Pam Bliss
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pambliss-ink.bsky.social
Pam Bliss
@pambliss-ink.bsky.social
67 followers 48 following 82 posts
cartoonist, writer, photographer, etc.
Kekionga Bookshelf: kekiongabookshelf.thecomicseries.com
The Extras: theextras.thecomicseries.com
IG (all photography) @yardcoyote
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pambliss-ink.bsky.social
Coming soon: a new Mr. Rock adventure. This is the linework for the back cover; next step is a digital background. I very seldom mention the show with the initials S and T in this series for obvious reasons, but sometimes I can't resist a little joke. No recipe in the ALT text, but maybe a hint.
In this simple line drawing, an action figure of an Alien Officer in the Star Navy is holding out a tray of five large cookies that are not quite all the same size. He is wearing his uniform shirt, and also an apron that reads "Cookies: The Final Frontier". The caption reads "Would you like a snickerdoodle?" and he is saying "They're my latest permutation" in a speech balloon. Mr. Rock does not share his famous cookie recipes, but the author would like to point out that snickerdoodles are not exactly a product of science fiction technology. Just make your favorite sugar cookie recipe, chill the dough, roll into balls of reasonable size, roll the balls in cinnamon sugar, and bake as usual. Tasty!
March 12, 2025 at 10:43 PM
pambliss-ink.bsky.social
Iced tea at Waffle House, spring morning. Writing the ALT text to a photograph is an interesting experience.
A color photograph of a clear plastic cup about 3/4 full of iced tea. A plastic straw is in the cup on the right, and the cup is sitting on a butcher block patterned table at a booth in a Waffle House restaurant. A napkin dispenser, salt and pepper shakers, and a ketchup bottle are at the left of the image, slightly out of focus. A white paper napkin and a white straw wrapper, both crumpled, are on the table behind the cup, and spring morning sunlight is streaming in from left to right from a window on the left. The opposite seat, with red upholstery is reflected in the window, and with the ketchup bottle, creates three blocks of red across the upper background. The photograph was taken with a Nikon Zf using the Nikon 40mm f/2 lens.
March 11, 2025 at 3:21 PM
pambliss-ink.bsky.social
In the middle of the weekend, Zinj recalls a time last year when every single Drawing of the Day involved the word "tomato" in some way. This is the second time Zinj has been drawn holding a large tomato, and he is no closer to understanding it. The things australopithecines do for art! ALT+
In this sketchbook drawing, Zinj (our favorite floppy, furry character with the head of a cartoon Zinjanthropus skull) stands holding a large and elaborately crosshatched tomato. He says "Zinj has the tomato, but Zinj does not understand the tomato." The caption reads "Zinj participates in a series of drawings on a theme". The drawing is inked with a stub pen, which is the key to whatever joke there is in it. I ink almost entirely with fountain pens intended for writing, and my favorite type of nib for drawing is a fairly soft stub. My usual brand of pen sells steel nibs that soften up nicely with use, so I generally buy a new one and break it in in my sketchbook for several weeks or even a month or two before I use it in finished art. The last pen like this I bought was tomato red, so I did a series of tomato drawings during that period. Some of these drawings just used the word "tomato" in various ways, but others involved actual cartoon tomatoes. Zinj will never quite get used to standing there holding an enormous cartoon tomatoes, but he's ok with it. Tomatoes are just part of the job.
March 1, 2025 at 11:38 PM
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If I was ever going to write the book and lyrics for an opera, this is what the costume designs would look like. Good people of the audience, may I present the King of The Monsters. I really like this design and the way the character inside it is developing in my head. (more in the ALT text)
A sketchbook drawing of a character who resembles a child or young adult in a costume. The King of the Monsters has a round face with large orange eyes, scales for eyebrows and a large, fanged mouth, their ears are like Godzilla's, small and pointed. Their body is covered with a black body suit, with thickened neck and legs to suggest the proportions of a Japanese Kaiju walking costume. The King has small batlike wings, a short dragon tail, pointed claws and monster feet; the upper legs of the costume are covered with scales. They wear a large, simple gold crown, obviously a theatrical prop. Their skin and wings a pale bright green and their scales are a darker green. The King is drawn singing what is perhaps their signature aria in an imaginary opera: "I am the King of the Monsters. I am an innocent child of nature, and yet I am misunderstood." I drew this in my sketchbook late last night and I am really feeling the character developing in the back of my mind. I think there might be a role for the King in my Monster Comic, which is rapidly developing into a Monster Graphic Novel.
