The "Spectrum Fantastic Art Live!" book is on its way to the event.
With the inaugural Spectrum Fantastic Art Live! event happening in just a few weeks I thought it time to share not only how exceptional I feel this show will be, but also some of what will be going on at our Flesk booth. But first, a few words about the show itself and the artists that will be there.
SFAL! is conceived and organized by Cathy and Arnie Fenner, who are also the directors behind the highly popular annual, Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art. The idea behind their show is one that is artist friendly regardless of style, genre or types and that is accessible to everyone. With this in mind they have been planning and organizing this new event for a number of years, the culmination of which will become a reality for three days, running from May 18-20 at the Bartle Hall Grand Ballroom in Kansas City, Missouri.
The show will feature over 200 art exhibitors. This includes the five event guests; Brom, Phil Hale, Android Jones, Mike Mignola and Ian McCaig. Some of the artists that will be exhibiting include Donato Giancola, Michael Whelan, Shelly Wan (at Eidolon Fine Arts), Charles Vess, Ragnar, Jim & Ruth Keegan, Jon Foster, Greg Manchess, Scott Gustafson, our friends at Bud Plant Books, Stuart Ng Books and Baby Tattoo books, plus many more.
As for our Flesk space, we will have four booths arranged as an island at the show. This 20’ x 20’ area will host a group of heavy hitters in the art world: Mark Schultz, William Stout, Petar Meseldzija and Gary Gianni. Gary will be at the show on Saturday and Sunday only. Joining us will be special guests, Mike Mignola and Android Jones. Android will be at the booth on Friday and Saturday. Original artwork, prints and books will be available. Petar is shipping in a few new large paintings that you will want to stop by and see.
Craig Elliott will join Gianni, Stout, Schultz and Meseldzija for one hour on Saturday and Sunday during our “Flesk Prime” book signing at the Flesk booth. These are the five participants in our Flesk Prime book. This is the first U.S. opportunity to have all five artists sign the book at a single venue. (Check back later for times.) On Saturday we will have our one and only Spectrum Fantastic Art Live! commemorative event art book signing. This is the official show book featuring the five show guests. It is published by Flesk with the authorization of Cathy and Arnie Fenner. For an hour-and-a-half attendees will have the opportunity to have the book signed by all five artists, Brom, Hale, Android, Mignola and McCaig. Phil Hale does not have a booth at the show. This is a rare scheduled appearance to meet him. (Check back later for the exact time.)
We’ll have a selection of all of our Flesk books. Titles on the aforementioned creators, plus our collections on Harvey Dunn, Jim Silke, Terry Dodson, James Bama, Bruce Timm, and Al Williamson will be on hand. Come grab our free catalog, too.
Keep checking back for more information as the show approaches. I’ll have a few more things to share soon.
I look forward to seeing you all there.
Enjoy,
John
John Fleskes Flesk Publications
text and photos copyright 2012 John Fleskes. All rights reserved.
Friday, April 13 was the opening of Warren Chang’s ten-year retrospective “Narrative Paintings” at the Pacific Grove Arts Center. I met with Warren just over an hour before the opening reception that ran from 7:00-9:00pm. He was upbeat and basically himself. He expressed to me his happiness that the selection of his original works on display includes all of his major paintings. In addition, the hanging and presentation of them are professionally done and meet Warren’s approval. This combination all led to Warren being calm all throughout the evening.
As I was entered the gallery housing the forty-six original works, I further understood Warren’s relaxed demeanor. A large crowd was present in the rectangular shaped oversized room. A small island wall was present with two paintings on each side. A row of forty-two paintings wrapped around the four walls. As a bonus, Warren provided the occasional commentary–all of which read best when you view the paintings in order starting with the first painting as you enter.
As I continued within the gallery I felt as if I stepped into Warren’s real life environment in which his paintings depict. I could sense the richness of the vegetable fields and sweat of the migrant workers he portrays. I had to look behind me to make sure I wasn’t tracking mud through the gallery. I didn’t see his paintings, I entered them. From his studio works, to his portraits and self-portraits, and the occasional landscape, Warren gives us a sincere expression that is a joy to experience.
The Annand Gallery. Paintings by Namgui Chang.
