hulk smash!

so, after drawing comics for over 10 years, i still haven't had a chance to draw many marvel characters in published books ... and one i'd love to draw (but still don't really have a handle on) is the hulk...

and like i said before, i just don't have the time to color these yet... luckily, the boy does...

have a good weekend!

-c

(looking forward to hot tub machine tonight)

old school marvel

okay, so in between commissions, haps stuff, star wars cards and herOes, i've found the time to do a few pieces just for fun (based on the iconic covers from those old oversized marvel treasury books by john romita sr.)... up first, spider-man! (wish i had the time to color these up, but i do like to sleep a few hours a night...)

-c

tv bits - 24 is picking up (and making a seemingly ludicrous plot line a bit more understandable), lost was enlightening and crazy good, justified and the pacific have become must watch shows... (and i still have all of caprica and flash forward so far on the tivo to watch when i get the chance)

about 2/3 through listening to from a buick 8 (and have no idea where it's gonna go) and finished under the dome a while ago (vintage king)

now in color! with words!!

so, realizing i didn't have the time to really do it right (or this good), i got mike thomas (who colored the fred hembeck story in the halloween special as well as the recent molly one shot) to color the "poster" commission... i told him i'd been looking at drew struzan stuff a lot lately but my only instructions were "i dunno, make it look good "... and he certainly did.

and to round it out, i figured why not get todd involved and had him come up with the tagline and credits.

so there you have it.

okay, besides that, here's a link to an interview paul tobin and i did for the FCBD iron man /nova book ...

-c

working away on the next issue of herOes...

'haps poster part 2

okay, so been a bit longer than i thought (deadlines and all that)...

where were we? oh, yeah... onto the inks for that 'haps commission... pretty straightforward, really... at this point, most of my detail finishing is done with the inks (kind of relaxing to do details like the hair), so the pencils really didn't need to be tightened up ... i did decide to change the shot of mg slightly.

up next, colors... (and while i would've LOVED to color this myself, i decided to get someone who was a. faster and b. better than me... namely mike thomas, who did a killer job on the recent 'haps molly special.)

-c

not much else going on work-wise besides plugging away on her-oes for marvel (gotta say, it's fun stuff... and not just 'cause they're paying me to do it)... starting to figure out my con schedule for 2010 (tentatively -so far, it's boston in april, fcbd at jetpack comics in nh, charlotte in june... and more likely than not, baltimore in the sweltering month of august)

another step by step... haps poster

so, i figure since it's FINALLY off to the very patient customer, i can show the perhapanauts "faux movie poster" commission.

but since he waited so long, i figure i'll take some time and show it in stages... first up, pencils...

since this was gonna be a fake movie poster, i went straight to the well with drew struzan and his montage style... (and more than a bit of 'ringo as well)...

i'll post the inks later this week.... gotta get back to her-oes!

-c

oh, and for folks looking for to pick upon of my return star wars clone wars widevision cards, they're up on ebay...

for a birthday girl

another quick one with a post of a piece i did for a old friend's daughter's 12th birthday...

besides that, just been working away on her-oes and waiting for the snow to fall this afternoon.

-c

star wars galaxy 5 sketch cards

so, besides wrapping up the marvel iron man/nova free comic book day book and jumping into her-oes #1, i managed to get through (what's most likely my last ever) 100 topps star wars sketch cards...

for those not in the know, these days, topps packs the trading cards with randomly inserted actor autographed cards or artist sketch cards, usually 1 cards per case or so... since the set was wide open to any movie/story character, i tried not to duplicate and run the gamut of all 6 movies... probably could've done another 50 or so before getting to the even more ridiculously obscure characters, but had fun trying to do'm all in "my" style (plenty of folks do beautiful photo likeness stuff, but that's not my bag)... i imagine it would be a lot of fun to do a star wars book someday (i know the boy would like it... and keep me on my toes if i went astray)...

back to work.

