I was already running severely behind this week when I received a call yesterday that, my friend and journalist, Bill Baker had passed away. It took a lot out of me, and I barely got even the pencils done for page 29 in time for today’s post. That said, it was always Bill’s advice that, no matter what, I post something even if I can’t finish a page for any reason (Bill was very influential in me bringing this graphic novel to the web). So, in honour of him, and at the suggestion of my wonderful girlfriend, I’m going to turn a negative into a positive and do something a little different this week. Read more… ›

I put in some long hours yesterday to make sure that not only was page 24 completed and lettered for today, but that also I was able to re-post page 23 in its completed form. I also increased the size of the text on page 23 as I felt it might read too small for some. I’m not sure what colours you all pictured for the African-like villagers at the bottom of page 23, but blue and red is as I pictured them, once I began deciding on the colours for this scene. And, what’s more, now you get a clearer sense of the colour of the uniforms for that shadowy group from the Prologue. Read more… ›

So begins Chapter I proper, and with it at last dialogue will begin in the graphic novel. I had hoped to post the finished artwork for page 23 today; however, in light of recent events (see last week’s post on this and my main website–jmdesantis.com–for more on that) I was generally unmotivated to do much of anything for quite a few days last week. Thus, at the eleventh hour last night, with the page unfinished, I was forced to make a choice between the lesser of two evils: finish the artwork and post the page unlettered or scan the unfinished art and letter the page. I chose the latter, mainly because I had promised dialogue (at last!) with this new chapter (as was the plan from the start), but also because, though many have complimented me on the artwork in the book thus far, story is still my first consideration. Read more… ›

After a couple of weeks of waiting, Chapter I is finally here. With this new chapter comes another title page (as will always be the case for new chapters), but also a new graphic for all chapter title pages (to give the title pages a little more character)–the title page of the Prologue has been changed to match this. Also, as stated many a time, dialogue will begin in this new chapter. So, you can expect to learn what the action-based sequence of the Prologue was all about soon enough. Read more… ›

As promised, corrections have been made this week to Chadhiyana: In the Company of Shadows. The scabbard hanging from the female shadow warrior’s (now revealed to be Chadhiyana) belt which had been missing on pages 17 and 18, has now been added to those pages. And, in case you were wondering, J. M. DeSantis did hand paint those corrections.

Don’t forget that Chapter I begins posting next week (yes, starting with another chapter title page). The art will also move from the limited colour scheme of the Prologue to something more full, and again, there will be dialogue starting with the first page of the new chapter. So make sure you come back in the New Year and see how this graphic novel develops in 2014. Happy New Year!

Last week, page twenty of Chadhiyana: In the Company of Shadows was published, and so the Prologue of the book was brought to a close. Though originally the title page for Chapter I had been scheduled for today, the author has chosen to delay the publication of Chapter I until the New Year begins (specifically starting on Tuesday, January 7, 2014, as the new-page-on-Tuesdays schedule will continue in the new year). Read more… ›

Two small changes were made to the pages of Chadhiyana: In the Company of Shadows this week (aside from adding page 18 to the list). First, the text reading “~a graphic novel~ by” was removed from the cover image, as well as J. M. DeSantis’s JMD logo (also his signature) from the top of the cover. The logo was expanded to cover more area, and the bottom purple bar (upon which the aforementioned text was place) was removed. Second, the colours on last week’s page 17 were darkened in certain instances, where necessary to maintain a uniform look from page to page. Again, minor changes, but worth noting for those of you paying attention.

Don’t forget that dialogue will begin with Chapter I of the graphic novel, the first page of which should post around the beginning of the new year.

Frequent readers may have noticed a sudden jump or change in the page numbers on chadhiyana.com. This was merely a decision made to better reflect J. M. DeSantis’s script for Chadhiyana: In the Company of Shadows and is in keeping with not only the page numbering therein, but also the typical method of numbering pages for a book or web-comic. Read more… ›

Some improvements have been made to the Prologue pages up to this point. The colour of the title page has been changed slightly to an arguably more attractive colour. Also, the texture on the vines which first appeared on page 6 was added to pages 1 through 5. Pages 6 and 7 saw some corrections made to the art, including darker blue shadows and a different orange-brown colour for the patterns on the snakes on page 7. Other minor improvements were made to pages 4 and 5 as well. If you are new to Chadhiyana: In the Company of Shadows, these changes are of little concern.

Page 8 of the Prologue is now up, and not only is it the first page of the new posting schedule, but also the first full-page spread of the book. Don’t forget to check back every week for a new page, and visit jmdesantis.com every Wednesday for a new blog entry by, Chadhiyana creator, J. M. DeSantis (tomorrow’s will concern the aforementioned improvements). Enjoy!

New York Comic Con has come and gone (if you want to read about that, please visit my blog on jmdesantis.com tomorrow), and we’ve at last reached October 15th, the final day for the one-page-every-weekday posts. As stated, the extension of this posting schedule was entirely dependent on how much work I could get done between last week and today. Unfortunately, as is typically the case with me, I expected a little more than was reasonable. Throughout the Con weekend I had little time to work on the graphic novel and, as a result, posted yesterday’s page a little later than usual. What’s more, I felt I rushed these last two pages to get them done in time and so am slightly less happy with them. Read more… ›