February 27, 2025 at 7:09 PM
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Happy Zinj Weekend from the Wild West, or rather from the Western desert of cartoon fame. I just had this idea that Zinj would "go with" the standard longhorn skull and cactus set design, and I think I was right. Inked entirely with the stub pen/ Extra in ALT text, so give it a click!
The weekend is upon us, so it's time for another drawing of Zinj. Today, we find everyone's favorite stuffed toy australopithecine sitting in a cartoon desert scene. He's behind a large longhorn skull with his legs extended under its horns and his chin resting in one hand with his elbow on the top of its head. Behind him is a tall, very spiky saguaro and a barrel shaped cactus, which is in bloom with a big flower on top of it like a bow. At the foot of each cactus is a grinning spirit rock, and small rocks are scattered around on the ground to suggest the desert floor. The whole drawing is inked with a single fountain pen with a stub nib, which creates a crisp line with a lot of variation in thickness. Since Zinj's head is basically a heavily cartoonified version of the skull of what is now called Paranthropus boisei, I always find it challenging and fun to draw him with more "realistically" drawn "real skulls". Bluesky fun fact: the Bluesky spellcheck knows how to spell saguaro but not australopithecus or its derivatives. Or archeopteryx , I once had a word processor that was fine with correcting archeopteryx for me, but it marked storytelling as incorrect. And so it goes.
February 22, 2025 at 1:35 AM
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Happy Zinj Weekend! The Small Victorian Child has a new color palette and she has talked her two gallant friends into trying it out with her. Zinj thinks he looks great, but Mr. Rock is not sure how he looks in celadon rather than his usual mint green. (Zinj always looks great.) More in the ALT.
A color sketchbook drawing featuring Zinj (the floppy stuffed toy with the skull of Zinjanthropus for a head) The Small Victorian Child, and Mr. Rock, a cheap knockoff action figure of a Very Famous Character Indeed. The Small Victorian Child is standing in the center arm in arm with Zinj and Mr. Rock, who are much taller than she is. The Small Victorian Child says "You're both going to enjoy my new color palette, inspired by my source image! It's warm, rich and old fashioned." Zinj says Zinj is an old school guy. Zinj will give it a try. Mr Rock says "Color me skeptical." A small caption reminds us that Mr. Rock may be retro, but never old fashioned. The Small Victorian Child originated when a friend sent me a Victorian "trade card" with a fishing joke where a small kid in a period frock-boots-big hat costume was catching a fish twice as big as they were. The big fish obviously reminded my friend of Mr. Frisky, my sand tiger shark character, but when I redrew the scene with him in the part of the fish, I found myself fascinated by the child. Pretty soon, we had another cast member: the bold, polite, curious, and irrepressible Small Victorian Child. Aren't we, each of us, a Small Victorian Child of the Universe? Just like the trees and the stars, etc.
February 14, 2025 at 11:21 PM
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That old Superb Owl joke is the gift that keeps on giving to creators with a silly streak. First up this year is the Superb Owl's Apprentice. Superbness in owls does not just happen. It takes hard work and a wide ranging education in all the Cartoon Owl Arts and Sciences. (more in the ALT text)
A brush and ink cartoon drawing of a plump little owl sitting in a tree. They are wearing a simple pointed hat with a childlike drawing of a five-pointed star on it, and a similiar star is drawn on his chest. They also have very big sharp talons, which I think a lot of people neglect to play up in their owl drawings. The caption reads "The Superb Owl's Apprentice". The joke about confusing the Super Bowl with the Superb Owl is as old as the hills and maybe not the funniest or most original trope in our culture, but it's definitely the gift that keeps on giving to all cartoonists who like to draw owls. (Which I do, even though I am no earthly good at it.) If nothing else, Superb Owl weekend is an annual reminder to me to practice my owls in my sketchbook!
February 11, 2025 at 8:02 PM
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Zinj always seems to set a mood for the weekend when we need him. How about a float on a peaceful summer pond with a beautiful swan? Do the best you can with whatever swan you've got. (Zinj thanks the Small Victorian Child for the loan of the water lilies in her source image.) (there's ALT text.)
A single panel ink and brush cartoon called "Zinj and the Beautiful Swan". On a peaceful summer day, Zinj (who is a big floppy stuffed toy with a furry body and the head of a cartoon Zinjanthropus skull) is floating in a lily pond on the back of a beautiful creature that looks like a cross between a dragon, a sea snake and a swan. It is actually quite beautiful, with big pretty eyes and a gently smile on its face. As far as I can remember, when I drew this last summer, I was trying for a sense of pastoral peace. I've always liked drawing creatures that combine dragons with everyday animals. Swans like this turn up in the sketchbook fairly regularly.
