The Spectrum 26 Call for Entries opens on October 15th! Join our mailing list to receive a poster.
Over the next two weeks we will be sharing Spectrum news daily on our Facebook and Instagram accounts. We will reveal who the Spectrum 26 jury is and the artist who made the latest call for entries poster. We will share videos that include a Spectrum 25 book flip through and interviews with the jury. The Spectrum 25 artist copies will arrive at our warehouse in the middle of October. More news will be coming about Spectrum Fantastic Art Live and the Spectrum 26 award ceremony that is happening next spring.
There are a few ways to stay updated. You can follow us on social media and join our email newsletter. Additionally, you can provide us with your mailing address and we will mail you a complimentary Spectrum Call for Entries poster (U.S. addresses only). If you are already on our list, but have moved, you can use this link to provide us with your most current address.
Here’s the link to sign up:
Frank Cho working on the cover art for Ballpoint Beauties.
I’m back in the office after a productive week spent in Baltimore, Maryland. I was on the east coast for two reasons; I was there to exhibit at Baltimore Comic-Con and to meet with Frank Cho to go over his next two books that I will be publishing.
(Apologies for these poor quality photos. I only had my phone with me on this trip.)
Detail from Frank Cho’s original art from his Savage Wolverine run.
I arrived on Wednesday evening (September 26th) at Frank Cho’s house when we immediately began working on his books. The first book is his Ballpoint Beauties title that collects his ballpoint drawings. We’re including step-by-step sections and he is writing some text for the book so that people can see how he works. The second book on Cho will be announced next year sometime. Frank is such a busy guy who is oftentimes stretched in multiple directions. Because of this I typically prefer to keep our projects together quiet until they are about 80% completed to make sure I am not introducing any stress into Frank’s schedule. At the moment, our full focus is on Ballpoint Beauties. However, I did get a large chunk of work done on the unannounced book during my visits to Frank’s house. I spent hours pouring through his originals and scanning material.
We will launch a Kickstarter campaign for his Ballpoint Beauties book on Tuesday, October 16th.
The Flesk booth at Baltimore Comic Con an hour before opening on the first day.
The Baltimore Comic Con was terrific this year. It generally is every year, but this one was especially successful. Richard and Wendy Pini had a booth directly across from us. Frank Cho was next to us and Mark Schultz was with us. Arthur Adams and Joyce Chin were just a few aisles away. Having all these artists present who I work with fueled the interest in their books. As a result, we sold almost all the books that we brought to the show.
Since this was only the second show where I exhibited this year, and the first where I sat behind the booth and worked, I found that it took me a full day to find my voice. I didn’t realize how out of practice I was when it comes to talking to different people all throughout the day. On Saturday we were totally slammed with people stopping by, and by Sunday I finally got into a pretty good groove when chatting with people who stopped by.
Richard and Wendy Pini’s booth directly across from ours.
Each day I enjoyed interacting with Richard and Wendy. Having dinners with various artists and con friends was also nice. I had lost my voice by Saturday evening and hardly spoke during dinner, but found it again for Sunday morning, fortunately.
Mark Schultz signing a copy of his Portfolio book.
I managed to walk the floor on Sunday. Baltimore Comic Con is a great show for me, primarily because the show organizers and volunteers treat us well, plus the attendees are well informed and sophisticated collectors who know their artists and writers. Additionally, they bring in legendary artists as guests who are a joy to meet. It’s truly a “comic” show and not one of those events that appropriates the name for alternative pop culture purposes.
Mark Schultz doing a Batman sketch for a young fan.
I was amazed at how many people stopped by who knew who we were and who visited simply to express how much they enjoy our books. I also appreciated the feedback about how much people like our Kickstarter campaigns. I had several people comment on how our cover prices are affordable. This is intentional on my part since I didn’t grow up with money and I’m sensitive to keeping the books as affordable as possible for the students and for the working man and woman.
Our Flesk booth an hour before closing on the last day of Baltimore Comic Con. We sold most of the books that we brought!
