Author: John Fleskes

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“Jim Silke Sketchbook” — Three New Flesk Publications Titles Coming in November 2012

There are three new Flesk titles coming out in November 2012. The Jim Silke Sketchbook, James Bama: Personal Works and Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm Big Pocket Edition. I’m doing a three-part blog today to share the details.

The Jim Silke Sketchbook is 9 x 12 inches at 64 pages. It’s in the same format as the Al Williamson Archives books. The one exception is that I’ve added 4-inch French flaps to Silke’s book. I was able to get a good printing rate so rather than pocket the savings I threw it back into the production of the book. The price is $19.95.

The drawings cover a thirty year span. You will see samples of Silke’s work before he was a professional artist. As some of you may know already, Jim become a professional when he was 60 years old, however he has drawn for most of his life. This aspect of his life will be covered for the first time. Another aspect I find exciting are the many drawings he did in preparation for his Rascals In Paradise series. Most art inside is in pencil, yet they are printed in color and show all the nuances of the multi-colored paper and tones that Jim uses. Like the Al Williamson Archives books, my goal is for those flipping through this book to feel as if they are in Jim’s studios pouring over his originals.

Jim has also provided captions throughout and an introduction.

Working with Jim is a pleasure. I learn a tremendous amount every time I work with or spend time with him. With this book, I designed volume 1 and 2 at the same time, then sent print outs to Jim. After he shuffled some pages around and gave me his feedback for improvements I went in and did a second pass while inserting his captions. All in all it was a smooth process.

Here’s the official book description:

Jim Silke illuminates the previously unpublished gems of his private studio collection.

Each image in the Jim Silke Sketchbook series is meticulously reproduced from the original artwork, and designed to provide the experience of leafing through the private portfolio of this modern master of the art of the pinup.

Pouring over the pages of this colorful collection, the soft, rich charcoals of a voluptuous nude give way to the sharp, angular pencil study of a dashing hero’s subtle range of expression. The tight pastel rendering of a bare fatale ushers forth the rough-hewn conceptual art of an unpublished Rascals In Paradise tale. It is a volume as eclectic as it is personal to the artist himself.

Jim Silke furnishes the introduction to the book, and walks the viewer though his work by providing descriptive captioning for each piece. Comprised solely of previously unpublished works, and spanning the last twenty-five years, this lavish collection is a guided tour of the artist’s studio, with the creator himself as the guide.

I’ll post some previews and have the book available for pre-order on our website very soon.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
text and photos copyright © 2012 John Fleskes. All rights reserved. Artwork copyright © 2012 Jim Silke. All Rights Reserved.

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Interpreting the New Flesk Logo

I received an email from a long-time Flesk customer and all around good guy, Rasmus Larsen. In his note, Rasmus shared his thoughts on our new Flesk logo that I revealed in May. I intentionally did not explain the design or meaning to any one publicly for the very reason that I prefer for people to interpret it in their own way. Rasmus has given me the best interpretation I have read so far. I asked him for his permission to share his explanation, which he was kind enough to provide. I hand you over to Rasmus:

I like your new logo. I understand that you won’t try to explain it, but leave it up to the person looking at it to form his or her own opinion, so here’s my take on it: The basic pattern – to me – resembles the stylized form of a plant, symbolizing the continuing growth of Flesk Publications as well as an ever growing awareness and appreciation of every single artist that you have published. However, the form could also resemble a stylized pattern of fire, symbolizing the burning passion that goes into the research, writing, production and presentation of each new title from Flesk. Finally, the use of the green nuances has – of course – the meaning of hope, but also goes to show, that “green” – or any other color – has different nuances, and that the understanding of nuances are important for the way an artist works to present an idea or catch a picture or a pose from life, just like the understanding of nuances are important for the way an audience will look at and understand artwork. Nuances also reflect the care you always take to make sure that the art itself is reproduced in the best possible way, so that all the nuances and facets will be reproduced/exposed/visible in the best possible standard to the reader.

I might be waaay off target as you see it, but I guess that’s part of the charm about having room for other peoples interpretations…

Thanks, Rasmus! I’d enjoy hearing some more interpretations if anyone feels like sharing.

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
text and photos copyright © 2012 John Fleskes. All rights reserved.

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Flesk at Comic-Con International in San Diego Part 2

I arrived back to the Flesk office feeling positive and energetic after a week exhibiting at Comic-Con International in mid-July. This is in contrast to the last three years in which I felt concerned that the show was shifting more toward pop culture genres that veer away from popular comic, fantasy and illustration art forms. Television, film and the gaming companies still managed to make a large and loud presence. This year I focused on looking past their hulking presence and saw that Comic-Con is still about comics and the creators I enjoy.

