S.S. Julian
LightNews LightNews
banner
octopolis.bsky.social
S.S. Julian
@octopolis.bsky.social
1.6K followers 360 following 1.2K posts
Cartoonist and creator of Octopolis, a sci-fi fantasy about the future where humans are extinct and octopuses have inherited the Earth. Get Issue #1 now at octopoliscomic.com
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
octopolis.bsky.social
S.S. Julian @octopolis.bsky.social · Jun 25
Hi there! I’m SS Julian, a cartoonist, designer and marine science enthusiast. I write and illustrate Octopolis, a scifi fantasy about a future where humans are extinct and octopuses have inherited the Earth! About time, right? Octopolis is self-published, get it at octopoliscomic.com
An illustration depicting several cartoon octopuses and fish in an aquatic environment. An imposing yellow octopus hovers above a happy purple octopus holding the arm of a yellow scared octopus. A yellow cuttlefish swims alongside them. Below an orange octopus wearing a lobster headdress rides an aggressive wolf eel and stares at the party menacingly. In the background an octopus rides a manta ray while another rides a zeppelin. A castle wall of coral can be seen against a background of the ocean surface. Text: S.S. Julian: Octopolis. octopoliscomic.com Two clothed octopuses enter a dark cavern that appears to be a submerged subway station. In the distance a human skeleton lies leaning against a concrete pillar. One octopus says 'Welcome to Octopolis!' and the other exclaims 'Abyss below!' in surprise. Two octopuses look on in apprehension from a cave at a shark swimming overhead. The shark is being ridden by an octopus wielding a shell spear and wearing shell armor. The shark has a bridle, harness and several saddle bags. A purple octopus riding a giant crab overlooks a gigantic coral wall. Small figures of other octopuses appear riding animals and vehicles in the distance. A gap in the wall is gated at its base and at the surface of the water. Then gates are guarded by octopuses wielding spears.
octopolis.bsky.social
Announcement: I made a board book! If you've got a friend who's into marine animals but still learning numbers and colors, they'll love The Octopus Dinner Party!
🐙🐋🦑🐡

octopolis-shop.square.site/product/new-...
Photo of a children's board book: The Octopus Dinner Party by SS Julian. A tale from Octopolis. Pictured are a variety of sea animals surrounding a purple octopus wearing a chef's hat and bearing cutlery. Photo of an open children's board book: The Octopus Dinner Party by SS Julian. Pictured is a red octopus delivering a letter to a red fish. Text reads 2 Red Rockfish Photo of an open children's board book: The Octopus Dinner Party by SS Julian. Pictured is a purple octopus holding a fishing rod with a letter attached. A bunch of sardines swim alongside. Photo of an open children's board book: The Octopus Dinner Party by SS Julian. Pictured is a bunch of nudibranchs of various colors. Text reads 10 colorful slugs.
January 16, 2026 at 7:15 PM
Reposted by S.S. Julian
datgreenmonstah.bsky.social
I dug up an old art i did of my favorite cephalopod the vampire squid, maybe j will thrn it into the lino art it was meant to be
January 15, 2026 at 5:27 PM
octopolis.bsky.social
The Emperor
#Octopolis #Tarot #octopus 🐙🐡
The Emperor stands erect on a terraced throne of staghorn coral.He wears a bejeweled crown ring around his spiked mantle, and wields a turitella shell spear. A large nautilus shell covers his third right arm, and harp snail envelops his fore-arm. Swimming behind him is a male sheepshead wrasse, along with a school of inflated man-o-war siphonophores. Digital drawing by SS Julian for Octopolis
January 14, 2026 at 6:29 PM
Reposted by S.S. Julian
octopolis.bsky.social
Happy #Portfolioday!