In the adjacent Annand Gallery, the first exhibit of Warren’s father, Namgui Chang, is running during the same time period. Paintings spanning five decades are present for your viewing edification. They are a beautiful array of landscapes of his Korean birthplace and of the natural wonders surrounding his Monterey home. I enjoyed how different these two artists view their subjects through paint. They cannot be compared, nor should they. Each artist has his own voice.
I encourage you to make a trip to Pacific Grove to view this exhibit. It’s easy to find, close to Cannery Row and the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the viewing is free. It’s the perfect afternoon or day trip from the Bay Area. The exhibit runs until May 24th. They also have copies of our Flesk book, “Warren Chang: Narrative Paintings” available for purchase.
If you can’t make it, I hope you enjoy the pictures and that they serve as a small substitute.
Warren Chang shares some insight behind his paintings with his good friend Mark Roberts.
I received my sample copy of the Spectrum Fantastic Art! commemorative art book from the printer. I am exceptionally pleased with how it looks. We now have this title available for pre-order at our Flesk store. All orders will ship by June 1. It is limited to 2000 copies and is not available on Amazon or to the book trade. I have it listed in Diamond Comic Distributors April 2012 Previews (order code: APR12-1355). The comic shops should get the books by mid-June.
The book will premiere at the “Spectrum Fantastic Art Live!” event in Kansas City, Missouri on May 18-20. For those lucky enough to make the trip, you can pick up the book at our Flesk booth and then get it signed by all five event guests. (I’ll see if I can post the times and locations for the artist signings as we get closer to the show.)
If you are just learning about this special show collection, it is a hardcover art book that features the five special guests: Android Jones, Phil Hale, Mike Mignola, Iain McCaig and Brom.
Here are some more pictures showing the actual book and some spreads. Follow the links at the bottom for full details on the show and this book. Enjoy,
John
John Fleskes Flesk Publications
text and photos copyright 2012 John Fleskes. All artwork copyright 2012 their respective artists. All rights reserved.
Beginning this Friday, the Pacific Grove Art Center located in Pacific Grove, California will host a ten-year retrospective on the fine artist, Warren Chang. There will be forty-six of his original paintings on display. The dates are from April13th to May 24th. All of his best works, hand selected by Warren himself, will be arranged for public viewing.
The opening reception will be on Friday, April 13th from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. Warren Chang will be present. This will be a rare opportunity to meet the artist while surrounded by his paintings. (See the links at bottom for directions and the PG Arts Center website.)
In conjunction with Warren’s showing will be a selection of paintings by his father, Namgui Chang, featuring “Scenes of Old Monterey.” This first exhibit of his art will feature 25 of his paintings spanning the last 50 years. Namgui’s exhibit will be held in the Annand Gallery, also within the PG Art Center. Namgui will also be present during Friday’s reception.
There will also be copies available of Warren Chang’s book Warren Chang: Narrative Paintings (Flesk, 2012) throughout the five-week exhibit.
On a personal note, I have viewed some, but not all, of the paintings that will be on display. I am very eager to see forty-six paintings all in one place. I find Warren’s paintings to have a warmth to them. Each subject is rich with his specific palette of colors and honest narrative. I feel Warren’s paintings define what the meaning of being “genuine” in painting is. I am looking forward to marveling at his work. The opportunity to view such an abundance of his original work direct and up close is something not to be taken for granted. Combine this exhibit with the beauty of Pacific Grove, and neighboring Carmel and Monterey, and you have all the ingredients for a wonderful day.
The following is the official text detailing the Warren Chang and Namgui Chang exhibits with information about the artists.
About Warren Chang and the Exhibition:
Warren Chang:Narrative Paintings is the first retrospective of this acclaimed American realist as well as the largest collection of his paintings ever exhibited, many on loan from private collections.
Born and bred in Monterey, California, Warren Chang (b. 1957) graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena in 1981, where he earned a B.F.A. in illustration with honors. He thrived for two decades as an award-winning illustrator in both California and New York, when he transitioned to a career as a fine artist starting in the year 2000.
Chang has become renowned for his art since his transition to fine art 12 years ago, earning many awards and honors, which include induction as Master Signature member of the prestigious Oil Painters of America, the largest organization of oil painters in the United States. He is one of only 50 to receive this honor. His awards also include Best of Show awards in the Salon International in 2003 and the Raymar Contest in 2009. In addition his work has been profiled in many publications, including the covers of American Artist and International Artists magazines accompanying his articles on instructional painting. Now based in his Monterey studio, he is an inveterate and popular teacher, currently affiliated with San Francisco’s Academy of Art University.