It was a productive week. I’m back to working on books and I look forward to continuing to bring you more titles for as long as you will support us. Thanks, as always.
We’re exhibiting at the San Diego Comic-Con. Here’s a peak at our Flesk booth #5019 before things get started.
Joe Benitez and Mark Schultz are appearing throughout the show! We hope you can stop by!
Arthur Adams, Wendy and Richard Pini, Mark Schultz, Gary Gianni, William Stout, Jim Silke, Mike Mignola, Terry Dodson and many more can all be found within a few aisles of one another–all of which are near our Flesk booth #5019. We brought our latest books with us and we hope that you get a chance to stop by and visit.
UPDATE:
I visited Comic-Con for an hour and a half in the evening and was lucky enough to see Warren Drummond and Jim Reid at the Flesk booth with Mark Schultz and James Walker.
On Friday evening I had the chance to chat with Gary Gianni, Tom Sniegoski, Geof Darrow, Kaitlund Zupanic, Alina Chau, Greg Preston and a few of our regulars at the booth during before heading over to the Eisner Awards.
The ceremony was amazing. Even though we didn’t win an Eisner for Line of Beauty: The Art of Wendy Pini, I felt that it was an extraordinary experience and don’t feel disappointed in any way.
Thanks to everyone who visited us at the Flesk booth during San Diego Comic Con!
As many of you know I took time off from the show while I spent the majority of my time with my son as we discovered new places during our daily adventures in and around the city. This quality time held great value to me as we took advantage of this freedom. I didn’t realize how much I needed a break. I’m grateful to James for watching the booth so that I could recharge and hang with the kiddo.
We visited the show for 2 hours on Saturday before the big Schoolism group dinner, and another few hours on Sunday prior to packing up the booth. I was able to say hello to all of the artists who I work with, and a few others who I know. I kept my promise to myself that I would not work the booth.
We had a nice lunch on Sunday with Frank Cho, Daren Bader, and Gary Gianni.
I thought the road closure out front, along with the restriction that did not allow non-badge holders to walk around the convention exterior area really helped to cut down on crowds and congestion when arriving and departing.
James let me know how the day went each night, and he passed along the nice comments and praise that was shared by all of you. We’re signed up again for next year and hope to see you again in the future.
We had a wonderful day today at the LA Ultimate Comic Art & Collectibles Show. It’s a new con with a traditional feel where the booths focused solely on high end comics and original art. Perfect for core collectors and aficionados. It was a bit staggering to see so many high end collectables in one place. The show organizers where fantastic, we sold a bunch of books, we met a lot of new people, and saw many old friends. It was definitely worth exhibiting at. I’m looking forward to next year!
The first picture is of Richard and Wendy Pini with Frank Cho and Gerhard. Wendy was admiring the show print by Frank and Gerhard, while Richard and Gerhard where doing some elbow talk!
It was our first time meeting Gerhard and his wife. Both were kind and delightful neighbors.
The second picture is of Mark Schultz sketching inside a copy of his Storms at Sea deluxe book for Richard and Wendy.
Kathy and I finished off the evening by filming Frank Cho working on a ballpoint pen drawing to use for an upcoming video to promote his upcoming book. More on that later.
Thank you for a successful J.A.W. Cooper Kickstarter campaign!
I’m feeling grateful and appreciate everyone who supported the campaign. I never take your support for granted. What excites me the most is that I have the opportunity to work with Cooper, to package and publish and then share her work, and that we have this chance to mail out packages to 878 backers. Wow! That’s what drives me every day. I absolutely love being a publisher. Having this chance to connect directly with our supporters is incredibly fulfilling.
The Flesk Charity Auctions are live on Ebay to benefit the Stoke Out Santa Cruz charity event to benefit underprivileged kids in need in our community. See our auctions, which include drawings by J.A.W. Cooper, Mark Schultz, and Gary Gianni by clicking here. 100% of the proceeds will benefit the Stoke Out Charity Event in Santa Cruz, CA to help kids in need by providing them with shoes and sweatshirts for Christmas. I’m directly involved in this charity and incredible grateful for your bids!
