The first two printings of the complete Xenozoic collection by Mark Schultz are sold out. (With the exception of a few dozen copies we held on to for direct sales on our Flesk website, which come signed, too!) I am committed to keeping this book in print and making the stories Mark wrote and drew accessible at an affordable price. The latest printing will be available this summer with a new cover.
For this cover design Mark wanted to create a situation and color mood that was in contrast to his first cover. I’d say he pulled it off. What do you think?
The Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 2 book is wrapped up and running on the printing press. I approved the last of the proofs at the end of February. The title will premiere at our Flesk booth at the Spectrum Fantastic Art Live show in Kansas City Missouri on May 17-19.
The cover for the book is titled “Easy Being Green it is Not” and is by Peter de Seve. Back in November when I was starting to put the book together I asked Peter if he was willing to provide the cover artwork. I’m a huge fan of his work. I first became aware of Peter with the release of the Disney film art book on The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which showcased his visual art contributions. I’ve followed his career since, enjoying his other film work, The New Yorker covers and his other miscellaneous work. I find him to have a massive wit and creative spirit. When I asked Peter if he had any art in mind for the cover of this second “Spectrum Fantastic Art Live” book, he suggested using “Easy Being Green it is Not.” This art was originally done for Star Wars: Visions published by Abrams in 2010. A big thank you goes out to Disney for providing permission for us to use the piece.
The book consists of a gallery section on each of the six special guests of the show. They are Peter de Seve, Tara McPherson, Charles Vess, Jon Foster, Terryl Whitlatch and Michael Whelan. I had a great time working with all of them. Anthology books involve a lot more planning and coordination compared to doing a book on a single artist. In this case, there are the six artists, eight people writing introductions, artwork permissions to get approved, on top of all of the editing and designing work that is required. And everything has got to get done, and the book printed and delivered in time for the show. There’s no time allowed for nitpicking or extended deadlines. But, I’ve got to say, it’s a fun process. It allows me the chance to work with a group of professionals that I admire, most of whom I had not met before. And the limited time frame keeps me focused.
You can pre-order the book on our website. It ships immediately after the SFAL2 event. Here’s the official book description. You can follow the link at bottom to find it at the Flesk store.
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 2
Hardbound with jacket, 9 x 12 inches, 80 pages, $29.95
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live, Volume Two commemorates the second annual Spectrum event by celebrating the work of the exhibition’s six special guests. Jon Foster, Peter de Sève, Tara McPherson, Charles Vess, Michael Whelan and Terryl Whitlatch have hand-picked a diverse assortment of images for inclusion in this volume—a collection of six individual galleries with artist statements scattered throughout.
Jon Foster’s work has graced the pages of a vast array of publications, from National Geographic to DC and Marvel Comics to nearly all the book publishers of fantasy and science fiction. Jon teaches art and illustration across the country and has received two Silver and three Gold Spectrum Awards.
Perhaps best recognized as a regular cover artist for The New Yorker and for his character designs for blockbuster animated films such as Ice Age and Finding Nemo, Peter de Sève is widely recognized as an icon in contemporary illustration. Peter’s many distinctions include the Hamilton King Award from the Society of Illustrators, a Clio Award, a Spectrum Gold Medal and an Emmy for Outstanding Character Design.
Equal parts whimsical, thought—provoking and seductive, Tara McPherson’s works have adorned the walls of art galleries around the world and, through her poster art, plastered the brick-lined streets of the American indie rock scene. Her work has been featured in numerous publications as well as the Oscar-winning film Juno, the Eisner Award-winning anthology Popgun 3 and the permanent collection of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Haunting and ethereal, the art of Charles Vess has long defined fantasy illustration and comic art. He has brought visual life to the works of such authors as Neil Gaiman, Jeff Smith and Charles de Lint. Awarded an Inkpot for excellence in comics and multiple Eisner and World Fantasy Awards, Charles is one of the most distinctive and admired artists in the industry.
Michael Whelan has defined the visual aesthetic of some of the best-known science-fiction authors of the past thirty-five years, including Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury and Stephen King. Among a myriad of other distinctions, he has been presented with three World Fantasy Awards, fifteen Hugo Awards and thirteen Chesleys. Michael is a Spectrum Grand Master and was the first living artist to be inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.
Best known in the entertainment and publishing industries for her work in creature design, Terryl Whitlatch seamlessly blends her technical knowledge of paleo art with her passion for the fictitious. Her film work includes her role as principal creature designer for Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace and concept art for Disney’s Brave and Brother Bear.
Few artists so interweave the fabric of contemporary fantastic art as these six. In honor of their contributions to the industry, several of their contemporaries have provided introductions for this volume. Artist and novelist George Pratt (Wolverine: Netsuke, See You in Hell, Blind Boy), master painter and illustrator Gregory Manchess (National Geographic, Robert E. Howard’s Complete Conan of Cimmeria, Volume Three), illustrator and creator of the Artist as Brand workshop Greg Spalenka, novelist and professor of folklore and mythology Ari Berk (Undertaken Trilogy), publisher Bob Self of Baby Tattoo books, and creature concept designer Bobby Chiu (Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland) have all brought their unique professional and personal perspectives to discuss the works of this extraordinary panel of artists.