His work can be categorized into two main categories of biographical interiors and his paintings of fieldworkers. His interest in interiors reach right back to 16th century artist Johannes Vermeer, and include subjects of self-portraits, family, friends and students in the interior environments of his studio, classroom and home. His intent is to create mood and emotion through his manipulation of light and use of close value relationships and subdued color.
Perhaps best known for his paintings of fieldworkers from the Monterey County area, this subject harkens back to such forerunners as Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Jean-Francois Millet, Winslow Homer, Eastman Johnson and Thomas Hart Benton. Chang’s depiction of unidealized fieldworkers are unsentimental, yet at the same time celebrate the human spirit. Chang admits being inspired and influenced by the novels of John Steinbeck; books he read in his youth as well as the general ambiance of growing up in Monterey.
Coinciding with this exhibition of his works, is the publication of a 112 page monograph book, Warren Chang: Narrative Paintings on his work published by Flesk Publications, Santa Cruz, California. This handsome coffee table book covers the majority of this exhibition and more, with essays by art dealer Steve Hauk, New York social realist Max Ginsburg and the president of the Allied Artists of New York, Thomas Valenti. Chang’s commentary on his own paintings can be found throughout the book.
About Namgui Chang and the exhibition:
Namgui Chang (b. 1925, in Korea) has been a lover of art and music throughout his life, drawing and painting since he was a young man. Even today, at the age of eighty-seven, his artistic interests have not waned, and he continues to paint using various media and styles more than ever. He has been a life-long student of history and philosophy, but he has never formally studied art. He graduated from Seoul University in 1949, and came to America as a graduate student in U.C. Berkeley in 1950. When the Korean War broke out later that year, he joined the faculty of the Defense Language Institute. After his wife and eldest son arrived in the area, he settled in Pacific Grove where he raised his family including Warren Chang, his youngest of four children, who became a professional artist. Chang senior continued his post-graduate work as a part-time student in U.C. Berkeley, and received a PhD in Linguistics. He retired from his job in 1990, at the age of sixty-five, so he could enjoy his true passions of life–reading, painting, listening to music, and strolling in the forest and coast-lines with “Monty” and “Baby blue,” his beloved Scottish terrier companions.
Art, for him, is beyond anything, a timeless universal means of mysterious communication among mankind. The artist reveals his vision from his inside, not from the outside like in ordinary talks. We get the totality of what an artist presents all at once, directly, and exhaustively. It is something inexpressible by ordinary language or concepts. Even poetry and literature, though they use words, cannot be understood if one takes anything literally or discursively. Art has its own logic, unfolding, developing to its conclusion.
What of artistic geniuses among us? Art certainly requires extraordinary talents, geniuses. But in his opinion, geniuses belong to all of us, otherwise, how could we understand their works at all? When we appreciate and celebrate geniuses among us, we are all artists together. A genius has an enhanced consciousness with imagination to see the universal in particulars, by wiping off dusts and smudges of given regional and time-bound cultural irrelevances. Art has no boundaries.
In his view, art may even be part of “the thing-in-itself,” as Kant, Schopen –hauer, and others grappled and struggled to identify the underlying “reality” for the world of sense-perception, the human phenomena. He believes, with Schopenhauer that the artist and viewers alike must suspend the immediate worldly concerns and expectations driven by “will and desires,” by cleansing of our consciousness, through meeting the tragic condition of human existence or by heightened vision of the beautiful. He wonders, “Could it be that art is a bridge between the empirical world and the world beyond?”
Last weekend I flew up to Seattle, Washington to attend the Emerald City Comicon. This is the first time I had attended a show in which I was not set up as an exhibitor since 2004. I had heard great things about Emerald City and decided to take a three day weekend and check it out.
It is not uncommon for me to remain so focused on running my booth that I miss a show entirely. This is despite my spending three to five days there. Comic-Con International is a perfect example. I’m lucky to see the row behind me and the row in front of me. This trip allowed me to walk the floor with no pressure, no chain attaching me to a booth and no responsibilities. My initial problem, though, was my not knowing what to do with myself. I have grown accustomed to working shows and sort of forgot what it was like to just have fun at one. Complete freedom? What is that? I found out in Seattle.
