2009

great lakes luxury cruise

July 15, 2009 craig , , ,

Fresh home from my midwest excursion. BIG THANKS to the librarians that made it to the panel and are fueling support for
graphic novels in the literary world, not to mention fighting on the frontlines of public confusion over the medium.

I’m restless to dig into work on the final chapters of HABIBI. In the meantime, here’s some treats I excavated from the ol’ cubby hole at my
parents’ house. Above: Congressman Dave Obey and Tom Cruise (yes) presenting an award to 16 year old me for a national high school art
competition. Below: decaying childhood art (approx. age 9) and a photo of my brother Phil and I with matching bowl haircuts.

craiggreat lakes luxury cruise
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i’m gonna be the man who’s havering to you

July 2, 2009 craig

On Monday, the sixth chapter of HABIBI saw completion. Each time I finish a chapter, I print and bind a set of photocopies for easy reference &
editing. And I tally the page count, which now reaches exactly 500! Already the stack of photocopies on flimsy paper is catching up with BLANKETS.

It’s an important mark in the book’s production. The end of the second act. On to the third and final act – the last three chapters –
and fortunately they’re all shorter than the bulky hundred page chapters that filled out the middle of the book.
I’ll be leaving on a trip on the fourth of July to visit family in Wisconsin and tinker with some rewrites on the book’s finale.
And as noted before, I’ll be in Chicago for the American Library Association’s annual conference giving a talk with Neil Gaiman and Terry Moore
about censorship in comics. “My These Novels Certainly Are … GRAPHIC!” Monday, July 13, 1:30 PM at McCormick Place.
Looking forward to your comments and updating you when I return!

craigi’m gonna be the man who’s havering to you
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folded

June 19, 2009 craig ,

It might be old news to those in the industry, but I wanted to acknowledge the great loss of NICKELODEON magazine, especially the
COMIC BOOK insert. It was one of this generation’s best forums for cartoonists – publishing everyone from Laura Park to Art Spiegelman!
– and providing them with a living wage (though Art was probably doing fine on his own).
I’m greatly indebted to editors Chris Duffy and Dave Roman for being great bosses and pals, for financially fueling the production of both
CHUNKY RICE and BLANKETS, and for indoctrinating the youth into the medium of comics.
Plus they let me get away with bizarre and tasteless strips like this CARTOONIGAMI strip above. (published eight years ago!)
CARTOONIGAMI is sort of like a MAD FOLD-IN, only I stole the idea from Lewis Trondheim and his OuBaPo experimentations
— a comic strip which, when folded, transforms into two entirely different gags.

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big obrigado

June 4, 2009 craig ,

Fresh home from Portugal. Big “obrigado” to Paulo Monteiro for organizing the festival in Beja and spoiling all us guests! On the left, a sketch
André Caetano made of me (looking intense & scruffy) during my talk with Pedro Moura. And on the right, a glimpse of Beja from the castle.

Beja’s a charming, laid-back city a couple hours outside of Lisbon and the festival is cozy and friendly and flowing with endless pitchers
of wine and sangria. Most of all, it was a great honor to spend time with the guest and local cartoonists. Below is Pedro Burgos and I
on the streets of Lisbon. Now I’m good and fueled to get back to work on HABIBI!

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floor scraps & waterfalls

May 21, 2009 craig , ,

As Jordi noted, it’s been exactly a month since an update! Guess it takes some time to get back on track after any comics show.
And now I’m leaving in a week for another festival – this time in Beja, Portugal. I’ll be signing and/or presenting on the weekend
of May 30th & 31st and have 31 original pages in their exhibition. If you live near Lisbon, hope to see you!
LW asked if I’ll be at MoCCA … unfortunately no. After these couple of comics shows, I gotta get back to focusing exclusively on the book.
Though I will be at an American Library Association’s Annual Conference in Chicago on July 13th.
Below is a simple panel in progress from today’s page. I’m still guarded about revealing Habibi spoilers, but I can say we’re in the 470s now!

Poppy asked that I respond to a few of the blog comments, so here goes. Kristi A., definitely feel free to weave some of my work
in your final project. (In general, I’m cool for people to appropriate my drawings in such ways, as long as it’s not for profit.)
Ahnmin, thanks for the poem! Avri, very cool Dandel sculpture (as seen below, along with an Oregon waterfall).

And some TOOL questions. Alex Holden, I don’t print my pencils as blue lines. Rather, I ink right on top of the pencils, so the pencils are
only preserved when I scan them for this blog. (Also thanks for sending your MAGIC HOUR minis.) Brandon, as far as I know you can’t find
Pentel pocketbrush pens or refills in Portland. Best to order online. Jess Smart Smiley, the floor scraps are definitely part of the process.

Hope some of this babble is useful… Thank you always for your comments and support!

craigfloor scraps & waterfalls
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cartoonist buds

April 21, 2009 craig ,

The Stumptown ComicsFest seemed a success. I was especially grateful to have laid-back time with cartoonist friends Jeff Smith and
Mike & Laura Allred. It was these very cartoonists that drew me back to the comics medium, with their books BONE and MADMAN.
Jeff visited my studio on Friday to peruse Habibi pages, and Mike & Laura stopped by on Saturday.
Plus we had time to enjoy the summery sun and eat good foods.

Big thanks to all of you that made it to my Sunday talk and/or signing. You were a pleasure to meet! Also thanks to Douglas Wolk for moderating.
I wish I could share some of the images from my “powerpoint” on the blog, but I think they’d be too much of a spoiler in this form.
Here’s a simple glimpse of pencils-to-inks that shouldn’t ruin any storytelling.

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stumptown spring

April 4, 2009 craig ,

First off, thank you all for the outpouring of comments with that last post.
You’re like the ray of new spring sun that spilled onto the drawing table this morning…

For those of you in Portland welcoming the end of the brutal winter rains, I’ll be participating in a number of events
revolving around STUMPTOWN COMICS FESTIVAL (full schedule here).

1) An art show at the Portland Center for Contemporary Arts. Included are a page from CHUNKY RICE,
a page from BLANKETS, and a page from HABIBI (first ever on display). Up all of April. 1111 SW Broadway

2) A Comic Book Legal Defense Fund benefit dinner at PCPA on Friday, April 17th at 5:30.
$100 gets you an intimate eating experience with myself, Jeff Smith, Gail Simone, Brian Michael Bendis, Matt Wagner,
Farel Dalrymple, Derek Kirk Kim, Mike Dringenberg, and Mayor Sam Adams (who will declare April the month of comics in Portland.)
Kinda schmancy and expensive, but all proceeds go to a good cause. Ticket details here.

3) Sunday the 19th, I’ll be signing at the actual festival. Plus at 1pm in the “Alaska” room, writer Douglas Wolk (READING COMICS) will be moderating
an interview with me. Also Q&A with the audience. But if there’s things you wanna see/hear, feel free to let me know on the blog.

(final image there is from the Stumptown poster drawn by Farel Dalrymple)

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overexert

March 17, 2009 craig

On days like today, I need to trick myself into composing a page of comics. The blank paper looks intimidating, and the panel borders
feel cramped. So I sketch loosely and scattered on a cheap scrap, then scan, and shift things around in Photoshop. It seems contrived,
but sometimes drawing in all those claustrophobic little boxes doesn’t come naturally.


PS As always, it’s a pleasure reading your comments. Thanks!

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