In the early months of the pandemic, I started to notice a shift toward video. Vlogs, actually. Video blogs. Some of it was from people being trapped inside. Sharing their experience on YouTube was a way to feel less lonely. For artists, it became another opportunity...
Creativity
The Joy of a Hobby
I keep finding that the pandemic unearthed unintentional ideas inside of me. Like rediscovering video games as I became bored with being inside my home. I started posting video on social media from Procreate of my artwork being created in a time lapse. My followers...
Tricking an Older Dog
I hate how I draw. This isn’t unusual with most cartoonists. If I’m doing an illustration, I don’t mind at all. I fall into my style and I don’t question anything. But once I start doing something sequential, I fall into a hole of self-doubt. I’ve been working in...
Life is what happens while you’re making other plans
Jesus wept. My god. Did you believe me when I said “yep! The Ol’ Max Riffner Content Machine is firing back up! New comics! More blogging!” Were you thinking “you have a newborn, you dipshit.” Because, yeah, I have a newborn child and this shit is a lot of work. And...
Giving Yourself Permission to Play
How are you doing? I’ve been busy. It’s been three years since we last talked. I was promoting a documentary. I’ve since helped out on another documentary. It’s good. They are both streaming on Amazon Prime Video if you want to watch them. I knew a lot about the...
Spring Is My Comic Season
For most cartoonists, winter is the time to get work done. Short, cold days keep you inside and productive. For some reason, I start cranking out pages at a supernatural rate in the spring. Usually. Not for the last several years. With two surgeries in my rear view,...
Don’t Train The Same Art Muscles Every Day
Sorry for the radio silence. I've been hard at work getting the art for The Walk further along than it has been. But I still feel like a failure on many levels. I can't blame myself for losing a couple years on it due to my health. But I have a hard time working on it...
The Struggle To Create
I've been slowly finding time The Walk, but it's a struggle. I started working on this comic in the summer of 2013, after I graduated from the Center for Cartoon Studies. That's four years ago now. I've been trying to determine what my roadblocks to success have been....
2016 Has Not Gone Well
Thanksgiving is always a good break for me. I get four days free from work (mostly). That time off gives me room to breathe, gather my thoughts and take stock of the year. And deal with a minor medical emergency1. But like most people, I think we can all agree 2016...