It didn’t take long to fall into a groove as familiar faces appeared. Bob Chapman at the Graphitti Designs booth, who is an icon and an inspiration to me, was quick to welcome me inside. If you exhibit at enough shows you will get to know many of the usual suspects. I’ve been helping friends with their booths since the early nineties. I have known many of the comic dealers since before I had any plans to be a publisher. Having this experience and the support of an experienced group helped tremendously when it became time for me to find my own voice.
The show was great. You can see the whole event floor in one day at a leisurely pace. There are tons of quality artists to meet and plenty of rare comic dealers. Bud Plant was there with an excellent selection of art books. The only type of vendor that was missing that would round out everything I like to see at a show is an original art dealer. However, with the artist representation so strong this absence of a dealer was minor.
A consistent expression from the artists was how well the show treats them. Whatever the organizers are doing, the artists like it.
A quick observation I made, stimulated by a comment by someone I know about the isles not being as wide as WonderCon or Comic-Con, is how every booth is a corner. This is welcome as a dealer since you are essentially doubling your table space when compared to a regular aisle booth. The show felt very packed with people. Much of this, I feel, comes from all of the corner booths and narrow aisles. Without any long rows, every twenty feet is an intersection with another aisle. There were constant cross-flows of people wanting to go in four different directions at every turn making for some interesting, yet necessary, navigational techniques. I say all this as an observation and without any criticism. It is what it is.
Bruce Timm was there as a guest. At times there were large “walls” of people waiting in line to meet him—for a very good reason.
I had the opportunity to meet two amazing artists I admire greatly. The first being Kevin Nowlan and the second is Phil Noto. I also enjoyed meeting Michael Cho, Eric Larsen and a host of others I never normally get to see.
I had a terrific time with Terry and Rachel Dodson, along with Aaron Lopresti, during a Saturday evening dinner. One of the main reasons I went to the show was to have some time to go over a few book projects with Terry. We hashed out our plans for some titles which I am anxious to share at the appropriate time. More on these projects will be shared in a few months.
This picture is looking up from across the street from the entrance of the convention center hosting the show. The path under the archway is the indoor entrance to the exhibitor hall.
This picture is standing by the front doors of the exhibit hall about 10 minutes before opening time on Sunday. It was packed with people. I didn’t have my wide angle lens on me, otherwise I could show the full crowd which is far greater in number than this picture conveys.
Here’s Bill Martinez who is a terrific guy. Billy runs Neko Press and is an amazing artist. I was happy to pick up his new book In Your Face. Bob Self, publisher of Baby Tattoo books. Bob is one of the most creative people I know. His books are of the highest quality and we share a passion for the arts. He is one of the nicest guys out there. I am particularly happy with how this picture came out. Bob is very easy to photograph. He is among the rare person completely comfortable with a camera pointed at him.
Bob Self at his Baby Tattoo booth.
I had a fun time at the show. I look forward to going again next year.
Now it is time for a little self-indulgence. There is much to do in downtown Seattle. This was my third trip to this city but, only my first spent at length in downtown. Early Sunday morning I walked down to the Pike Place Market. The skies were clear and the lighting excellent. I was predicting some good conditions to do a bit of photography.
I am not a shopper. I avoid shopping and going to stores unless absolutely necessary. What drew me to Pike Place were not the items I could buy, but instead the subjects I could photograph. I walked in to discover a beautiful array of colors all around me. I was in awe. Here are some of my pictures.
This first one is not impressive. It was of the main sign as I was leaving. I looked for a non-traditional angel to shoot it, although the lighting was no good at that moment. In general I do not like having to alter my photos in Photoshop. I like the challenge of nailing a shot with manual settings. I used a fixed 50mm f1.8 lens that forces me to move around and pay attention to my composition. The only adjustment I made to these photos is a very slight lightening on some of them, otherwise they are fully raw.
This was the only picture I took of the seafood stand that is famous for throwing the fish. I immediately became focused and fascinated on not the stand but the large crowd of people that was standing there in anticipation of seeing the workers toss a fish to one another. The people watching were giddy with excitement as the moment was about to happen. I focused on the people as the fish flew and got exactly the picture I wanted in the first attempt. I wanted the whole background to be in soft focus with the backs of the people sharp. If you look under the letters “CA” in “CAFÉ” and just under the lights you will see the profile of the fish flying through the air.
Here are some more pictures from that day without commentary. The photos speak for itself.
