I’ll be exhibiting at APE this weekend. Craig Elliott will be at my booth both days. Full details are outlined in the press release that went out today. You can read it below. APE is one of my favorite shows and I look forward to being there soon.
I’ll have a few new blogs posted next week. The first being on our time spent at APE. The second a detailed blog on our being at the Strip Festival in Breda, The Netherlands.
Enjoy,
John
Flesk Publications exhibiting at APE this October 1-2 at the Concourse Exhibition Center in San Francisco. Booth numbers 212 and 213B
Art book publisher Flesk Publications will be exhibiting at APE (Alternative Press Expo) on October 1-2 at the Concourse Exhibition Center in San Francisco, booth number 212 and 213B, next to our friends at Stuart Ng Books.
Craig Elliott will be at the booth for the duration of the show, promoting his upcoming Flesk collection, The Art of Craig Elliott. The book focuses on Craig’s fine art celebrating the female form, collected in a single volume for the first time. Craig’s lush imagery combines his meticulous understanding of design with his intensely emotional approach to color and form. Elliott works in the animation industry as a visual development artist, character designer and concept artist, collaborating on such hit films as Bee Movie, Treasure Planet, Rio and The Princess and the Frog. Craig will have original art, prints and jewelry on hand.
Free fliers and catalogues will be available for all 2011 Flesk Offerings.
Publisher, John Flesk, will be in attendance to offer insight into our upcoming titles and what is in store in the future.
We look forward to seeing you at the show!
Flesk Publications’ focus is on comic, fantasy, fine and illustration art, and graphic novels. Our goal is to continue promoting the arts through quality collections. Our publications showcase the talents of James Bama, Craig Elliott, Gary Gianni, Petar Meseldžija, Steve Rude, Mark Schultz, Jim Silke, William Stout, Bruce Timm, Al Williamson, and more.
Full details and sample pages for these books and for all Flesk Publications titles, plus the most recent news can be found at fleskpublications.com. Additional information can be read on publisher John Fleskes’ blog at fleskpublications.com/blog.
We’ve just started taking pre-orders for Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm. Ordering information direct through Flesk, or those placed through Diamond Comic Distributors, along with Previews order codes are detailed below. This was a newsletter sent out last week.
In a radical departure from his previous work on animated films and comics featuring superheroes, the award-winning artist Bruce Timm presents an extensive survey of the many forms that his muse has assumed in his mind’s eye. Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm showcases over 325 full-color, line and pencil images of partially clothed and nude women of almost every conceivable description and temperament.
This substantial collection provides shapely forms and earthly delights throughout its pages. Be it a sophisticated city gal or a savage jungle queen, a hard-boiled dame or an elegant lady from the land of fantasy, a quietly smoldering sorceress or a wild-hearted adventuress, Timm’s ladies are sure to please the eye.
Over 125 new images have been prepared especially for this handsome book. Timm explores the female form with absolute creative freedom, and pure personal expression is the result. The artist has granted Flesk Publications unprecedented access to his archives to provide the best representation of his private works. These rarely seen images span the last 15 years and are showcased in a single collection for the first time.
This 9 x 12 inch 304 page book will be available in two formats: A paperback edition with a cover price of $50.00 (978-1-933865-40-9) and a hardback deluxe signed edition in slipcase limited to 1000 copies with a cover price of $100.00 (ISBN: 978-1-933865-41-6).
“I am thrilled to be able to work directly with Bruce Timm to collect his personal unpublished art into a singular collection,” shares the publisher, John Fleskes. “These works emanate an air of beauty masterfully shaped by line and color by the artist, writer, director and producer who has redefined animation over the last 20 years.”
Flesk Publications has made an exclusive arrangement with Diamond Comic Distributors for the hardbound deluxe edition. The only way this special signed edition can be purchased is direct through Diamond’s Previews or from the Flesk Publications online store. Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm can be found on page 294 of the September 2011 Previews opposite the Flesk full-page advertisement. Preview order codes are SEP11-1093 for the hardback and SEP-1094 for the paperback. Or, pre-order your copy at the Flesk Store at fleskpublications.com/shop. The book contains nudity throughout and is available to mature audiences only. Ships in late December 2011.