The Comic-Con program guide and commemorative book focuses on comics; the guest list focuses on comics and many of the panels focus on comics. Case in point: Mark Schultz, Gary Gianni and Jim Silke were all special guests this year and treated very well. When I asked for a panel time and space to commemorate our Flesk 10th Anniversary, the Comic-Con organizers provided us with a space without any questions. As far as my experiences go, I get the same special treatment by Comic-Con as do the large corporate companies.

An interesting thing about all of the news and publicity that Comic-Con receives is that much of the press comes from and revolves around the film and television events and stars. This press does not come from the Comic-Con organizers. The hoopla is arranged by the studios set up there, and media ventures that are attracted by big names outside of comics. The people that run Comic-Con still care very much about comics, and do their best to help the little guy, whether you know it or not.

The people that are not looking out for everyone are some of the large exhibitors. Bob Self of Baby Tattoo Books said it perfectly in that we are a neighborhood, and with any good neighborhood it’s important for all of us to be good neighbors to one another. But unfortunately some companies are not good neighbors. FOX, for example, is not a good neighbor. They blast music to a point where it is hard to hold a conversation and have personality signings that result in massive lines that block booths and the entrance to our row. I’ve sent a personal email to the Comic-Con organizers with my ideas to make for a better neighborhood. We’ll see what happens.

There has been a noticeable decline in familiar faces appearing at our booth. Certain artists have decided that the effort of exhibiting at Comic-Con is no longer worth the expense and time. I don’t blame anyone for making this decision. I’ve thought about it as well. But, for all of the faces we sadly no longer see, there are many new faces we see for the first time. My plans are to continue to exhibit at Comic-Con for the foreseeable future.

I felt I needed some time away from our booth this year. I expanded my staff allowing myself the opportunity to conduct business elsewhere. With four knowledgeable and experienced people running the Flesk booth I felt a freedom that has been foreign to me for eight years. I instructed them to kick me out of the booth if I lingered too long. They adhered to my wishes well and I managed to stay away for most of the show.

My not working the booth in no way meant I was there to play and not work. Instead, I was able to conduct a significant amount of business I had not had the time to focus on in years past. I accomplished most of my goals and didn’t feel as exhausted at the end as I normally do. I also managed to keep up to date on my emails to avoid a backlog of hundreds of emails to sift through upon my return.

The good news is sales and interest in our Flesk titles was up this year, when compared to the last three. The new Bruce Timm collections, Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm and the Naughty and Nice 2012 Teaser were both hot items. Mark Schultz made his home at our booth and did signings each day. Our Xenozoic collection by Schultz also sold at a brisk pace. The Al Williamson Archives did well, too. We brought about three dozen books with minor dings with us and offered them at 50-70% off. Most were gone in only three hours after they were put out on the table. I always make an unadvertised special at each show. Those who arrive early have options for a few killer deals.

Our Flesk tenth anniversary postcard set was popular. These seven cards in an envelope featuring the art of Mark Schultz, William Stout, Terry Dodson, Bruce Timm, Gary Gianni, Jim Silke and Craig Elliott were gone by Saturday morning. Just over four hundred sets were given away as a thank you to our customers and those who stopped by. Each of the seven artists had a booth near us and they were happy to sign the postcards.

Thursday morning at 10:00 a.m. was our first Flesk panel. The theme was to celebrate our ten years of publishing. Schultz, Stout, Silke, Elliott and Dodson joined me and our moderator, Jonathan Leveck, for a one hour discussion. Jonathan kept the flow steady by bouncing questions between us to keep an engaging conversation going. We discussed upcoming books with each artist and I also spoke about future collections from Flesk. A big piece of news was my announcing our new Brom art book collection coming in fall 2013. I’ll provide more details on the books I mentioned in future blogs. This was the first Flesk panel and we all had a good time. I’m grateful to Comic-Con for giving us a time slot. You can check out the Bleeding Cool News website with a few articles about the panel. They are written by Joshua Stone. (See links at bottom.) I received feedback about people who missed the panel since it happened so early on the first full day. I understand getting inside and to the room in time was an effort. Thanks to those that made it. I’ll see if we can push it a little later in the day for next year.

