The new Charles Vess art book, Drawing Down The Moon, is now available from Dark Horse. This beautiful 200-page hardcover book features material from his 30-year career.
Now, here’s the cool part. The entire book is available for viewing online at the Dark Horse website. You can view it by clicking here. If you are unfamiliar with Vess, you can flip through the online pages and see exactly why this is a worthwhile collection to add to your library.
I’ve admired Vess’s work since the mid-eighties and have been eager for a book like this to come out for years. You can learn more about Charles at his Green Man Press website here.
Astute observers will notice I had a T.S. Sullivant book listed in the “Under Development” section of my website. I was planning on having it come out in 2011. I’ve just shelved the book for the time being. This is because I learned today that a new Sullivant book will be published by Fantagraphics in June 2010. It is called The Antic Cartoon Art of T.S. Sullivant by Robert C. Harvey. Since I have not started writing or designing my book yet, I’ve decided to focus on other projects for now. (Of which I have many!) At some point in the future I will revisit my own book.
It’s funny how there are no books on Sullivant to date, and then all of a sudden there are two in development. That can happen. I’m excited to see what the Fantagraphics book looks like. After all, I want to see a Sullivant book. I couldn’t be happier that a big 256-page collection will be coming out soon.
A fixture in the Santa Cruz community for his warmth, kindness, intelligence, humbleness, and extraordinary skimboarding ability, Adam Loero, a good friend and teammate, passed away on Friday, Dec. 19. The news has left me crippled and shocked, while grateful for the pleasure of having known this great young man.
I have assembled a handful of pictures to share. As most of my time spent with Adam has been at the beach and in the waters in and neighboring Santa Cruz, these pictures reflect times spent enjoying those cherished breaks from life. You will be sorely missed, Adam.
Adam puts on a show at Eric Roush’s 40th birthday skim party in April 2008. I decided to take pictures for the first hour before getting wet myself. I’m glad I did, as I got these great shots of Adam. He had such a smooth style.
This picture was taken by in June 2008. Adam and I were skimming 26th Ave one evening. You can see the backlight from the setting sun. As usual, Adam was charging the biggest waves of the night and throwing buckets of spray.
Group shot from Eric Roush’s 40th birthday skim party at 26th Ave in April 2008. There’s Adam on the far right with his signature smile and friendly face. From left to right, a terrific batch of guys, Gary Velo, Eric Roush, Ryan Parola, Andrew, Cameron, then again Adam.
Adam Loero and Eric Roush hanging out at the 2006 O’Neill Skimbash at 26th Ave.
Adam competing at the 2006 O’Neill Skimbash.
Adam at the 2006 O’Neill Skimbash at 26th Ave in Santa Cruz.
Here’s Adam on his way to winning the Senseless skimboard contest at 26th Ave., Santa Cruz in 2008. He was just killing it. He was a superb craftsman on his board.
Adam driving into a mini summer barrel in his final heats of the Senseless skim contest in 2008.
This ride was Adams exclamation point to winning the 2008 Senseless contest. His face was always focused and calm, even in the heaviest and most critical situations. He’s an inspiration to us all.
We are all richer for having had Adam in our life.
My heart goes out to Adam’s family, and the entire SC crew, who I know is feeling the pain right now.
The new issue of Illustration Magazine is available from Dan Zimmer at the Illustrated Press. This issue #28 features an in-depth article on the amazing illustrator McClelland Barclay. Illustration is 96-pages in full color for only $15.00. Check out our full-page ad on page 61. You can order your copy direct from the Illustrated Press or from Bud’s Art Books.
Dark Delicacies is located in Burbank, CA. You can call them at 1-888-DARKDEL, email darkdel@darkdel.com, or visit their website www.darkdel.com for more information.
Full details on both titles and information on ordering the books through the book trade and comic stores follow. Retail stores will receive their copies beginning in mid-December.
Dinosaur Discoveries by William Stout is an enlightening introduction to the modern world of dinosaurs!
Dinosaur Discoveries features a multitude of never before seen specimens. Sixty new dinosaurs, found or described during the past twenty years, are covered in this fun and intriguing new collection.
Each dinosaur is rendered in its natural environment by paleoartist and author, William Stout. Illustrations are accompanied by exciting new dinosaur facts, which define each species’ name, family, and diet. Also given are the eras when each dinosaur lived, the location and time of discovery, plus other descriptive traits.
