<![CDATA[Joseph’s Substack]]>https://josephdesposito.substack.comhttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!m2Y-!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fffcb5553-661c-4097-b69b-b593d6794bec_144x144.pngJoseph’s Substackhttps://josephdesposito.substack.comSubstackWed, 02 Sep 2026 17:42:58 GMT<![CDATA[Joseph D'Esposito]]>https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-7f4https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-7f4Wed, 19 Aug 2026 16:02:04 GMTOn my graphic novel,The Outsider there were a lots of trial and error. Some thumbnails were easily expanded into a workable layout while other pages had to be thought out more to better correspond with the story. Here are some examples of that process.

Joseph’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Now above here is a rough idea, a 7 in x 10 in drawn with a Pentel pen.

Below is the rough I ended up doing.

This is the page I ended up doing.

See how when I replace the closeup of the eyes with the image of the subway train passing through the station, it conveys a feeling of uncertainty.

Now I added the big looming head from my the sketch onto the next page, to help continue that feeling of uncertainty.

On September 29th, my graphic novel The Outsider, based on the life and struggles of Bernie Krigstein’s campaign to make comic books a respected medium.

Is being published by Fantagraphics Underground. Please go to the Fantagraphics website and pre-order the book! https://www.fantagraphics.com/collections/fantagraphics-underground/products/the-outsider

Joseph’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

]]><![CDATA[Joseph D'Esposito]]>https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-87ahttps://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-87aFri, 14 Aug 2026 16:52:39 GMTRiding the subway is something I’ve been doing since I was a kid.So I’m posting some drawings from a small Moleskin sketch book done in 2004.Drawn with a very soft Ebony pencil,JetBlack,Extra Smooth on paper.

Joseph’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

As always I’m a working artist so please subscribe to my Substack.

On September 29nd, my graphic novel The Outsider, based on the life and struggles of Bernie Krigstein’s campaign to make comic books a respected medium.Is being published by Fantagraphics Underground.Please go to the Fantagraphics website and pre-order the book!

https://www.fantagraphics.com/collections/fantagraphics-underground/products/the-outsider

Joseph’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

]]><![CDATA[Joseph D'Esposito]]>https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-24fhttps://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-24fSun, 12 Jul 2026 13:42:58 GMTI haven’t been drawing on the subways lately, so I thought I would post the drawings I sometime do around Brooklyn City Hall, on weekends. The farmers markets are bustling with people who buy farm fresh organic Kale and other wonderfully expensive vegetables, jezz $10 for a pint of raspberries! But every week there are people who live and sleep in and around the park; I believe I drawn them before on the same benches. This city with some of the most expensive real estate should find a way to house these homeless people with common dignity! But we all ignore them as we go on our way to buy overpriced berries.

These drawings are drawn with lead pencils on paper, except the last one drawn leaning on a fire hydrant on Court Street wth my trusty Uni-ball pen!

Well on September 29nd, my graphic novel The Outsider, based on the life and struggles of Bernie Krigstein’s campaign to make comic books a respected medium.Is being published by Fantagraphics Underground.Please go to the Fantagraphics website and pre-order the book! https://www.fantagraphics.com/collections/fantagraphics-underground/products/the-outsider

Joseph’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

]]><![CDATA[Joseph Desposito]]>https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-3adhttps://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-3adFri, 26 Jun 2026 19:29:07 GMT Like from that infamous episode of Seinfeld, I got caught, drawing a cool guy with dreadlocks and big headphones sitting across from me on the number 4 train last Saturday! But the annoying part is that he didn’t catch me but some nosy woman sitting down from him, who felt the “need” to tell him. I just quickly packed up, not wanting to be confronted and moved deftly into the next subway car like any real New Yorker!

Well on September 22nd, my graphic novel The Outsider, based on the life and struggles of Bernie Krigstein’s campaign to make comic books a respected medium.Is being published by Fantagraphics Underground.Please go to the Fantagraphics website and pre-order the book! https://www.fantagraphics.com/collections/fantagraphics-underground/products/the-outsider

Joseph’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

]]><![CDATA[Joseph D'Esposito]]>https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-9aehttps://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-9aeMon, 08 Jun 2026 21:30:06 GMTMy graphic novel,The Outsider is scheduled to come out on September 22nd, by Fantagraphics Underground.So I thought I would post my process on Substack and share my creative process for creating my book.

Please subscribe to my Substack and and help support a working artist.

