We’ve been incredibly busy here since the campaign ended last month. I’d like to give you an update on each of the four books.
1. The Al Williamson and Mark Schultz Astounding Sketchbook
This bonus item is done and at the printer! We filled up this 16 page
sketchbook with never before published sketches and preliminaries by Al
and Mark. It sure was a lot of fun to dig through material to use for
this.
This book is done and at the printer! I worked closely with Mark over
the last few months to select art for this collection. As always, Mark
is a joy to work with and we are very proud with how this new collection
came out. Mark decided at the last minute to draw a few new pieces that
will be revealed once the book is shipped to you.
This book is done and at the printer. We’re very excited to bring the classic Xenozoic Tales collection back in print in this new format. We poured over every detail and are happy to have this coming out soon.
The artwork selection, the writing, and the preliminary designs are
all done. At this time, I am focused full time on tightening up the
designs, then will focus on the finished designs, followed by the final
proofing. We were able to pull together a beautiful selection of Al’s
artwork that spans his entire career. I expect to have it done in the
next couple of weeks. I ended up doing far more writing for the book
than I initially intended, which added a few weeks to the production
time, but I feel it was well worth the effort.
I’ll let you all know right when the Al Williamson book is done!
Thank you so much for your support to make these books a reality.
We had a driveway visit with Jeffrey Alan Love earlier this week. Jeff was kind enough to sign more copies of his Notes From the Shadowed City and The Thousand Demon Tree books. We have them available on our Flesk website.
It was nice to catch up with Jeff and to hear about a
pair of book ideas that he has. He’s a great guy and wonderful to work
with. I look forward to publishing more books with Jeff in the future.
This Flesk interview with Terryl Whitlatch is the first in a new series that can be found here, along with on our Flesk website. You can read all of the artist interviews here: https://www.fleskpublications.com/artist-interviews
Terryl Whitlatch is a professional Creature designer specializing in Animal Anatomy, Paleontological Reconstruction, and the creation of Imaginary Creatures for the Animation, Publishing, Institutional, Academic, and other Transmedia/Entertainment Industries.
FLESK: What experience do you hope viewers have while looking at your art?
WHITLATCH: Since the majority of my artwork consists of animals–usually real animals, or imaginary creatures inspired by real animals–my greatest hope is that viewers will be able to experience my artwork on a number of different levels, by considering: what is the primary idea that I’m trying to communicate, that is, what story am I trying to tell–and more subtly, why is it a particular animal species telling the story, and not another type of animal? Why is it that animals are so often better able to communicate paradigms than human portrayals can? On another level, I am inviting the viewer to appreciate the animal form purely for its own sake, both in anatomy and soul.
FLESK: Much of your art features an array of more-than-human imagery. What is it about human reality combined with metaphysical elements that speaks to you?
WHITLATCH: Increasingly, my work is highly symbolic, decorative, often humorous, and at times, iconoclastic. In depicting animals in both natural, and unnatural or fanciful contexts, I find that I can express universal ideas that can be understood by people globally, regardless of country or ethnicity. Animal iconography cuts to the core, without getting caught in human controversies, be they political or otherwise. Animals point to reality, not constructs.
FLESK: What emotion tends to guide your creativity the most?
WHITLATCH: The love of animals, and what makes them tick, on their own terms.
FLESK: What is your favorite fantasy subject to illustrate?
WHITLATCH: That is a very hard one. My favorite subjects are equines, or anything resembling a horse. Currently, I’d have to say that Hippogriffs are my fanciful favorites–mine tend to look not so much like half eagle, half horses, but rather like terrifying, carnivorous pegasuses. As far as story subjects go, I tend to favor real animals in a fantasy setting, which is why I did my book, The Katurran Odyssey.
FLESK: How has your artistic style changed over the years and where do you see it heading?
WHITLATCH: As I’ve gotten older, I think I try to say more with less, that is, leave out extra detail in favor of pencil or brush strokes that say just enough, and no more. While I still do a lot of necessarily detailed paleontological, anatomy based work, I find my personal work becoming more streamlined in terms of aesthetic and graphic design. When I was much younger, my work was highly detailed as a rule–but, I was learning all I could, and at that time, I was focused on becoming a natural history illustrator. I never intended to become a designer for the entertainment industry, but life takes us on unexpected paths. Now, I ask myself, what can I leave out, while still maintaining the integrity of the animal form? How can I best edit? My work remains very linear, but I am mentally striving to sculpt linearly, in two dimensions, in order to give the illusion of form and space, and to use my linework strategically, and with intention, rather than as a filler.
FLESK: Do you have any upcoming projects you would like to share some information about?
