Menomena

paddling vs pushing pixels

Thank you, Jordi, for your reminders and thanks to all you loyal blog followers for your patience in this two month lapse between posts.

Portland has the best summers in the world, so there’s been the typical sunny day distractions of: A) river swimming (drawing buddy Scott)B) white water rafting (flip on the Deschutes)C) a little surfing (Justin loads the boards on my car – fifth one on the back seat), and D) lots of stand-up paddling (Brazilian twins Fabio & Gabriel on the Willamette).
 

In the work world, dealing with recurring hand problems, I’ve experimented with some alternate drawing techniques, including investing in a 13″ Wacom Cintiq.  1) Adrian Tomine’s latest OPTIC NERVE has a genius lampoon of “our generation’s” resistance to the new brand of art tools coupled with our frustration towards the declining quality of old world art supplies (bristol, brushes, ink). 2) For a couple of days my drawing desk became a clutter of video monitors (yuck).
 
3&4) I managed to digitally pencil a page, but then (5) printed out blue lines and reworked with an actual tangible pencil.
Here’s (6) Dave Stewart’s colors (digital) on my India inks (analog).
Purists will be relieved to know I’m sticking with the old-fashioned pencils and sable brushes for now. Digital dabbling, however, did push me to adopt a new working method of pencilling on cheap sketch paper, then scanning and printing blue lines on bristol board to ink by hand. Saves me the hassle of light box tracing and erasing pencil lines.    More summer-time announcements coming soon…
craigpaddling vs pushing pixels
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march madness

Happy Friday, Blog-friends! Another month has slipped away since posting. A few of you asked if I’d attend ComicCon on Thursday,
and the answer is YES. Top Shelf will be debuting new editions of BLANKETS (hardcover & softcover) to match the dimensions of HABIBI.

Sechan asked about posters and prints, and though none currently exist, I promise to have some by tour time. The past few weeks have
been crazy busy with promo materials and foreign translations and tour mapping, and many of the destinations you’ve asked about — Spain,
Brazil, Toronto — are on the list. (Colombia… who knows?) Finally, some folks recognized my brief, but crazed cameo as the ringside announcer
in Menomena‘s new TAOS video. It’s directed by Alicia J. Rose who also snapped some promo photos of me, including this one in Astoria, Oregon.

That last sketch is a sneak peek of a contribution for Giant-Sized MADMAN. Thanks to you all for staying in touch!

craigmarch madness
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dirty cartoons

Thank you, gang, for all the blog suggestions. I’ll keep them in mind and apply them in the upcoming weeks. In the meantime, here’s an incidental
piece of parody art in support of my buddies’ band MENOMENA. They’re leaving for another euro tour tomorrow and the locations and dates
are on their website. The additional “Gonzo” member is Joe Haege. Some of you may remember the small euro tour I joined Menomena for
back in 2007. The skate photo is by Ben Moon. All respect, of course, to the beloved comfort critters – the Muppets.

craigdirty cartoons
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crossover event of the summer

“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.

craigcrossover event of the summer
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mines

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.

craigmines
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escargot

Home from the tour! Here’s a quiet domestic scene from Lyon — Alanis, Laëtitia, Koupaïa, Samuel, Frédéric …

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… and here’s one last rocknroll image — the song “twenty cell revolt” performed in Barcelona. (stolen from “elchicodelaleche” ~ lots more on FLICKR)

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Big thanks to my dear Menomena buddies Danny, Brent, and Justin ~ and to Sascha and Severin for managing this adventure.
Also thanks to Jared, Teak, Danni, Benoît & Valéry, Frédéric & Laëtitia, Anne-Julia & Walter, Samuel/Koupaia/Alanis/Solveig/Anton, Mylène,
Kathleen, Dupuy & Berberian / Anne & Niki, Jeffrey/Jack/Helen/David, Uncle Hansje & Mara, Alessandro and his parents, the Disney crew,
Miriam, Marta, Carlos, Lisa, Thais, and all the kind folks we met.
Thanks to all of you who made it to the shows, and thanks to all the venues that hosted and cleaned up our messes.
Heck… here’s one last photo. (Gracias, Álvaro) The sweatiest shot of Danny I could find, and the completed wall at Barcelona seconds before
I ripped it to shreds. (whoah ~ my shadow is well-hung.)

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Check out Danny’s satisfyingly detailed tour log at LOCALCUT. Now back to serious work. Cousin Brianna, please e-mail!

craigescargot
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give it to us

My first chance to update while on the road — my apologies to all neglected emails!
Thank yous to all who made it to the Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam shows. The drawing
seemed best-received in Paris, though it was inspiring to hang out with Jeffrey Lewis and the Jitters
in Amsterdam. Presently resting at the home of Frédéric and Laëtitia in Lyon while the Menomena
boys play Germany and Switzerland. The below photos were taken by Frédéric, except for the
final by my Portland friends Geneva and Jeff who happened to be in Paris. In two days, I leave
for Milan and will be editing HABIBI on the train. More photos at PITCHFORK and the
Pete Townsend finale at YOUTUBE.

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(Danny on drums, Brent on keyboards/guitar, Justin on bass/sax,
Jared the soundguy, Sascha the tour manager, and me doodling.)

craiggive it to us
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menomenandme

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Portlanders, I’ll be missing the Stumptown Comics Fest event, because I’m joining my
Menomena buddies on tour in Europe. If you live in Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Milan,
or Barcelona — there’s a chance we can meet.

29 September ~ Paris, Nouveau Casino
02 October ~ Brussels, Botanique
03 October ~ Amsterdam, Paradiso (also with Jeffrey Lewis!)
09 October ~ Milan, Casa 139
11 October ~ Barcelona, Apollo

If everything goes according to plan, I’ll be scrawling huge drawings on stage while Menomena rocks.
This happened once before with Tracker and the Blankets soundtrack and it seemed to work,
but I’ve no photos to prove this event exists. (Andy Wong, do you?)
Here’s the promotional poster however.

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We’re not promoting myself on the upcoming Menomena bills, because I’ve no clue of the layout
of these Euro clubs. If the space suits it, you’ll find me drawing on stage ~ otherwise I’ll be
dancing along in the audience and signing posters at the merch table.

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Here’s world-renown illustrator Carson Ellis and Danny from Menomena backstage at
the recent Decemberists/Menomena show at the Portland Edgefield.

C U n the E U

craigmenomenandme
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friend and foe

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My biggest “NEWS” is the release of MENOMENA’s “friend and foe” album.
You can listen to it here: http://barsukmusic.blaireau.net/menomena but I must endorse seeking out a tangible copy of the disc.
1) It’s a profound, rocking, apocalyptic celebration.
2) The band are all dear buddies of mine. Please, support the musicians.
3) The album drawings/design are by me — hyper-detailed and perforated with lots of diecuts and interactivity and decoder-ring surprises.
Here’s PITCHFORK’s description:
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/40411-friend-and-foe

craigfriend and foe
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