Up until a few years ago we used to have short periods of downtime that I used to catch up on personal projects. Those slower times became briefer, while the distance between them became more distant. Mid-January to mid-February was one of those slower times. Now–especially since taking on Spectrum–January through March are just as busy as the summer months. Now it’s all out action all year round. You won’t hear any complaints from me about this.
As we enter this bright and fresh new year, I would like to thank all of our supporters and the artists who have helped with our continual growth that we have been so very fortunate to have.
It is my pleasure to bring you up to speed on some of our projects.
1. The Book of Giants by Petar Meseldzija. We are putting the final touches on this book. The interiors are done. At the moment we are added some binding and material upgrades to make the deluxe edition extra special. This book will go to the printer in one or two weeks.
2. Storms at Sea by Mark Schultz. The art and story is complete. We are wrapping up the interior design now. I expect to send it to the printer by the end of January.
3. Portfolio: The Complete Various Drawings by Mark Schultz. This oversized version is going to be amazing. We’ve put a lot of work into overhauling the design and format. Mark is writing new captions which should be done and placed in the book by the end of the month. I expect to have it ready for the printer in early February.
4. The Tribes of Kai by Lance Haunrogue and Daren Bader. Lance is putting the final touches on the story and Daren is working on painting the last few pages. The design stage will start very soon. This will be ready in the summer.
5. Harvey Dunn: Where Your Heart Is…: A modern reprint of the definitive biography on Dunn. I am packaging this book for the South Dakota Art Museum. It features all new scanned art and photographs for a premier collection.
6. Spectrum 22: The Call for Entries deadline is January 26th. Then we will prepare the art for the jury who will convene on February 28th. I’ll post an individual blog about this soon.
7. The Nexus Chronicles by Steve Rude: The design is nearly complete. This book will include some of your favorite Nexus stories shown in the original art and/or pencil form with a sampling of sketches from Rude’s sketchbooks. This is on schedule for a fall release date.
8. The Art of Elfquest with text by Richard and Wendy Pini: This has been a massive and rewarding project that has been in the works for a few years. It will be a big collection showing a complete visual overview of Elfquest. This has been a lot of fun. We will have this wrapped up by summer for a fall release.
9. Imagery from the Bird’s Home: The Art of Bill Carman: Bill’s art is some of the most weird, intriguing and genuine art that I’ve ever seen. Purely extracted from his brain without outside influences he embodies what being an artist is. Surreal and like nothing else you have ever seen. This collection will have a batch of sketches, drawings and a large section on his paintings. It is coming this fall.
10. The Spectrum 22 Awards Ceremony. We are having new Spectrum awards made by Colin and Kristine Poole! We’re not ready to show the early designs yet, but they will be stunning. We will unveil them during the awards ceremony on May 23rd at the Folly Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri.
11. Spectrum Fantastic Art Live will run on May 22-24th. I will be bringing in a group of Flesk guests to the show again this year. I’ll have a separate post on this topic coming soon, too.
There’s more going on here, but this should tide you all over for the moment.
Enjoy,
John
John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
Flesk Publications on Facebook
Spectrum Fantastic Art
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live on Facebook
Text copyright © 2014 John Fleskes. Storms at Sea Artwork © 2014 Mark Schultz. All Rights reserved.
