Category: Flesk Book Signings

Craig Elliott, Gary Gianni, Petar Meseldzija, Mark Schultz and William Stout will join Flesk Publications at the Strip Festival Breda show in The Netherlands this September 10-11, 2011. The event will be held at the Chasse Theater in the city’s historic downtown.

Flesk will have their full line of books at the show, including Flesk Prime, a compendium featuring all five artists appearing at the show. The Flesk Publications stand will be rife with additional exclusive new titles, including Mysterious Islands by Gary Gianni and the Naughty and Nice Teaser by Bruce Timm. Free catalogs, promotional fliers and posters will also be on hand.

An exclusive giclee print “An Evening with Flesk Prime” featuring art from the five participating artists will be made available. Each print, using the finest archival inks on premium stock, is signed by each individual and is strictly limited to an edition of 50, with only 25 being available for sale to the public.

Each artist will be available for autographs and discussion. They will also have original artwork and unique items for sale.

The Artists:

Craig Elliott works in the animation industry as a visual-development artist, character designer and concept artist. He has worked primarily for Disney and DreamWorks, designing animated films such as Hercules, Mulan, Treasure Planet and The Princess and the Frog and Rio. He is the subject of an upcoming collection from Flesk Publications, The Art of Craig Elliott.

Gary Gianni has adapted and illustrated a wide variety of books, including John Henry, Kidnapped, Moby Dick, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, The Complete Conan of Cimmeria, and more recently, Michael Chabon’s Gentlemen of the Road. His comics work includes Classics Illustrated, The Shadow, and The MonsterMen. Gianni currently serves as illustrator of the Prince Valiant Sunday comic strip.

Petar Meseldžija is an illustrator and fine artist. His previous works include thirty-three illustrations for King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and ten covers for books of children’s fantasy literature for Scholastic. Petar’s own book The Legend of Steel Bashaw was published by Flesk in 2010. Most recently Petar contributed to a book project about the creatures of Serbian mythology, titled Banished Demons.

Mark Schultz is an American cartoonist, illustrator and writer. His most well-known work Xenozoic Tales has been adapted to television as the animated series Cadillacs and Dinosaurs. He is currently in the process of producing illustrations for his novella Storms at Sea. Mark is the current writer for the newspaper strip Prince Valiant.

William Stout is one of America’s foremost fantasy and film artists, dinosaur muralists and illustrators. Stout has contributed to over thirty films including Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Walt Disney’s Dinosaur and Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth. His Flesk books include Hallucinations, Inspirations, Prehistoric Life Murals and Dinosaur Discoveries.

Making his second appearance at the Strip Festival is John Fleskes, president and publisher of Flesk Publications. His previous books include collections on James Bama, Franklin Booth, Steve Rude and a two-edition set on the works of Joseph Clement Coll. His upcoming books include Edwin Austin Abbey: Drawings and James Bama: Personal Works.

“The warmth and friendliness of the Dutch people during Mark Schultz and my visit in 2010, along with the beauty of the city, encouraged us to come back again this year—and bring a few of our friends along as well,” shares John Fleskes. “We look forward to another incredible trip.”

Generous support for the appearance of Flesk Publications and each artist has been provided by De Stripspecialist, the finest comic book store in Breda.

Full details and sample pages for all Flesk Publications titles and the most recent news can be found at fleskpublications.com. All titles mentioned here and more can be purchased on our online store. Additional information can be read on publisher John Fleskes’ blog at fleskpublications.com/blog.

John Fleskes

Flesk Publications
fleskpublications.com

I am pleased to share the following details about an exciting Flesk Publications event.

Participate with Flesk Publications and five of its brightest stars in an evening of food, drink, conversation and illumination.

Publisher John Fleskes cordially invites you to join Craig Elliott, Gary Gianni, Petar Meseldzija, Mark Schultz and William Stout in a dinner prior to Strip Festival Breda 2011 which will afford the appreciator of fine illustration a chance for relaxed one-on-one repartee  in an atmosphere of convivial wining and dining. Strictly limited to 15 guests to ensure a quality experience.

Situated in a private room at the highly regarded Merlijn restaurant in the lovely and historic city of Breda, The Netherlands, with all the amenities of fine dining and spirits included.

Guests will receive a special signed giclee print honoring the evening and a copy of the new Flesk Prime compendium, personalized by all five artists. Original artwork will be available for discussion and viewing pleasure.

Additional support has been given by De Stripspecialist, Breda’s premier comic store.