Jonathan Leveck welcoming people to the Flesk booth.
I was looking forward to WonderCon being in Anaheim, California this year. I surmised that there would be a lot of people attending who either want to avoid the large crowds of Comic-Con International in San Diego, or who couldn’t get a ticket for Comic-Con, or simply always wanted to see what WonderCon was all about but never made the show since it was previously in San Francisco. Whatever the reason, I felt we would have an opportunity to share our books with fresh faces.
My number one goal for exhibiting at shows is to promote our books, artists we focus on and our company. I want people to have access to me and my crew for questions, and to have a chance to flip through all of our books. I think this goal was met due to there being a ton of people and how busy we were. The Anaheim Convention Center is a larger building than the Moscone Center in San Francisco allowing for more tickets being available. I don’t know what the attendee numbers were but it looked more crowded than San Francisco.
Craig Elliott and John Fleskes at the Flesk booth.
This makes me ask the question, what does an organization do when they move an event for the year due to the Moscone Center having renovations, then the new convention center proving more successful? From a business standpoint why move back to S.F.? Here’s what I’m hoping for; I would like to see the show move back to S.F. and a new venue added to the calendar in Anaheim. In my opinion San Francisco is a far better location in terms of taking a vacation and enjoying a beautiful city than going to Anaheim. I say all of this not knowing what the Comic-Con International team has planned for the future. I’ll be curious to see where the show ends up next year. If it doesn’t go back to San Francisco it will be a real loss in terms of having a terrific long-standing show in the Bay Area. (Be sure to go to the Big-Wow! ComicFest in San Jose, California in May.)
William Stout drawing in his fantasy-themed collection “Inspirations.”
In preparation for the show, I packed the truck for a typical WonderCon. I know what we tend to move at this show. Then I brought a little more than I thought we needed. By the end of the weekend we ended up tossing five boxes into the back seat of the truck. We moved a lot of books. We almost did as well as Comic-Con in 2011 and that show has over 125K people showing up. WonderCon has less than half the crowd and is only three days compared to four-and-a-half days at Comic-Con. We were very busy on Friday and Sunday. Saturday is always semi-busy with a more family oriented crowd and us competing with the Hollywood events. Plus it was rainy and cold that day. (From what I hear it was a bit unusual for Southern California.) I heard complaints from neighboring dealers that no one was buying prints, posters, art and large items due to the downpour and the parking being so far away. People in San Francisco wouldn’t sweat the rain! (I grew up in the Bay Area so I’ve got to be loyal and pay my respects to The City and people there.)
William Stout, Craig Elliott and John Fleskes at the Flesk booth.
The second goal for attending the show is to spend some time with artists I currently work with and to make some new contacts to discuss future possibilities. William Stout, Craig Elliott and Jim Silke were all there. It was a pleasure to have a few relaxing dinners with these gentlemen. In regards to new artists I spoke with and projects in development I am very excited about the future; the details of which I will be sharing later this year.
My third goal, that of selling books, was met. Bruce Timm’s “Naughty and Nice” book led the way with Al Williamson Archives volumes one and two and The Art of Craig Elliott coming in second and third. I like to make sure every title I have published and is still available is out on the table to view.
Overall I am very pleased with the show and enjoyed myself.
I want to mention our new face at the booth, Jonathan Leveck. He has been assisting me for the last five months and has just moved into the position of Director of Operations. I have found him to be smart, efficient and invaluable in his efforts to help grow and promote the business. He shares a passion for art and books, plus has a firm understanding of our mission and where we are headed. This was Jonathan’s first show. I found it curious to see the event through the eyes of a newcomer. He did very well. I look forward to having him take over more responsibilities to allow me to focus on other aspects of the business.
Our next show is in May at the Spectrum Fantastic Art Live! event in Kansas City, Missouri. I hope to see you there.
We’ll be set up at WonderCon in Anaheim, California running from March 16-18. Our booth number is 816. Craig Elliott, Jim Silke and William Stout will be there are well, along with our full line of books. I look forward to seeing those that make the show.
A newsletter with the details about he show and what we will have there can be read here. I’ll have pictures and a blog about the event posted afterwards.
Kansas City in her evening gown. The view from the Westin downtown.