Joseph’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

]]><![CDATA[Joseph D'Esposito]]>https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-266https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-266Fri, 05 Jun 2026 15:56:09 GMTAgain I apoligize for being off the grid a bit, if that means being off Substack. Heres some drawings done awhile ago, during the winter maybe 18 years on the NY subways, catching people distracted, reading, dozing or playing a DS game! Most drawn with my trusted Uni-ball pen with tone added at home with inkwash.

Now Coming on September 22th,my graphic novel The Outsider, based on the life and struggles of Bernie Krigstein campaign to make comic art respected.Its being published by Fantagraphics Underground.Please go to the Fantagraphics website and pre-order the book!

Joseph’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

]]><![CDATA[Joseph D'Esposito]]>https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-1cbhttps://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-1cbMon, 04 May 2026 16:14:15 GMTMy latest sketches, done on the spot on the subway, or subway station waitng for my train.Drawn with a Uni-Ball pen, with some touches of ink wash. I really try to catch private moments in public spaces, right? Of course I try my best to draw unnoticed.

Coming this September 8th is my graphic novel, The Outsider, based on the life and struggles of Bernie Krigstein’s campaign to make comic art respected.Its published by Fantagraphics Underground.

Please go to the Fantagraphics website and pre-order my book!

Subscribe,I am a working artist!

Joseph’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

]]><![CDATA[Joseph D'Esposito]]>https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-5dfhttps://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-5dfThu, 02 Apr 2026 18:35:37 GMTI’ve been off the grid a bit, if that means being off Substack. Heres some drawings done on the NY subways, catching people distracted, reading or dozing. Most drawn with my trusted Uni-ball pen with tone added at home with inkwash.

Coming on September 8th is my graphic novel The Outsider, based on the life and struggles of Bernie Krigstein campaign to make comic art respected.Its being published by Fantagraphics Underground.Please go to the Fantagraphics website and pre-order the book!

Joseph’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

]]><![CDATA[Joseph D'Esposito]]>https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-5a2https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-5a2Wed, 18 Feb 2026 21:26:58 GMTSince I write about riding the New York subway all the time, I thought this time I would post a page from my upcoming graphic novel “The Outsider” that takes place on the subway. The story is set in the 1950’s it tells the story of Bernie Krigstein in his quest to make comics a more respected medium .Comics in the 1950s is a nowhere medium for journeymen and artistically frustrated illustrators. Certainly that’s what Bernie Krigstein —a comics artist and out-of-step painter slumming in the sleazy comics industry to make ends meet— thinks. What starts as an escape attempt from the rut of cranking out comics takes successive leaps into tales of labor organizing and fighting tenaciously to realize the artistic potential of the medium.

Its on sale April 21st from Fantagraphics Underground, but you can preorder the book now on its site, below is the link!

https://www.fantagraphics.com/collections/fantagraphics-underground/products/the-outsider

Joseph’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

]]><![CDATA[Joseph D'Esposito]]>https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-29chttps://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-29cTue, 27 Jan 2026 00:09:19 GMTRiding the subway almost seems normal compared to the absolute craziness happening in Minnesota right now. So I hope as a balm to all our collective pain in the world here are some sketches to you to enjoy. As always I’m a working artist so please subscribe to my Substack.

Read more

]]><![CDATA[Joseph D'Esposito]]>https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-2c1https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-2c1Fri, 09 Jan 2026 23:28:57 GMTNew York Stories

As always my sketch pad is my constant companion on the NYC subways, where I’ve been drawing my fellow citizens since the 70’s. Mostly drawn with a Pentel on a 6×9 inch sketch pad! I’m a working artist so please subscribe !

Also look out for my graphic novel “The Outsider” to be published later this year by Fantagraphics Underground !

]]><![CDATA[Joseph D'Esposito]]>https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-837https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-837Mon, 05 Jan 2026 16:07:14 GMTHi this is the corrected post,sorry for misspelling your name Mayor Zohran Mamdani! You can’t have the title New York Stories without including the Homeless.Every Saturday I meetup my group of friends for coffee. On my way there I do quick sketches of people dozing, reading whatever, but nothing tells me more about this city of 8.5 million of people than the way we treat them. Let’s hope with the new mayor , Zohran Mamdani we will find a way to treat them better. All done on sight, on numerous sketch pads, pencil, pen. Please support my Substack, I am a working Artist!

Also look out for my upcoming graphic novel,The Outsider, to be published by Fantagraphics Underground in 2026!

