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 super-limited edition CHUNKY RICE necklace made by my friends at Studio Acorn. (Less than a dozen in circulation)

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 “comic book” or “graphic novel” and found them both lacking.
Since then, the latter has become such a widely accepted term that I’ll likely adjust the heading on the new edition.
3) Would you say that Blankets has started a new form of comics as you included some pages which you wouldn’t find in a
comic book normally like the pages on which there is only one big panel or all the drawings in which you can see just nature?
That technique of letting the eye breathe on full-page images has long been used in manga and bande dessinée. And super hero splash pages!
4) Why did you insert those detailed drawings of nature and why did you insert so many of them?
When I think about it a second longer, it’s definitely a manga-rip-off. The “wandering eye” transitions that Scott McCloud discusses in his books.

Corban, I never actively sought out a publisher. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Upon moving to Portland in 1997,
I got in contact with Brett Warnock who ran a one-person operation called Primal Groove Press, and I helped as a grunt for midnight
photocopy sessions. Contact some publishers to see how they prefer project proposals. There’s editorial advantages to both methods.

Sorry, Allison, but I am looking for writer-artist-in-one cartoonists to work with at the ACA residency.

And finally some visuals! This recent page reminded me of a drawing I did in 2005 for a charity auction for my friends the Decemberists.

The lyrics at right are, of course, copyright Colin Meloy. Random trivia: What Decemberists’ video sneaks in copies of BLANKETS?

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 “Associate Artists” (a piece) to work with.

HABIBI should be wrapped up, so I expect to indulge in new projects and have plenty of attention to devote to other artists.
I mention it now, because May 21, 2010 is the deadline for applications. And here’s what I’m asking of applicants:
“Applicants should submit a proposal for a graphic novel: an outline of the narrative, and samples of finished comics pages (from previous work or the current project). But artists will benefit most if they can bring a finished first draft in an edit-able form to the residency. This could be in typed screenplay format, though I favor a hand-drawn thumbnail which includes text AND image, and is drawn legibly so others can read and offer comments. In this form, we can discuss narrative individually or as a group, hone preliminary craft like reference poses, or dive into finished artwork.”
Pictured above:
a self portrait by Paul Pope (an obvious influence on my own work), the ACA studios nestled in a sea of pine, and a pile of BLANKETS thumbnails.

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 birthday in the frigid Pacific waters. Here’s to the new year!

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 fancy-schmancy production of any edition.
Hardcover, super deluxe paper, stamped logo, bookmark ribbon, and a delicate lacing of spot varnish ornamentation.
Look how it stacks up next to a standard version of the book.

For domestic fans, I’m currently working on redesigns of BLANKETS and CARNET - including hardcovers - to be released summer 2010 by Top Shelf.

… 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. Now to DRAW them!

(Thanks, also, to the ONION and PASTE (delicious combo) for including BLANKETS on their best-of lists.)

Sorry about the blog neglect. November rain is falling; and I’m still working on rewrites. Embarrassed that I have nothing new to show.
Here’s the desktop today, my waterlogged jack-o’-lantern, and a reference doodle from the sketchbook.

BRAZIL WAS AMAZING. The Portuguese word for comics - quadrinhos - apparently translates to “little frames”. Here’s cartoonist twins
Fábio Moon & Gabriel Bá interviewing me on stage at the FNAC in São Paulo. And a tiny view from the hotel outide the FIQ comics festival.

The twins have one of the coolest studios in the world. Spent a rainy day there drinking lots of coffee
and nerding out over life and comics, along with Vasilis Lolos and Becky Cloonan and Dark Horse editor Sierra Hahn.

frame 1: photographer Parada towering over editor André and actress Carolina. frame 2: translator Érico and me. frame 3: publicist Renata
and marketing director Joana. frame 4: cartoonist Rafael Grampá and Carolina outside a gallery showing cartoonist Rafael Coutinho’s paintings.

OBRIGADO to fans, friends, and my publisher for being such generous hosts. I’ll miss you all!

I’m leaving tomorrow morning for BRAZIL to promote the Companhia das Letras edition of my book RETALHOS
at the Festival Internacional de Quadrinhos in Belo Horizonte, and a FNAC signing in São Paulo.

More importantly, I get to hang out with three of my favorite cartoonists: genius twins Fábio Moon & Gabriel Bá, and wildman Rafael Grampá.
The twins have a new Vertigo series entitled DAYTRIPPER debuting at this exact moment.
And I recently did a pin-up for the upcoming Dark Horse edition of Grampá’s MESMO DELIVERY.