A few people emailed me when they noticed my presence in the background pictures and video of the Spectrum 19 judging on the Spectrum Fantastic Art website. I admit to being guilty of being there. I had wrapped up the “Spectrum Fantastic Art Live!” commemorative art book on Thursday, March 1, just in time to travel to Kansas City to help behind the scenes with the judging process on March 3. In-between setting out artwork and cups, and counting beans (votes), I took quite a bit of pictures. I am sharing them here.
The beans and the highly coveted paperclips.
Each judge is assigned one of the five colors to avoid duplicate votes by accident. Each bean represents a vote. Three or more beans gets you into the book. The voting is anonymous, except when determining the silver and gold awards when a lively discussion ensues. A paperclip is reserved for award consideration.
The Spectrum 19 jury with Cathy & Arnie Fenner.
The jury comprised of Scott Gustafson, Jeremy Cranford, Peter de Sève, Jon Schindehette, and Dawn Rivera-Ernster. Arnie & Cathy selected an all-star group and they are all terrific people. It was a pleasure to meet them all. This group of artist’s, art directors and senior creative individuals are well-equipped to make the prime selections for the best in contemporary fantastic art. I am anxious to see the book that they made.
Let the judging commence!
Arnie Fenner and Jon Schindehette. Jon is the senior creative director for Dungeons & Dragons at Wizards of the Coast.
Dawn Rivera-Ernster, director of talent and recruitment for Walt Disney Animation Studios, amid the sea of entries.
Jeremy Cranford, senior art manager at Blizzard Entertainment, casts a vote.
Scott Gustafson, artist and writer, weighs his choices.
The couple behind Spectrum, Arnie & Cathy Fenner.
An artist submitted a 3-D work, along with 3-D glasses for the judges. Each pair of glasses had their name written on it. Here Cathy Fenner holds the art while the jury views the piece.
Rows and rows of art to view. Jon Schindehette is in the background.
Dawn Rivera-Ernster and Peter de Sève.
New this year is the silver and gold awards being awarded at the Spectrum Fantastic Art Live! event in Kansas City, Missouri this May at “The Midland” theater. The five artists up for the awards in each category follow.
The five Advertising category nominees.
Advertising:
Jutin Coro Kaufman: Mothead
Android Jones: Boom Festival
Tyler Jacobson: Talon of Umberlee
Tyler Jacobson: Daask Crime Lord
Lucas Graciano: Temple Guardian
The five Book category nominees.
Book:
John Jude Palencar: Bared Blade
Edward Kinsella: Wooden Bones
Petar Meseldzija: Eowyn and the Lord of the Nazgul
Dragan Bibin: Vid the Vampire
Jean-Babtiste Monge: Ragnarok
The five Comics category nominees.
Comics:
Jim Murray: DOTA 2: Tales from the Secret Shop
Sonny Liew: Malinky Robot
Andy Brase: DarkSun II
Phroilan Gardner: The Destroyer
Alex Alice: Sigfried III
Concept Art:
Justin Sweet: Jack the Giant Killer
Brian Matyas: Spartan Victory
Robh Ruppel: Yemen
Daniel Dociu: Hangar
Allen Williams: Unknown One
The jury reviews the five Dimensional category nominees.
Dimensional:
Jonathan L. Matthews: Batman, Black and White
Thomas S. Kuebler: I am Providence
Virginie Ropars: Jack
Allan Carrasco: Rhinatuar
Michael Defeo: Octopus
The five Editorial category nominees.
Editorial:
Chris Buzelli: Strength in Numbers
Jean-Baptiste Monge: Mic Mac Cormac
Bobby Chiu: Early Bloom
Ture Ekroos: Beneath
James Gurney: Kosmocertatops
The five Institutional category nominees.
Institutional:
Android Jones: Water Dragon 2012
Petar Meseldzija: The Rescuer
Bill Carman: Three Wishes
Raoul Vitale: Turin and the Glaurung
Omar Rayyan: Crow and the Picture
The five Unpublished category nominees.
Unpublished:
Eric Fortune: Last Embrace
Andrew Theophilopoulos: Princess of the Pleia Dians
Justin Gerard: Portrait of a Monster #3
Kei Acedera: morning Chill
Michael Whelan: CK Unmasked
A few weeks back I attended a Warren Chang exhibit and book signing for his “Narrative Paintings” fine art book, a collection of which I am honored to have published.