A few hours later on Thursday I was sitting with Mark Schultz at his spotlight panel. I had a front row seat as Mark gave a talk on his influences and what makes Mark, Mark. It was quite engaging. I ended up talking just a little at the end when answering a few questions. My lack of involvement didn’t bother me. I was more technical support and backup singer and let the panel focus on Mark. I don’t need to hear myself talk.

Then, shortly after was a spotlight on Jim Silke. I grabbed a front row seat and enjoyed Jim’s intriguing stories.

Look for a third part to my time spent at Comic-Con 2012 soon.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
text and photos copyright © 2012 John Fleskes. All rights reserved.

Links:
Bleeding Cool News report on Flesk panel part 1
Bleeding Cool News report on Flesk panel part 2
Bleeding Cool News report on Flesk panel part 3
Thanks to everyone at Bleeding Cool News for the coverage! Excellent reporting!

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Hijinx Comics 30th Anniversary Sale

On Saturday, August 4th I was invited to participate at my local comic book shop, Hijinx Comics, for their 30th Anniversary sale and event. Unfortunately I had developed a bit of a nasty sore throat the day before and was fairly useless during my short time there. I managed to squeeze off a few pictures before slumbering off in defeat.

Happy 30th Birthday to Hijinx Comics

Here’s our very own Jonathan Leveck (left) with Hijinx owner Neil Farris (right).

Hot dog anyone? Free dogs were on the menu all day, as was drink and cake.

Mick Gray with his daughter, Jen. Mick is the inker on the DC New 52 title, Batman and Robin. His portfolio is open to the cover of issue number 11 (right) and a splash page to an earlier issue. Mick also self-published his own kids book, Al B. Mouse.


Artist and writer, Alex Sheikman was signing and sketching as well. Alex did the art on the new The Dark Crystal graphic novel and also has his own comic-book, Robotika. Both are worth checking out.

Being the trooper that he is, Jonathan volunteered to take on the free hot dog cooking chores. As a proud vegan Jonathan’s smiling since he has no idea if they are cooked well-enough or not; and he’s not about to taste one to find out. I haven’t had a hot dog in over 20 years and wasn’t about to take one for the team. I offered my advice of cooking them until they looked charred and plump.

Hijinx had rows of longboxes filled with 50-cent comics, plenty of discounted books and a store-wide sale. The crowd remained heavy during the time I was there and it seemed to be a successful day.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
text and photos copyright © 2012 John Fleskes. All rights reserved.

Links:
Hijinx Comics
Alex Sheikman blog
Mick Gray

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Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 2 Dates and Special Guests Announced


The dates and special guests have been announced for “Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 2.” The show will run May 17-19, 2013 in the Bartle Hall Grand Ballroom in Kansas City, Missouri. The five guests are Peter de Sève, Tara McPherson, Charles Vess, Michael Whelan and Terryl Whitlatch. Wow!

I’ll have the same island arrangement as last year and plan on having six artists at our booth. More details coming as the show approaches.

There’s plenty of time to plan your visit for next year. Head on over to the sites linked below to stay informed.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
text and photos copyright © 2012 John Fleskes. All rights reserved.

Links:
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live Facebook Page
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live website

 

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Flesk at Comic-Con International in San Diego Part 1 – Pictures!

I have a few blog postings partially written about our time exhibiting at Comic-Con International in San Diego. Since I am working to wrap up a few books by the end of this month, they are on hold. For now I have some pictures to share with a promise of more detailed writing coming soon. Captions fall below the pictures.

We were graced by the Black Widow at our Flesk booth. The costumes are a familiar scene throughout the show.

Gary Gianni, Daren Bader, John Fleskes and Mark Schultz. This is just after the show ended on Sunday. We all had a chance to enjoy a few minutes of conversation before tearing down our respective booths. The Flesk booth compacted into two dolly loads and we were out of there by 7:00 p.m.

Gary Gianni at his booth. The banner behind him is promoting the “A Game of Thrones” 2014 calendar that he is providing the paintings for. This picture is a grab shot. He was talking with someone and not aware that I took his picture. It came out better than if I had posed him.

Mark Schultz, James Walker II and John Fleskes at the Flesk Booth.

Frank Cho signing his new 2013 calendar.

Frank Cho is a huge Justice League fan and gets excited whenever he sees any imagery relating to the team.

Mary, from our neighbors at Stuart Ng Books, and me hanging at the Flesk booth just before closing time on the final day.

I took this picture from Gary Gianni’s booth. This was two hours before the show closed on Sunday and you can see how busy the show remains all the way until the end. You can see the Flesk logo and our booth in the middle area.