WHITLATCH: I’m currently working on an NDA project, which I can’t discuss at present, and also wrapping up the final illustrations for a new book, authored by paleontologist Dr. Michael Habib. It’s called Flying Monsters: Illustrating Flying Vertebrates, which will be published by Design Studio Press in 2021. It’s chock full of illustrations depicting all kinds of actual and imaginary flying animals, and how to draw and animate them believably–from a scientific perspective. Pterosaurs, ancient birds, modern birds, bats, dragons, angelic beings, hippogriffs, and much, much more. I also teach an online course in Creature Anatomy for Schoolism.com.
It has been far too long since we last published a book on William Stout. We have a new collection in the works that will bring his comics work together. We’ll share the full details once the book is closer to completion.
Prehistoric Life Murals remains one of our favorite books. It contains all of Stout’s stunning murals for The Houston Museum of Natural Science, Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom, and the San Diego Natural History Museum. We still have some signed copies available.
Kathy and I spent a few hours going over all of the Flesk books we are working on over the next year. Thanks to Vicky and Lauren helping us now we are in a position were we can take on another book by an artist who we have not worked with before.
It didn’t take us very long to
come up with a list of 15 names. Now, we will take our time to narrow
down the list to one name before reaching out to the artist to see if he
or she is interested.
There are two that stand out the most to me, but my goal is to hand over more decisions to Kathy and Vicky to see who they are the most interested in contacting. I don’t want this company to reflect only my tastes.
I never expect that anyone would want to work with us. I’ve been turned down a few times, and that is perfectly OK. I never feel rejected since people may have their own plans and goals that take them in a different direction.
Working with a new artist goes far beyond what they do. It is also who they are and how they treat others. For instance, in few rare cases, there have been artists who are friendly to me, but not necessarily kind to James or Kathy. If someone talks to anyone here like they are a servant I will not work with that person. I won’t share the stories, but you’d be surprised.
But, my aim is for this to be a positive note while so much weird stuff is happening all around us. Thanks to people who supported us this year we could bring in Lauren and Vicky and we can look to the future. You have our thanks.
Two artists! Three Books! Four Prints! The Schultz and Williamson variety fun pack presented by Flesk is now live on Kickstarter!
Our latest Flesk Kickstarter campaign offers three new books! The first is the latest art book by Mark Schultz, Carbon 4. The second book, Xenozoic by Mark Schultz, is a handy to hold and affordably priced new printing of his classic Xenozoic Tales comic series. The third book focuses purely on the legendary Al Williamson, titled Strange World Adventures! Plus, we have four premium prints on offer: one by Williamson, and three by Schultz. Please read the details on our Kickstarter campaign page. Thanks so much for all of your support!
We sincerely hope that you are all doing well and that you are safe and healthy.
The Art of Frank Cho books arrived
at our Flesk warehouse! We entered phase 3 in Santa Cruz County, just in
time, making it open for tourism and for Frank to visit.
All of the Art of Frank Cho books, the prints associated with our Kickstarter campaign and all of the Kickstarter bonus items have been signed. Frank ended up doing just over 7000 signatures.
Kathy, Vicky and I have started packing. Due to Covid-19 we are still
being very cautious. We normally bring in a crew of helpers to pack
books, but we decided to limit the operations to just the three of us.
What this means is greater safety for us, but that means it will take us
a little longer to get you your goodies that normal. We hope you all
understand.
As of yesterday, 600 domestic packages of the signed deluxe edition
have been shipped. We are concentrating on mailing out all of the books
first, then we will mail the prints immediately afterward.
I’ll post weekly updates to inform you on what has shipped to date.
Big News! I’ve stepped down from Spectrum to focus on some new projects and visions. It has been an absolute joy to work with the Cathy and Arnie Fenner and to be a part of Spectrum. The friendships formed over the years has been incredible. Thank you all for your support and help!
Here’s the official press release with the details.
John
Changes for Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art
For Immediate Release
(06/08/2020) Overland Park, KS John Fleskes, the current Director of the Spectrum Fantastic Art competition and editor of the resulting book, has announced he will be stepping down from both positions following the publication of Spectrum #27 in October, 2020. Spectrum Fantastic Art founders Cathy Fenner and Arnie Fenner will return as Directors and editors beginning with the 28th annual competition in the Fall.
“Spectrum is an extremely time-consuming, labor-intensive project” says Cathy Fenner, “and John has many books for his Flesk Publications line that he is very passionate about but has been unable to pursue because of the energy and focus Spectrum demands. He also has some deeply personal projects outside of publishing that he needs time and attention to bring to fruition—and there are only so many hours in the day. Arnie and I greatly appreciate all of the excellent work John and his staff have put into Spectrum, SFAL, and the fantastic art community for the past seven-plus years and sincerely wish him the best of luck with all of his future endeavors.”
“It has been an absolute joy to be a part of Spectrum,” shares John. “I still have the same enthusiasm and care for Spectrum and the art community that I have always had. Both Arnie and Cathy Fenner have been wonderful to work with as mentors and friends. I can’t thank them enough for their trust in me and for their support over the years. I consider myself very fortunate to have had this experience. Being able to work with so many creative and amazing people is something that I will forever be grateful for. I’ll continue to be very active in the art world as I focus on a new line of books that I am eager to publish and I’ll be setting the foundation for a new vision that is close to my heart.”
