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bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
Bryant Paul Johnson
@bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
160 followers 350 following 230 posts
Cartoonist, Illustrator, and Graphic Designer he/him
bryantpauljohnson.com
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bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
I haven’t read this article yet, but I’m assuming it’s a push for single payer healthcare, debt cancellation, and raising the minimum wage.
A screenshot of a Wall Street Journal article, titled “White House Hunts for Ways to Lower the Cost of Living”.
November 16, 2025 at 1:49 PM
bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
Is anyone going to Arcanecon in Northampton? There are a bunch of cool games I want to check out—hopefully space is still available!
A nebbish man walks to the right (his left), holding a sword in one hand and a torch in the other, trailed by a slime monster with too many eyes.
November 7, 2025 at 4:28 PM
bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
It’s the Great Joust. Except one guy is definitely riding a chicken. Drawn in three parts, mostly just to make it entirely unwieldy to work on.
I knight holding a lance in one hand feeds corn to a giant chicken wearing a saddle. What nonsense is this? Is the chicken some sort of fantastic mount? Also there is a young child with a pageboy haircut holding a shield. They’re probably a page. In context that’s pretty obvious. The background is a fantasy tableau of blues and greens, with hints of warmer colors. It’s part one of a triptych. The middle panel of a triptych. In it, two folks in medieval garb (wimples and pointy hats) are smiling. One holds a laurel, the other a golden circlet. Technically, it’s a white circlet, but only to provide more contrast against the background. They’re surrounded by three pointy dogs. Whippets, or something. I’m not a dogologist, so I kinda just went for comedic effect. In the background is a cartoonish castle of pointy spires, ramparts, and crenellation. The third part of the triptych. A large knight holds a lance in one hard. Before them is a skinny black horse with jaunty orange decorations in its mane. It looks way too skinny. I sort of drew it as an homage to Mary Blair, so the horse is definitely less than functional. To the knight’s left is also a page holding a shield.
October 17, 2025 at 2:08 PM
bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
Nova Cromlec might be famous for its monsters, but did you know it also has thousands of miles of pristine coastlines, lovely green hills, and charming villages? And monsters. Lots of monsters.

Nova Cromlec: coming soon to an inter dimensional portal near you!
Three kids dressed in modern clothing stand in from of a fantasy backdrop: a castle looming over a stepped hill. The kid on the left is stepping through a red portal. He’s dressed like a teenaged metal head, and holds a glowing skeleton key. The kid in the center is wearing a green sweater and slacks. He is holding a backpack with sword sticking out from it. The kid on the right is wearing a red hoodie. She’s holding a spear.
October 3, 2025 at 7:10 PM
bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
It’s kidlit postcard day! Do you like weird, kinda humorous takes on folklore, fantasy, & whiling away time in offices waiting for the heat death of the universe? Do you think that scarecrows are born, and not made? I’m your guy. This illustration is titled “It’s the Great Eschaton, Charlie Brown”.
Two pumpkin headed figure surround a man in a striped shirt who is staring at a pumpkin hovering in the air. They’re surrounded by an ivy covered stone circle. It’s all very mysterious. Well, not that mysterious. The artist is implying that scarecrows are the result of some sort of dread chthonic ritual, and not just agricultural necessity.
September 4, 2025 at 6:59 PM
bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
A bit of good luck for me!
‘Cause I’ve got a golden compass!

A mocked up cover for The Golden Compass, or The Northern Lights, if you’re reading this anywhere but in the US.

Drawn in Affinity Designer, as mostly vector.
A fan cover of Philip Pullman’s novel “The Golden Compass.” It shows Lyra Belacqua clad in arctic garb running through a snowy forest. In the background is the aurora Borealis. Beside her are a pine marten (Pantalaimon) and a polar bear (Iorek Byrnison). The same as the previous image, but the title has been changed to “The Northern Lights,” which was the novel’s original title.
July 31, 2025 at 6:48 PM
bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
If you see this, post a DC comics cover you love.

I’ll admit, I totally ate up the New Mutants/X-Force hype when it came out.

Years later, I found this in a dollar bin. It’s amazing all the way through, including the hyperbolic commentary about the various contributors.
The cover to a one-off issue of Doom Patrol parodying the worst excesses of the early ‘90s X-Men era. And drawn by Mike Mignola too.
July 19, 2025 at 7:47 PM
bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
If you see this, post a vampire!

