Mark Schultz Various Drawings Volume Five and Al Williamson Archives Volume Two have been printed and are in transit to our warehouse. They are now available for pre-order at our online store. All orders will ship on June 1, 2011.
We will be receiving the books just in time for the Big Wow! ComicFest event at the San Jose Convention Center on May 21-22. Mark Schultz will be a guest at the show. I’m excited about premiering these two terrific books at Big Wow! where you can get Mark to sign your copies. I’ll post more details as the show approaches.
Flesk Prime Coming Summer 2011 From Flesk Publications.
A few months ago I came up with the idea of putting together a collection of four of the artists I regularly work with. I wanted to have something truly special for our summer convention appearances and also for our trip to the Stripfestival in Breda, Netherlands this September. I asked Gary Gianni, Petar Meseldžija, Mark Schultz and William Stout if they were all willing to be a part of this new book titled Flesk Prime. I was thrilled that they agreed. Then in February I was talking to Craig Elliott and I asked him if he wanted to join in as well, which he did. With five amazing artists on board I spent the last month putting this book together. I’m really excited about it.
This 64-page hardbound collection will only be available direct from Flesk. It will not be for sale in the book trade. We will debut the book at our Flesk booth at Comic-Con in San Diego this July where you can get it signed by Elliott, Gianni, Schultz and Stout. Then at the Stripfestival show in Breda, Gianni, Meseldžija, Schultz and Stout will all be making guest appearances to sign the book at our Flesk stand. These are going to be two very special events with four exceptional artists attending each.
I’ll get the full Flesk Prime book details and sample pages up on the Flesk Publications website soon. I’ll also have it available on our online store for pre-order next month.
For your viewing pleasure is the cover of the book above and promotional details below.
Flesk Prime serves as a fresh look into the imagery of five exceptional artists: Craig Elliott, Gary Gianni, Petar Meseldžija, Mark Schultz and William Stout. The essence of each craftsman is captured here to satisfy their fans as well as individuals who are enjoying their first glimpse. The section on each artist begins with an introduction and a biography written by Flesk publisher John Fleskes. The five were invited to handpick their pieces for inclusion, to showcase the best representation of their works. Furthermore, new quotes have been obtained to capture the artists’ own thoughts. Each chapter shows the dynamic range of styles and illustrations and the unique diversity of these five creators. Almost all of the artwork has been reproduced direct from the originals.
Elliott’s section contains an assortment of fine art, much of it centered on the female form. Also featured are editorial assignments and an enlightening look into the process behind one of his most recent paintings.
Gianni is represented by oil paintings, a pencil sketch, finished pen-and-ink drawings, comic book pages, a Sunday newspaper strip and book illustrations that span the last twenty years.
Meseldžija has provided a stunning array of graphite drawings and oil paintings completed within the last year, including private commissions and book illustrations. Giants, dragons, warriors and maidens are features of this fantastic voyage into his storytelling mind. Oil details show the brush strokes up close, for a view of his deftness.
Schultz offers previously unseen drawings from his personal blue-line sketchbook, plus pencil drawings and a pair of finished brush-and-ink comic book covers from his award-winning Xenozoic series. Heroic adventures, barbarians and fantasy-themed experimentations round out his section.
Stout shares many new and rare pieces. Oil paintings of a monster, zombie, prehistoric and dinosaur subjects are included. In addition, colored pen-and-ink drawings of record album and comic book covers are here.
Within the pages of Flesk Prime you will enjoy a dynamic range of colors, an exceptional quality of line, a bravura application of paint strokes on canvas, and a subtle balance of ink on paper—all represented through the masterful approach of these five highly trained and creative artists.
My blog postings and website updates have been sparse lately. There’s a good reason behind it. I have been totally focused on wrapping up three books for the printer: Flesk Prime, Mysterious Islands by Gary Gianni and The Art of Craig Elliott. I’ll have full details on these, and the Bruce Timm book for this fall, posted very soon.
For now enjoy the unveiling of the front and back cover of Mysterious Islands designed by Jim Keegan. This 16-page chapbook will be in the same format as Mark Schultz: Blue Book. It will only be available through Flesk and Gary Gianni. Each copy is signed and it is limited to 1000 copies.
Issue number 33 of Illustration magazine is now available. This is one of my favorite magazines. I enjoy it so much that I continue to place Flesk advertisements in most issues to offer my support and to reach out to an audience that I believe might be interested in our books.
Flesk Ad in Illustration #33
Articles include an overview of the lives of Jack Gaughan, Charles Copeland, Edward Shenton and more. At 96-pages on premium paper it’s well worth your $15.00. You can order a copy direct form the Illustration magazine website or through Bud’s Art Books.
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 website (www.fleskpublications.com) is listed incorrectly and points 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.
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.
The Spectrum website has posted the artist names list for those selected by the 2011 jury for inclusion in Spectrum 18. I’m pleased to see Flesk regulars Petar Meseldžija, Mark Schultz, Jim Silke and William Stout all included! There are also many of my favorites in there like Bill Carman (who did the Spectrum 18 Call For Entries poster), Frank Cho, Donato Giancola, Rebecca Guay, Michael Wm Kaluta, Gregory Manchess and Shelly Wan, to name a few.
Brom and James Gurney continue to slug it out as the only two artists to be in every volume of Spectrum!
