I’ve just added the “Evening With Flesk Prime” giclee print to the Flesk online store. Full details follow.
Held on September 8, 2011, “An Evening with Flesk Prime” was a private event held with five of Flesk Publications brightest stars in an evening of food, drink, conversation and illumination. A select few guests joined Craig Elliott, Gary Gianni, Petar Meseldzija, Mark Schultz and William Stout in a dinner prior to Strip Festival Breda 2011 which afforded the appreciator of fine illustration a chance for relaxed one-on-one repartee in an atmosphere of convivial wining and dining.
Guests received a special signed giclee print honoring the evening. Signed by the five participating artists this exclusive giclee print is strictly limited to an edition of 50, with only 25 being available for sale to the public.
This giclee, was created with archival inks and premium stock watercolor paper. The print measures 17 x 24 inches and is signed by Elliott, Gianni, Meseldžija, Schultz and William Stout.
The Spectrum Fantastic Art website has announced that Spectrum 18 will be available very soon from your favorite bookseller. Arnie and Cathy Fenner have posted a video flip-through of the book giving us a glimpse of who is included in this latest collection of the best in contemporary fantastic art.
In addition, Spectrum has announced that advance registration for Spectrum Fantastic Art Live is available on their website. Three day passes are only $40.00 and single day passes will be available at the door for $20.00. Spectrum Live will be held in Kansas City, Missouri with special guests Brom, Mike Mignola, Iain McCaig, Phil Hale and Andrew Jones.
I’ll have a Flesk booth at the show. Joining me will be Gary Gianni, Petar Meseldzija, Mark Schultz, William Stout. Craig Elliott will be there as well with his own booth. (That’s the entire Flesk Prime group!) I’m excited about being a part of this inaugural new event that focuses on the artists. As the show nears I will have some surprises to share.
The Art of Bill Carman exhibit and sale will be held at the Animazing Gallery in New York City this October 23 to November 30, 2011. You can meet Bill at the artist reception on October 22 from 6-9:00PM.
Bill is a spectacular artist. His paintings are little gems filled with vibrant creativity. Follow the links below for more information about the show and on Bill Carman.
Craig Elliott, James Walker and John Fleskes at the Flesk Publications APE 2011 booth
I had a great time at APE!
I truly enjoyed my entire time spent at the show. Being only a two day event, and local for me, keeps things simple since I don’t have to plan far in advance or be away from the office for very long. The typical APE attendee is hip and sophisticated that allows for a good engaging conversation. Plus the show is mellow which allows me the time to talk at length on a more personal one-on-one basis when compared to a busier show like Comic-Con. I don’t mind a bustling engagement, but I like the balance of a convention like APE that provide a bit of a break from the more intense nature of a larger event. Due to my work schedule, I don’t have a lot of time to chit chat in emails and on the phone, making an event the best place to get my attention. The shows helps me gain valuable feedback to see how people perceive me and Flesk so I better understand what needs to change and what is working well.
Mary from Stuart Ng Books. Stuart was our welcome neighbor next to us and they carry a wide assortment of the best art books.
One thing I learned came from two separate groups of people. The first group to enlighten me was a group of students. The second was from a dinner party on Saturday night. (This included Stuart Ng, Craig Elliott and more.) I found out there is a perception that is shared among these students and a few of the people I spoke with at the dinner. They communicated with me their belief that the individual artist books I publish have to be within a certain vein. Here are some of the terms I heard: realism, award-winning, high-caliber, fine artist and intimidating. They confessed they didn’t think I was interested in cartoony, stylistic, super-hero or alternative art, or even younger artists—which happens to be far from the truth. I have a wide range of interests that I will reveal in future blogs and books I publish. I have no intention of limiting the types of books I publish to a specific genre. You can expect some diversity in the future. As an example, a goal of mine, which I began pre-planning last year, is to start a new line of animation artist books. I’ll take a few years to start getting a steady stream of animation titles out, but it is going to happen.
Craig Elliott
Craig Elliott was kind enough to join me this year. Besides being an amazing visual development artist and character designer working in the animation industry, he has a dynamic range of skills that appears in various ways. At APE, Craig had a selection of prints focusing on his personal fine art celebrating real woman in all of her glory with curvy, healthy features that appeal to both men and many women. Craig was there to show off his portfolio, sketch for people, sell prints and his jewelry, and promote our upcoming book, The Art of Craig Elliott. He is perhaps the kindest person I know. I enjoy spending time with Craig knowing (hoping, really) that some of his good nature will rub off on me.
Craig Elliott
I took note on what was selling the best at APE. This year was a surprise. And it would not have happened without the enthusiasm of George Cwirko Godycki. George is an instructor and highly-creative artist (I picked up three of his originals) at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. He takes great interest in the work of Petar Meseldzija. George was rounding up students and praising The Legend of Steel Bashaw all weekend long. Thanks to George, if you add to the title already being popular on its own, it was our obvious top seller.