It’s vector and raster, with a dash of the supernatural. #kidlit
A greenish vampire, (or brykolakis, in the parlance of the youths) is walking by a cemetery at night. It’s wearing an Elizabethan collar, so it’s either 400 years old, or a hipster. And also it has little bat wings, because they’re fun to draw.
July 16, 2025 at 6:37 PM
bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
It’s #portfolioday apparently. (I bought one of those word-a-day calendars, so I was operating under the impression that it was “crepuscular” day. Which means I’m about 11 hours early, on the East Coast.) Anyway, some recent illustrations… and as always, you can find me at bryantpauljohnson.com
A mocked up cover to P.G. Wodehouse’s novel Psmith Journalist. Psmith and Billy Wagner are walking through a slightly seedy New York street watched by a gray cat. Psmith is strolling jauntily, while Billy looks apprehensively about. A man stands in a pumpkin patch holding a watering can and a hoe. Around him are growing pumpkins. Behind him is a giant menacing jack o-lantern emerging from the soil. It’s all oranges and blues. And it was drawn in June, so seasonally appropriate. A small boy trails behind an agéd wizard in a fantastic wooded landscape. I mean fantastic in that it depicts a fantasy scene, and not a qualitative descriptor. Though I do like how it turned out. Presumably the small boy is a wizard in training. He does have a short cape on, which might also make him a sidekick. A scene depicting Merlin standing with young Arthur as he grasps a sword in an anvil. Personally, given how things are going right now, I’d almost rather have a sword-based meritocracy than the cruel whiplash government we have in the US.
July 8, 2025 at 1:42 PM
bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
It’s #kidlipostcard day. You should commission me to draw slyly irreverent versions of classic stories, and/or anything involving weirdos with swords.

Represented by Luddington Creative. luddingtoncreative.co.uk
A cartoonish depiction of young Arthur standing in the rain, holding a sword embedded in an anvil. Opposite him is a slightly bedraggled Merlin gesturing questioningly. A word balloon coming from Merlin shows a cartoon icon of a crown. In the background are trees and a blocky castle. Below it reads “Bryant Paul Johnson, illustrator and cartoonist. Represented by Lucie Luddington at luddingtoncreative.co.uk”
June 5, 2025 at 7:04 PM
bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
I wasn’t bold enough to be an actual goth, but I did spend a lot of time in my youth combing record shops for gloomy b-sides. Now the gothiest thing about me is the horrifying state of my feet.
A cartoon captioned “[Sadly] True Tales of Running.” A grayscale comic of a bespectacled nerd wearing a vintage Bauhaus Tshirt staring at his black toenails. He’s saying “I learned that today is World Goth Day. So, in honor, I’m going to pretend all my black toenails are a deliberate fashion choice, and not a result of too tight running shoes.”
May 24, 2025 at 4:18 PM
bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
Green art! (It turns out, I pretty much only work in three colors: green, blue, and orange. I’m not sure why. (Ironically, my brother actually has a PhD in color science. Good luck trying to convince me that other colors are worthwhile.)
A man is walking holding an umbrella In front of a rainy spring tableau of blue-green plants punctuated with tulips. A young child is standing in the foreground holding a stick, presumably to poke at earthworms. As kids do. Don’t hurt earthworms, they’re super important for healthy soil.
May 13, 2025 at 2:41 PM
bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
Haunted Pines Summer Camp: come for the arts and crafts, stay for the chthonic evil. And badminton.
Two kids holding badminton rackets (or racquets? I don’t play badminton, so I have no idea which spelling is the right one.) stand in a forest. The girl to the left is swinging her racket at a cute, though probably totally evil bat. The boy on the right is being menaced by a walking skeleton. It’s mostly shades of blue with some red accents.
May 3, 2025 at 1:56 PM
bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
Who am I kidding, there’s no way he’d ever play a board game.
A cartoon of the President sitting at a table upon which is set up Catan. He’s saying, “Anyone want to trade? I need wood, wheat, brick, sheep, and stone. I will give you nothing.” It’s captioned “Grifters of Catan.”
April 5, 2025 at 1:56 AM
bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
I drew this a few years back. Farewell, Nick Rivers.
A cartoonish portrait of Val Kilmer in the move Tombstone. At the top it reads, “Consumptive Emo Cowboy”. At the bottom it reads, “Be the Huckleberry You Want to See in the World”.
April 2, 2025 at 5:13 PM
bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
Have you ever wondered how many Sliding Doors-style choices it took to divert you from a career as a singing cowboy? Me neither.

A self-portrait of me and my trusty steed Malmö. Drawn as vector and raster in Affinity Designer on the iPad.
A portrait of the artist as a singing cowboy. He’s wearing jeans, cowboy boots, one of those button down shirts with the light colored yoke (I don’t know what they’re called—cowboy shirt?) and a ten gallon hat that’s clearly five gallons flat. And a sweet Massachusetts belt buckle. He’s holding a guitar in one hand and doing finger guns with the other. In the background is a small chonky horse, also singing. In the way background is Nauset Light, a famous lighthouse near where the artist grew up. There are also little scrub pines, the official flora of Cape Cod.
March 18, 2025 at 4:21 PM
bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
A self portrait inserted into a scene from a favorite series of books. I’ve read the Lord of the Rings several times over the years (I was given the books in the early ‘80s), and yet I mostly only remember the walking around parts.
Two hobbits, trailed by a deranged Gollum tearing into a red cartoon fish, walk past a sign reading “Entering Mordor”. The hobbit in the front (which is actually a self-portrait of the artist), looks pleased with himself. The second hobbit, the Samwise Gamgee in this tableau, is looking back towards Gollum, skeptically. Gollum seems entirely distracted by his fish. It’s all drawn kinda goofy and cartoony, clearly honoring the gravitas of the source material.
March 6, 2025 at 6:43 PM
bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
There’s evil, and then there’s negligent.