Those interested in participating can contact evening organizer Mark Thelosen for pricing and availability at hoffmansmark@yahoo.com

The idea for “An Evening with Flesk Prime” came to me while thinking of the private dinners I feel fortunate to have with these artists. I always consider them to be special occasions that leave me with wonderful memories. I wanted to make this intimate experience available to a small group of people in the hope that they can share in this same rich experience. Ten of the fifteen tickets are already reserved. There will be many surprises and it will truly be a fun and relaxing evening.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
Text © 2011 John Fleskes

At the 2010 Comic-Con we only had a handful of artist signings at the Flesk Publications booth. I wanted to stimulate more activity at my booth and made an effort to increase the number of artist appearances for 2011.

First of all, Mark Schultz gave up his previous spot which he shared with Gary Gianni and Jim Keegan for the last 10 years or so and moved to the Flesk booth. Mark was with us each day with guaranteed signing times in the morning. Then he would pop in and out throughout the rest of the day. This gave Mark the freedom to come and go as he pleased and not have the responsibility that comes with being committed full time to a booth for five days. He did end up staying with us much of the time, but I know the mental freedom of not being chained to a booth was rewarding for him. I’ll always have a welcome spot for Mark should he choose to continue staying with us.

Bruce Timm stopped by for an hour on Thursday which brought in a steady stream of fans. Even with our keeping the new BT Naughty and Nice Teaser chapbook behind the counter and limiting it to two per person we still blew through many copies. Bruce noticed copies of his Teaser were up on Ebay a full week before we premiered them at the show. I checked and sure enough they were up there. I held back copies just for our Flesk store for those who didn’t make the show. There are still some signed copies left if you want one. They will only run you $15.00 instead of the $35.00 and up prices you will find on Ebay.

Pierre Alary, in conjunction with Stuart Ng Books, did two signings at our table. They ran on Thursday and Friday for two hours each session. Pierre was doing beautiful drawings in his Sinbad and Belladone books purchased from Stuart Ng Books. Even though we do not publish Pierre’s work, I am a huge fan of his and was more than willing to open up a spot for him at our booth. I filmed him drawing three full sketches during his second session. I’ll have video clips up of Pierre drawing on our future revamped Flesk website which will be available in a couple of months.

To get off track for a second, Mark Schultz and I took a little break on Saturday at a quiet spot behind the convention center. During this time away, I filmed him drawing a Hannah portrait and a dinosaur sketch. I will post these clips on the new Flesk website once it is ready.

Also, I filmed Bill Carmen working on one of his gallery paintings. I saw Bill painting at his booth and happened to have my camera with me. I got a good clip with some commentary while he was working. This will also be available online in the near future.

Adam Warren did a signing on Saturday. This was another case of my admiring an artist’s work and my willing to give up a spot for a few hours for him to sign.

Gary Gianni stopped by and we put him to work signing his new Mysterious Islands books. He also was kind enough to sign all of our copies of Flesk Prime that I brought along for the show. Schultz, William Stout and Craig Elliott followed suit by providing their signatures. This made for four out of the five artists’ autographs that are featured in the book. I have a small amount left signed by these four and will add them to the Flesk store in a few days.

Then, Emily McGuiness unveiled her self-published book, Ties at our booth on Saturday.

I would like to thank all of the artists for their willingness to sign at our booth!

For 2012 I would like to increase the number of signings and artists. I enjoy having the positive energy at the booth. I’ve already been in touch with some great individuals. I look forward to surprising everyone with some fresh faces and our always exciting familiar faces for 2012.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by!

Best,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
Text © 2011 John Fleskes

Links:
Flesk Online Store
Stuart Ng Books

This Saturday from 11:00AM to 2:00PM I will be at Hijinx Comics in San Jose, CA for their big summer sale. I’ll have a variety of books for sale and free promotional material. I’m a friend of the owner, Neil Farris, and I enjoy helping out during his sales.

Alex Sheikman will also be there. Alex is the artist of Robotika published by Archaia. Mick Gray will be making an appearance as well. Mick is a popular inker who has done much work on DC’s titles.

Hijinx is located in the Willow Glen area of San Jose. This shop carries a wide variety of superhero and independent comics and graphic novels.

See you there!

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
Text © 2011 John Fleskes

Links:
Hijinx website and directions
Alex Sheikman blog
Mick Gray’s website

I’ve just confirmed the artist signings that will happen at our Flesk Publications booth at Comic-Con International in San Diego (#5019). This is a terrific group of people and I hope you will stop by and visit. Books and original s will be available, or just come by and chat.

The Pierre Alary and Adam Warren signings are done in conjunction with Stuart Ng Books. I’ll have more details posted in the next few days.

Wednesday

Mark Schultz 6:00-9:00
Schultz will be available for autographs and he will have original artwork for sale.

Thursday

Mark Schultz 9:30-12:00

Bruce Timm 2:00-3:00
Timm will be signing his Naughty and Nice Teaser and we will have free Timm promotional postcards available.

