Frank Cho’s “Drawing Beautiful Women Studio Edition” at the Printer!

Drawing Beautiful Women: The Frank Cho Method Studio Edition front and back cover and spine.
Drawing Beautiful Women: The Frank Cho Method Studio Edition front and back cover, and spine.

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Hi, everyone,

Frank Cho and I wrapped up the Studio Edition of his new book Drawing Beautiful Women: The Frank Cho Method late last night. It’s been turned into the printer!

Since this version is huge (12 inches wide x 17 inches tall) we were left with some extra space when we “upsized” the regular 9 x 12 inch edition template. Frank wanted to make sure that people will get their money’s worth and so he painting a double page spread new watercolor and two new basic anatomy pages to fill in four new pages. We also added an extra 1600 words to the interview (that comes with the Publisher’s and Limited edition with slipcase edition) in the back that is a bonus for this edition only. And I was able to fit in a few more pictures of Frank in his studio, plus one of his personal landscape paintings. All of this is exclusive to this Studio Edition. It’s an amazing look edition! At 140 pages for $150, or 142 pages for the signed $200 version, it’s one cool looking book.

If you are wondering why we are now calling this the Studio Edition and not the previously advertised Gallery Edition, it turns out that Dark Horse and DC also liked the Gallery Edition name and recently advertised new lines of books using the same title. To avoid confusion, and to be unique, Frank and I decided to switch the name to Studio Edition.

Please visit our website if you would like to pre-order the book for November 1st shipping.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
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Spectrum Fantastic Art
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Spectrum Fantastic Art Live on Facebook

Text copyright © 2014 John Fleskes. Artwork copyright © their respective owners. All Rights reserved.

The Spectrum 21 printer proofs have been approved!

Spectrum-21-proofsHi, everyone,

The Spectrum 21 printer proofs have been approved! The colors look spot on. I’ve shipped the proofs back to the printer today. Once they receive them the book will be going on the press shortly after. It’s right on schedule for its fall release!

In this picture you can see proofs for page 1 of the book in the upper left hand corner, the cover to the right and miscellaneous pages around them.

I’m sending the Frank Cho book to the printer today. More news coming soon.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
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Spectrum Fantastic Art
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live on Facebook

Text copyright © 2014 John Fleskes. Artwork copyright © their respective owners. All Rights reserved.

Terry Dodson Sketching Video

Last October I visited Scheidam, The Netherlands with Terry and Rachel Dodson, Mark Schultz and Jim Reid. Scheidam is known for having the tallest windmills in the world. This particular one grabbed Terry’s attention as he pulled out his sketchbook and pens, and started drawing it. I grabbed my camera and filmed over his shoulder while watching for cars. Here’s a time lapse showing his process.

This sketch appears in Terry’s new sketchbook which will premiere at his booth at Comic-Con next week. I had the good fortune to help Terry put it together. It’s currently at the printer and I’ll be picking it up on my way to San Diego. Watch Terry’s blog for the cover, title and details when he announces them next week. I’ll have copies available on the Flesk website after the show.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
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Spectrum Fantastic Art
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Spectrum Fantastic Art Live on Facebook

Text copyright © 2014 John Fleskes. Artwork copyright ©Terry Dodson. All Rights reserved.

Spectrum 21 at the Printer

Spectrum 21: the Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art has been sent to the printer. Here’s the front and back cover and spine to the paperback edition.

Spectrum-21-paperback-cover
Back cover art by Gabriel Verdon. Front cover art by Rebecca Léveillé-Guay.

I want to thank the artists for turning in their art on time and for their help in making this book a smooth process. I’m happy to report that every artist that was accepted into Spectrum 21 turned in their art. Spectrum is a massive undertaking, one of which I am overjoyed to be a part of. I’ll post some pictures of the printer proofs once they arrive, plus show off advance copies when I get them. The book will be available in early November.

You can pre-order the book direct from us on our online store here.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
Flesk Publications on Facebook
Spectrum Fantastic Art
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live on Facebook

Text copyright © 2014 John Fleskes. Artwork copyright © their respective owners. All Rights reserved.

Spectrum 21 Awards Ceremony Pictures

Hi, everyone,

The Spectrum 21 Awards were held on May 10 at Kansas City’s historic Midland Theater. The silver and gold Spectrum awards for the eight categories were announced as was the 2014 Grand Master award recipient. Enjoy this batch of pictures giving you a glimpse into the evening.

All Photographs by Sampsel Preston Photography for Spectrum Fantastic Art © 2014

SFAL-138John Fleskes opening the evening.

 

SFAL-140John English announcing the advertising award recipients.

 

SFAL-146Allen Spiegel receives the gold award on behalf of Kent Williams in the advertising category.

 

SFAL-153Craig Elliot and friend have entered the building.

 

SFAL-154Scott Gustafson accepting a silver award in the book category.

 

SFAL-155Frank Cho had the audience laughing with his off-the-cuff antics while he announced the comic award recipients.