I'm SS Julian, a Californian author-illustrator with a creative writing degree and a professional background in design. I self-published my comic Octopolis in 2024, hence the preponderance of cephalopods in my work. I enjoy drawing lots of different animals, including humans!
A digital illustration by SS Julian. Text: Octopolis A purple octopus is followed by a yellow cuttlefish and a yellow octopus wearing a fex. In the background is a domineering yellow and blue-ring octopus, and an orange octopus riding a wolf eel, among other details. A digital illustration by SS Julian. Two kids swim in a watering hole with orange fish that look like maple leaves. A digital illustration by SS Julian. Anatomical diagram of an octopus. A digital illustration by SS Julian. The Empress reclines within her throne of fan coral and a corallimorph cushion. To one side she grasps a staghorn coral staff, and on the other a sand dollar shield. Within her web rest many developing eggs. Around her is wrapped a domesticated moray eel. All along her mantle crawl commensal crustaceans and molluscs. Her pattern is complex and enigmatic, evoking radial hydrozoans or flowers.
January 14, 2026 at 2:07 AM
Reposted by S.S. Julian
jacsciart.bsky.social
Hi #PortfolioDay, I'm Jennifer and I love to draw all kinds of fish 🐡
Illustration of an American Paddlefish swimming along a rocky river bottom. The viewer is looking slightly up at the paddlefish, and in the background the sun is shining through the waves. An illustration of Cownose Rays. The illustration is a bird's eye view of five Cownose Rays swimming in shallow, turquoise water. The sea floor is sandy, and water ripples are reflected on it. An illustration of a Grass Carp swimming through a forest of lily pads. The water is slightly murky and the sun is illuminating the lily pads from above. An illustration of a small school of Lookdowns. The fish are swimming along a sandy ocean floor, sunlight filtering through the waves above. Small nondescript fish, silver in color, swim in the background. Overall, the image has a very aqua blue tone.
January 13, 2026 at 4:23 PM
octopolis.bsky.social
Happy #Portfolioday!

I'm SS Julian, a Californian author-illustrator with a creative writing degree and a professional background in design. I self-published my comic Octopolis in 2024, hence the preponderance of cephalopods in my work. I enjoy drawing lots of different animals, including humans!
A digital illustration by SS Julian. Text: Octopolis A purple octopus is followed by a yellow cuttlefish and a yellow octopus wearing a fex. In the background is a domineering yellow and blue-ring octopus, and an orange octopus riding a wolf eel, among other details. A digital illustration by SS Julian. Two kids swim in a watering hole with orange fish that look like maple leaves. A digital illustration by SS Julian. Anatomical diagram of an octopus. A digital illustration by SS Julian. The Empress reclines within her throne of fan coral and a corallimorph cushion. To one side she grasps a staghorn coral staff, and on the other a sand dollar shield. Within her web rest many developing eggs. Around her is wrapped a domesticated moray eel. All along her mantle crawl commensal crustaceans and molluscs. Her pattern is complex and enigmatic, evoking radial hydrozoans or flowers.
January 14, 2026 at 2:07 AM
octopolis.bsky.social
Only two instances have been reported, so there’s no indication this is a full-blown fad... it could just be a fluke.
rainmaker1973-m.bsky.social Massimo @rainmaker1973-m.bsky.social · 4d
Marine biologists are puzzled by the reemergence of a quirky orca behavior: wearing dead salmon as hats. The ocean's most intelligent and socially complex predators—the critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales of the Salish Sea—have revived a peculiar "fashion" trend first recorded i...
January 12, 2026 at 10:38 PM
octopolis.bsky.social
TIL Rhinos wag their tails.
#eyebleach
rvbdrm.com Ravin Boodram @rvbdrm.com · 7d
BIG FIGHT AT POLAND’S WROCLAW ZOO!!!
January 9, 2026 at 10:38 PM
Reposted by S.S. Julian
charlotteclymer.bsky.social
Political cartoonists are not fuckin’ around this week. (thread)

1. Pat Bagley
January 9, 2026 at 1:35 PM
octopolis.bsky.social
This is an important gap in the way the media and companies will explain AI and how it actually works:
wanderbot.bsky.social Wander @wanderbot.bsky.social · 7d
There’s literally no way for Larian to have an in-house AI without relying on external datasets.

They can feed a model with their own data to the point where it matches a chosen style, but the underlying model is still 100% reliant on scraped (stolen) data.
kotaku.com Kotaku @kotaku.com · 7d
Larian CEO says Divinity could have gen AI assets in it but only if the tools are trained on the studio's own data.