-c (woohoo, lost tonight... 'nuff said)

next up...

is a four issue project called marvel her-oes, written by the crazy talented grace randolph... a sort of smallville-ish reimagining of some of marvel's female heroes (she-hulk, namora, wasp) back in a high school setting... and not only am i drawing it (and having a blast), i was able to do the cover for #1 (which, after all these years drawing funny books, was the first cover i've done at marvel)... the first issue is due in april (and gonna be solicited in the new previews catalogue coming up)...

besides that, there's the marvel free comic book day book with nova and iron man in may (not surprisingly on free comic book day)...

work on the haps has ground to a VERY slow crawl, which is unfortunate, because we LOVE doing it... (but also make NO money doing it at this point... heck, we lose money every issue with all the time and effort inloved)... which isn't to say it's done, it's just taking longer to get done (and we want to have the next arc in the can before soliciting, so it comes out when it's supposed to, not months late...)

have a good weekend, folks!

-c

2 more from calgary

here's two more pieces i did last year (wow, 2010 already?) at the calgary show...

wrapping up my iron man/nova free comic book day book this week... and jumping right into the next project at marvel (which, as it turns out, will not be the final issue of marvel adventures superheroes after all... got something else lined up, and even got to do the cover for the first issue this weekend)

-c

(yay! chuck's back on nbc... and 24 starts up next week... and lost isn't far behind)

that other xmas gift...

since paul already got it (and dropped a nice note), here's zatanna.

hope everybody had a happy holiday !

-c

'twas the day before the night before x-mas

just a quick one, got plenty to do before the holiday gets in full swing... even though this is one of the 2 commissions i did for x-mas gifts for folks, i figured i could safely post this iron man one, since i doubt the 4 year old recipient frequents this blog...

i'll post the other one after the holidays, don't wanna spoil the surprise for a friend...

besides wrapping up that us army comic featuring captain america (written by paul tobin), i've been working on a couple of other fun adventures books (which, since i just saw both solicited, i guess i can mention now)... out on free comic book day (may 1, 2010) iron man : supernova FCBD 2010 edition (written by paul tobin... yay!) featuring iron man and nova fighting red ghost and his super apes! and in the latest solicits, it's the final issue of marvel adventures superheroes 21 (again with that tobin guy...!)... and there's other stuff in the works, but that's a while away.

work on the haps has been slow going, but we really hope to get things rolling again in 2010.

happy holidays.

-c

two fer

black widow and supergirl. 'nuff said.

(well, not really... due to a misunderstanding, turns out this wasn't really the look for supergirl the commissioner wanted... so i'm gonna throw him a second supergirl as soon as i get a chance)...

hard at work on the next marvel gig, hoping to make headway so i'm not stuck working over the holidays (well, i'll still have the haps to keep moving along...) as well as the next script already waiting here...

-c

... now with more captain america! (and even some invaders)

okay, so when i asked my editor if it was cool to talk about the project i just wrapped, i was told talk away...

so, while most folks might never see this book (seeing as how it's not gonna be available in comic shops), i had the privilege of working on a WW2 captain america holiday themed story with paul tobin and sweet colors by chris sotomayor (and a modern framing sequence by richard elson) that's gonna be distributed by the US army... it's got cap, bucky, human torch, soldiers, submariner, nazis, and more ... what more could you want?

since wrapping this one up, i've been working on another one off book for marvel (again with that tobin guy!), that i figure a lot more folks will be seeing next year... as well as getting a good chunk of pages done for the next issue of the haps (which will be out next spring or so, but in the meantime you'll be seeing the haps molly special by scott weinstein and jason copland!), getting a few more commissions done (or, well, more done than before) and more...

i'll try to post again before thanksgiving, but hey, if i don't.... happy turkey day!

-c

clobberin' time!

so, after managing to get my last book done on time (sorta) for a pretty tight deadline (hopefully i'll post artwork soon as i get the okay) with a house full of sick folks (luckily, i've been spared from the ick... so far), i took some time to catch up on commissions (like the thing, posted above), packing up stuff to get mailed, new 'haps layouts, cleaning the studio up a bit, and more... (heck, i even read a comic or 2...)

even though my next project is a one shot (due in january), i know if i don't start know, i'll be buried by the holidays ... so it's right back to work on that and the 'haps (seeing the pages for the molly one shot by scott and jason.. and the colored cover for an upcoming issue by jim starlin and terry austin(!) got me itching to get moving full steam)... right after i finish this very long in the queue, movie poster style 'haps pin-up sitting on my drawing board...

-c

(so, mad men ended in fine fashion - january jones on snl this week, not so much... yikes. - sons of anarchy has become a favorite these days... and glad to have fringe back... and i've been enjoying all 4 sitcoms on thursdays on nbc this season after warming up to community and parks and recreation )

clone wars

okay, so even though i've had the entire series piling up on the tivo, i didn't get around to watching any until AFTER doing my batch of topps clone wars sketch cards... but i do dig it!

above is a sample of some of the color cards i did (most were in b/w for deadline purposes)... pretty sure thee cards hit stores soon.

well, the 'haps halloween spooktacular (with guest art on two stories by by rich woodall and none other than fred freakin' hembeck!) is out in finer comic shops everywhere, and the final issue of iron man : armor wars should be out next week (and the trade is already scheduled for february of 2010).

been hard at work on my next project and getting moving of the next 'haps story as well... seems the years of bad posture hunched over the drawing board have taken their toll and i needed to see a chiropractor about it (after a few visits, i'm already feeling better than i've been in ages... and not waking up with shooting pain, so there's that!)

been enjoying some great tv lately (can't believe mad men's season is close to ending already! and the guilty pleasure of sons of anarchy is getting better and better... finally getting into parks and recreation and community keeps getting better, and the office and 30 rock are strong as ever) and got out to see where the wild things are last week was just blown away by it.

back to the drawing board (and happy halloween, folks!),

-c

hellboy and choopie

not the first request i've had for these two together... and heck, any excuse to draw hellboy is a good one! (don't wanna jinx myself, but there's only ONE outstanding commission in the works... the 'haps movie poster style image...)

so, since calgary, we had a great time at the baltimore comic con (celebrating todd's b-day with the gang was a highlight, among others... like meeting caleb/impulse)

finished work on armor wars (issue 4 in a few short weeks and a trade should be out in feb) and started on a few other projects for marvel (i'll fill you in when i can) as well as the next arc of the 'haps and some covers...

looking forward to my last con of 2009 in boston this weekend... if you're in the city, stop by and say "hey!"

oops, gotta go get dinner ready!

-c

(saw where the wild things are last night and still taking it all in... beautiful and sad)

calgary, eh?

had a fantastic time up at the calgary toy and comic expo this past weekend and got to see some great stuff at the royal tyrell dinosaur museum (along with other guests including norm breyfogle and dustin weaver)... the show itself was great, kept us busy sketching and signing all day... mike even was kind enough to send me a scan of the flaming carrot piece i did for him.

made it home safely and jumped right back into getting iron man armor wars 4 finished up before the baltimore comic con this weekend (and you DO know that issue 3 is now out, right?)

so, if you're at the baltimore comic con this weekend, stop by booth 2408 and say "hey!" ... not likely we'll have the advance copies of the perhapanauts halloween spooktacular with us after all (unfortunate mix up at image... don't get me started), but we'll have the other books and swag ... and todd's smiling face, of course (not to mention booth boy extraordinaire, officer mulcahy)

... and when i get back, i think it's time to catch up on piles of unread comics, unwatched dvds, and some sleep ...

-c

incredibles!

so, this one is piece that i've owed a friend for longer than i can remember (even longer than you, bobby!)... in trade for a beautiful mignola cosmic odyssey page, i promised a superman commission... YEARS later, patient as ever, he reminded me about the piece and suggested maybe switching to the incredibles... deciding i couldn't in good faith make him wait any longer, i started it last week. after laying out the piece, i realized it was gonna be pretty involved, so instead of my usual transfer of the art to the canson paper with saral paper, i decided to do straight up line art on bristol, scan it, and print it directly on the canson and go from there...

besides that, iron man and the armor wars 4 is cooking along, as well as the topps clone wars sketch cards and perhapanauts design work and covers for the next arc...

