For 27 years Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art has been celebrating imaginative works by creators from around the world.
The Spectrum Awards Ceremony was held live online on Saturday night, April 4, 2019.
The celebration included the presentation of the Gold and Silver Awards for exemplary art from the previous year in eight categories: Advertising, Book, Comics, Concept Art, Dimensional, Editorial, Institutional, and Unpublished.
The ceremony was held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 450 people from all over the world connected to bring the community closer than ever. Recipients from Australia, Canada, China, Japan, and in Europe were able to participate. For the first time all of the recipients were able to provide winning speeches.
The ceremony introduction was by Spectrum founders and directors, Arnie and Cathy Fenner. Lauren Panepinto and Dan dos Santos served as the hosts during the ceremony. Between Lauren, Dan, along with Marc Scheff who ran tech support, the three of them made it possible to bring the awards ceremony live.
The in memoriam introduction was presented by John English. He gave a touching tribute about his father, Mark English, and spoke about how each artist who passed away in 2019 served as mentors and changed people’s lives for the better.
Presenters included such luminaries of the art community as Ed Binkley (Unpublished category), Dan dos Santos (Advertising category), Christine Foltzer (Book category), Karla Ortiz (Concept Art category), George Pratt (Comic category), Cynthia Sheppard (Institutional category), Yuko Shimizu (Editorial category), and Chris Sickles/Red Nose Studios (Dimensional category).
The five finalists and award-recipients in each category were selected by the jury consisting of Alice Carter, Craig Elliott, Anthony Francisco, Courtney Granner, Forest Rogers, and Chie Yoshii from over 4000 artworks submitted to the twenty-seventh annual competition.
Also presented at the ceremony was the Muse award, created and presented by sculptors Colin and Kristine Poole and intended to encourage a young artist. This year’s Muse award recipient was Alex Dos Diaz. Muse award finalists included Alex Dos Diaz, Irina Nordsol Kuzmina, and Erin Vest. The Spectrum Grand Master Award was presented by Iain McCaig which honors the career accomplishments of a living artist. This year’s Grand Master recipient was Terryl Whitlatach.
Time lapse art demos were featured in-between each category by Rovina Cai, Donato, Scott Fischer, Justin Gerard, Ron Lemon, Travis Lewis, Rebecca Leveille-Guay, Iain McCaig, Allen Williams, and James Zapata.
The Spectrum 27 awards were designed and made by J. Anthony Kosar and his team at Kosart Effects Studio.
The award-winning art will appear with over 300 other pieces selected by the judges in the Spectrum 27 book, which will be published by Flesk Publications in November 2020.
Congratulations to everyone who was nominated and to the recipients!
The Spectrum 27 Awards Ceremony was sponsored by Drawn and Drafted, Flesk Publications, Muddy Colors, and Spectrum Fantastic Art.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for an unforgettable evening.
Spectrum 27 Awards Recipients
2017 GRAND MASTER HONOREE
Terryl Whitlatch
RISING STAR AWARD
Alex Dos Diaz
ADVERTISING CATEGORY
GOLD
Bartosz Kosowski – The Shining
SILVER
Brom – Lilith
BOOK CATEGORY
GOLD
Rovina Cai – Ivywood
SILVER
Sija Hong – The Three Lords of Shambhala
COMIC CATEGORY
GOLD
Tim Probert – Lightfall 1: Walk in the Woods
SILVER
Claudya Schmidt – Myre: Flora
CONCEPT ART CATEGORY
GOLD
Tooth Wu – Devourer of Ghosts
SILVER
Ian Jun Wei Chiew – Island Woodblock
DIMENSIONAL CATEGORY
GOLD
Dug Stanat – Space Madness
SILVER
Michihiro Matsuoka – Philosopher From The Past Coelacanth
EDITORIAL CATEGORY
GOLD
Red Nose Studio – Truth, Lies & Uncertainty: Truth
SILVER
Sam Araya – The Forest Yell
INSTITUTIONAL CATEGORY
GOLD
John Jude Palencar – The Stranger: The Seventh Faith
SILVER
Iain McCaig – Claim the Firstborn
UNPUBLISHED CATEGORY
GOLD
Diego Fernandez – 492
SILVER
Daniel Zrom – The Spoon Thief
Congratulations to all of the awards winners!
Enjoy,
John
Flesk Publications
Flesk Publications on Facebook
Spectrum Fantastic Art
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live on Facebook
Text and photos copyright © 2019 John Fleskes. Videos © 2019 Flesk Publications. Artwork © 2019 its respective artists. All Rights reserved.
