Category: Book Reviews

The Illustrated Press publisher, Dan Zimmer, sent me a copy of his recent publication, H.J. Ward by David Saunders. A clean elegant design showcases a massive selection of over 500 illustrations. As is the case with all of Zimmer’s collections (Norman Saunders by David Saunders, and Reynold Brown: A Life in Pictures by Zimmer and David J. Hornung, plus Illustration Magazine) the book is printed with excellent reproduction on thick paper stock in a handsome hardcover with jacket. The book is 272 pages, 9” x 12” on full-color premium glossy stock for only $39.95.

There’s also a Deluxe Edition in slipcase, limited to 100 copies. This version comes signed by David Saunders and also contains a DVD slideshow presenting additional artwork and photographic content not found in the book. This is only $100.00.

For full details, book previews and ordering details, you can visit the Illustrated Press website here.

Enjoy,

John

John Flesk
Flesk Publications

There are three new books coming from Arnie and Cathy Fenner this fall. Each title is published by Underwood Books. Each can be ordered through Bud’s Art Books.

Sword’s Edge: Paintings Inspired by the Works of Robert E. Howard is out now. This 48-page hardcover collects over 35 images created by Sanjulian. The illustrations are accompanied by the Howard text they were inspired by. A biography on Robert E. Howard and Sanjulian is included. The book is edited by Arnie and Cathy Fenner, and Manuel Auad. There is plenty of good reading and artwork at a terrific price of only $19.95. The partial book description reads:

Countless artists have painted Robert E. Howard’s characters through the years, but none have done so more brilliantly than legendary Spanish painter Manuel Pérez Clemente Sanjulián. With the impact of a battle axe, Sword’s Edge collects an action-filled brace of paintings that brings Howard’s classic stories to vivid life for a new generation of enthusiasts.

Middle-Earth: Visions of a Modern Myth by Donato Giancola. Anybody else excited about a book finally collecting the paintings of Donato? It’s about time! The book is an 88-page $24.95 hardcover collection with a J.R.R. Tolkien theme. The book is scheduled for October and a description follows:

From the brush of Donato Giancola, one of the world’s most recognized and lauded fantasy artists, comes a book filled with new illustrations that apply his legendary Renaissance craftsmanship to J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantastic Middle-Earth. Dramatic lighting and deft draftsmanship reminiscent of master painters like Caravaggio, Rembrandt, and Vermeer explain Donato’s popularity with millions of fans, as well as the numerous Hugo and Chesley Awards he has received.

Spectrum 17: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art is the yearly worldwide book event celebrating the best fantastic artists working today. Categories feature artwork in advertising, books, comics, institutional, film, video games and an impressive unpublished section. At 264 pages and hundreds of art showcased, both a softbound and hardbound edition will be available in early November. For now you can view sample pages at the Spectrum Fantastic Art website by clicking here. The book description promotes Spectrum as:

Challenging, controversial, educational, and irreverent, the 17th anniversary edition to the award-winning Spectrum series reinforces both the importance and prevalence of fantastic art in today’s culture. With exceptional images by extraordinary creators, this elegant full-color collection showcases an international cadre of creators working in every style and medium, both traditional and digital. The best artists from the United States, Europe, China, Australia, South America, and beyond have gathered into the only annual devoted exclusively to works of fantasy, horror, science fiction, and the surreal, making Spectrum 17 one of the year’s most highly anticipated books.

Enjoy!

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

I mentioned in one of my previous blogs about the forthcoming portfolio on Frank Brangwyn from Auad Publishing. “Frank Brangwyn, R.A.: The Way of the Cross” is now available. I’ve picked up my copy and am enthusiastic to recommend this fine publication.

I’ve bought portfolios before, but none compare to the craftsmanship and printing found in Auad’s Brangwyn collection. Portfolio’s of this quality are generally reserved for high-end fine artists commanding a lofty sticker price, or are found in early 20th century printing. Few publishers today go through the trouble or invest this much energy into portfolios. Matched with the beauty of Frank Brangwyn’s work, this is a highly cherished item for me.

The following promotion text describes the item and how you can place your order:

Auad Publishing is privileged and honored to reprint these interpretation of The Way of the Cross by special permission from David Brangwyn. It was first published in 1935 by Hodder & Stoughton in a Deluxe limited 250 copies with a commentary by Gilbert Keith Chesterton. This reprint will be a very limited number especially designed portfolio with a 4 page essay by Dr. Libby Horner from England who is considered the world’s leading authority on this artist.

This edition is limited to 700 numbered plus 50 copies hors commerce (I to L). The plates measure 11×14” and printed in letterpress on Teton 80 lb. stock by D.T. Printing in, San Francisco with a sturdy portfolio-box by Regent Publishing Services Ltd.