passed the midway point on the first season box set of fringe (really can't wait to see where it goes from here) and watched the season premiere of the office oh, creed, how i've missed you this summer) after getting home from fenway park last night (tough loss, but a good game and great time with bob, jamie, steve, and those wacky chapmans)

-c

battle of the planets!

so, here's a scan of the color piece of princess from battle of the planets... yeah, i know it's really gatchaman, but i'll always have fond memories of watching the us version with 7 zark 7 and 1 robot 1 on channel 56...

so, working hard to get iron man and the armor wars 4 done and started working on the next arc of the perhapanauts this weekend, as well as getting through my VERY patient commission list (deadpool's done, working on the incredibles now .... then a 'haps movie poster montage... whew) ... and since i figured i'm not busy enough, i'm doing 100 sketch cards for the upcoming star wars clone wars season 1 set, too...

watching season one of fringe on dvd now (5 episodes in... damn, it's good!), hoping to get it done before all the fall shows return... and listening to the audiobook of frank portman's new book andromeda klein (with a SLEW of others in the queue... david cross, stephen king, dr. denis leary - gotta get back into the habit of listening while working in the afternoon when the kids aren't around) ... my comic pile's getting larger, really gotta get beter about books i actually plan to read as opposed to just "oooh, this looks good!")

back to work (well, after watching this week's mad men)

-c

black widow

well, here's another canson color piece for a very patient customer... (i've got a few more commissions to wrap up - incredibles, deadpool, hellboy/choopie, and the haps movie style poster- and get the list empty for a change... whoo!)

let's see, issue 2 of iron man and the armor wars comes out this week, so make sure you grab your copy (with another sweet scottie young cover!)... and as a guy who hasn't been following iron man at all for the last few years, i can say it's an all ages book that anybody can pick up and enjoy - i really think marvel's got the "all ages thing" figured out with the books nate cosby's putting out as editor...

the perhapanauts halloween spooktacular is off to image and set for it's release right before the baltimore comic con in october (you ARE going, aren't you? ) speaking of baltimore and conventions, i'll also be in calgary the first weekend of october and then boston the last weekend, whew! (luckily, no shows in sept or after october, so i can keep working on the haps and my next marvel gig)

oh, for folks looking to buy original art, head on over to comic art house and see everything that's available ... and be sure to check out the ebay auctions for some great deals...

okay, back to work!

-c

(really enjoying the latest patton oswalt cd while working... when the kids aren't home)

back to the future...

well, that title seems oddly appropriate for a coupla reasons...

first off, today's sketch was a warm up i did after reading that dc was bringing back batman beyond (and A. no, i'm not drawing it... B. dunno if anybody at dc even knows who i am these days, and C. i'm mighty happy to be working at marvel on iron man and the armor wars - issue 2 out in a few weeks! -and on the 'haps, thank you very much) ... gotta say, i'm pretty excited to this character come back, seemed like there was SO much potential that was left untapped (and while i enjoyed my two years on the comic based on the cartoon, i felt like it didn't always hit the mark...) after trying to hew closely to the general style guide, it was fun to put my spin on the character (granted, it's years later and i'd like to think i've grown as an artist as well)

secondly, this past weekend was my 20 year (!) high school reunion... after hemming and hawing a bit about going, i'm certainly glad i did... (granted, it was right down the road, so i didn't need to take a trek to get there)... it was a pleasure to catch up with old friends and see what's been going on these last two decades, (but as todd pointed out over on his blog, facebook's been a great way to reconnect as well, so i've been reconnecting with those who couldn't make it...)

alright, gotta go get dinner on the table!

-c

back from chicago...

made it back safely from chicago (but sadly, didn't get to go to the weber restaurant)...

had a great show, met some new and old friends (and now i can say " i know katie cook!"), sold some art, books and stuff... even with the big publishers absent, it seemed like a very busy show (and quite possibly their absence got more folks to spend time in artist alley) ...

glad to be home, working hard on issue 3 of iron man and the armor wars (issue 1 came out a few weeks ago... you DID pick it up, right?) and getting the last of the files to image for the haps' halloween spooktacular (which, with any luck, we'll debut in baltimore...)

anyway, here's a scan of an impulse color piece i did at the chicago show (thanks for sending it, kieron) as well as the prelim...

okay, back to work!