Silly doodling using fairy tale tropes. Drawn in Affinity Designer. Why is it so much fun to draw layered skirts and ridiculous poofy shoulder pads? And tiny hooded minions?
A single panel comic titled “Fairy-Tale Renovations”. There are three figures. In the center is a tall, regal woman holding a staff and wearing a crown. To her left is a small figure in a hooded robe with cartoonishly large eyes. To her right is a similarly attired small figure holding a partially opened scroll. They’re speaking to the figure in the center. “The good news, my Dread Queen, is that we can squeeze four extra dungeons in the basement space. The bad news: we also found knob and tube wiring.” It’s extra funny because if you ever take a home buyer’s course, or watch any renovation show on TV, you’ll know that knob and tube wiring is the architectural equivalent of a yellow X painted on your door. A plague upon your house. (It’s not really, but insurance companies won’t insure a house that still has it.)
February 19, 2025 at 4:48 PM
bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
Any excuse to draw wizards, am I right? All vector for a change.
An old wizard with long hair, and a robe with stars on it (classic wizard style) clutches a steaming mud of something (coffee? tea? a mysterious potion?). He stands in front of a lectern with an open book, and a bunch of tall candlesticks (with open flames). It’s wizard-core at its finest.
February 17, 2025 at 5:05 PM
bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
I made a fake cover to one of my favorite childhood books, “The Book of Three,” by Lloyd Alexander. I wanted to do a stylized (maybe mid-century modern?) version. Basically, you should totally hire me to draw silly covers for classic fantasy books.
An homage to one of my favorite books growing up: “The Book of Three,” by Lloyd Alexander. In this fake cover, a giant red-cloaked figure with an antlered skull for a head stands menacingly behind two young people. The person on the left is a tall red-haired woman holding a sword in her left hand, and a glowing golden ball in her right. On the right is a young man holding a sword looking back startled. There is a blue green background with stylized birch trees.
February 12, 2025 at 4:16 PM
bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
Quote re-post with yer wings. (It turns out, I draw a lot of seagulls. So instead, something more monstrous!) A voluptuous dragon, intricately rendered.
A chubby red dragon, with comically small wings, hovers over a burning medieval tableau.
February 10, 2025 at 9:54 PM
bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
In the latest episode of Baywatch Massachusetts, the crew discovers that shady real-estate developers have been abusing the public trust.
A lifeguard holding a shark warning flag stands on the beach next to a seagull with angry eyebrows. Seagulls don’t have eyebrows you say? They do on Baywatch Massachusetts. The lifeguard is saying, “We discovered that the CEO of Cottage Corp. had been falsifying shark data to manipulate the local real-estate market.” The seagull responds with, “Just say the word and his convertible gets filled with 50 pounds of rotting quahog shells.” When there’s no legal recourse for villainy, Baywatch Massachusetts takes matters into their own hands.
February 3, 2025 at 5:13 PM
bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
If you see this, quote with your night art.

“Will o’ the Wisp.” Vector and raster, created in Affinity Designer. This is game art from an RPG setting I’ve been working on for ages.
A gangly red-haired man wanders through the woods at night, carrying a lantern. Glowing shapes pursue him, unseen.
February 3, 2025 at 2:26 AM
bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
Things heat up on Baywatch Massachusetts, as the gang infiltrates a notorious horseshoe crab poaching operation.
A lifeguard and a talking seagull wearing fake mullet wigs walk right. The lifeguard is wearing a denim vest, and carrying one of those red buoy things. He’s saying, “Stay sharp Logan, if we’re gonna bust this horseshoe crab poaching operation, we gotta go undercover. They can’t suspect we’re Baywatch Massachusetts.” The seagull, whose name is apparently Logan, responds, “We’re just two regular guys lookin’ to score some primo h-crab.” I really don’t know why I keep drawing these.
January 30, 2025 at 2:58 PM
bryantpauljohnson.bsky.social
“Ceci n’est pas un petit-déjeuner”

I’m excited to relive the four years of waking up every morning to wonder what parts of America that f’n guy broke overnight.

The taste of adrenal fatigue is such a great complement to breakfast.
A gloomy looking man in an orange sweater sits at a breakfast table staring at his phone. In front of him is a coffee cup, a bowl of cereal, a carton of milk, and a box of “Rene Magritte’s Dreary-Os,” the true breakfast of champions. The palette is muted blues and greens with some orange highlights. Also there’s a portrait on the wall, and a window through which you see a rainy sky.
January 28, 2025 at 5:23 PM