Doot Doot Garden Blog

glacial flour

craig — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 04:27:29 +0000

Thanks for your patience! It’s almost impossible to experience things (jump over rocks) and post in the same day.
Yesterday, Fabio & I & editor Sierra Hahn & painter Dan Attoe hiked through the surreal terrain carved by Mt. St. Helens’ eruption.

Above, the interior view. Check Fabio’s blog for the grand landscape!
And wait… there’s more! A drawn tribute by Dan Attoe. Click back to Fabio’s for a CLOSE-UP VIEW.

crossover event of the summer

craig — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 01:35:07 +0000

“BLOG WAR” might not be the best title. More like a “blog crossover”. Brazilian cartoonist Fábio Moon is visiting Portland, and we’ll try to
document some of our activities in a back-and-forth dialog between the two blogs — blending our sketches, inking each others’ drawings, etc.
Yesterday, after consuming much coffee, we attended the in-store album debut for Menomena MINES. Our evening continues at Fábio’s blog… HERE.

craig — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 19:30:32 +0000

SPECIAL NOTE: By now, the Atlantic Center for the Arts has notified applicants of my Associate Artist selections for the October residency.
I just wanted to thank everyone who submitted proposals. There was so much amazing work that it made the selection process challenging
and frustrating, but also bodes well for the future of the comics medium! Keep working on those projects!
Below, piles of preparatory sketches for HABIBI pages.

celebratory cigar

craig — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 05:40:30 +0000

The last page of HABIBI was completed today. It’s a bit anticlimactic, because though chapter nine is wrapped up, I still need to tackle chapter eight.
Theo Ellsworth was over drawing with me, and we listened to the touching tribute to comics-great Harvey Pekar on Fresh Air.
All this is happening in the midst of almost three weeks of out-of-town guests in the house, including Laëtitia and Frédéric
and their kids (as seen in CARNET DE VOYAGE) visiting from Lyon, France. Above, Dan Attoe and the glorious river.

mines

craig — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 00:11:47 +0000

My buddies in MENOMENA are releasing a new album in about a month. With their last album, FRIEND&FOE, I contributed album art, and
joined them for part of their European tour (and the Grammy’s). This time around, their MINES album cover made an appearance in a
HABIBI panel — a studio full of idols being smashed to smithereens. It’s an amazing new album, by the way. Support them and preorder at Barsuk.

crumb

craig — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 17:47:55 +0000

Just as Kirk mentioned, I’ll be doing an “artist demo” at the Portland Art Museum on June 19th, 2-4pm.
It’s all part of the museum’s summer-long exhibition of Robert Crumb’s Illustrated GENESIS. For those in town, I’ll be drawing live
and projected while simultaneously giving a talk. For those out of town, do pick up a copy of Crumb’s amazing adaptation
if you haven’t already. Here’s a couple of comparative panels of the deluge.

PS — work on Habibi is progressing well. Happy summer, everyone!

the spirit of the dead keep watch

craig — Sun, 16 May 2010 18:51:31 +0000

Paul Gauguin‘s influenced some of my drawing lately. A) a recent pin-up for Mike Allred’s MADMAN referencing Gauguin’s 1897 painting.
B) Gauguin’s “MANAO TUPAPAU” translated as “the spirit of the dead keep watch” … C) flipped backwards in a HABIBI panel this week.

OTHER NOTES: 1) Last minute reminder to apply for the ACA graphic novel residency. The deadline is May 21st.

2) Nicolas, sorry to neglect your 5 questions. If it’s not too late, here’s some quick answers.
a) Artist that inspired you? Baudoin (see below), Gauguin (see above), Blutch, Taro Yashima, Dylan Horrocks, etc., etc.
b) What brush size do you use? The pro-fave Winsor Newton series seven, number three
c) Thumbnails and then script to help guide you or script first and then thumbs? The thumbnails are detailed drawings with text already integrated.
d) Favorite story to read? Currently IN LOVE with the short stories of Lorrie Moore.
e) Favorite character to draw? I suppose the little critter guy from CARNET DE VOYAGE. (seen here riding sea turtle)

3) Dave, you asked about Edmond Baudoin. LE VOYAGE is a perfect entry point, but appears out of print. Anything really!
4) Jess, you guessed correctly. The dootdoot website is down and outdated and planned to be revamped.
5) Thank you all for your comments and patience with my slowness!

pieces of april

craig — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 17:45:40 +0000

a) spring blossoms … b) my only collection … c) close-up on page … d) inspiration

Thanks, all of you, for the flood of chapter seven support. The ninth and final chapter is underway! I skipped over the penultimate chapter for
now – the logic of which will reveal itself. This weekend in Portland will be buzzing with Stumptown Comics Fest activity. Paul Pope‘s arrived.
(Check out his great interview at Ain’t It Cool.) And my panel (Sunday at 1PM) will be moderated by the amazing Lark Pien of Long Tail Kitty fame.

chapter seven is finished!

craig — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 20:56:42 +0000

First page drawn December first; Final page completed April sixth. FOUR MONTHS in-between … preceded by a five month stretch of rewrites.
The good news is that only two short chapters remain – a mere 67 pages – which keeps things on track to complete the book this summer.

Above’s some glimpses of the recent chapter and a shot of me laboring with hunchbacked intensity during those long winter months.
Thank you, dear readers, for sticking with me and decorating the blog with your generous comments!

stumped

craig — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 23:13:53 +0000

Portland’s Stumptown Comics Fest is fast approaching, and I’ll be participating on Sunday, April 25th, with a signing and presentation.
For those of you who are local or able to attend, I’m curious what topics, images, and formats you’re craving. It seems like the last three years
I’ve just talked about progress on HABIBI — at least this time it’s only a couple of months from completion. What can I do to make this round
more fulfilling for the audience? … My apologies to all of you that aren’t local. In 2011, I promise to be touring EVERYWHERE!

The poster this year is created by my good buddy Theo Ellsworth. (couldn’t find a decent jpeg…)

In other news, Mathew sent a question about the Atlantic Center for the Arts residency. Send in as many ideas/proposals as you wish!
However, since I can only choose eight “Associate artists”, the more realized the proposal the better.