-c (can't believe it's his 20 year high school reunion this weekend)

quick one

okay, so, as usual, i'm swamped with work and realized it's been a while since the last post... since i've been busy wrapping up issue 2 of iron man and the armor wars and our perhapanauts halloween spooktacular story, i haven't done any new commissions to share... so i'm diggin' deep.

but before i do, here's preview of the first issue of armor wars, check it out!

and for the folks heading to chicago next weekend, stop on by artist alley booth 4500 and say "hey!" (i'll have some books, sketchbooks, and maybe some art...)

okay, back now? so, here's one i did back in '95 to send along to editors as a thank you note for taking the time to look at samples (you know, back when editors would look at cold call samples... best, constructive reply i got was from kevin dooley at dc... funniest was a rejection letter from dc after i had been working on impulse for a year - i was thinking it was gonna be my check)... i've started scanning some older samples (x-men, thor, generation x, books of magic, dreaming, mister miracle) that i'll be posting pretty frequently...

-c

really enjoyed green lantern - first flight on dvd... and finally getting to watch dollhouse, so far, so good...

and STILL taking in everything that happened on the wire (dammn!!) - even noticed "omar" in the big fight between hulk and abomination in the incredible hulk the other day on hbo... and realized it was gordon from sesame street as the patrol cop in season 5

king choopie!

okay, been a while since my last post...

went to cleveland (and had plenty of time to hang out with todd and mark mchaley since the show was a bit... slow), been working on the haps halloween "big in brazil" story (you did see that todd posted the first page in b/w over at his blog a while back, didn't you?) and iron man and the armor wars ...

haven't had much free time to get to the few commissions waiting patiently, but i DO have this piece... my homage to conan ... after realizing it wouldn't work for the cover to issue 3, we scrapped it (only getting as far as loose pencils - check out the new image trade for that)... after seeing it the trade , jim asked me if i could ink it up, so i did... i had fun with this one...

up next week, i'll dig deep into the file draws for old samples and miscellaneous stuff you've probable never seen.

-c (finished watching the wire on dvd... damn, i can see why it's considered one of the best shows on tv... days later, i'm still letting it sink in...)

back into the swing of things...

had a great time in charlotte with the usual suspects (todd, sharon, matt, suzanne, christian, angie, cully, nick cardy, scott, gino, chris, rod, leanne...) did a lot of sketching, sold some art and sketchbooks, met a lot of great folks (and saw a lot of familiar faces)... the highlights were seeing the first 'ringo scholarship being awarded and father's day breakfast with nick and company)...

i DID come back home to an imac in need of a new hard drive - with apple care covering it (and everything backed up via time machine) it just boiled down to time lost... finally got back up and running last night, scanned the final pages of iron man and the armor wars 1 and more of my 'haps halloween story...

and even managed to mow my lawn this beautiful tuesday afternoon (after weeks of rain, it really needed it)...

on the tv front, besides rescue me, there's not much i'm watching, so i dove headfirst into the box set of the wire... damn.

alright, i've leave you with a wonder woman i did at the show (thanks for the scan, richard) as well as a composite superman sketch that was never picked up (usually leave a show with one of these stragglers)...

-c

packin' up for charlotte

okay, so heading out to tf green in a bit to catch my flight to charlotte for heroescon... (looking like its gonna be one of the best yet)...

i know i'm forgetting something (but, like roger reminded me, pack a towel and DON'T PANIC)...

almost wrapped up on issue 1 of "armor wars" and making some good headway on my haps halloween "big in brazil" story...

and on that note, here's a poison ivy i wrapped up for a VERY patient timothy chandler (this IS, in fact the year for that poison ivy piece)... so, if you're at the show, stop by and say "hey!"... if not, have a happy father's day weekend.

-c

so, you wanna get a sketchbook?

okay, so more than a few folks have emailed about making sure they can get a sketchbook before i go and sell'm all at heroes (ha! i like their wishful thinking... but hey, you never know, right?), so to ease any worries about missing out...

here's the skinny -

- folks can pre-order the books now for $20 each book ordered - and i'll pull any aside at the show and mail'm after i get back from heroes...