 

SFAL-161Gregory Manchess, Kristine and Collin Poole.

 

SFAL-162The ever-stoked Greg Spalenka.

 

SFAL-164Mark A. Nelson giving his acceptance speech for his silver award in the comic category.

 

SFAL-179Paul Tobin, the perfect person for handing out concept art awards.

 

SFAL-186Bill Carmen (center) hams it up with friends.

 

SFAL-189 SFAL-196 SFAL-213 SFAL-214 SFAL-231Jarrod and Brendan Schiflett receive the gold award in the dimensional category.

 

SFAL-238

 

SFAL-253Corey and Erin Godbey, Justin Gerard, Annie Stegg-Gerard, Carolina Cooney and Paul Bonner

 

SFAL-254Tran Nguyen gave one of the most touching acceptance speeches of the night in receiving  her gold award in the editorial category.

 

SFAL-270Bob Self of Baby Tattoo Books entertaining the crowd while handing out the institutional awards.

 

SFAL-284Looking dapper, Dan dos Santos (right) with friend.

 

 

SFAL-285Justin Sweet receiving the silver institutional award.

 

SFAL-294Bill Carmen receiving the gold for the institutional category.

 

SFAL-301Orbit books director, Lauren Panepinto, adds color to the evening as she announces the unpublished awards.

 

SFAL-312-COmar Rayyan receives the gold award in the unpublished category.

 

SFAL-315Arnie and Kathy Fenner announce the 2014 Grand Master award.

 

SFAL-320Iain McCaig giving his acceptance speech for the Grand Master award.

 

SFAL-334Iain McCaig celebrating with friends after receiving his award.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
Flesk Publications on Facebook
Spectrum Fantastic Art
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live on Facebook

Text copyright © 2014 John Fleskes. Photographs by Sampsel Preston Photography for Spectrum Fantastic Art © 2014. All Rights reserved.

“Drawing Beautiful Women: The Frank Cho Method” Filming A Wrap

The film crew has wrapped up the shooting of the footage for our Drawing Beautiful Women: The Frank Cho Method companion video for our Kickstarter supporters. It’s off to the editing and effects team now. It’s right on schedule for an October release.

Cho-Video-filmingHere’s a picture that I took of Frank while he was prepping for his introductory talk. We also did a photo shoot for a series of pictures that will be included in the book. Frank is easy to photograph. He’s photogenic, comfortable in front of the camera and he likes to perform, which made for great shots.

The rest of this week will be spent wrapping up Spectrum 21 and Frank’s book. I’ll have a lot of pictures and updates for you after the books are sent to the printer.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
Flesk Publications on Facebook
Spectrum Fantastic Art
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live on Facebook

Text and photograph copyright © 2014 John Fleskes. Artwork copyright © Frank Cho. All Rights reserved.

 

Wrapping Up Frank Cho’s “Drawing Beautiful Women” Book

Frank-Cho-PaintingHi, all,

I’m here with Frank Cho while we are finalizing his Drawing Beautiful Women: The Frank Cho Method book. We have been designing pages, scanning art, shooting photography and filming. Frank is currently working on his painting for the cover of the oversized edition of the book. Plus, he is working on basic anatomy pages, storytelling pages and more. We can’t wait to have this book ready for everyone to see!

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
Flesk Publications on Facebook
Spectrum Fantastic Art
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live on Facebook

Text and photograph copyright © 2014 John Fleskes. Artwork copyright © Frank Cho. All Rights reserved.

Free to View — Warren Chang Portrait Demonstration on Monday

Warren-Chang-demo-Nov-03-2012-04Warren Chang will be doing a portrait demonstration this coming Monday.

It is open to the public and attendance is free!

When: Monday, June 23, 2014, 7pm-9pm

Where: Monterey Youth Center 777 Pearl Street Monterey, CA 93940

Warren will demonstrate his use of light and shadow to create form and likeness, from a live model. Utilizing a limited palette of colors with an emphasis on values and capturing the spirit and character of his model.

A Master Signature Member of the Oil Painters of America and Signature member of the California Art Club, Warren has been profiled in many publications, including the covers of American and International Artist magazines.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
Flesk Publications on Facebook
Spectrum Fantastic Art
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live on Facebook

Text and photograph copyright © 2014 John Fleskes. Artwork copyright © their respective owners. All Rights reserved.

Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 3 Highlight Video #2

Helpful Bear Productions has produced a second video highlighting the artists who appeared at the third Spectrum Fantastic Art Live event last May. Over 200 artists exhibited on the show room floor. This is a celebration that puts the artists in the forefront and provides an intimate and friendly environment for people to meet and greet the creators. Enjoy this small taste of SFAL.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
Flesk Publications on Facebook
Spectrum Fantastic Art
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live on Facebook

Text copyright © 2014 John Fleskes. Artwork copyright © their respective owners. Video by Helpful Bear Productions for Spectrum Fantastic Art Live © 2014. All Rights reserved.

Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 2014 Pictures — Part Two

Hi, all,

Here’s a treat for you: Thirty-five pictures from the third Spectrum Fantastic Art Live held on May 9-11, 2014. Captions by Carl Anderson and Jeff Smith. There’s a few captions missing. If you know the artist names, please let us know so that we can add them.

All photos by Vidur Gupta / Helpful Bear Productions for Spectrum Fantastic Art Live © 2014. All Rights reserved.

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic16In the heart of Kansas City lies the venue for Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 2014; Kansas City Convention Center’s 46,400 square foot Grand Ballroom.

 

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic20Artists Christina Hess and Dominick Saponaro hard at work putting the final touches on their booth before the show opens. Christina was selling a Spectrum exclusive teaser booklet for her upcoming “Animals From History” book.

 

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic19Artist Edward Howard wowed attendees with numerous new originals in addition to offering affordable prints, like the one shown above, which you may recognize from the opening pages of Spectrum 20.

 

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic183-day ticket holders and exhibitors were treated to free hors d’oeuvres during the opening night party and Art Director Meet & Greet before viewing the film premiere of the documentary “Making It” on Friday evening.

 

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic17The Kansas City Conventions & Visitors Bureau welcomed Spectrum attendees and exhibitors all over downtown.

 

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic52Donato Giancola spies our camera at the opening night 3-day ticket holder and exhibitor party.

 

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic49Jackson Robinson catches us taking pictures at the opening night party. Spectrum Fantastic Art Live marked Jackson’s convention debut. His playing card art work and decks were a big hit, particularly his Sherlock Holmes themed decks.

 

 

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic48Steve Rude and Donato Giancola at the opening night party. Mr. Rude held a cosplay model contest leading up to the show. He painted the winner, donning a Supergirl costume, live during a demonstration on Saturday morning.

 

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic47Greg Manchess enjoying himself at the opening night party.

 

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic46Craig Elliott at the opening night party.

 

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic45Eric Deschamps enjoying the opening night party.

 

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic44Is that Johnny Depp? No, that’s Nigel Sade! Nigel is one of the nicest artists you could meet. (Side note: In the background of this photo on the left hand side you will see two of the hardest working ladies on the Spectrum committee: Event Organizer Shena Wolf and Volunteer Coordinator Amanda Banion.)

 

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic43Steve Rude listening to John Fleskes’ vision on the show floor.

 

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic42Adrian Johnson of Sidebar Nation interviews Special Guest Tim Bruckner. Mr. Bruckner shared how he got into sculpting, discussed challenging pieces, explained techniques and fielded questions from the crowd.  A great interview to kick off the weekend’s scheduled programming.

 

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic41

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic40Jackson Robinson signing one of his Sherlock Holmes playing card decks for a fan. Jackson not only created all the artwork on the cards he also created unique packaging.

 

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic39The Shiflett Brothers (Brandon and Jarrod) at their exhibit booth.  They participated in live sculpting demos throughout the weekend and were available for 3D portfolio reviews. Look for an award winning piece from them in Spectrum 21 this fall.

 

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic38Forest Rogers admiring one of Virginie Ropars’ incredible sculptures, with the artist herself! Words can’t express how incredible it was to see, study, and be able to purchase original sculptures directly from the artists.

 

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic37

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic36Greg Manchess points out details on original paintings he brought to the show to sell. As part of the weekend’s activities,  Greg participated in a live painting demonstration with artist Gary Kelley on Saturday afternoon that drew the attention of fellow artists as well as attendees.

 

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic35

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic34 Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic33John Fleskes, Special Guest Frank Cho, and Mark Schultz talking at the Flesk Publications booth. Frank Cho put on a live drawing demo during his special guest interview on Saturday and Mark Schultz conducted a dry brush demo on Sunday.

 

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic32Craig Elliot organizing his originals and prints for sale at the Flesk Publications booth.

 

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic31Anthony Kosar’s “Boaris Frankenswine”

 

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic30 Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic29 Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic28 Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic27 Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic26 Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic25One of Dan Chudzinski’s signature pieces.

 

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic24Red Riding Hood, a sculpture by artist Forest Rogers.

 

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic23“Vertical Man-Tank, 1892”, a piece from The Shiflett Brothers which took home the Gold Award in the Dimensional category.

 

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic22Just Colcord – Luke Burrage’s sculptures.

 

Spectrum-Fantastic-Art-Live-2014-pic21

More pictures and Q&A coming soon!

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
Flesk Publications on Facebook
Spectrum Fantastic Art
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live on Facebook

Text copyright © 2014 John Fleskes. Artwork copyright © their respective owners. Photos by Vidur Gupta / Helpful Bear Productions for Spectrum Fantastic Art Live © 2014. All Rights reserved.