Category: Book Reviews

Hi, everyone,

Update:

Thanks to everyone who took part in our charity drive for House of Ruth. All direct sales of Drawing Beautiful Women: The Frank Cho Method during the last week of April to May 1st came to $1,000.00 after we rounded it up! We’re sending a check! Follow the link to learn more about House of Ruth.

John Fleskes and the Flesk crew.

Frank Cho Website: www.apesandbabes.com
House of Ruth Maryland: www.hruth.org
Order here: http://fleskpublications.com/flesksite/index.php?route=product/category&path=18_91

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Spectrum Fantastic Art
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Text and photographs copyright © 2014 John Fleskes. Videos © 2014 Flesk Publications. Artwork © 2014 its respective artists. All Rights reserved.

I received my copy of Spectrum 19 a few weeks ago. This is the most eagerly anticipated annual collection that I look forward to receiving each year. I rely on this volume to keep me hip and aware about the fantastic art genre.

It’s taken me a while to plug the book since, the better the art, the longer it takes for me to peruse. I like to take a leisurely stroll by viewing around 30-40 pages a day. This lets me truly absorb and enjoy each work. It would be a disservice to me and the artists to flip through the pages quickly. This book defines the pleasure of observation.

I’m constantly amazed at the number of artists who do excellent work that are unknown to me. I get a thrill out of seeing fresh faces (to me, at least) and broadening my awareness of what is going on in the field of fantastic art. I realize that some of these individuals are young artists just beginning to gain exposure, while others are mature players who have been in the industry for decades. Regardless, these showcased works represent the best art from those submitted to Spectrum, who were selected by an esteemed panel of five judges. I feel Spectrum documents the current trends of the year not just to enjoy today, but also to serve as a historical preservation of the year for the future.

As I focus on my praise for the interiors, I’m going to jump into the first section highlighting the Advertising selections. This chapter is modest in page count, yet took me a considerable amount of time to peruse. There’s Tyler Jacobson, Android Jones, Frank Cho, Matt Smith, Lucas Graciano and Victo Ngai who all impressed me. I was unfamiliar with each, except Android and Cho.

The Book, Comics, Concept Art, Dimensional, Editorial and Institutional sections all rock, too. Jumping to the Unpublished category, there are amazing pieces by Sho Murase, Justin Henrnadez, Jim Mahfood, Shelly Wan (we need more Shelly paintings!), Bill Carman, Kei Acedera, Eric Fortune, Charles Vess, and many, many more superb artists represented.

Spectrum 19 is a hefty 304-page gallery packed with examples from dozens of the best artists in the field. I’m especially enjoying seeing how digital art tools are being used to create increasingly exciting images. Spectrum 19 is available everywhere and easy to find. Go check it out!

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
Text copyright © 2012 John Fleskes. All rights reserved.

Link:
Spectrum Fantastic Art website

One of my favorite art publications, Spectrum 18, came out earlier this month. This is the first volume to break the 300 page count. It’s big, yet still lean, without any unwanted fat. All of the pieces within are strong representations of the artists and field. There are lots of familiar faces and better yet, many are unfamiliar to me. Spectrum continues its mission of collecting the best in contemporary fantastic art for the year. A big thank you goes out to editors Arnie and Cathy Fenner for what is a massive undertaking each year to make Spectrum happen.

I am pleased to see that the two pieces I submitted on behalf of Mark Schultz and Jim Silke were both selected by the judges and included. The Schultz piece is his cover artwork used on our Xenozoic book collection and the Silke art is for his Jungle Girls book cover. I also enjoyed seeing pieces by William Stout, Petar Meseldzija and Bill Carman make it in. Stout’s “Pumpkin Brains” painting from his Zombies calendar was selected for the back cover of the paperback edition.

Each section is a joy to peruse. I find the unpublished section to be especially exceptional. It’s filled with gems. I’m guessing some of the pieces in this area are rejections from clients that may not otherwise have the opportunity to see the light of day. Or they may be personal works, but it doesn’t matter what they were intended for, I’m just glad to see them in a collection. Check out the Kinuko Craft art on page 283, wow! Other personal favorites include Dave McKean (page 261), Shelly Wan (page 297) and Donato Giancola (page 278).

Spectrum is available just about everywhere books are sold.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
Text © 2011 John Fleskes

Links:
Spectrum Fantastic Art website

The April 2011 issue of SouthwestArt magazine features a book review of our James Bama Sketchbook: A Seventy Year Journey, Traveling From the Far East to the Old West. Unfortunately there are a couple of inaccuracies I would like to correct. First of all, our phone number (408-206-2346) and website (www.fleskpublications.com) are both listed incorrectly and point to another publisher.

The second part of the review that is incorrect is the following statement. “For most of his professional life, James Bama has been an illustrator; he didn’t become a painter until his 60s.” This is completely false. I called Bama to confirm his age that he went into fine art, which is 42. His career in fine art was twice as long as his career in illustration. He’s also been painting since his teens.

I always appreciate when people run book reviews. It is too bad though when mistakes happen, since they can and will become fact to someone who may take this wrong information and use it in a future article someday.

Still, SouthwestArt is a good magazine and worth checking out.

Enjoy,

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

Links:
SouthwestArt Magazine
James Bama Sketchbook book details
James Bama:American Realist book details

The new April 2011 issue of Tripwire is available for a free download at the magazines website! This issue features a look at the upcoming Thor movie, the history of 2000AD, and more articles covering comics, film, TV and more. It’s a terrific magazine well-worth reading and it won’t cost you anything! We also have a full page Flesk ad on the last page.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

Links:
Tripwire Magazine website
Direct link to April 2011 digital version (45MB PDF download)

The new book Robert Fawcett: The Illustrator’s Illustrator is now available from Auad Publishing. This handsome hard cover book with jacket is 182-pages with a gatefold. The 9 x 12” size allows for generous space to show off the over 250 images contained within the book. Don’t be fooled by the modest description on the Auad website stating over 100 illustrations being in the book. There are more than twice that number.