Mark Schultz and Clayburn Moore were posing for a picture. I saw an opportunity and took this grab shot. For some reason, even though they are posing, this angle makes them look more natural.

Here, I’m talking to James Walker II about the Spectrum Fantastic Art Live! event book.

William Stout signing his card belonging to the seven postcard set celebrating ten years of Flesk. We handed out roughly four hundred of these sets to those who stopped by our Flesk booth as a thank you for their support and helping us to get to the ten year mark. We ran out by mid-Saturday.

William Stout at his booth at Comic-Con. Bill’s booth is an original art gallery. Walking inside is like stepping into a museum.

The Baby Tattoo mascot at their booth. The publisher, Bob Self, has created one of the most impressive looking booths at the show.

James Walker II and me at the Flesk Publications booth. James and I have been working shows for almost twenty years together. We used to assist with Bud Plant Illustrated Books and Lee’s Comics in the mid-nineties.

Mark Schultz signing a copy of his Xenozoic collection at the Flesk Publications booth.

Gary Gianni at the Gianni/Madefire booth. These guys deserve the award for “Most Improved” booth. It was amazing how simple, yet amazing their booth looked this year.

Thomas Yeates and Mark Schultz, the new artist and writer team of Prince Valiant. Thomas has taken over the drawing chores from the recently retired (from the strip) Gary Gianni.

James Walker II holding the fort. I was away from the Flesk booth for much of the show. James, Jonathan Leveck, Laura West and Tony Villador did a remarkable job taking care of things.

Mark Schultz was a special guest at Comic-Con this year. One of the benefits is that he had a handler assigned to him. Maeve escorted Mark to all of his panels and she helped in other various ways. At 6’3” she had an impressive stature combined with a calm approach that parted the seas of people to get us where we needed to go in quick fashion. (Mark’s “only” 6’1″)

Craig Elliott drawing at this booth. The portrait at the left is the result of a live painting demonstration at his booth.

This is what it looks like to peer over the shoulder of Craig Elliott while he is drawing. Craig is working on a show commission at his booth.

Craig Elliott’s palette used during his live painting from a model at his booth.

Mark Schultz talking with a fan at the Flesk booth.

This was taken inside the Botanical Building at Balboa Park in San Diego. This location is one of my yearly visits as I decompress and relax before the five day show begins.

Another picture taken in the Botanical Building at Balboa Park.

Botanical Building at Balboa Park.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
text and photos copyright 2012 John Fleskes. All rights reserved.

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Bombshells 6 by Terry Dodson Now Available

I just received our copies of Bombshells 6 by Terry Dodson. Each copy comes initialed “TD” by Terry. They are now available at our Flesk online store. The price is $15.00. This collection features an assortment of Terry’s personal sketches and finished works.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
text copyright 2012 John Fleskes. All rights reserved.
art copyright 2012 Terry Dodson. All rights reserved.

Links:
Bombshells 6 at the Flesk Store

Terry Dodson Website

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Bruce Timm 2012 Teaser Now Available From Flesk. Back From Comic-Con

I just got back from Comic-Con International in San Diego. I believe this year to be our best ever Comic-Con in terms of enjoyment and business meetings. And our sales were strong as well. I’ll post pictures and stories over the next week.

For now you can read the well-written article on our Flesk panel at Comic-Con at the Bleeding Cool news website. The report is by Mark Seifert. (See link below.)

The new Naughty and Nice 2012 Teaser is available on our online Flesk store now. This includes twenty all new pieces by Bruce and comes signed for only $15.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
text and photos copyright 2012 John Fleskes. All rights reserved.

Links:
Bleeding Cool News Report on the Flesk Panel at Comic-Con
Bruce Timm: Naughty and Nice 2012 Teaser

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Saturday at Comic-Con. Flesk Booth #5019

Today there is a spotlight panel for Gary Gianni running from 12:00 to 1:00 in room 4. It’ll be an exciting personal visit with Gary. I’m looking forward to going.

Artists who we have worked with at this show include Terry Dodson, Craig Elliott, Gary Gianni, Phil Hale, Mike Mignola, Mark Schultz, Jim Silke, William Stout and Bruce Timm. Most exhibit within just a few isles of us. Stop by our booth #5019 and we can give you directions to where each person is located.

Terry has his new Bombshells 6 sketchbook available at his booth, the space in which he shares with Aaron Lopresti.  We’ll have copies of Bombshells 6 available on our Flesk store shortly after the show.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
text and photos copyright 2012 John Fleskes. All rights reserved.

Links:
Comic-Con International in San Diego