Mark Simmons
@toysdream.bsky.social
Bugs, robots, comics. Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus. He/him.
I've been dragging my feet, but it's time to update the portfolio website. Somehow I never got around to putting this 2019 SF Zoo poster on there...
November 14, 2025 at 9:31 PM
I've been dragging my feet, but it's time to update the portfolio website. Somehow I never got around to putting this 2019 SF Zoo poster on there...
I wanted to do some little tip sheets on quick-sketching people from life. So here you go! First, an introduction to my outline-centric approach -- I'll get into technique points later. (1/3)
November 12, 2025 at 7:51 PM
I wanted to do some little tip sheets on quick-sketching people from life. So here you go! First, an introduction to my outline-centric approach -- I'll get into technique points later. (1/3)
Added a couple more poses. Now it's time to clean up the model sheet...
November 8, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Added a couple more poses. Now it's time to clean up the model sheet...
And here's a rough character model sheet from the comic project. Not necessarily a major character, but she's in a lot of the initial pages.
November 7, 2025 at 10:55 AM
And here's a rough character model sheet from the comic project. Not necessarily a major character, but she's in a lot of the initial pages.
So! I've been working on an original comic project, and it occurred to me that I can repurpose the character and mecha poses from the page layouts to make some model sheets. Since these roughs are based on comic panels, they're pretty perspective-y. Now to refine!
November 7, 2025 at 3:34 AM
So! I've been working on an original comic project, and it occurred to me that I can repurpose the character and mecha poses from the page layouts to make some model sheets. Since these roughs are based on comic panels, they're pretty perspective-y. Now to refine!
Almost done updating my production history of the 1979 "Mobile Suit Gundam" TV series and movies. It's taken me most of the year, but all I have left to do now is the final "Gundam III" movie! Here's the section on the movie production:
www.gundamunofficial.com/production/f...
www.gundamunofficial.com/production/f...
Gundam Unofficial: Mobile Suit Gundam Production History
www.gundamunofficial.com
November 4, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Almost done updating my production history of the 1979 "Mobile Suit Gundam" TV series and movies. It's taken me most of the year, but all I have left to do now is the final "Gundam III" movie! Here's the section on the movie production:
www.gundamunofficial.com/production/f...
www.gundamunofficial.com/production/f...
Birthday bugs, hosted by Stephanie "BeetleLady" Dole and featuring a cast of dozens of two- and six-legged friends.
November 3, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Birthday bugs, hosted by Stephanie "BeetleLady" Dole and featuring a cast of dozens of two- and six-legged friends.
From this month's rent cover letter, a little seasonal greeting from me and Julie. Hope it was spooky for you!
November 1, 2025 at 6:43 AM
From this month's rent cover letter, a little seasonal greeting from me and Julie. Hope it was spooky for you!
Speaking of bristly butts on ceratopsians, I see Adam Savage got a preview of some new models under construction at @amnh.org. Evidently Moab Giants hasn't completely sated my interest in life-sized dinosaur replicas.
youtu.be/JC6kCWmJe20?...
youtu.be/JC6kCWmJe20?...
Adam Savage Meets a Triceratops AND Mosasaur in PERSON!
YouTube video by Adam Savage’s Tested
youtu.be
October 31, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Speaking of bristly butts on ceratopsians, I see Adam Savage got a preview of some new models under construction at @amnh.org. Evidently Moab Giants hasn't completely sated my interest in life-sized dinosaur replicas.
youtu.be/JC6kCWmJe20?...
youtu.be/JC6kCWmJe20?...
I always love bristly tails on ceratopsians, and this is such a nice Halloween-y color scheme!
October 31, 2025 at 6:22 PM
I always love bristly tails on ceratopsians, and this is such a nice Halloween-y color scheme!
Reposted by Mark Simmons
It's finished!! "My Avian Neighborhood": in total almost 100 hours of work in the span of 27 days to complete. So very proud of this one, it's going to be hanging in its first show over the next few months. Thank you to everyone who cheered me on, the species are in the alt text of the image! ✨
October 13, 2025 at 9:52 PM
It's finished!! "My Avian Neighborhood": in total almost 100 hours of work in the span of 27 days to complete. So very proud of this one, it's going to be hanging in its first show over the next few months. Thank you to everyone who cheered me on, the species are in the alt text of the image! ✨
Haven't been able to devote proper attention to Halloween this year, but if we're posting favorite vampires, here are a couple that spring to mind. Delighted to see folkloric shroud-chewing depicted onscreen at last.
October 31, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Haven't been able to devote proper attention to Halloween this year, but if we're posting favorite vampires, here are a couple that spring to mind. Delighted to see folkloric shroud-chewing depicted onscreen at last.
Reposted by Mark Simmons
New dates on fossils from New Mexico reveal a community of dinosaurs that were thriving right before the asteroid strike, including 80-foot-long, 30-ton giants like Alamosaurus. I’ll tell you more in my latest for NatGeo. 🧪
New evidence reveals dinosaurs were thriving right up to the moment the asteroid hit
Newly dated fossils from New Mexico challenge the idea that dinosaurs were in decline—and suggest instead they had formed flourishing communities.
www.nationalgeographic.com
October 23, 2025 at 6:14 PM
New dates on fossils from New Mexico reveal a community of dinosaurs that were thriving right before the asteroid strike, including 80-foot-long, 30-ton giants like Alamosaurus. I’ll tell you more in my latest for NatGeo. 🧪
A lovely T. rex model sheet!
