Last week, I began penciling the Chadhiyana graphic novel (Chadhiyana: In the Company of Shadows), but there’s a lot more to do besides comic pages before I can launch the web-comic. I’ve been busy with just about all of it this week (and one small, side project). So, here’s a brief update about where I am this week, as promised.

At this point, only two pages of the Prologue have been penciled. Don’t panic. It’s not that I work that slow or was slacking off. Unfortunately, I had to switch gears for a few days and concentrate on some other things. First, I wanted to create a new Chadhiyana logo for the graphic novel, something crisper than the original, hand-drawn logo which decorates the first Chadhiyana comic (visit IndyPlanet.com to purchase a copy).

What’s more, I planned to create a new image for marketing Chadhiyana: In the Company of Shadows. As it is, a number of items will use this image, and they need to be printed in time for New York Comic Con. Printing and shipping them will take time and considering, once I’m ready, the web-comic format allows for immediate publication of the graphic novel’s pages, this painting is going to have to take precedence for the time being. I should be done with it in the next few days and then back to pages. In the meanwhile, here’s a preview of the work-in-progress:

Besides this image, I’ve continued working on the script. I finished writing another chapter of the second half of the book, though I’ve yet to finish the rewrites for Chapter I of the first half. Also, I took a little break from Chadhiyana to quickly create some small images for some horror-themed bookmarks I also planned to have ready for New York Comic Con; I haven’t done much in the genre lately and there are those who enjoy my horror work. As it is, I wanted some Chadhiyana bookmarks as well (you can see the beginnings of one in the picture below), but there just isn’t the time.

If I can squeeze in the Chadhiyana bookmarks, I will. (I wanted to create some new pin-ups of all the major characters of the graphic novel for prints as well, but that’s unlikely to happen.) Otherwise, once this painting is done, its pages and script writing until the web-comic version of the graphic novel is launched. (Oh and there’s work to be done on the website too! I keep forgetting. There’s so much to do, there’s so much to do…) If you think I’m not stressing, you’re wrong. There’s a lot for me to get done and what with me starting a new teaching position in the Fall as well. But don’t you worry. Chadhiyana is one of my top priorities. I’m just wishing right now I had an extra month before New York Comic Con so I didn’t have to stress about it so much.

Back to work!