Full details and sample pages for this book and for all Flesk Publications titles, plus the most recent news can be found at fleskpublications.com. Additional information can be read on publisher John Fleskes’ blog at fleskpublications.com/blog.
I received the devastating news from Mark Theloson and Paul Renaud yesterday morning that Minck Oosterveer passed away, the result of a motorcycle accident. We are all in shock and numb from the news. Just over a week ago Minck, Gianni, Stout, Schultz Petar Meseldzija and I were sitting in the Apollo Hotel lobby in Breda, The Netherlands having breakfast and enjoying each other’s company as we relaxed before the start of the Strip Festival. That Saturday evening was also a pleasant dinner with Minck in attendance. I consider myself fortunate to have met him and had a brief look into how kind and wonderful this great man was.
You can search the web to learn more about Minck the artist: www.minckoosterveer.com. For the time being, I would like to focus instead on the man–his pleasant demeanor and kind spirit and let it be known there are scores of friends out there that are saddened deeply by Minck’s passing. He will be sorely missed.
Beyond this tragedy, I find a peace knowing he was surrounded by friends, colleagues, peers and fans just a few days before his untimely death where people could celebrate him and his work and spend time with him one last time.
"An Evening with Flesk Prime" artists and guests. Click on all photos for a larger view.
With the five artists, Craig Elliott, Gary Gianni, Petar Meseldžija, Mark Schultz and William Stout, and myself, traveling to The Netherlands to attend the Strip Festival in Breda, I came up with the idea of holding a private event two days before the show started. “An Evening with Flesk Prime,” held at the Merlijn restaurant in the nearby city of Oosterhout, was the result.
Gary Gianni and Mark Schultz enjoy the company of a terrific group.
Our local friend, Mark Thelosen, scoped out restaurants months in advance to find the perfect setting in which to hold our dinner. What he found at Merlijn proved to be excellent service in a large private room decorated in a fantasy setting with our own dedicated servers regularly catering to us in a luxurious fashion. The setting was beautiful. Alan Lee and Arthur Rackham inspired murals decorate the walls and mock up trees and vegetation sprinkled throughout made us feel like we were in an enchanted room and not a restaurant.
Promotion for the event was kept to a minimum and mostly through word of mouth to keep the amount of attendees to a low number. We had ten guests and have decided with future evenings that we will keep the count to no more than fifteen individuals. My goal was to make sure each person felt they had a unique and personal experience and were not a part of a crowd, or a witness, but instead a participant with ample time to relax and communicate with all of the artists individually and within small groups.
Mark Schultz with guests.
The evening began with our meeting at the lobby of the Apollo Hotel in Breda at 5:00PM. Here, we had the chance to meet with everyone before going to the restaurant. We all arrived at the Merlijn restaurant shortly after 6:00PM when the festivities began. The night did not end until shortly after 1:00AM. (When the restaurant closed.) The evening consisted of a superb four course meal and unlimited spirits for the entire duration. I was surprised at how quickly the night went. It seemed like just a few hours. I had a great time getting to know everyone. Our new relationships extended over the weekend when we would see each other at the Strip Festival and hotel.
Rio and The Princess and the Frog visual development artist, Craig Elliott (at right), shares and discusses his art with guests.
Throughout the night each artist brought their own unique personality to the eclectic mix. What the private event allowed for was to go beyond the typical short fan experience. I noticed as the evening went on that people would become more comfortable which allowed for a more in-depth conversation that went both ways. I hope the guests experienced a pure memorable experience in a unique setting that they will remember for a long time. I know I had a wonderful time.
William Stout, Petar Meseldzija and Craig Elliott at "An Evening with Flesk Prime."