John’s final volume, Spectrum #27 (as well as all previous in-print volumes), will be available through Flesk Publications and to the book trade via distributor Publishers Group West as usual.
The addresses for the Spectrum website and social media pages will remain the same; Spectrum 28 will open for entries in October, 2020 and the book will be available in October, 2021. Further announcements regarding the new Spectrum advisory board, additions to the Spectrum staff, the poster artist and jurors for #28 will be made at a future date.
Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art was founded by Cathy and Arnie Fenner in 1994 and is the renowned international symbol of excellence for the field of fantastic art. John Fleskes became Director/Editor/Publisher of the series in 2013.
For 27 years Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art has
been celebrating imaginative works by creators from around the world.
The Spectrum Awards Ceremony was held live online on Saturday night, April 4,
2019.
The celebration included the presentation of the Gold and Silver Awards for
exemplary art from the previous year in eight categories: Advertising, Book,
Comics, Concept Art, Dimensional, Editorial, Institutional, and Unpublished.
The ceremony was held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 450 people
from all over the world connected to bring the community closer than ever. Recipients
from Australia, Canada, China, Japan, and in Europe were able to participate. For
the first time all of the recipients were able to provide winning speeches.
The ceremony introduction was by Spectrum founders and directors, Arnie and
Cathy Fenner. Lauren Panepinto and Dan dos Santos served as the hosts during
the ceremony. Between Lauren, Dan, along with Marc Scheff who ran tech support,
the three of them made it possible to bring the awards ceremony live.
The in memoriam introduction was presented by John English. He gave a
touching tribute about his father, Mark English, and spoke about how each
artist who passed away in 2019 served as mentors and changed people’s lives for
the better.
Presenters included such luminaries of the art community as Ed Binkley (Unpublished
category), Dan dos Santos (Advertising category), Christine Foltzer (Book
category), Karla Ortiz (Concept Art category), George Pratt (Comic category), Cynthia
Sheppard (Institutional category), Yuko Shimizu (Editorial category), and Chris
Sickles/Red Nose Studios (Dimensional category).
The five finalists and award-recipients in each category were selected by the jury consisting of Alice Carter, Craig Elliott, Anthony Francisco, Courtney Granner, Forest Rogers, and Chie Yoshii from over 4000 artworks submitted to the twenty-seventh annual competition.
Also presented at the ceremony was the Muse award, created and presented by sculptors Colin and Kristine Poole and intended to encourage a young artist. This year’s Muse award recipient was Alex Dos Diaz. Muse award finalists included Alex Dos Diaz, Irina Nordsol Kuzmina, and Erin Vest. The Spectrum Grand Master Award was presented by Iain McCaig which honors the career accomplishments of a living artist. This year’s Grand Master recipient was Terryl Whitlatach.
Time lapse art demos were featured in-between each category by Rovina Cai, Donato, Scott Fischer, Justin Gerard, Ron Lemon, Travis Lewis, Rebecca Leveille-Guay, Iain McCaig, Allen Williams, and James Zapata.
The Spectrum 27 awards were designed and made by J. Anthony Kosar and his
team at Kosart Effects Studio.
The award-winning art will appear with over 300 other pieces selected by the judges in the Spectrum 27 book, which will be published by Flesk Publications in November 2020.
Congratulations to everyone who was nominated and to the recipients!
The Spectrum 27 Awards Ceremony was sponsored by Drawn and Drafted, Flesk
Publications, Muddy Colors, and Spectrum Fantastic Art.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for an unforgettable evening.
Spectrum 27 Awards Recipients
2017 GRAND MASTER HONOREE
Terryl Whitlatch
RISING STAR AWARD Alex Dos Diaz
ADVERTISING CATEGORY
GOLD Bartosz Kosowski – The Shining
SILVER Brom – Lilith
BOOK CATEGORY
GOLD Rovina Cai – Ivywood
SILVER Sija Hong – The Three Lords of Shambhala
COMIC CATEGORY
GOLD Tim Probert – Lightfall 1: Walk in the Woods
SILVER Claudya Schmidt – Myre: Flora
CONCEPT ART CATEGORY
GOLD Tooth Wu – Devourer of Ghosts
SILVER Ian Jun Wei Chiew – Island Woodblock
DIMENSIONAL CATEGORY
GOLD Dug Stanat – Space Madness
SILVER Michihiro Matsuoka – Philosopher From The Past Coelacanth
EDITORIAL CATEGORY
GOLD Red Nose Studio – Truth, Lies & Uncertainty: Truth
SILVER Sam Araya – The Forest Yell
INSTITUTIONAL CATEGORY
GOLD John Jude Palencar – The Stranger: The Seventh Faith