The sophisticated design combines the text, captions and art into a breathtaking portfolio of this influential and important illustrator. The fact that the design is so well hidden, allowing the art to stand out and control the eye in smooth transitions, is a testament to the editorial direction of Manuel Auad and designer Mark Cox. I’ve long been an admirer of this team on Auad’s books and Mark’s design work for other publishers.

The book includes a well-written retrospective of Fawcett’s career by David Apatoff. The introduction is by Walt Reed who offers insight into Fawcett. (Reed had worked with Fawcett at the Famous Artists Correspondence Schools.) In addition, a rare interview with Fawcett and an essay titled “Art and Common Sense” written by Fawcett is included. Another bonus is the dozen high-quality photographs of Fawcett and his studio that Auad was able to acquire from the Society of Illustrators.

Chapters cover his work done for The Saturday Evening Post, Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, Collier’s Magazine, This Week Magazine, Cosmopolitan Magazine, advertising illustrations and much more.

Robert Fawcett: The Illustrator’s Illustrator can be purchased direct from the Auad Publishing website. The book runs only $34.95.

For more details and book reviews visit the links below.

Enjoy,

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
Text © 2011 John Fleskes

Links:
Auad Publishing
Mark Cox Creative
Robert Fawcett: The Illustrator’s Illustrator book review on Lines and Colors
David Apatoff’s Illustration Art Blog
Robert Fawcett: The Illustrator’s Illustrator book review on Today’s Inspiration

The March 2011 issue of Heavy Metal magazine features a two-page article on Al Williamson, along with a book review on Al Williamson Archives Volume One. S.C. Ringgenberg writes in his Dossier column, “I’ve been collecting and perusing art books for more than four decades and I don’t believe I’ve ever seen anything like this caliber of reproduction being applied to Williamson’s exquisitely detailed line work.”

Thanks to Steve for the high praise!

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
text © 2011 John Fleskes

Links:
Heavy Metal Magazine
Al Williamson Archives Volume One

With the holidays behind us, this is an excellent time to focus on a good book for yourself. I recommend James Gurney’s new book, Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter.

Within this book Gurney explores how our visual perceptions perceive color and light given various situations, and how to master these combinations to elicit the proper mood and atmosphere into a work of art. Along with his previous book, Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn’t Exist, Color and Light is broken down into a coherent structure with succinct dialog and numerous examples to illustrate each topic.

Chapters within examine sources of light, light and form, elements of color, paint and pigments, color relationships, visual perception and much more.

I found myself intrigued by the examples of light and color and how they change and morph depending on the surrounding colors. I learned that many of the examples covered are things I took for granted before. I never fully realizing how correlations between the sky, ground, and surrounding structures, both man made and natural, play important roles in the way colors are emitted. I had ideas of how color worked before, but with this book’s articulate reasons, it proved I had much to learn.

I read one or two topics within the book an evening over the last month to allow my brain to fully absorb each. I find this book fascinating. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not an artist, but I am passionate about photography, as well as being an art book publisher. I find art books help me a great deal in improving my photography, as well as producing better art books. Besides these two, I’ve long taken a great interest into the various approaches of creative people. My point being, you don’t have to be an artist to benefit from this book.

Outside of all the beautiful art within Color and Light, you will get a better understanding of how smart Gurney works to achieve a finished painting, making him the exceptional painter that he is.

Color and Light is a 224-page softcover book with over 300 illustrations in full-color running $24.99. You can get signed copies direct from James Gurney’s website here. You can also read Gurney’s daily blog here.

Enjoy,

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

It is with great pleasure that I share the news of the release of Icons: The DC Comics and Wildstorm art of Jim Lee from Titan Books. My pal Bill Baker wrote the text and captions for the book. This is a beautiful collection spanning from Lee’s work on Gen 13, Divine Right and Wildcats, then up to his drawing Batman and Superman, and much more. Plus many sketches and pencil work is included. I’ve been collecting Jim Lee’s work since he first started on Alpha Flight. It’s nice to see a massive tome dedicated to a stalwart figure in the field of comics. The book design is outstanding, too.

I’m especially delighted to see the samples both penciled and inked by Jim Lee (as most of his published work is inked by others). There’s a raw quality to these pieces he finishes himself with a great sensibility of spotting blacks.

You’ll want to get the Diamond Exclusive edition at your local comic store with the alternate pencil cover and bonus 16-pages of art. It’s a 296-page hardcover at 9 x 12” for $49.95.

I would like to congratulate Bill Baker on his herculean efforts of writing captions for over 400 images! You can visit Bill’s “Bill Baker Presents” website to read many quality interviews in the Baker’s Dozen area. You may recall form a recent blog of mine that he interviewed Petar Meseldžija on our book The Legend of Steel Bashaw. There’s also interviews on Mark Wheatley, Alex Sheikman, and more.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

The new issue of Illustration Magazine, #31, is now available. It features articles and art on J. Frederick Smith, Clark Hullings and John Fleming Gould. These features include commentary by each artist from private journals and rare interviews. I especially enjoyed the piece on J. Frederick Smith. His transition from an illustrator to a photographer provides a unique look into how an artist switches his career based on industry changes.

The magazine is 96-pages, with a cover price of $15.00. You can view sample pages and order it direct from publisher, Dan Zimmer, at the Illustration Magazine website here.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications