Also, don’t forget to check out my original artwork on display in the Pet-icular Poses group art show at the Art Garage in Montclair, New Jersey. The show runs until June 30th. For more information, visit studiokidsart.com.

First and foremost: yes, I am still hard at work on the Chadhiyana graphic novel script. I’m about halfway through the story, and though it took months to get there, I’m confident that as my teaching day job winds down for the summer I can finish the remainder of what I have outlined in a relatively short period of time. Then it’s on to editing the script and starting the art. Again, I don’t plan to wait until the entire novel is finished to start making it available. What format the initial, serialised version will take, however, I won’t reveal until closer to its release. Be patient, and I hope you’re all as anxious as I am for another Chadhiyana tale.

As always, I have some other writing and illustration projects in the works too. This includes a children’s book I wrote and sketched the images for last year. (Not Figmunds, unfortunately, but I still intend to return to them. I promise!) About a week ago, I shopped the children’s book around to publishers at the Book Expo America. The reactions to the book, Chadhiyana and my work were favourable, so hopefully something comes out of it. I’m confident the children’s book will find a publisher; it’s just a matter of finding the right one.

The BEA itself was wonderful and very different from a comic convention. In short, editors were more approachable and there were less inflated egos as are typically found at comic conventions (though don’t misunderstand me, I have met great people at comic cons). I’m hoping to attend next year and maybe with a prose novel to shop around as well.

Also, I was interviewed by, my friend and fellow writer, Emilio Rodriguez this past weekend. We spoke about my development as a writer and artist, my career and Chadhiyana. I’m not certain when the interview will be published (sometime this summer, I believe), but I’ll post something about it when it is, of course.

As for Emilio, he’s currently working with artist James Rodriguez (no relation) on a science fiction comic series called Sara Rising (which they debuted in a preview book at New York Comic Con 2012, just as I did with Chadhiyana). There is a rumour they’re launching a Kickstarter campaign for the book soon. When that’s up and running, I’ll be sure to post about it. I’ve read the scripts for the first two issues, and I’ve known James and his art for quite a while. This is definitely a book you should at least check out. I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve seen of it thus far.

Last, I wanted to mention I recently attended a Karuna Charities event celebrating their 20th anniversary. As was the case the last time I attended one of their events, the evening was filled with speeches honouring members of the organisation, performances of classical Indian dance and, of course, some delicious Indian cuisine. Karuna Charities was set up to raise money and goods to help the less fortunate in India, the United States and the world over. You can find out more about Karuna Charities on karunacharities.net.

Anyway, that about does it for this week. I’m looking forward to having some more time for Chadhiyana and some other projects. Stay tuned in the following weeks and through the summer. Boston Comic Con is only two months away. And, before you know it, there could be some big Chadhiyana news as well. Cheers!

Speaking of the Art Garage, the second show where my work will be on display is being held by the Art Garage at their gallery in Montclair, New Jersey. The name of that show is Pet-icular Poses, and it runs from June 3rd through the 30th. The show focuses on animals, which includes mythological, fantasy and horror creatures. You can find out more on studiokidsart.com.

Last, if you’ve been following the Boston Comic Con, you already know it was rescheduled for August 3rd and 4th at a new location. As it turns out, the dates work perfectly for me, so I’ve re-confirmed my appearance. I’m looking forward to (finally) exhibiting at this show for the first time ever and bringing Chadhiyana to Boston, never mind having the chance to see Boston again (I’ve been wanting to for some time now). For more information on the Boston Comic Con visit bostoncomiccon.com.

There’s a lot coming up, so make sure you mark your calendars. As always, if you want up-to-date information on my appearances, shows, conventions, etc, etc visit the Events & Shows page. I hope to see you at one or more of these upcoming events.

Of the five new pieces in the Horror Illustration section, three of them are from a horror web-publication called Book of Lies. It’s a web-anthology of prose and comic stories, tied together by a mysterious book with which the introduction’s narrator comes into contact. The introduction has something of a Lovecraft feel to it, and it’s for that reason the site’s writer and creator, Paul A. Newman (nope, not the salad dressing guy), brought me in as one of the illustrators. You can read more about Book of Lies on bookofliescomic.thecomicseries.com

The Humour Illustration page also had four new pieces added to it. However, since three of those are relics from my Game-Flush.com days, I decided it wasn’t a strong enough update to stand on its own. Don’t get me wrong, I love the illustrations I’ve added (else I wouldn’t have added them), but for those already familiar with my Game-Flush.com work, there’s nothing new in the Humour section other than a Boba Fett commission I drew for someone who missed this past New York Comic Con.

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got for this week. I’m still hard at work on the Chadhiyana graphic novel script, and I’m closing in on the mid-point of the story. (Don’t worry. I’m actually moving faster now. The bulk of the writing up to now was done this month, so, yes, I was moving quite slowly in the beginning.) Stay tuned for more. I’ll be back next week with something else–probably the information on those art shows I didn’t post this week. Oh, and again, don’t forget to check out Book of Lies!

sugarcayne.com/2013/05/j-m-desantis-bronx-heroes-comic-con-5/

For more information on Bronx Heroes, visit bxhcc.com

As it is, I’ve been neglecting to add new art to the site for quite some time. Mostly this is because I’ve been working on a number of small projects and writing the script for the Chadhiyana graphic novel, and it just slipped my mind. (Excuses, excuses. I know.) However, even being as busy as I am, there might be a small lull in updates as I finish the script, move on to the art and work on other projects. As I have so many pieces to add to the site, I decided I would update one section on each of the weeks that I don’t have something else to post about (the next two weeks, I’m afraid to say, will focus on Bronx Heroes, so you’ll have to wait a bit for more new art).

I decided to start with the Fantasy Illustration section first not only because there’s some new Chadhiyana pieces I wanted to show off, but also because there’s some new Game of Thrones/Song of Ice and Fire artwork as well. This includes a Jon Snow and Ghost commission I recently finished that I absolutely love the way it came out.

Nine new pieces have been added, and I’ve increased the size of the thumbnail images. The Comic Pages section received a similar treatment already, as it’s the only section to which I don’t currently have any new artwork to add. What’s more, as there were so many images I wanted to include this week, I increased the fantasy section from twelve images to fifteen.

I hope you all enjoy the art I’ve added thus far, and that these small art updates will tide you over as I continue to work on Chadhiyana and some other projects. And don’t forget to keep checking back for updates of other sorts as well. I still have a lot planned for this year. If I can get even half of it done, I’ll consider it a huge accomplishment.