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vanderbander.bsky.social
Vanderbander
@vanderbander.bsky.social
100 followers 470 following 200 posts
Alan || they/them || Ottawa-based artist & animator
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vanderbander.bsky.social
Vanderbander @vanderbander.bsky.social · Sep 30
Hi, I'm Alan! An animator & artist who wants nothing to do with gen AI. You can find more of my work at vanderbander.carrd.co, and my Patreon to see behind-the-scenes stuff at patreon.com/vanderbander

Thanks for stopping by ✨️
A portrait photo of the artist, Alan, shown waist-up standing in a park. They're sporting a bright red tote bag that says "TRANS WRATH" in white, surrounded by flames. They're wearing a light blue collared shirt with short sleeves, clear square glasses, and have short brown hair that's blowing in the wind. They're giving the camera a closed-mouth smile, and some words & images have been added digitally. Above them the words "Meet the artist" are written in bright blue on top of a white overlay, underneath which it says "Alan", with an arrow pointing at them. A couple doodles of flowers and lines are drawn near their face, and their pronouns "they/them" are written along the edge of the tote bag in the left. To the right side are three hearts bearing pride flags: trans, panro-ace, and nonbinary. Underneath those is a Dutch-Canadian flag. Another portrait photo of Alan, this time with the tote bag from before thrown over their shoulder, better showcasing the just-legible pins attached to it. One is a crow saying "FRICK", the second says "AI FUCKING SUCKS", and the third has their pronouns "they/them". Alan is smiling over their shoulder at the camera, and some text is written next to them over a fuzzy white overlay. "I'm a working artist based in Ottawa, Canada. I love telling stories, drawing, singing, animating, making comics, connecting with people, and fighting for a better world for everyone." A photograph showing three sketchbooks, with some pencil drawings of an OC (Atlas), a fluffy-haired D&D character (Oz the aasimar cleric), and comic thumbs for Amorem Metus. Words are written in bright blue in a point form, with space between each list item, on top of a white overlay with scratchy edges. "My main hobbies are >Dungeons & Dragons >drawing >videogames >making music and >inventing new projects to work on" Two photographs of a short-haired cat named Goose are edited together. The first fills up the top half, mostly covered by text, showing Goose snoozing in a cat bed, his face smooshed. The second photo takes up the bottom half, and shows Goose from above at an odd angle, with his head tilted upside down. Goose is mostly white with some tabby patches in brown, and a couple orange patches on his face. The text is bright blue on top of a scratchy white overlay "I'm married to my favourite person 💙 (my wife) 💙💙💙 and together we tolerate the presence of Goose!!". The hearts and exclamation marks are hand drawn.
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trueref.bsky.social
Hey artists, TrueRef is looking for your input!

Complete a quick survey, and get a set of free hand references along with 25% off site wide!

Link: form.typeform.com/to/QkENrL10
multiple art references of hand, featuring long pink nails.
February 12, 2026 at 7:57 PM
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joechoui.bsky.social
Old 'lumbos
Two drawings of Columbo from Columbo
January 2, 2026 at 3:56 PM
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endless-swords.bsky.social
The Hearth (1/21)

A sapphic horror comic about witchcraft and hunger in the dead of winter.
An illustrated cover for a short comic called The Hearth by lainey williams. A cabin sits in a clearing in a snowy forest. The small windows in the log cabin are lit yellow and there is a trail of blood through the snow leading to the door. Smoke rises from the cabin’s chimney to surround the title. On either side of the smoke are illustrations in the style of Karelian embroidery, showing stylized geometric patterns in red thread. On the left side embroidery section, there is a depiction of a woman kneeling. her hands are stained red and she wears a headscarf. Opposite her is a woman standing. Instead of a left arm she has a wing. Over the top of the image, two geese shaded in red fly over the cabin and smoke. The trees all around the cabin are shaded in dark blue.
October 6, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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leovongripsholm.bsky.social
Cartoon. Person says to other person „We invented a robot that answers questions.“, adding, „we just have to feed it 10 baby giraffes a day“. The other person asks „But it answers the questions correctly?“ Person responds „Oh my goodness, no. No no no no no.“ By Aram J. French Appropriated due to missing alt text
February 12, 2026 at 1:44 PM
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danaterrace.bsky.social
We've been looking forward to sharing this news for a long time. We're making a graphic novel!

