Craig Thompson's Blog, page 14

repairs

Lately, I've been redrawing lots of pages. The work days have been full of false starts — completing most of a page before realizing the

composition or rhythm don't flow. The fix is usually an extra panel or dialogue tweak or simply flipping the panel.

Always better to catch this in the thumbnail version!

clunkerz

Thank you, readers, for sticking with my bimonthly updates. Today's theme is sloppy collage!

Sorting through my flat files for contributions to the upcoming NeoIntegrity Show at MoCCA – NYC,
I excavated these random CHUNKY RICE related scraps.
1) The "clunk" spliced off the last page of original art, slathered with "brush test" doodles.
2) The French translation key from the first ever appearance of CHUNKY.
3) Crumpled vellum-overlay pencils for the 3rd through 5th editions' cover art.
4) The...

clunkerz

still working…

still working…

howdah partners

First off, some quick answers to your questions. Tina, hopefully these are in time for your school project.
1) How would you describe your style of drawing?
Plain ol' cartooning; but whereas Chris Ware talks about cartooning as typography, I think of it as calligraphy.
I like the panel borders, lettering, brush or pen lines to all read as the author's handwriting.
2) Why don't you call "Blankets" a graphic novel but "an illustrated novel"?
No good reason. I think, at the time, I was considering ...

atlantic center for the arts

Happy New Year, Everyone! HABIBI progress updates coming soon(ish). In the meantime, heads-up that the Atlantic Center for the Arts
Residency program is focusing on GRAPHIC NOVELS in October 2010. Each year they provide interactive work spaces for writers, artists,
choreographers, composers, etc., hosting fancy folks from Robert Rauschenberg to Edward Albee to Saul Williams. This year - Paul Pope,
Svetlana Chmakova, and myself will be acting as "Master Artists" and hand-selecting eight...

eye of the tiger!

A toast to you, blog readers, for staying in touch year round!

If women, water, and trees are what I most enjoy drawing, than BUILDINGS rank last. Chapter seven has lots of them, and I keep getting slowed

down by tedious perspective drawings. Here's a photo reference from an overpass construction site near my house — along with pencils and inks.

Even though my schedule slipped a bit in December, it's safe to declare that 2010 will be the year HABIBI sees completion.
Below, a photo from my...

carlsen blankets

Just to assure Jennifer and my other blog-readers, I do read all the posts, even if I am lame about responding… Your support

has meant so much to me this year - endless thanks! Fabien and Tatiana, the blue "brush grip" is a simple pencil cushion purchased

at any art supply shop. No signings (including Chicago, Emerson) planned for the next half a year. Chapter seven pages are accumulating!

The new German BLANKETS has just been released from Carslen, and is hands-down the the most...

december first

… is the date, and I'm extra grateful to be drawing final pages again after five months of rewrites!

Thank you, blog-readers, for all your patience and encouragement. Here's a glimpse at the first page on the drawing board since June 28th.

Since then, the last three chapters have went through some dramatic overhauls...