William Stout opened his bottomless treasure chest containing stories of fascinating personal adventures–all of which are true. Craig Elliott discussed his working on recent hit animated films such as The Princess and the Frog and Rio. Gary Gianni shared his experiences of working on Prince Valiant, among many other projects, as well as exposed his clever wit. Petar Meseldžija was open about his deep commitment to his work, while weaving his amusing tales to the delight of many. Mark Schultz enriched us with his commitment to his work and wide range of knowledge of an array of subjects. All five take their craft very seriously, yet have the relaxed exterior that hides how devoted they truly are.
Petar Meseldzija enjoying Mark Schultz originals.
The meal and talking went until 11:00PM, when I invited the artists and guests to convene on a secondary section of the room. Large tables were set up in a horseshoe shape with chairs arranged on both sides. Each artist brought a portfolio of original artwork and spread them out on the five individual tables for the guests to peruse and talk about.
We were also pleased to have Marcelo Anciano in attendance. Marcelo is the publisher of Wandering Star, the publisher that brought you the beautiful limited edition deluxe book series collecting the works of Robert E. Howard and illustrated by the likes of Mark Schultz, Gary Gianni and Gregory Manchess.
Gary Gianni signing his original art he gifted to the guests.
I brought two gifts for our guests. The first was a copy of our new book, Flesk Prime, featuring all five artists which they could get signed by the group. Then, a limited edition giclee print using archival inks and paper on heavy watercolor paper featuring all five artists and their signatures was shared. But, before I could give them away Gary Gianni pulled me aside and showed me large pencil preliminary drawings from his MonsterMen, The Shadow and Twenty-Thousand Leagues under the Sea comic adaptations. He wanted to give one to each guest! This was both extremely gracious on Gary’s part, and a delightful surprise for everyone. I think they left with some good bounty from the night.
John Fleskes helps Mark Schultz sign the "An Evening with Flesk Prime" giclee prints.
I want to express my appreciation to both the artists, Craig, Gary, Mark, Bill and Petar for being so willing to attend and entertain for the evening, and also to our fabulous ten guests who were perfect gentlemen and a joy to spend the night with. And especially to Mark Thelosen, who without his assistance, the event would not have been possible. I am grateful to you all and I look forward to planning another special evening sometime in the future. Perhaps it will be somewhere in the U.S. or in Europe, but you can count on each one to be different and unique.
I’ve just added some copies of Terry Dodson’s recent sketchbook “Reveries” to our Flesk online shop. I helped Terry out with it a little bit.
Reveries is a 16 page saddle-stitched sketchbook that is limited to 500 signed and numbered copies. The size is 5.5 x 8.5 inches. The price is $25.00. It features a collection of Terry’s artwork on Coraline and related characters and design drawings from the graphic novel series “Songes.” Reveries is available at conventions direct from Terry Dodson or here from Flesk Publications.
Oregon-based Terry Dodson has been a comic-book professional since 1993. He has worked on such books and characters as Harley Quinn, Spider-Man, Star Wars, Superman and Wonder Woman and is currently drawing Uncanny X-Men for Marvel Comics. Terry is now working in the European comics market as well, with the graphic-novel series Songes for the French publisher Les Humanoides Associés. This has enabled him to do full-color art for the first time. Terry has also worked in toy and statue design, animation and video games and has had a gallery exhibition featuring his paintings. He remains a popular artist in the industry— a status he attributes in large part to the contributions of his wife, Rachel, who adds her talented inking to his work.
We’re back from our trip to The Netherlands where we exhibited at the Strip Festival in Breda, as well as had our special “Evening with Flesk Prime.” The trip was an amazing 10 day experience spent with Craig Elliott, Mark Schultz, Gary Gianni, William Stout and Petar Meseldžija. I’ll begin posting a series of blogs about our experiences in the coming days. I took hundreds of pictures and about five hours of HD video of artist interviews and clips of all of them drawing.
At the moment my focus is on catching up on emails, book orders and wrapping up the Bruce Timm book for the printer. Plenty of updates coming soon!