The experience of “Spectrum Fantastic Art Live” has been likened to the act of walking through the Spectrum annual itself: a living, breathing extension of all that Spectrum has come to mean for the world of contemporary fantastic art. With this volume we explore a cross-section of this extraordinary movement’s visionaries and invite you to imagine, wonder and—above all—enjoy.
Brom and I have finished The Art of Brom book. I packaged it up and sent the book to the printer on Thursday. Our deadline was to have the book with the printer by March 1. Not only am I glad we wrapped it up a day early, but also that we are running right on schedule. This is a testament to Brom’s hard work ethic and professionalism. I feel he did an amazing job designing and writing the book. The new artwork scans, with fresh color corrections by Brom, look stunning.
While turning a book in to the printer is a huge milestone worth celebrating, there is still much to do. Now is the time to work closely with the printer and educate them on what my expectations are and to make sure the people who will run the book on the press have a clear understanding of what we want regarding the reproduction of the images. I am a very hands-on client with my printer. I don’t just turn it over and have them print it and hope that all will work out. I don’t leave things to fate or faith.
The proofing stages come next. This will be an approximately two to three week process, depending on how well or poor the first round of proofs look. Sometimes everything looks perfect and we go straight to press. Sometimes only certain pages look funky and need updates. Other times a huge batch needs revisions. But most of the time it’s only a handful of pages that need color modifications. I’ve been doing this long enough that I know how an image on the computer screen should translate onto a printed page. Once all of the proofs are approved, the press workers will use them as guides to make sure the pages coming out of the press match-up. It’s an insurance policy too. If there is a wild variation from our proofs I can insist that the printer run the book again to my specifications.
On average, from the time the printer receives the book, the proofs are finalized, the book is printed, bound, packaged, shipped, goes through customs and is delivered, it’s about a three month process. This puts the book in our hands by early June. And then we start shipping them out to you!
I turned in the Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 2 commemorative art book to the printer last week. It feels good to have it wrapped up and on schedule to arrive with plenty of time before the event. It will premiere at the show in Kansas City, Missouri on May 17-19. It features the six special guests: Jon Foster, Peter de Sève, Tara McPherson, Charles Vess, Michael Whelan and Terryl Whitlatch.
The first volume features the five guests from 2012 and is 64 pages. Since there is on additional guest for 2013 I expanded the book to 80 pages. This also allowed me to increase the gallery of each artist from 10 to 12 pages. I’ll have the cover and all of the details posted on the Flesk website by next week. At that time you will be able to place a pre-order if you feel so inclined. This is an exclusive Flesk book that is not available to the book trade with a limitation of 2000 copies. It’s a 9 x 12 inch hardbound with jacket. The cover price is $29.95.
At the moment I’m working closely with Brom to finalize his art book. A few days ago, for instance, I printed out the book on 11 x 17 inch paper. This allows me to view the 9 x 12 inch pages at full size and have room around the edges to make notes. Then I began to read the book doing my best to approach it as if I do not have a clue who Brom is, and have no context about the artist names, companies or general references that he makes. There will be a lot of people buying this book who are familiar with Brom and his history, but there will also be those who aren’t. It’s important to not assume that everyone has a full knowledge about Brom or the topics he covers. The goal is that the book is as enlightening to those new people as well as to those who are familiar.
I continued yesterday by spending six hours looking for text errors, inconsistencies and marking any pages which I felt had a design issue that I should bring to Brom’s attention. Afterward I called Brom to go over my findings and suggestions. He has done a remarkable job; just stunning work. We spoke for an hour and a half going over all sorts of details. In an example of a talking point that we had, I pointed out two pages that I felt the design could improve. In these two cases my eye could not rest easily on the page and I didn’t know where to look. I communicated this to Brom and he went to work to adjust them. I don’t tell artists what they need to do to “fix” something, but instead I let them know why I don’t feel it is working. Then, I leave it to them to make any adjustments. I feel a good editor should leave the artists alone as much as possible—and that includes keeping your ego out of the book and not muscling your way into the book. Brom is an exceptional designer. I intend to make sure he does not compromise his vision. Brom is perhaps the only person I have ever worked with who is as particular as I am about all of the fine details.
We’re looking to have the book ready for the printer by March 1st. It’s quite exciting to be focused on the final stages of the book. I’ll be doing a second proofing pass on the book in a few days, followed by a third pass the day before it goes to the printer. I make a fourth and final pass when the printer sends a full set of proofs shortly after we turn it in. The first time I proof a book I read it from page 1 to the end. The second time I go from the last page to the first. The third time I grab random pages and read them one at a time. The fourth time, with the printer proofs, I focus mostly on the colors and reproduction, and then read random pages to double check for errors. Actually, there is an early text review that I do when the text is first supplied by the author. It then goes to Martin Timins for copy edits, then I review all of his notes before sending it back to the author. So, on average I read the text in a book five full times before it is printed. I still miss stuff, and it drives me insane when I do, but I give it my full attention and do my best.