The event was held at the Sunset Center in Carmel, California on Friday, February 24th from 4-7:00p.m. This premiere exhibition of an ongoing series celebrates the Monterey County artists featured in the 2012 Fine Art Calendar selected by the internationally renowned artist David Ligare. Karen Leoni was also there showcasing a sampling of her original works.
Warren Chang with Karen Leoni
The Sunset Center is a beautiful venue. The evening included live music, and a wonderful assortment of food and wine. Paulette Lynch, the host, was a pleasure to meet and she did a wonderful job of making us all feel welcome.
A good number of people showed up allowing them the opportunity to see some of Warren Chang’s original paintings and to purchase a personalized copy of his new book.
Two of Warren's models arrived unexpectedly. They happened to be featured on the same spread in the book. Posing the models, artist and book together was a fun moment.
The Arts Council is a truly outstanding organization that “provides arts education to thousands of students each year thanks to support from local PTAs, foundations, businesses and individuals. We provide promotional, technical and financial support to over fifty arts organizations thanks to funding from the Monterey County Board of Supervisors and a grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.” I’m happy to know that a portion of the sales from Warren’s book went straight into the local arts community.
Warren with The Arts Council president Richard Anderson. Two giclee prints of Warren's paintings are in the background.
Thanks again to Paulette, president Richard Anderson, and the entire group at the Arts Council for their support!
I just approved the final proofs for the “Spectrum Fantastic Art Live!” commemorative art book that I edited and designed. There are five artists featured along with an introduction by five different writers to each gallery section. The book opens with an introduction by Cathy & Arnie Fenner and closes with an afterword that I wrote.
This Spectrum Fantastic Art Live! hardcover collection explores the work of the five special guests at this year’s event: Android Jones, Brom, Iain McCaig, Phil Hale and Mike Mignola. Introductions to each gallery are by industry greats Christopher Golden, Lorne Lanning, Christopher Paolini and William Stout, plus a short interview with Phil Hale by Tray Batey. The book is limited to 2000 copies and it will premiere at Spectrum Fantastic Art Live! in Kansas City, Missouri on May 18-20, 2012.
Since I was working with a dozen people I mapped out every page before I contacted everyone. Then I gave everyone a blueprint in PDF form. I detailed exactly what I needed from each person and provided a due date. The schedule is very important as the “Spectrum Fantastic Art Live!” show is coming up in May and the books have to be there. They can’t show up a day late. The book is done. It is going on the press next week. Then it is a matter of me staying on top of the printer and shipper to make sure they arrive in time.
I spent some time pushing, challenging and driving myself to do something new with the design of the book, when compared with my previous book designs. I felt I really needed to grow. I applied much of what I learned from working with Bruce Timm on the Naughty and Nice book. And I also forced myself to stop answering emails, stop writing blogs and just focus on the book. I get very distracted running Flesk Publications and I had to just shut myself off from the world for a little while and focus on experimenting. This effort added an extra couple weeks to the timeline, but I think it was worth it. I came up with enough new design ideas to apply to the next few books.
The way I started is much in the same way as you see artists draw out thumbnails for book covers or illustrations. I like to use a red or blue pencil, something soft—dull or sharp, it doesn’t matter, and make little two to three inch cover, book spread, title pages and introduction page designs. Like I said before, I rarely have time for this sort of thing but one evening I just sat down and started drawing. Within an hour I had a dozen section spread ideas, a handful of cover ideas and most of the book worked out in miniature form. At this point the book is totally in my head. I never referenced the sketches again. I fine tune any details in my head while running errands, waiting in line at the Post Office, driving to the beach or any other moment that I have a moment to myself.
Another hour to two hour session I spend is going through fonts for the book. Again, it is very hard for me to find this moment focus, but once I do, one to two hours is the most time it takes. I go through hundreds of fonts to find what I am looking for. I never know what font I will choose, or what I really want, but once I see it I know it is the right one. It’s usually very obvious when I see a font and know I want to use it. For all of the non-body text fonts, I wanted to make sure I used selections that I had never used before. Once the fonts were selected, I moved on to designing the book.