The Owl House: The Long-Lived King
Written by me and the amazing @mikkicrisostomo.bsky.social

Illustrated by the incomparable @dindu99.bsky.social

We're so excited to tell a brand new story.
The cover of the graphic novel, a colored illustration by Daun Han depicting King in the foreground, Luz and Harpy Eda behind him, and the other cast of characters framing them including Willow, Hunter, Gus, Papa Titan, the Collector, and Amity.
February 12, 2026 at 8:23 PM
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brittlestar.com
Welcome to Choosing a Mug
February 12, 2026 at 7:25 PM
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icarianarts.bsky.social
I doodled this leik years ago and it got the worst attention imaginable on tumblr so I locked reblogs & stuff but honestly I still think about this a lot
February 12, 2026 at 6:25 PM
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elementalamber.bsky.social
THIS! THIS! Yay this lifted my whole spirit.
daviddarmofal.bsky.social David Darmofal @daviddarmofal.bsky.social · 1d
N.Y.C. Officials Reinstate Pride Flag at Stonewall After Federal Removal

Hundreds of people attended a rally on Thursday to re-raise the flag, setting up a defiant response to the Trump administration’s assault on diversity initiatives.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/n...
N.Y.C. Officials Reinstate Pride Flag at Stonewall After Federal Removal
www.nytimes.com
February 13, 2026 at 1:59 AM
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kekeflipnote.bsky.social
This is old but I am still feeling this way up to this day.
January 30, 2026 at 12:14 PM
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upandoutcomic.bsky.social
I hope Joanne Rowling is seething in her castle 🥹
natacha.bsky.social Natacha @natacha.bsky.social · 2d
The EU has just voted, by a VERY wide margin, for the full recognition of trans women as women…!
Disclose.tv @disclosetv NOW - EU Parliament votes to accept a report, that calls for "the full recognition of trans women as women" as part of the EU priorities for the UN CSW on "women's rights and gender equality." • • I| 0:14 12:31 pm • 12 Feb 2026 • 174K Views
February 13, 2026 at 2:24 AM
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victoriascott.bsky.social
I’ve spent years of my life trying to explain to people that anti-trans conservatism naturally flows from their belief that children in the American nuclear family are not individuals with autonomy, but instead property of the parents and state, and this guy just… tweeted it out
“Children are our biggest export in the state of Missouri. We need to protect our biggest export,” said Rep. Jamie Gragf (R-Ozark). “We’re damaging them, because this is unfounded science.”
February 12, 2026 at 10:53 PM
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museum-of-twitter.bsky.social
@deathbybadger about a month ago my editor: you need to make this part clearer me: no I think we can trust the reader to interpret, I don't think we need to baby them the reader: @DOROGA4YA about a month ago y'all im 40% into this book im reading and this whole time i thought one of the characters was a horse. he is a man.
January 21, 2026 at 12:48 AM
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patsux.bsky.social
dancing dragons
Digital painting of a Mega Dragonite, dueling with a Mega Altaria. The shiny mega Dragonite is wielding a spear with a curved blade, clashing against a white sword wielded by the mega Altaria. They are dueling in the sky, surrounded by seven other Altarias aiming to attack the Dragonite, and there thunderclouds brewing in the backdrop.
February 8, 2026 at 10:33 PM
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darkchibishadow.bsky.social
The Discord "teen by default" shit is insane. It feels so much like corporations want everyone to be in a state of arrested development. That we should all be children they can control. That we have to be sanitized and childlike. Hating this shit so bad. Please call your reps.
February 9, 2026 at 5:44 PM
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okazu.yuricon.com
Discord is going to demand every account use facial recognition or give them our real ID in March.

Let's write them right now and explain how much "no."

support.discord.com/hc/en-us/art...
How to Complete Age Assurance on Discord
Important: Starting in March, we’ll be expanding our teen-by-default experience and bringing age assurance to users globally as part of our broader effort to support age-appropriate experiences on ...
support.discord.com
February 9, 2026 at 3:08 PM
vanderbander.bsky.social
Last week I was standing in a local sandwich shop waiting to pay for my order when a man walked up to the cash and asked for directions to the nearest subway. To her credit, the cashier gave instructions on how to look something up in a maps app.