February 8, 2025 at 12:04 AM
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Zinj weekend returns with a highly topical Zinj sketchbook cartoon from early last summer. Just how long your fridge will "hold" depends on a lot of factors, from the age and quality of your appliance to the ambient temperature, but 28 hours is definitely too long. (Read the ALT text!)
In this sketchbook cartoon, Zinj (the lovable furry floppy guy whose head is the cartoon skull of a Zinjanthropus) is pushing a grocery store shopping cart. He is holding a plastic squeeze bottle and gazing at it pensively. Above him a caption reads "Zinj replaces all the stuff in the fridge after a big storm." Next to his head he is saying (or thinking) "If nobody eats the squeezy yellow mustard, why did we have the squeezy yellow mustard?" At the bottom of the drawing, by the wheels of the cart, is the answer "Must have needed it for a recipe." This is the all purpose kitchen excuse for why you have certain inexplicable food items. Of all the random expensive problems that come with running a household, I must say that refilling a fridge after a long power outage is one of my least favorites. You don't realize how much you have invested in random condiments and seasonings until you have to replace them all at once. And Zinj and I both hate wasting food. We never did buy more squeezy yellow mustard, and so far we haven't missed it.
January 31, 2025 at 9:45 PM
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Recently, I've been drawing various members of the cast posing with the mysterious and highly folkloric Black Chicken of Kekionga. With Mr. Rock, of course, it has to turn into a whole cartoon with captions and things. (More fun in the ALT text.)
A single panel sketchbook cartoon featuring Mr. Rock and the Black Chicken of Kekionga. Mr. Rock, who is a "come to life" character from my Toybox subuniverse and looks like a crude knockoff action figure of a licensed character (because he is), is riding a large black rooster. The rooster is looking skeptically at the audience. Mr. Rock consults his Scientific Device, which looks like a Barbie transistor radio (because it is). Mr. Rock says "The Bicorder indicates the presence of an Ayam Cemani chicken from Indonesia." This is correct, of course, but as the caption tells us, "The Star Navy database does not tell the whole story." I use photographs of the Ayam Cemani as references for the Black Chicken, who is a folkloric character with buckets of mysterious powers.
January 28, 2025 at 11:11 PM
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Happy Zinj weekend. In this cartoon, Zinj is totally mellow (and meta) about the whole issue of "relative sizes" in cartooning. The drawings for Zinj weekend are taken right out of the sketchbook with minimal edits. (Don't forget to read the ALT text in my picture posts.)
A two panel sketchbook comic featuring Zinj and the Small Victorian Child. The Small Victorian Child is wearing a large sailor hat with a long ribbon, a frock with a white collar and cuffs, a bow around the neck, and a sash, and stockings with boots. Zinj is a floppy, furry, toylike humanoid figure whose head is a cartoon skull of Zinjanthropus. In the first panel, the Small Victorian Child is looking up at Zinj, who is a head and shoulders taller. She says "Tell me, Mr. Zinj, are you taller than me,". Then in the second panel, the Small Victorian Child is kneeling, holding hands with Zinj who is now looking her in the eyes. She finishes her thought "or smaller than me?" Zinj replies that either way works for him. Of all my characters, Zinj is the most likely to recognize that he is in a comic or cartoon, to acknowledge it on screen, and to have opinions about it. He breaks not only the "fourth wall" with the audience, but whatever number the wall is between himself and the person making the comic, and he often drags the other characters along with him for the ride.
January 24, 2025 at 11:16 PM
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Over on the other platform, I have been tracing the life of my weird little Zinjanthropus character "Zinj" by posting all of his cartoons in the order they were drawn. Welcome to Zinj Weekend, everyone. I'm not going back to the beginning, but we might start Best of Zinj Bluesky Catch-Ups midweek.
In the first part, Zinj hijacks a fountain pen test. I say "I was going to draw Zinj holding a daikon, but I think it can wait until tomorrow when I've downloaded my photographs from the Japanese market. Zinj, who is a cartoon zinjanthropus with a skull like head and a floppy stuffed toy body, replies, with his hands on his hips, "Zinj wants to hold a daikon today!" I really need to find those photographs and draw Zinj with the daikon. Zinj, who is a cartoon Zinjanthropus with a skull-like head and a floppy stuffed animal body, is holding a large tomato almost as big as he is. Zinj says "This is not a daikon. It is an heirloom tomato." Zinj is really hard to describe in text, but my goal is to make him look equal parts cute and sort of creepy.
