. The third panel shows the person carrying the brightly lit lamp, which casts a starry "light" to illuminate his way long into the distance. The translated haiku reads, "I borrow moonlight / and go now, on a journey / of a million miles".

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William of Zeno @zenosarrow.net · 21/07/2025

Had my best show yet yesterday @seattlezinefest.org, thank you everyone! And also got in a couple sketches of attendees! ✍🏼 #sketch #lifedrawing #illustration #art #people #inkdrawing #festival

Two sketches of people waiting at a zine festival

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