Pierre Alary 3:30-5:30
Alary books will be available from Stuart Ng Books, plus original artwork by the artist.

Friday

Mark Schultz 9:30-12:00

Gary Gianni 2:00-3:00
Gianni will be available for signing his full line of books from Flesk.

Pierre Alary 3:30-5:30

Saturday

Mark Schultz 10:00-1:00

Emily McGuiness 1:30-3:00
McGuinness will have her new self published title Ties and free promotional material.

Adam Warren 3:30-5:00
Warren will be signing his new Empowered sketchbook available from Stuart Ng Books.

Sunday

Mark Schultz 10:00-1:00

Emily McGuiness 1:00-3:00

Best,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

Link:
Stuart Ng Books
Comic-Con International

Flesk Publications will be exhibiting at Big Wow ComicFest! (Formally known as Super-Con.) The event will be held at the San Jose Convention Center this weekend, May 21-22, 2011. Our booth number is 305. We will be sharing a booth with Stuart Ng Books.

Mark Schultz will be a guest at the show. He will have original art for sale as well as be available to sign your items. This is his only Bay Area appearance this year.

Jim Silke will also be a guest of the show. We will have copies of his new book Jim Silke’s Jungle Girls that you can get personalized. Silke will also have prints, books and original art for sale.

We will be premiering two new Flesk titles at the show. They are Mark Schultz Various Drawings Volume Five (Deluxe signed hardbound $34.95 and softbound $19.95) and Al Williamson Archives Volume Two (softbound $19.95). We will be honoring the pre-order price of $29.95 for the new Schultz deluxe edition at the show. This price is good until June 1. Plus we just received fresh copies of the previously sold out Xenozoic book by Mark Schultz. These three titles will arrive in the stores in mid-June. In addition we will have the Flesk exclusive Mark Schultz: Blue Book, a 16-page signed sketchbook for only $10.00.

Flesk will have a wide variety of all of the books we publish as well as free promotional material for upcoming titles such as Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm and The Art of Craig Elliott.

We look forward to seeing those who can make the show! If you are unable to attend you can visit the Flesk online store to order any of the items mentioned in this newsletter.

Full details and sample pages for all Flesk Publications titles and our most recent news can be found on our website. Additional information can be read on publisher John Fleskes’ blog. Flesk books can be purchased on our online store. Feel free to contact us with any questions.

Thank you for your support!

John Fleskes

Flesk Publications

www.fleskpublications.com

Links:
Big Wow! ComicFest website
Stuart Ng Books
Jim Silke’s Jungle Girls
Mark Schultz Various Drawings Volume Five
Al Williamson Archives Volume Two
Xenozoic
Mark Schultz: Blue Book

This year marked our sixth year setting up at WonderCon in San Francisco on April 1-3, 2011. Plenty of guests, artists and stars converged at this enjoyable show to make it well worth the trip. Each year continues to grow in terms of attendance. Saturday was especially thick with people. The San Diego Comic-Con crowd comparisons were on many tongues. Friday still remains a somewhat calmer day where a person can still navigate through the show room without the body-to-body traffic.

Bruce Timm was kind enough to stop by and sign at our booth on Friday. We had promotional postcards that he was signing for our upcoming book, Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm. At the last minute I decided to print twice as many cards as I thought I needed. It turned out to be a good idea as we went through twice as many as I initially predicted.

If you are anxiously awaiting the Bruce Timm book details on our website please be patient. The reason why the information is not posted yet is because we are still going through all of the material for the book to determine the final imagery and page count. At the moment there is over 250 images selected with around 250 pages planned. This could grow.

At our Flesk booth we showcased our entire line of books for people to view. We also had promotional postcards for our upcoming releases The Art of Craig Elliott, Mark Schultz Various Drawings Volume Five and Al Williamson Archives Volume Two. Again, I was delighted and surprised at how many free postcards were passed out—more than twice the amount taken compared to last year.

Craig Elliott, Jim Silke and William Stout were all at the show. It was a pleasure to get to spend some time with all of them. Besides being available for autographs they all had originals for sale.

This year I had the help from regular James Walker II and newcomer Josh Ford at our booth. I go way back with these guys and am always appreciative to have the help from friends at the shows. Thanks guys!

The next show Flesk Publications will be exhibiting at is the Big-Wow! ComicFest in San Jose. Mark Schultz will be a guest. He couldn’t make WonderCon this year due to his teaching at the Savannah College of Art and Design. I’m thrilled he is able to squeeze in the Big-Wow! ComicFest show into his schedule. We will be premiering his new fifth volume of Various Drawings at the show!

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
Photographs and text © 2011 John Fleskes

Links:
WonderCon website
Big-Wow! ComicFest website