January 18, 2025 at 12:21 AM
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Did you know I have an online archive that is slowly collecting all my minicomics and cartoon short stories? It's called the Kekionga Bookshelf and you can find it at kekiongabookshelf.thecomicseries.com . Free to read and fun to read, updates every Thursday, sometimes Monday.
Under the benevolent light of a yellow desert moon in a glowing purple sky, a cartoon sandworm reads minicomics from a pile on top of a longbox. Behind them, a radio tower with a red light on top broadcast waves of homemade story energy. The face of the Man in the Moon is Bud from Pam Bliss's "Kekionga" comics series.
January 14, 2025 at 4:18 PM
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The drawing of the day continues. This project started as my New Year's resolution for 2009. I was going to make a finished drawing, in ink, every day for a year. And I just sort of never stopped. This is Foursquare in, yet another new costume, with Josef. The latter is indeed a wiseacre.
A young man dressed in a heavy sweater with a strange symbol on it, calls a weird animal a "wiseacre". Clearly some kind of shenanigans are taking place.
January 13, 2025 at 7:10 PM
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If I'm celebrating the New Year on Bluesky, I should share my New Year's cartoon, which I think I actually finished on the 3rd or something. How late is late?
January 10, 2025 at 4:15 PM
pambliss-ink.bsky.social
Make a random post with a picture from your archives, anyone?

Here's a chibi Shedu from a drawing of the day sketchbook, 2012.
January 9, 2025 at 5:42 PM
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Hi, I'm back. RL and holidays took a bite out of me, but in the new year I plan to hang out on Bluesky a lot more. (And Other Places, maybe less if conditions deteriorate.) My goal is always to stay in touch, have fun, share cool stuff and keep going.
My kitchen jade plant has the right idea.
A close up (macro) photograph of a household jade plant sprouting new growth at the base of a stem that has been pruned. The new leaves are bright green against the grey and brown.
January 8, 2025 at 5:12 PM
pambliss-ink.bsky.social
I drew a traditional handprint turkey for everyone out there on the information web. Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it today, and good wishes to all.
A drawing of a cartoon turkey based on a traced handprint. It is wearing glasses and carrying a large marker, and looks very goofy.
November 28, 2024 at 5:39 PM
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I just got the TTArtisan 75mm f/2 for my Nikon. This is a very interesting, simple lens at a focal length I really enjoy for general shooting. Here's the very first picture I ever finished with it-- a small but scary shot of King Ghidorah. I think I had the white balance a little warm.
A color photograph of a small King Ghidorah action figure.
November 25, 2024 at 11:54 PM
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Rudbeckia at the county fair, 2022. From the archives.
Clumps of yellow and brown daisy-like flowers arranged for judging at a county fair. They are on a shelf covered with a white cloth. against a dark grey curtain
November 23, 2024 at 11:24 PM
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Kekionga marginalia: Tiny Jack and Iowa, stub pen over pencil.
A very tiny drawing of a boy and a girl looking at each other in a sort of romantic way. The pencil lines are still visible under the inks.
November 22, 2024 at 7:34 PM
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Iowa dressed as Raven, wearing the Professor's black duster. A random image from the archives. To read complete stories from my long running series "Kekionga", set in a little town in Indiana where anything can happen, please follow the link in the first comment.
A young woman with long curling hair and a sly look on her face, wearing a black coat and a leather cap with raven's wings.
November 21, 2024 at 5:50 PM
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In addition to drawing in my sketchbook and making cartoons and comics, I also make photographs and plan to post some here. We're starting off at the garden center this past August, with my little Olympus micro four thirds camera and the 60mm macro lens. This is "Bee in Orbit" around a coneflower.
November 20, 2024 at 5:16 PM
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Thanks and welcome to all my cool new followers on my new social media thing. Please have some more content! This one is an automatic drawing made with a self-loading brush pen and no planning ahead whatsoever. The text comes from whatever was on TV at the time, almost certainly a cooking show.
A brushwork drawing of a wizardly character with a bat and a three-eyed owl.
November 19, 2024 at 5:37 PM
pambliss-ink.bsky.social
I thought maybe I should post some content to my new social media thing, so here is a sketchbook drawing.
A line art drawing in fountain pen of two strange characters meeting in an art museum.
November 18, 2024 at 8:45 PM