As I was designing the cover, I sent my concept to Mark Schultz for his opinion. It’s good to have a guy like Mark to call and run ideas by. It’s fun! Sometimes a ten minute call can result in a good handful of ideas, or cement something in my head I was unsure about. So, I sent him the cover and before I knew it his wife, Denise (a solid artist and designer in her own right) was on the phone to offer ideas. I found myself tweaking the cover as we talked and sending PDF’s through email. I must have sent them fifteen samples with different color variations, font placements, line thicknesses—all very subtle variations to “see” how different ideas would apply to the cover. We had a good time. Before we knew it we had one we all liked the best. There was no arguing or debates, the right cover naturally evolved and we all leaned towards it. A few weeks later I decided to add the burnt paper “look” to replace the flat colors. I spent about three hours making the swatches that are used for the backgrounds on the jacket, but I think it was worth the time. The flat color looked too boring to me and was not harmonizing with Brom’s terrific cover art.
Brom was the first person to get me all of his art and captions, so I started with his section. He gave me more art than I needed so I never felt limited by what would go on each page. This allowed me to design the section by balancing the art on the spreads just how I wanted to. From the start I already knew I wanted every section to have a different feel that represented each artist directly, almost like five chapbooks in one book, and not one single design to run through the whole book. The book does have unity, but each section is unique as well.
By the time I actually start laying out the book in InDesign, if you were to stand over my shoulder and watch you would think I am working very fast. At this point I’m bouncing around the pages and book, adding this, moving that, dumping one idea to start another—I’m on autopilot and am just sticking things in place. It feels very subconscious and I don’t feel that aware of what I am doing. It doesn’t seem like work. I can have music playing, kids screaming, it doesn’t matter. I’m just in the groove. All my preparatory work was done in advance making the actual work seem like a breeze.
Mignola’s section came second. This went fast as well, since I had a very clear vision for how to present his art. I sent it to Mike to look over, took his feedback and made some slight adjustments for the better. It’s very important to me to represent the artists’ energy in the book. Each personality and style is so different from one another and I want to capture some of that uniqueness into the book. It really isn’t about me and my ego. It’s about the artists and the book.
I continued to put together and send each artist their chapters for review. No major changes were made, just little tweaks—mostly by me later on.
Phil Hale requested that he design his section. Sure! I took it as an opportunity for me to learn from him. He sent me a detailed layout for his gallery. I really dug what he sent me. It was very much in line with how I envisioned his art to be showcased. I had studied his previous books so had a good feel for what he would want. He breaks boundaries and really pushes design in subtle, simple and powerful ways. I just love what he did.
I wasn’t too familiar with Android Jones before I started the book. As I worked on his section I grew an intense appreciation for him and his work. He is absolutely amazing! The way he pushes electric art and fuses colors together is unbelievable.
Iain McCaig’s section went together quickly as well. I had a certain idea for his section from the start and ran it by Iain. He sent me some very special pieces. I can’t talk about it yet, but just wait until you see what Iain is sharing with us.
Arnie Fenner suggested Christopher Paolini to write Brom’s introduction. I was crossing my fingers, but not getting my hopes up. I thought he was surely too busy. Turns out I was wrong and Christopher was more than happy to write one. Christopher Golden, another recommendation by Arnie, came through like champ too, writing a piece about Mignola. Lorne Lanning delivered for Android, and William Stout for Iain. Phil Hale supplied an interview extract with Tray Batey. Each is a delight to read and I am grateful to all of these gentlemen for their time and help.
I am very happy with how this book turned out. I was asked last June by Arnie if I would be interested in producing some sort of simple and modest souvenir book for the show. Well, I have a bad habit of taking a simple request and having my way with it. What you will see is something atypical of a souvenir book. In fact I’m not labeling it as such and am focusing on this being a high end art book commemorating the event. At first it was going to be 8.5 x 11 inches at 48 pages. It grew into 64 pages at 9 x 12 inches. I wanted the dimensions to match the Spectrum books and the extra 16 pages added some weight.
I would like to thank Cathy & Arnie Fenner and all of the artists and writers for this opportunity and for their trust.
So there you go–a bit of background information on how the book was made. I’m looking forward to the “Spectrum Fantastic Art Live!” show and having this book available there. See you soon.
On Saturday we will have our one and only Spectrum Fantastic Art Live! commemorative event art book signing. This is the official show book featuring the five show guests. It is published by Flesk with the authorization of Cathy and Arnie Fenner. For an hour-and-a-half attendees will have the opportunity to have the book signed by all five artists, Brom, Hale, Android, Mignola and McCaig. Phil Hale does not have a booth at the show. This is a rare scheduled appearance to meet him. (Check back later for the exact time.)
