number five is alive

January 9, 2009 craig

After seven months, chapter five of HABIBI is finished. It’s 125 pages long (the entirety of Good-bye, Chunky Rice)
and brings the total page count up to 405 pages. The original art is filed away in portfolio sleeves. Here’s the stack thus far.

And here’s a glimpse inside each one of those portfolios.

I look foolishly smug in that self-timer photo, but really it’s just fatigue. The end of 2008 was frantic – working and
completing pages on both Christmas and New Year’s Day. Now I’m going to take a week off and visit friends in Oahu.
Happy New Year, Fans & Friends. Your comments, as always, are savored!

craignumber five is alive
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chunky ten years ago

November 22, 2008 craig

Work on HABIBI is progressing, but recent pages feel like spoilers, so it seemed like a nice time to reflect on my first book
~ GOOD-BYE, CHUNKY RICE. Below is a page I drew a decade ago — on December 9th, 1998 to be exact.

(The page preceding it was drawn November 20th, but I liked this one more. To account for the three weeks between pages,
I’d been working on graphic design work for Top Shelf, a collaborative pitch with Phil Amara, gag cartoons and a monthly comic strip
proposal for NICKELODEON magazine.) Anyways, here’s the ballpoint pen thumbnails for pages 104 and 86.

And here’s a photo of me taken approximately the same time — my first trip to the Oregon coast. Look, I was just a boy (23 years old)!
with a bad haircut! Sandwiched between covers of the first printing and current printing of CHUNKY – now available from Pantheon Books.

craigchunky ten years ago
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leaf through

November 9, 2008 craig

Often I worry I draw too small and confined. Compare these recent panels with a brush, my hand, an autumn leaf.

craigleaf through
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new prez

November 7, 2008 craig ,

It was a really pretty day in Portland the day Barack Obama came to town, and thanks to my pals the Decemberists
I got to watch from the best seats in the house – the stage alongside his podium.

craignew prez
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need

October 21, 2008 craig

Thank you continually for all the comments and support. I disagree with the sentiment from this recent HABIBI panel below.

craigneed
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each fallen robin

September 23, 2008 craig

Two days ago was Leonard Cohen’s birthday. He started his musical career at age 33. And two days ago I turned 33!
Here’s something I jotted in my sketchbook that morning – from Javier Marías.

craigeach fallen robin
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