Month: December 2014

In October, 2013 I was visiting The Netherlands while exhibiting as Flesk at the Strip Festival in Breda. The day after the show I visited Petar Meseldzja in his studio where we discussed a series of topics that spanned his entire career. In celebration of Petar’s The Book of Giants being available for pre-order we spent the last few weeks reviewing the footage and producing a two-part feature. I have posted the first part today which covers his career from his earliest days up till how he became the artist that he is today. The running time is 19 minutes. Next week I will post the second part where Petar offers his thoughts on “technique.”

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes

Flesk Publications
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Spectrum Fantastic Art
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Spectrum Fantastic Art Live on Facebook

Text and photograph copyright © 2014 John Fleskes. Videos © 2014 Flesk Publications. Artwork © 2014 its respective artists. All Rights reserved.

 

Mark Schultz and I worked together this week to create a rough layout for the interiors and to finalize the cover design for Portfolio: The Complete Various Drawings. This will be coming out in August 2015.

We have been talking over the last year about collecting all of the Various Drawings collections into a single large format book. This 272 page, 11.5 x 12 inch collection will gather all of the material from the five volumes. We are also going through and readjusting all of the scans. This is going to be stunning!

Here is the official book description.

A compelling showcase spanning seven transformative years.

During an impressive period—2005 through  2012—Mark Schultz turned his attention to producing a body of personal works and private commissions. The results, collected in the five Various Drawings volumes, focused on subjects about which Schultz feels most passionate. Among them are characters and tableaux pulled from mythology, science-fantasy and pulp adventure, featuring steely warriors and  femme fatales—his popular pulpette women included. Schultz’s Xenozoic world is profusely explored through a series of dynamic compositions with his protagonists, Jack and Hannah, placed in a variety of impossibly dangerous situations. In addition to his self-generated pieces, there are many examples of Schultz’s commercial works done for comics, film and books, as well as renderings of newly discovered dinosaurs and more.

Portfolio: The Complete Various Drawings compiles the 275 drawings found in the original five volumes as well as the cover illustrations and special bookplates. Reformatted into this oversized version, the scan for each image has been reviewed and meticulously adjusted.  All images originally reproduced in black-and-white are now presented in full color.

Found within are fully rendered drawings executed in brush-and-ink, carbon or graphite pencil. In addition, Schultz shows his process with a wealth of preliminary sketches done for a range of projects, including his upcoming Storms at Sea illustrated novella. Add to this rare sketchbook material  and Schultz’s increasing exploration of color-tinted imagery , and you have one fascinating and diverse portfolio!

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes

Flesk Publications
Flesk Publications on Facebook
Spectrum Fantastic Art
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live on Facebook

Text and photograph copyright © 2014 John Fleskes. Videos © 2014 Flesk Publications. Artwork © 2014 its respective artists. All Rights reserved.

 

Hi, all,

We have such a blast producing these new videos for every Tuesday!

We went through our footage compiled during our visit to Portland, Oregon in September 2014 when we exhibited at the Rose City Comic Con.

Steve Rude sketching at our Flesk booth!

Brom, Terry Dodson and Steve Rude signing and sketching for fans at our Flesk/Spectrum booth. Thanks to everyone who visited us!

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
Flesk Publications on Facebook
Spectrum Fantastic Art
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live on Facebook

Text and photograph copyright © 2014 John Fleskes. Videos © 2014 Flesk Publications. Artwork © 2014 its respective artists. All Rights reserved.

Hi, all,

Both Petar Meseldzija and I are thrilled to have met our initial goal with The Book of Giants Kickstarter campaign through the generosity of our supporters. We will be sending the book to the printer immediately after this campaign ends in early January. Here is a summary of bonus items that people will receive if pre-ordered through Kickstarter.

1. Both the trade hardcover and deluxe edition are $10.00 off the cover price when ordered through Kickstarter!
2. Free USPS Media Mail shipping in the U.S.
3. Free exclusive print!
4. Free Book of Giants journal!

I would like to announce two stretch goals in the hope that we can offer you more bonus items.

The first is a 30 minute online streaming video of Petar creating the giant portrait that you see in the Kickstarter promotional video. I filmed Petar over the course of two days as he worked on this piece. He discusses and shows how he prepares his palette, then continues with the pencil underdrawing, followed by the underpainting, then the application of the oils.

The second stretch goal that we are adding is a full upgrade to the deluxe edition binding and slipcase. This would include quarter-binding, an inset plate on the front boards and a premium cloth on the slipcase. This would enhance the deluxe book with a much improved package. As with our previous Kickstarter campaigns we will be using all of the raised funds toward improving the production values.

These new features will come at no additional cost to those who order through Kickstarter if we meet our stretch goals.

Please note that the deluxe edition will be limited to only 500 copies and not 1000 copies as previously advertised.

Thanks again for your support!

Here’s the link to the campaign.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/448120746/the-book-of-giants

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
Flesk Publications on Facebook
Spectrum Fantastic Art
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live on Facebook

Text and photograph copyright © 2014 John Fleskes. Videos © 2014 Flesk Publications. Artwork © 2014 its respective artists. All Rights reserved.

Hi, all,

Today we have launched a new Kickstarter campaign to take pre-orders for The Book of Giants by Petar Meseldzija. The art, text and designs are done for the book. We plan on sending it to the printer immediately after the campaign ends in early January.

Please visit this link here for the full details, to watch our promotional video, to view sample pages and to see the original art options and free rewards that are available when pledging through our campaign.

If we reach our goal we are making available some fun gifts to thank our supporters with. We also have a number of stretch goals in mind. Should we be fortunate enough, we will continue to add value and more gifts along the way.

One of the reasons why we like using Kickstarter is that it helps us to fine tune the final production components of the book. For instance, with our Drawing Beautiful Women: The Frank Cho Method Kickstarter campaign, its success allowed us to add all the bells and whistles and editions that we had hoped for, and let us reward our early supporters with a lot of bonus free goodies. This new Kickstarter campaign for The Book of Giants will determine if we can produce the deluxe edition and finalize the binding and extras that we can include in the book. The more advance orders we receive, the more upgrades we can include.

For instance, with the Frank Cho Kickstarter campaign funds that we received earlier this year, Frank and I poured all of the money, and more, into the book. Our goal is to have a beautiful book–something that we can be proud of. And that is the same philosophy that I have for each new project that I work on. I won’t work with people whose focus is the money. To me, that is the wrong focus and one that will blind and doom the project. Instead we focus on the work, the art, the designs, the book, the process and on our supporters. That is our definition of success and reward.

We invite you to take a look at The Book of Giants by Petar Meseldzija.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
Flesk Publications on Facebook
Spectrum Fantastic Art
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live on Facebook

Text and photograph copyright © 2014 John Fleskes. Videos © 2014 Flesk Publications. Artwork © 2014 its respective artists. All Rights reserved.