- free headsketches (of your choice) will be in the "regular" sketchbook (just let me know what to draw when you place your order)

- US priority mail shipping is a flat $5 (outside the US, $8)

- any previous books are still available as well (canson volumes 1, 2 or 3 are only $10 each with any order and the b/w sketchbook 2004 is a steal at $5)

payment can be made via paypal (payable to sketchbook at craigrousseau dot com) or mailed snail mail (drop me a line for mailing info)... specify which book(s) you're ordering (and, again if it's a "regular" sketchbook, what head sketch you want)

-c (off to see UP with the boy!)

sketchbooks!

alrighty then... not one, but TWO new sketchbooks are on the way (and will be on hand at heroes con NEXT weekend)...

both books are limited to 100 copies, 8.5 x 11 with 28 pages (so plenty of room to show off this stuff )... the canson book's full color, the sketchbook is b/w with 12 color pages (and will come with a free headsketch inside)... each book'll run $20 (with flat $5 us shipping)

for folks who aren't able to head down (or catch me in chicago, cleveland, baltimore or boston this year), i'll be offering'm for sale through the website soon...

you're really super, supergirl...

whew, i've had that xtc song stuck in head for days now...

i'll post again later this week, gotta get back to work on iron man : the armor wars.

-c

another work in progress

so, nick's been waiting very patiently for me to finish this one... with any luck, it'll be done by the end of the weekend. (did this one a bit differently than peter parker by going with the white outline first...)

working hard on iron man and the armor wars (just saw skottie young's cover to #2... SWEET!) and getting into the halloween story for the haps...

realizing that heroes con is only a few weeks away, it's time to get cracking on not ONE, but TWO new sketchbooks... (one's the next canson, the other is commissions, sketches, etc) trying something a bit different this time around ( finished size'll be 8.5x11 instead of the smaller ones to allow the art to be bigger and uncropped... ) for folks who can't make to a show this year, i'll post ordering info when they're ready...

-c

so, since tv is slow for the time being (phew), i'm diving into dvds that've piled up... currently it's andy richter controls the universe (very funny, slightly surreal and canceled WAY too soon), next up, the complete box set of the wire.

gwen stacy.... and i am (drawing) iron man!

first things first, a gwen stacy commission i finished up a few weeks ago...

okay, so if you saw the august solicitation previews that got posted today, this isn't new to you... otherwise, here it is... my next gig for the fine folks at marvel... (no art to post yet, sorry)

(and when i get the okay to post some of the x men art, i will... val staples did a KILLER job on the pages, making me look good)

IRON MAN & THE ARMOR WARS #1 (of 4) Written by JOE CARAMAGNA Penciled by CRAIG ROUSSEAU Cover by SKOTTIE YOUNG Cash, cars, boats, houses...Tony Stark has got it all. The only thing that could ruin his day? If every single one of his IRON MAN armors were stolen, and then turned against him. Join us for a nail-biting, strapped-to-your-seat adventure as Tony battles his greatest creations, and tries to discover who could (gasp) OUTSMART him!?!? 32 PGS./All Ages ...$2.99

... and it's done.

okay, after a few days away (ending with a great visit with "uncle todd and aunt sharon"), i figured it's time to finish up the step by step on the peter parker commission...

besides going in and making any last little tweaks to the general colors, i usually go around the contour with a bright color (in this case the white) to really make things pop... and at the last minute i realized peter's shirt needed a little something, so i threw in the stripes... and i also figured the "spidey sense" lines made sense as well...

and that's a wrap!

issue 6 of the haps is off to image and we're working on the next issue in the next few weeks... and i'm hip deep in my next marvel gig ...

most tv seasons are wrapping up (the office, 30 rock, lost, 24 ... ) or have already aired season/series finales (chuck, scrubs) so i'll get back to the dvds piling up here (granted, there's still some great shows on like rescue me... and a few on tivo i never got to - fringe, dollhouse)

saw x-men origins:wolverine last week ... eh.