Joseph’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

]]><![CDATA[Joseph D'Esposito]]>https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-3f6https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-3f6Mon, 29 Dec 2025 23:15:45 GMTIt’s my first chance to post since the Christmas! As observed on the New York Subway, these drawings are done quickly with a Pentel on 9x6 sketchpad.I try to do my best to not be noticed, to catch them in their natural poses,I don’t want to make them feel uncomfortable.All my drawings are done on the train, not staged as some people do, with an impossibly over rendered drawing done without the rider noticing.

Please Subscribe, I’m what you call a working artist, so when I’m not sketching on the train,I’m either drawing storyboards or drawing another graphic novel. I have my graphic novel “The Outsider” is coming out next year from Fantagraphics Underground!

Joseph’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

]]><![CDATA[Joseph Desposito]]>https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-4dehttps://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-4deMon, 08 Dec 2025 16:31:18 GMTYou can tell these were drawn during a warmer time, all done in Pentel pen, on my constant companion my sketckbook, that fits comfortably on my lap and is not too notice. Because the last thing I want is to get caught, it can be awkward.

Joseph’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Please Subscribe, I’m what you call a working artist, so when I’m not sketching on the train,I’m either drawing storyboards or drawing another graphic novel. I have my graphic novel The Outsider is coming out next year from Fantagraphics Underground!

Joseph’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

]]><![CDATA[Joseph D'Esposito]]>https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-792https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-792Fri, 05 Dec 2025 15:59:43 GMTSome past images from my constant companion, my sketch book and Pentel . All drawn on the subway, as always trying my best not to be noticed.Please Subscribe, I’m what you call a working artist, so when I’m not sketching on the train,I’m either drawing storyboards or drawing another graphic novel. I have my graphic novel The Outsider is coming out next year from Fantagraphics Underground!

Joseph’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

]]><![CDATA[Joseph D'Esposito]]>https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-4b8https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-4b8Wed, 05 Nov 2025 18:44:41 GMTI thought we try something different today, I took some of my subway sketches and added some color to them with inks and watercolors! Enjoy

As always remember I’m a working artist, so when I’m not drawing on the subway I’m either drawing a storyboard or working on my next graphic novel. So please subcribe! Speaking of graphic novel please look out for my graphic Novel The Outsider published by Fantagraphics Underground next year!

Joseph’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

]]><![CDATA[Joseph D'Esposito]]>https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-73fhttps://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-73fSun, 02 Nov 2025 20:42:32 GMTSome recent images from my constant companion,my sketch book and a Pentel & Uni-ball pen. All drawn on the subway, as always trying my best not to be noticed.

Please Subscribe, I’m what you call a working artist, so when I’m not sketching on the train,I’m either drawing storyboards or drawing another graphic novel. I have my graphic novel The Outsider is coming out next year from Fantagraphics Underground!

Joseph’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

]]><![CDATA[Joseph D'Esposito]]>https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-288https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-288Tue, 21 Oct 2025 15:33:31 GMTHello Substack readers, I thought I post some some more images from a somewhat more hopeful time, about 10 years ago. Drawn with a Pentel on paper, I’m amazed how much I was able to get back then. Again like my last post, people seem somewhat more content and aware of their surroundings. Even if they’re not aware of me sketching them. Some are more developed while a few are very unfinished, that probably means they got off to their stop! So I just start another one.

I’ve been proof reading my new upcoming graphic novel, The Outsider by Fantagraphics Underground, coming out next year!

Joseph’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

]]><![CDATA[Joseph D'Esposito]]>https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-4d8https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-4d8Fri, 03 Oct 2025 14:11:26 GMTHello Substack readers, I thought I post some more images from an old sketch book from a more hopeful time, about 10 years ago. Drawn with a Pentel on paper, I’m amazed how much I was able to get back then. A sketch book can be a form of time travel, familiar yet different. Less digital,

people seem somewhat more content and aware of their surroundings. Even if they’re not aware of me sketching them. Some are more developed while a few are very unfinished, that probably means they got off to their stop! So I just start another one.

Please stay tune for my Graphic Novel ‘The Outsider” published by Fantagraphics Underground next year! Also please subscribe!

Joseph’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

]]><![CDATA[Joseph D'Esposito]]>https://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-cffhttps://josephdesposito.substack.com/p/joseph-desposito-cffFri, 26 Sep 2025 16:21:20 GMTHello Substack readers, I thought I post some some more images from a somewhat more hopeful time, about 10 years ago. Drawn with a Pentel on paper, I’m amazed how much I was able to get back then. Again like my last post, people seem somewhat more content and aware of their surroundings. Even if they’re not aware of me sketching them. Some are more developed while a few are very unfinished, that probably means they got off to their stop! So I just start another one.

Read more

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