I'm still thinking about this.
February 3, 2026 at 4:42 PM
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feathernotes.bsky.social
A lot of us have actually made a webcomic ring called Chimera Comics after we left hiveworks: chimeracomics.org

This isn't the full list as some artists want their hands completely washed of the situation, but this is a start!
Chimera Comics Collective
A webring, for webcomics
chimeracomics.org
January 12, 2026 at 5:48 PM
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byelacey.bsky.social
if you'd like to do something free and actionable here's a list of former hiveworks creators, give 'em a follow, show 'em your support. be kind
chimeracomics.bsky.social Chimera Comics Collective @chimeracomics.bsky.social · Jan 13
You can use this starter pack to follow our members individually. Go check out their comics! go.bsky.app/9xoK8kP
January 13, 2026 at 12:16 PM
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phantomarine.bsky.social
For anyone who ever wanted to know why I left Hiveworks, please read this.

My friends and peers there were amazing - and their vast reserves of hard work and creativity were used and abused in so many ways. We came together to share our stories, and thank goodness we did.

Thank you for listening.
cartoonist.coop Cartoonist Cooperative @cartoonist.coop · Jan 12
The Hiveworks Artist Guild has released a public statement alleging years of labor abuses, financial mismanagement, and misconduct at Hiveworks at the hands of Xellette “Xel” Velamist and Isabelle “Isa” Melançon. Read their full statement at:

cartoonist.coop/hiveworks-gu...
Hiveworks Guild logo. Two bees sitting on a bee hive holding hands.
January 12, 2026 at 5:39 PM
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skullamity.bsky.social
Heeeyy, we can finally talk about this! So, I would like to co-sign everything in this open letter. I would also like to tell everyone about a specific grievance that @femonologue.bsky.social and I have with Xellette after the mishandling of our kickstarter. Screencap/receipts in🧵 to follow!
cartoonist.coop Cartoonist Cooperative @cartoonist.coop · Jan 12
The Hiveworks Artist Guild has released a public statement alleging years of labor abuses, financial mismanagement, and misconduct at Hiveworks at the hands of Xellette “Xel” Velamist and Isabelle “Isa” Melançon. Read their full statement at:

cartoonist.coop/hiveworks-gu...
Hiveworks Guild logo. Two bees sitting on a bee hive holding hands.
January 12, 2026 at 6:34 PM
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gamesdonequick.com
🏁TIME🏁 #AGDQ2026 has raised a total amount of $2,443,414 for @preventcancer.org!

Thank you to everyone who made this marathon possible, and to all of you for your amazing generosity & support!!

See you all next time at #SGDQ2026!!

We are SO BACK!!!!!!!
finale photo of the AGDQ 2026 audience and stage
January 11, 2026 at 7:58 AM
vanderbander.bsky.social
WAAHHHHHHH THIS IS SO SWEET 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Gonna make that comic I swear 👏

Thank you so much for the kind words 💖 You continue to inspire me, Vanessa (:
quietsnooze.bsky.social Vanessa Stefaniuk 🍂 @quietsnooze.bsky.social · Dec 20
Artists support artists advent calendar day 20:

Alan is one of the kindest and most genuine people I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know through webcomics! They have one of their own coming soon and I cannot wait to see more of it. They are passionate, hardworking, and brilliantly creative!
vanderbander.bsky.social Vanderbander @vanderbander.bsky.social · Sep 30
Hi, I'm Alan! An animator & artist who wants nothing to do with gen AI. You can find more of my work at vanderbander.carrd.co, and my Patreon to see behind-the-scenes stuff at patreon.com/vanderbander

Thanks for stopping by ✨️
December 21, 2025 at 6:19 AM
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nurveart.bsky.social
Jump lieutenant! Jump!

#discoelysium
December 16, 2025 at 11:06 PM
vanderbander.bsky.social
There's three different buses I could take that shorten my 35 minute walk to a 15 minute walk, and for some reason the trips for ALL THREE OF THEM are cancelled almost every morning, just when I need to take them. The earlier and later trips are fine! But 8:30? No. No bus.
December 17, 2025 at 1:06 PM
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faitherinhicks.bsky.social
My upcoming middle grade graphic novel Inbetweens (which is based on my mixed experience at animation college) got a starred review in School Library Journal! YAY! www.slj.com/review/inbet...
the cover to Inbetweens, by Faith Erin Hicks, colour by Kelly Fitzpatrick
December 15, 2025 at 6:26 PM