"If we use a GenAI model to create in-game assets, then it'll be trained on data we own."

https://kotaku.com/divinity-gen-ai-larian-bg3-reddit-ama-2000658429
January 9, 2026 at 7:07 PM
Reposted by S.S. Julian
joshuajfriedman.com
Attention Bluesky elders: The artist behind the ANIMORPHS covers is here!
davidmattingly.bsky.social David Mattingly @davidmattingly.bsky.social · 7d
I did flipbooks for all of the Animorphs covers I did, but they appeared in black and white and very small, so I am posting them here so you can see them large and in color. No AI here--just Elastic Reality and painting. You can buy a signed print of this cover here:
www.etsy.com/listing/798775628
January 9, 2026 at 5:13 PM
octopolis.bsky.social
I feel this sentiment, but the truth is more complex— it’s easy for people to feel extreme empathy for people within their own group and zero for those outside it.
kenplume.bsky.social Ken Plume @kenplume.bsky.social · 8d
There are dark moments in dark days I think it might be nice not to feel, but then I realize the reality we’re in is because a far-too substantial amount of people seem incapable of empathy, and I’m thankful I’m not one of them.
January 9, 2026 at 5:34 AM
Reposted by S.S. Julian
dannastaaf.bsky.social
Doodled at the request of a musician/scientist friend
Drawing of a blue squid playing a yellow trumpet. Although cartoonishly stylized, both squid and trumpet are anatomically accurate. The squid is blowing into the mouthpiece with its siphon, and operating the valves with three arms wrapped around the trumpet. The other five arms are being used as legs for the squid to stand on.
January 9, 2026 at 5:06 AM
Reposted by S.S. Julian
petemrogers.bsky.social
January 8, 2026 at 1:45 AM
Reposted by S.S. Julian
cephalopodsdaily.bsky.social
I think Ringo Starr had the right idea about being under the sea and hanging out with an octopus.
January 8, 2026 at 3:01 PM
Reposted by S.S. Julian
markmolchan.bsky.social
Done. How much chaos can I cram into a painting? All of it. First image created at @helioscopepdx.bsky.social
"The Encounter", 12"x18" acrylic on panel. #elricofmelnibone #AdventureAtSea #redsonja #octopus #tallships #helioscopepdx
December 30, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Reposted by S.S. Julian
joegross.bsky.social
Literally a publication for eight-year olds 40 years ago
January 4, 2026 at 6:49 PM
Reposted by S.S. Julian
hmsnofun.bsky.social
single panel cartoon of a cop kicking someone into the street saying "out of the way, you swine! a cartoonist is coming!" the cartoonist is flanked on both sides by women in lingerie. a random person on the street clutches their hands and looks on in awe. the cartoonist's head is photoshopped to be that of rama duwaji, while the random person is zohran mamdani
January 2, 2026 at 4:33 AM
octopolis.bsky.social
Happy 2026, year of the Ponyta
An illustration of ponyta, fire horse character designed by the Pokémon company
January 2, 2026 at 3:03 AM
Reposted by S.S. Julian
goodenguy.bsky.social
Here's an octopus #inkdrawing I made after reading The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler earlier this year.
#InverteFest #octopus
December 30, 2025 at 5:09 PM
octopolis.bsky.social
eyes are the window to the soul
pikaole.bsky.social pikaole @pikaole.bsky.social · 19d
How to draw eyes
December 28, 2025 at 4:20 PM
octopolis.bsky.social
Real talk, BlueSky has been a nicotine patch for my social media addiction. The feed is rewarding enough to take the edge off, but not so much that I lose time scrolling.
December 28, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Reposted by S.S. Julian
leyrer.bsky.social
December 25, 2025 at 6:41 AM
octopolis.bsky.social
It’s that time of year again!
octopolis.bsky.social S.S. Julian @octopolis.bsky.social · Dec 25
Happy Winter Solstice from everyone in Octopolis to you! 🐙
May you find the perfect fan coral to spend it with!
An illustrated cartoon: four octopuses and a cuttlefish float around a giant fan coral. There are green kelp buoys and pygmy seahorses tied to the coral like decorations. The large purple octopus places a slate pencil urchin atop the coral like a star. Caption reads: happy winter solstice from octopolis. Octopoliscomic.com
December 25, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Reposted by S.S. Julian
flyingtrilobite.com
Welcome, former Twitter artists!

From paleoart to fine art,
comics to medical illustration,
bioart to space imagery,
explore the rich SciArt ecosystem on Bluesky with the SciArt Starter Pack.

150 artists, plus the entire popular SciArt Feed 🐡.
And no gen AI or NFTs.
December 24, 2025 at 10:43 PM