Portfolio, 20 plates, 11×14″, $64.95 plus S&H: $10.00 via USPS Priority Mail. Overseas cost will vary depending the country and will be shipped enclosed in a padded envelope inside a hard cardboard for extra protection.

When visiting the home page of the Auad Publishing website, you can click on the portfolio image to view sample plates from the collection. I highly recommend this lovely edition!

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

For this being January, a month I typically think of as being slow for new art books, I have been pleased to add a nice stack of new titles to my library.

The first book I would like to mention is the new Black and White Images. This is the fifth collection in the ongoing series, which focuses on “The Golden Era of Pen & Ink Illustration” from 1890-1922. Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. labors over each issue of the color ImageS magazine and these Black and White ImageS specials, to find dynamite art by both popular and forgotten illustrators of the past. Most of the artwork is pulled from his vast private collection.

One thing I find interesting is Jim’s persistence in finding oddball and unique pieces by popular artists. For instance, he often seems to find a few samples of an artist’s earliest works. These may not be the best examples of their art, but they are insightful in that they prove that not everyone is a genius when they start, and that their later magnificent works are a product of much practice and labor. I enjoy these glimpses at an individual’s humble beginnings.

Jim performs a generous service in preserving these master illustrators works in high quality accessible editions. Black and White Images #5 keeps in the tradition of his delving into the past to find exceptional artists. To start with, there is a stunning title page piece by Desfontaines from L’Image#11 from 1897. There are also some beautiful examples by John R. Neil, James Montgomery Flagg, and Will Crawford. Furthermore, there is a reprinting of the art for The Haunted House from 1899 by Herbert Railton–a gifted architectural illustrator. There is a Gustave Dore reproduction from an original art photogravure portfolio from 1868 (if you have only seen the terribly poor reproductions in modern paperback books on Dore, this will be a pleasant surprise for you). A nice batch of pieces by Daniel Vierge from L’Image #4, are a welcome addition as well. You will also find Everett Shinn, T.S. Sullivant, and Harry Roundtree and many, many more, that await you in this latest ImageS collection.

To learn more about ImageS, you can visit the official website here. You can order your copy direct from Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., or from Bud’s Art Books.

The next book I want to mention is the new special deluxe Rocketeer: The Complete Adventures by Dave Stevens. This was a dream project for designer, Randy Dahlk (our favorite designer who has handled many of our Flesk titles). Randy has been telling me for years that he wanted to design this book, and when the opportunity arose, IDW editor Scott Dunbier made sure it happened. I couldn’t be happier, not only for Randy to get to design his dream book, but also that IDW put so much energy into it. They did a beautiful job. The exquisite coloring and the oversized deluxe edition with the 100 extra bonus pages in slipcase is a stunning package. I can’t think of any other publisher that would have given this book the all-star treatment that they did. Besides the deluxe edition, there is an affordable trade hardbound edition that contains the complete story. Get them both! Also, you can go to Randy’s “Retro Randy” blog to see design variations for the Rocketeer book cover and read his thought process behind them. You can buy this book from your local comic or book store.

Then there is the new Jordi Bernet book from the Spanish publisher, El Jueves. Bernet: 50 años de viñetas (50 years of drawings) is a huge hardbound collection at nearly 350 pages, measuring 9.5 x 13 in. As the title suggests, it features a wide range of samples of his art over the coarse of his career. Bernet is, without a doubt, one of my favorite black and white contemporary brush artists working in comics. His work is just fabulous. He can jump between humorous cartooning with Clara de Noche, to the grittiest of approaches with Torpedo. His current work on Jonah Hex is my most anticipated comic, with its all too sparse releases featuring his work. I don’t know where you can by the book, but here is the El Jueves website with some details.

Enjoy!

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

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.

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

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.

Enjoy!

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

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.

I feel fortunate that Charley has taken an interest in our Flesk books. He’s covered many of the artists we publish and a bunch of our books (click here to see his Flesk related articles). Just this week, he has written a nice review of Al Williamson’s Flash Gordon: A Lifelong Vision of the Heroic (click here to read), as well as an Al Williamson spotlight in October (click here to read). Thanks Charley!

Be sure to head on over to Lines and Colors for your daily art fix!

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

The new issue of Prehistoric Times (#91) gives a nice plug for our book, Mark Schultz: Various Drawings Volume 4. My thanks goes out to publisher Mike Fredericks!

Also, there’s an article by James Gurney covering ten tips for drawings realistic dinosaurs. This alone makes this issue a special one. You can find out more about Prehistoric Times at Mike’s website here.

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications