Getting ready to leave to India

I am packing off my suitcases to fly to India. Will be in India for a month - starting from Jan 1 to Feb 1. Yeah, I will be working for 3 weeks from India.
I should be meeting Ashok while I am in Chennai.

Update on Book 2

Ashok started writing for Book 2 in beginning of 2009. But he had to stop owing to the projects he had. He manage to add a chapter in Oct. We have added a chapter similar to the Book 1, where the old Fox narrates the story. I am sorry I am not going to reveal the details.

The plan is to add 4 chapters a month, and about 4000 words a month. We also plan to have the Book 2 completed by the Aug-Sep 2010.

AVATAR

Watched and enjoyed the visual spectacle called the AVATAR. Though there has been critisim about the story itself, you cannot take anything away from AVATAR the visual treat. I was even more rejoiced when people say that Avatar reminded them of the Dynast. This is a great feeling to be a part of the Dynast and being a creator. It creates a sense of pride. I hope in the near future the Dynast also enjoys a similar success as the Avatar.

Avatar the movie

I watched AVATAR here in AMC Mercado (Santa Clara). It was to watch it on the 3D.
AVATAR was a fantastic movie, a great visual treat. It elements of Hero-cycle, which is closely followed in the Dynast.

Minor Characters

Aunt Prava, wife of Titon Rok. More information can be found here

The Rebel Bear

Shakun: A short lion, a hench-man of Gadhya Kraft

The Graphic Novel update

We have now Pages 28. The pages are wonderfully pencilled. I have asked Seb to do the coloring. He says he has been doing some coloring, but I havent seen them after Page 8.

WONDERFUL BIG CATS nagy macskák

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

WONDERFUL BIG CATS nagy macskák

View more presentations from Gyula Dio .

Today we begin the graphic novel

We officially begin the graphic novel. We should have 8 pages ready to send to the publishers.
The content of Book 1 is what we are translating to the graphic which will go with the same title 'Dynast: The Rise of Bherek White'. This should be 110-120 paged graphic novel.

This is the process we will follow.
Ashok does the storyboards
I hand the storyboards to Seb
Seb will do the pencil sketches, coloring with the help of his friend
And finally Asvin does the lettering.

So here I wear multiple hats - as a creator, co-writer, over-see the storyboards, pencil sketches, coloring and then solely incharged of doing the lettering.

Arthika Map

The Map of Athika before Bherek White becomes the Dynast and unites them all to call it United kingdom of Arthika

Arthika is nothing but the current Arctic

Mritor Acerbus in color

Mritor Arcerbus :
Is the a Tyrant who wants to take over the Arthika. He rules the huge kingdom named Orzantia

Mritor Acerbus

Mritor Acerbus :A Tyrant who wants to take over Arthika. He rules over the Lucians, a race of gray lions.

The Submission letter for the Graphic book publishers

Greetings!

This is a submission of my graphic novel, “Dynast: The Rise of Bherek White,” the first of a trilogy. We have planned for 192 pages in full color.

Set in the far future when the human race is extinct and felines rule the earth, ‘Dynast: The Rise of Bherek White,’ the first of a trilogy, promises a treat of the young adult category. When a 14 year old lion cub, Bherek White, comes to stay with his uncle Titon Rok in the demoralized city of Auris, he does not realize that his friends and he would be caught in a net of violence and intrigue which would lead him to be crowned not just king, but the ‘Great Lion,’ the legendary savior of the entire Arctic, as foretold by soothsayers of yesteryear. I have also enclosed a bigger synopsis for your reading.

I am Asvin Srivatsangam, I am the Creator and Co-Writer of the Dynast. I am based in Sunnyvale, California. I have big plans for Dynast and foresee it in many forms: novel, animated movie, graphic novel, and TV serial. Please visit the website http://thedynast.com/
Dynast has been my dream since I was a schoolboy, and I will go all out to give any support you suggest for the good of the book. The books and screenplay are co-written by Ashok Rajagopalan, India, whose first book, ‘Witchsnare,’ has been published by Penguin India, under its Puffin imprint. He has had three other books published since that.
We have been most fortunate to find the talented Sebastian Cardoso, a comic-book illustrator who is great at portraying expression and a fantastic colorist. He lives and works from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Thank you for taking the time to consider publishing Dynast. I look forward to hearing from you.
Enclosed are five sample sequential pages, inked and lettered, the cover and the long synopsis.

Sincerely,
Asvin Srivatsangam

The Dynast Comic book inside pages for the publishers

These were the 5 pages that were sent to the publishers along with the cover art.

The Dynast Cover art

The cover art for the Dynast Graphic Novel was illustrated by Sebastian Cardoso. This is for the Book 1 of the trilogy. This is color one and also has the Dynast logo and text 'The Rise of Bherek White'

Dynast Cover art

This is the inked version of the cover. Bherek killing on the leviathan.

Gadhya Kraft

Gadhya Kraft

Brav and Staur

Staur White

Brav Apogee

http://thedynast.com/thecomic.html

The Dynast Character illustrations

The characters
Vivus Fastus

Labhi Twilit
later

Labhi White

Zanny Vastt

Web site Content

Thedynast.com

What is the Dynast?

The Dynast is a fantasy saga set in the far future. The story begins long long after the present becomes the past, many million years from now. Homo sapiens become extinct. Animals evolve to stand upright like humans, and even the sizes of their brain has evolved over the years. Felines rule the planet. The Arctic is a lush land, populated by intelligent lions, polar bears and other species. The kingdom of Arkthika stands at what was millenia ago the North Pole. Auris, it’s capital, which has seen better years, is now ruled by a weak king and inhabited by demoralized people. Dynast is the story of Bherek White, a snow lion, who from humble beginnings rises to become the ruler of the world and more. Bherek starts his journey from Auris, which was once the capital Central Arkthika, the biggest kingdom of the North Pole. Dynast will take shape as a comic series, a trilogy of novels and finally a feature film series. Birth and Growth The genesis of Dynast Bherek White : Asvin: the characters in this story are entirely products of my imagination. If similar persons exist in this planet, or elsewhere, I am delighted with my perception but quick to insist that the resemblance is coincidental." "The strands of the plot, too, are born of one creator's fancies. As the customs practiced in this story, these are a mixture of fact and fabrication. Some of the customs were inspired by true traditions of surviving culture and of the past, but have elaborated upon by my own make-believe; some originated in my imagination How did it begin? Ashok: Many years ago, I met Asvin Srivatsangam who showed me his drawings of a character he had created and named Bherek White. To my amazement, he had drawn pictures of many characters who were part of a story and a detailed map of the setting. As I was an artist, he had shown these to me, nothing more, just shared a school boy's dream. Now, happily married and working as a graphic designer in Sunnyvale, Asvin works hard to see his dream get real. He booked me as a cowriter two years ago to get the thing going. He gave me detailed briefs, and lots of money to kickstart the epic. The Dynast Trilogy So far, I have written the plots for the trilogy, and completed the first book, 'Dynast: The Rise of Bherek White.' Also its spec script. It is making the rounds of publishers all over, and also seeking representation in Hollywood. So far so good. Asvin has mighty plans for the Dynast series and he is okay with any break: Animated movie, TV serial, Graphic Novel or regular novel, though I would like to see the book published first. Creator Asvin Srivatsangam is the creator of the Dynast series of books. His early childhood was much enriched by cartoons, then by Indian mythological stories, and as he became older, he developed a liking for animals especially the big cats, still later geography and history. All those influences resulted in Dynast, this labor of love and delight. The story happens against the background of a new culture and tradition, an interesting mix of ancient mythology and advanced science. In short, fiction that he would love to read and reread.The basic theme of this story is that 'hard work really pays off' and 'good prevails over the evil'.Trite, but true for him. Currently, Asvin works as a graphic designer for hisliving, but his dream is to see Dynast make it big,and delight to millions worldwide. Co Writer Ashok Rajagopalan is a writer and illustrator, who lives in a sleepy suburb in South India with his wife, children and a beautiful cat. His first book 'Witchsnare' was published by Penguin in 2007. He is a fan of Wodehouse and Asimov. Ashok has worked as graphic designer for ad agencies, as an animator for a year and has been a children's book illustrator for twenty years. But he was not just satisfied with that. He had always wanted to be a writer and that dream came true in 2007. Ashok has partnered with Asvin on the Dynast from Mid-2006, and has completed Book 1. He is now working on Book 2. The Artist Sebastian Cardoso was born on August 25, 1974 in Buenos Aires Argentina. He has been drawing pictures since his childhood. His idols are Alphonse Mucha, Adam Houghes, Frank Cho, Will Eisner, and Norman Rockwell "I started with the books of Andrew Loomis, which I humbly believe to be the Bible for my craft. Later, at age 18, my work was published, although small and with many errors as far as design is concerned, but significant for me . Throughout my career as a cartoonist, I had periods of time in which I was forced to leave my freelancing and get fulltime jobs just to survive," says Seb. Sebastian Cardoso was born on August 25, 1974 in Buenos Aires Argentina. He has been drawing pictures since his childhood. His idols are Alphonse Mucha, Adam Houghes, Frank Cho, Will Eisner, and Norman Rockwell "I started with the books of Andrew Loomis, which I humbly believe to be the Bible for my craft. Later, at age 18, my work was published, although small and with many errors as far as design is concerned, but significant for me . Throughout my career as a cartoonist, I had periods of time in which I was forced to leave my freelancing and get fulltime jobs just to survive," says Seb. "My first job was as a cartoonist drawing comic strip cartoons for a newspaper in Buenos Aires, then I did illustrations for children's schoolbooks. When I was 24 my work was published in Eura Editoriali (Rome, Italy), for which I still do work. I started a comic book for Paquet Editions in France, which did not quite work out. I also worked on a series of books for Comics Boom (USA) The series is called Hunter's Moon, which I made with the collaboration of two friends Ezequiel Rosingana and Nestor Ruiz. Currently I'm working on Savior, a science fiction miniseries yet unpublished, and designing characters for Dynastar, bi-monthly drawing for comics and Eura Editoriali Freelance advertising. The Story In the distant future, felines rule the planet. The Arctic is a lush land, populated by intelligent lions, polar bears and other species. Dynast traces the story of Bherek White, the greatest lion of them all, one who was sent by the gods to bring peace and unity to the world. A newly orphaned twelve-year-old snow lion, Bherek White, comes to stay with his uncle Rok, the chief of the palace guards. During Bherek’s visit, the palace is attacked by a pack of rebels but he not only saves his friends, but traps the rebels too! Much impressed, the king asks Titon to ask Bherek to join the army. Bherek rises in rank, at unprecedented speed. At 19, he is made the general! Auris had been the capital of the vast kingdom of Arkthika decades ago; now the entire kingdom is just the city. The king is issueless, and infirm. He relies heavily on his advisors to govern the city. Gadhya Kraft, one of them, expects to be crowned heir. She sees Bherek as a threat and tries to have him killed. Many times! When Auris is attacked by neighbouring kingdoms, the king expresses a wish to crown Bherek if he saves Auris. Bherek wins three battles, and restores the kingdom to its former glory. After the last, near-impossible victory, he returns home and is crowned king. The citizens, having seen some of their hopes fulfilled, begin to dream of a prosperous future.