And the concept sketches. Heavily referencing @arvalis’s animated Rex render for this. I spent way too much time on them, but they were just too fun
October 22, 2025 at 6:24 PM
A lovely T. rex model sheet!
Reposted by Mark Simmons
Apex
One of my favorite comms I’ve drawn, what a blast
One of my favorite comms I’ve drawn, what a blast
October 21, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Apex
One of my favorite comms I’ve drawn, what a blast
One of my favorite comms I’ve drawn, what a blast
I've been translating some classic material about the "Mobile Suit Gundam" movie trilogy so I can finally wrap up my revamped production history. First, the 1980 magazine interview in which director Tomino first floated the idea of a multi-part movie version:
gundamunofficial.com/production/f...
gundamunofficial.com/production/f...
Gundam Unofficial: Mobile Suit Gundam in Animage
gundamunofficial.com
October 21, 2025 at 6:41 AM
I've been translating some classic material about the "Mobile Suit Gundam" movie trilogy so I can finally wrap up my revamped production history. First, the 1980 magazine interview in which director Tomino first floated the idea of a multi-part movie version:
gundamunofficial.com/production/f...
gundamunofficial.com/production/f...
"No Kings" march sketch time! There are a few pages of these, so I'll share them two at a time. The first thing I saw when I showed up in downtown SF was a pair of inflatable dinosaurs, which seemed like a good omen. (1/3)
October 19, 2025 at 9:08 AM
"No Kings" march sketch time! There are a few pages of these, so I'll share them two at a time. The first thing I saw when I showed up in downtown SF was a pair of inflatable dinosaurs, which seemed like a good omen. (1/3)
So I've been idly pondering how I'd go about teaching people-sketching nowadays, and I remembered doing a tutorial a few years back about powering up your stick figures. I just figured where I put it! Let's break this out page by page. (1/4)
October 17, 2025 at 8:09 PM
So I've been idly pondering how I'd go about teaching people-sketching nowadays, and I remembered doing a tutorial a few years back about powering up your stick figures. I just figured where I put it! Let's break this out page by page. (1/4)
Getting ready to march-and-sketch at tomorrow's No Kings rally. In the meantime, I finally got around to updating my neglected sketchbook blog archive with drawings from the June version...
ultimatemark.com/2025/10/17/n...
ultimatemark.com/2025/10/17/n...
No Kings, June 2025 – Ultimate Mark
ultimatemark.com
October 17, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Getting ready to march-and-sketch at tomorrow's No Kings rally. In the meantime, I finally got around to updating my neglected sketchbook blog archive with drawings from the June version...
ultimatemark.com/2025/10/17/n...
ultimatemark.com/2025/10/17/n...
Actually, let's skip back to a general overview of the Colorado Plateau, which spans Utah and the rest of the "Four Corners" states. I ended up buying a bunch of books on Utah's geology by Thomas H. Morris, Scott M. Ritter, et al, and here's a little bit of what I learned.
October 8, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Actually, let's skip back to a general overview of the Colorado Plateau, which spans Utah and the rest of the "Four Corners" states. I ended up buying a bunch of books on Utah's geology by Thomas H. Morris, Scott M. Ritter, et al, and here's a little bit of what I learned.
We didn't just look at life-sized dinosaur models while we were in Moab - naturally we had to visit some of its famous national and state parks. Here's a snippet of my travel journal with some info on Arches cribbed from the lavish visitor center.
October 8, 2025 at 5:24 PM
We didn't just look at life-sized dinosaur models while we were in Moab - naturally we had to visit some of its famous national and state parks. Here's a snippet of my travel journal with some info on Arches cribbed from the lavish visitor center.
Reposted by Mark Simmons
More Denham Tracts. The most interesting thing about this list of fairies is that we don't know what a lot of the names on it refer to. The creatures that have known folklore behind them, I've drawn in warm colors. The names we can only speculate about, I've drawn in cool colors.
December 13, 2024 at 3:01 PM
More Denham Tracts. The most interesting thing about this list of fairies is that we don't know what a lot of the names on it refer to. The creatures that have known folklore behind them, I've drawn in warm colors. The names we can only speculate about, I've drawn in cool colors.
Aw yeah, this is exactly what our household needed right now!
Join us TONIGHT for the premiere of The Boulet Brothers Dragula Titans S2 only on Shudder and AMC+!
October 7, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Aw yeah, this is exactly what our household needed right now!
I'm back from Utah! The full trip journal runs to 24 pages, but here's an excerpt with just my drawings from the amazing Moab Giants attraction. Walking the trail in chronological order, we begin in the Triassic... (1/4)
October 7, 2025 at 2:48 AM
I'm back from Utah! The full trip journal runs to 24 pages, but here's an excerpt with just my drawings from the amazing Moab Giants attraction. Walking the trail in chronological order, we begin in the Triassic... (1/4)
Hola, todos! We're just about to take off to Moab, Utah. With any luck we'll be able to see some national parks pre-shutdown, but otherwise it's all about the Moab Giants. Here are some pre-trip thoughts on my summer of dinosaur study... (1/3)
September 28, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Hola, todos! We're just about to take off to Moab, Utah. With any luck we'll be able to see some national parks pre-shutdown, but otherwise it's all about the Moab Giants. Here are some pre-trip thoughts on my summer of dinosaur study... (1/3)