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.

step by step... part 4

okay, so we're in the home stretch on this commission... you can see at this point i've added more mid range/ shadow colors to fill it out... and usually a quick trick to make it pop is adding a different cooler light source opposite the main one (and again, that light purple does the job pretty well)... not much left but the finishing touches...

oh, and since michael dooney (a CRAZY talented artist, i must add) asked a while back - all the inks for these (and 95% of what i ink) is faber castell pitt pens (either the S/superfine of the F/fine tips... and if i need a thicker line weight i'll redraw the line a few times, building it up slowly)...

okay, besides the commissions (i've got a few more to post soon, like a princess from "battle of the planets", a canson gwen stacy and a canson supergirl... and canson black widow is in the works now), i'm on my last page of our framing story for haps 6, the story for uncanny x-men first class special is done (i'll post a page or two when i get the okay) and work on my next marvel gig is underway...

i'm sure there's more i was gonna post, but since it's slipped my mind... next time.

-c

OH, i did want to mention i'll be at stillpoint comics in fall river, ma this saturday (may 2, 10am - 2pmish) for free comic book day, sketching and signing and more than likely, reading comics!

step by step...3!

alright, so here we go with some color... since the highlights and shadows usually play a strong role in these, i start with deciding where the light source is coming from - for this one, it's a dramatic up-lit image... laying in some highlight colors really sets the mood (and again, it lets the value of the paper play a big role in the finished colors)... i do all the colors on these with prismacolor colored pencils... from here, the next step will be laying in some darker values and some edge lighting and a contour to make it all pop...

hope everybody had a good week (and picked up their very own copy of the new haps trade that came out last week)... after being under the weather a bit (damn ick tearing though the house), had a great weekend with friends (some of whom have,alas , succumbed to said ick) and saw a great game at fenway on sunday with perfect weather for a game... finishing up the x-men story and jumping on a new supercool project at marvel for the same editor this week and getting everything ready to send issue 6 of the haps to image next week (finally!)

-c