ISBN: 978-1-933865-22-5, 144-page 8.5 x 11 in. paperbound $24.95
ISBN: 978-1-933865-21-8, 145-page, 8.5 x 11 in. hardbound $39.95 limited and signed to 500 copies
William Stout captures the spirit of twenty-six new dinosaur discoveries in this highly visual kid-friendly edition. Cool dino facts accompany each colorful drawing. The exciting traits of these fantastic creatures are presented in a simple and easy to read layout. Learn what their names mean, what they ate, where they were discovered, and how big they were. Run through the alphabet from A is for Amargasaurus to Z is for Zuniceratops. From the small to the gigantic, and the incredible, to the bizarre, join in this fun adventure of exploring dinosaurs and their world.
ISBN: 978-1-933865-23-2, 6 x 8.5 in., 64-page hardbound, $14.95
You can also order your copies through your local bookstore. Flesk titles are distributed to the trade by SCB Distributors. Note that the signed hardbound edition of Dinosaur Discoveries is not available to the book trade.
Comic store orders can be placed through the November 2009 issue of Previews. DCD order codes follow.
NOV09 1015 – William Stout Dinosaur Discoveries SC $24.95
NOV09 1016 – William Stout Dinosaur Discoveries LTD HC $39.95
NOV09 1017 – William Stout New Dinosaur Discoveries A-Z $14.95
Full details on all of our books and the most recent news can be found on our website, and my blog. Thank you for your support. Feel free to contact me with any questions.
Best,
John
John Fleskes Flesk Publications
P.O. Box 3174
Santa Cruz, CA 95063
info@fleskpublications.com
www.fleskpublications.com
(408) 206-2346
Monday through Friday
11:00AM to 6:00PM PST
Spectrum 16 is now available. According to their website, orders for the hardbound edition have exceeded the print run. If you are looking to get this edition of the book, it looks like you better act fast.
With each new annual collection, Spectrum provides an introduction to many superb artists I was previously unaware of. Petar Meseldžijo is a perfect example of this. How could I have not known about his work, even though he has been in Spectrum before? Take a look at Petar’s website here. Kekai Kotaki is another standout for me. There are many cool discoveries to be found.
At the same time, I am pleased to see many of my favorites included. Peter de Séve, Adam Hughes, Donato Giancola, Gregory Manchess, James Gurney, Gary Gianni, and William Stout are all good examples. Also, David Dorman, Jon Foster, Frank Cho, and Arthur Adams have terrific artwork included. Furthermore, Dan Dos Santos, Daren Bader, Brom, Joe Jusko, and Craig Elliott all have nice works featured.
With sections devoted to Advertising, Books, Comics, Dimensional, Editorial, and Institutional, Spectrum displays a wide-array of artist’s works I missed in their original form. It’s just not possible to come across all of this material over the course of a year, and Spectrum gets the greatest works all in one book. The best Fantastic artists culled together in one well-designed 264-page book with great reproduction. There’s also the yearly “Chairman’s Message” by Cathy Fenner and “The Year in Review 2008” by Arnie Fenner.
If you are new to Spectrum, their mission is “To promote the fantastic arts and provide an annual showcase for contemporary artists.” You can purchase a copy from Bud’s Art Books here, and see sample pages on the Spectrum website by clicking here.
Charley Parker’s Lines and Colors blog is one of the few sites I visit on a regular basis. This is due to a daily entry that proves insightful and educational. Charley provides a valuable service by sharing images, information, and resources for a wide spectrum of artists and art genres. He covers art in comics, illustration, fantasy, gallery art, animation, painting, sketching, concept art, and much more. It’s a very diverse site worth visiting on an ongoing basis.
With both Mark Schultz and my invitation to the Stripbeurs Breda show in the Netherlands, Mark and I decided to put together a special sketchbook for the show. Mark Schultz Blue Book will contain preliminary work done for Storms at Sea, his Pulpette pieces, and additional unpublished work taken from his personal sketchbook. Many of these works are done in blue pencil. There will be no overlap with Schultz’s Various Drawings series.
We just wrapped up the cover, and I wanted to show it off! At top is the front cover, and underneath is the front and back cover jacket. Both pieces are details of finished works for Storms at Sea. The front cover piece was completed last week.
This paperbound collection will run sixteen-pages at 5.5 x 8.5″ in full color. It will be limited to 1000 copies and each will be signed by Schultz. The price is $10.00 / €7.00. We will debut the sketchbook in Breda on March 7, 2010. The US debut will be at WonderCon on April 2-4. I’ll also have these available through mail order in April 2010. These won’t be available through the book or comic stores.