This leads me to an interesting story. All books that I publish are a risk. When you are investing your time and money into anything and expect to make some money off of it (in my case so I can keep publishing more books), the project is a risk. There are people out there that will tell you, “It’s like printing money!” and other such beliefs, but you really can’t say for sure until you have actually made the effort.
A year ago at APE, I had just released Petar’s The Legend of Steel Bashaw book. I told Petar very few people know who he is and we would have to build his name here in the states. This was the riskiest book I have published since Petar had hardly any built in audience and practically no name recognition. I sold only 18 copies of the book to Diamond Comics Distributors and a couple copies at APE last year. The book, in all intents and purposes, was a major bust. Never had a book I published sold so poorly. However, I foresaw this happening and knew we would have to push and hand sell The Legend of Steel Bashaw one copy at a time. I was confident that the word would get out there, albeit slowly. I told Petar to be patient and good things would happen. I felt (and still do) that he is too dang good for people not to notice his work. Here we are a year later, The Legend of Steel Basahw is my bestselling book at APE, and sales are picking up through the distributors.
A typical big publisher will release a book and if it does not sell well immediately, it will remainder and dump the book, write it off as a loss, stop promoting the title (and artist) and move on to the next possible big hit. What I believe in is following your gut, making a great book, and then doing whatever you have to do to share your passion about the artist and sell that book over the long term. I can’t tell you how pleased I am to see Petar’s star rising. He is a wonderful person and he deserves it. I’ve told Petar that once The Legend of Steel Bashaw makes its money back, then we will do an art collection. That has given him ample motivation to promote his book on his end. I also learned that many students praised Petar’s ongoing blog on his own site as well as the one on Muddy Colors. (Links can be found at the bottom of this blog.)
Runner up for the top selling spot was the Bruce Timm Naughty and Nice Teaser. People are going nuts with anticipation for the upcoming main Timm book, as am I. Our Flesk Prime book also did well, especially given that Craig Elliott was there to sign them.
One of the things I enjoy about APE is discovering a new artist whose art will blow me away. APE is an affordable show to set up at and caters to new artists that may not get the chance to exhibit and gain exposure elsewhere. You will find all types of interesting creative people. There are fun discoveries all throughout. Here is a list of a few standouts whose works I thoroughly enjoyed either seeing for the first time, or revisited based on my seeing them last year; Brittney Lee, Liana Hee, Genevieve Tsai, Glenn Kim, Michael Manomivibul and Emonic.
Chris Diaz took portraits of many of the artists, creators and publishers (including myself) at the show. He posted a slideshow worth watching on Vimeo, a link that you can find at the end of this post.
Shelly Wan was exhibiting with Eidolon Fine Arts. I like to remind her about how absolutely amazing her work is. I remember her coming by my booth in San Diego in 2006 and her showing me her art for the first time. I firmly believe she has a bright future.
The Flesk Publications booth with James Walker at the helm.
I believe APE will grow and become the place for newcomer artists to get his and her feet wet. I believe it is a very important show in terms of initializing yourself into exhibiting, gaining confidence in talking to people, showing off your art to the public, getting feedback and promoting yourself. If you are a new artist and want to grow this is the place to do it. It does take patience though. Don’t expect a whole lot the first year, but try it for three years and go from there. Be committed and make it work. Take advantage of what is there. Here is an example of what I mean. I walked the show on Sunday and found some people behind their table who looked tired, defeated, bored, or lacking in spirit. This has prompted me to offer some unsolicited advice to those who are new to exhibiting. I know it isn’t always easy to be energized, but try and be welcoming without being aggressive. Don’t worry if people buy something or not. I never do. If someone comes by it is an opportunity for me to chat a little bit and possibly reinforce a current relationship or start a new one. Be genuine. Keep it natural to who you are and don’t force anything. But, do look like you want to be there and don’t sit there staring at the ground when people come by. I’m not saying I have the process down perfect, and I know it isn’t always easy. I was shy when I first exhibited. I wasn’t quite sure what to do. But I kept at it until I gained the confidence to engage with people at shows. Quit when you are at home, not at the convention.
My last topic will be about the people who run Comic-Con, Wonder-Con and APE. There has been a lot of flak that they have received about the direction of Comic-Con and that they don’t care about comics anymore. I am here to tell you that is absolutely not true. If you ever get a chance, talk to these guys and you will see how dedicated and passionate they are about comics and the arts and how hard they work to make these shows possible for us to exhibit at and raise awareness of this field we all love so much. Next time you see a Comic-Con staff member, be sure to thank them.
On behalf of Craig Elliott, my friend James Walker who helps me out at the shows, and myself, thanks to everyone who came by our booth at APE!
See you next year. William Stout has confirmed he will join us for 2012!
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!