Here’s a series of videos where I talk more about the event, how anyone can help, what it does for our community, and what it means to me.
Saturday, December 2nd, from 2:00-5:00pm, come join us for a Spectrum 24 book signing and release party at Sketchpad Gallery in San Francisco!
Sketchpad Gallery is proud to celebrate Flesk Publication’s release of Spectrum 24, the definitive annual of fantastic art and illustration. Come join us for a Spectrum book signing event and celebration featuring some of the most talented artists working today!
Spectrum is the premier showcase of imaginative fantastic arts, featuring artists from the comic, film, horror, illustration, sculpture, conceptual art, fine art, and videogame genres. We are so excited that over ten featured artists will be in attendance, to meet fans and sign copies of Spectrum.
I’m continuing to work on the many details relating to SFAL and the Spectrum 25 awards ceremony. There is much that I am excited about sharing, although it’s still a bit early to release any of the details. This is an event that I care deeply about, and one in which will remain focused on the artists and this mighty creative community.
Thanks so much for your patience from the entire SFAL team!
I’ll post the news here on this blog just as soon as information is available.
Free bonus book for supporting our Hellboy: Into the Silent Sea by Mike Mignola and Gary Gianni Kickstarter campaign! How’s this for the best stretch goal ever? A free Gianni signed book with 100 pencil drawings.
Free fully illustrated The Call of Cthulhu book by Gianni to all Kickstarter supporters who pledge $50 or more if we reach our Stretch Goal #4, 80K goal! The Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft comes illustrated with over one hundred pencil drawings by Gary Gianni. This 96 page paperback book will be 6 x 9.125 inches. All copies come signed by Gianni.
A few years ago, Gary Gianni began to work on a personal project; a fully illustrated edition of one of Lovecraft’s most highly regarded texts, The Call of Cthulhu. Gary Completed a full mock-up of the book by heavily designing the story with approximately 100 pencil drawings in preparation for the pen and ink finishes. Despite his intentions to complete the book, (George R.R. Martin wanted Gary to work on a small project of his!) and in spite of all the pencil work, it was set aside and never came to fruition. Now we have a unique opportunity to see this version in a beautifully produced book.
In addition, Gary is refining the design and many of the drawings to make this bonus book even more special. With your help we can give you this version as a free bonus for supporting the Kickstarter campaign with a pledge of $50.00 or more!
Come visit us at San Diego Comic-Con. Flesk booth #5019.
Arthur Adams, Daren Bader, Frank Cho, Terry Dodson, Craig Elliott, Lance HaunRogue, Richard Pini and Wendy Pini, Jim Silke, Gary Gianni, William Stout, Bruce Timm, and more artists who we’ve worked with will be there!
Daren Bader and Lance HaunRogue, the artist and writer of Tribes of Kai. Signing at the Flesk booth on Thursday from 2:00-3:00.
Richard Pini and Wendy Pini will be signing at our booth on Friday from 2:00-3:00. We’ll have copies of The Art of Elfquest, Elfquest: The Art of the Story, and Line of Beauty: The Art of Wendy Pini with us.
Debuting at our booth will be our new series of prints!
The new Wendy Pini prints are ready for San Diego Comic-Con! These fine art prints can only be purchased at our Flesk booth #5019. Each is made with the finest museum quality paper and archival inks, and made to the highest standard that you can expect from Flesk.
The new Bruce Timm prints are here and ready for San Diego Comic-Con! Flesk booth #5019 is the only place where you can get these official prints by Bruce Timm. There are 13 different prints available.
The art has been scanned from the original artwork, plus the paper and inks are museum quality, archival and will last longer than any of us! These are gorgeous! Bruce will be at the show where you can get them signed as well.
We’ll have free postcard giveaways and a full selection of our latest Flesk books.