After the Brom book goes to the printer I will be working with Mark Schultz to design his new art book. He’s wrapping up the coloring on the cover now. It should be done soon! I can’t wait to see it.
I visited the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art located at the Pepperdine University in Malibu, California a few days ago. I went there to see the current exhibition, “Illustrating Modern Life: The Golden Age of American Illustration” from the Kelly Collection. They have on display nearly 70 original paintings and drawings by the premier illustrators during the 1890s through the 1930s. There are pieces by Norman Rockwell, Dean Cornwell, N.C. Wyeth, Mead Schaeffer, Howard Pyle, J.C. Leyendecker, Joseph Clement Coll, among others. These originals are stunning to see in person.
Parking and admission is free. The location in beautiful Malibu couldn’t be better. The exhibit runs until March 31, 2013. I encourage you to go if you are in the area.
The current view of the Weisman Museum of Art exterior.
The originals are on loan from the personal collection of Richard Kelly. He has been building, preserving and sharing it all along. I feel grateful to Richard for his willingness to make it accessible on the West coast for these three months.
Michael Zakian, the museum director at the Wesiman, should also be thanked for making the exhibit happen. He’s put in untold hours to make for a beautiful show. His arrangement of the paintings–which includes the order in which they are displayed and placement within the museum–is impeccable. There is a natural flow as you walk from painting to painting.
Looking down from the second floor. There are three gallery sections that showcase the art. This picture shows three J.C. Leyendecker paintings, followed by a Dean Cornwell, Mead Schaeffer and an N.C. Wyeth.
Michael had contacted me last spring to gauge my interest in working with him to package the show book. I was thrilled to have the opportunity. With the advance notice I was able to make an opening in my fall schedule to put the book together with Michael’s direction. He was a pleasure to work with, and Richard was equally great with his feedback and communication.
I visited with Jim Silke and William Stout. Here they are admiring a Dean Cornwell painting. Listening in on their observations was a fun and educational experience.
The book is a hardcover with jacket at 9 x 12 inches with 112 pages in color. The cover price is $40.00. Included is an excellent essay by Michael and an interview with Richard by David Apatoff. All of the pieces in the show are reproduced one per page. There are also a few bonus pieces not in the show, plus a handful of detail shots. You can get copies directly from the museum. I have some copies which are available from my Flesk website, too. I wanted to make sure our regulars didn’t miss out if they wanted one.
I dropped in on Craig Elliott this evening to see what he’s up to. Here’s a picture of Craig as I’m walking into his studio. The color preliminaries on his computer are potential candidates for finished paintings that will be on display at Arcadia Fine Arts.
Now, you’ll have to excuse me, I’m going to get back to watching him sketch.
I realized my blog posts have been sparse over the last month. It’s time for a little catch-up on what’s going on here at Flesk.
The Art of Brom book is at the top of my list of projects to finalize. The amount of accounting necessary for organizing our nearly 2400 Kickstarter supporters has been time-consuming, but you won’t hear any complaints from me. It’s part of the job and we are grateful for the massive amount of support we have received. I read an article on CNN about how 84% of Kickstarter’s top projects shipped late. Brom and I have every intention of being within the 16% category that ships our project when promised, which is in June 2013. We’re right on schedule. The book looks amazing by the way. Brom is designing and writing it. He recently showed me an update for the book. It is packed with great material, including some new stunning paintings.
I spent much of this month doing my end of the year accounting and taxes. I’m about 98% done. I just need to fill out and submit some paperwork. It’s a huge goal out of the way so I can now focus on books over the next few months. Doing my own accounting and reviewing the previous year in-depth is very beneficial to me. I can see where good decisions were made, and also bad decisions. It lets me refocus and restart for the year. I treat each New Year as if I am a new company starting from scratch. I try to rethink my approach to just about everything to hopefully have a better year than the last. I also enjoy reading business books and tax and accounting guides. Running a business is not easy and requires constant vigilance. Things are not the same from year to year. If you treat the next year like the last year, then your time will surely run out soon. Research, planning and taking new actions are a vital part of staying fresh. I find it to be very helpful to just sit down early in the year, stop everything for a week or two, review the past, and then I check my roadmap and make sure I haven’t taken the wrong exit. Then I repeat my self-assessment in smaller doses during the summer and fall.
Now getting back to books; I am editing and designing the second Spectrum Fantastic Art Live commemorative book. My goal is to have the book done and ready for the printer on February 1. I don’t see any reason why I won’t meet this goal. I’m about 85% done. This is an 80-page, 9 x 12 inch hardbound book which includes a 12-page gallery section on the six guests of the show: Jon Foster, Peter de Seve, Tara McPherson, Charles Vess, Michael Whelan and Terryl Whitlatch. All of the art, captions and introductions are in place. I just need to finalize the design on a few pages, write my afterword, and then design the jacket and hardbound boards. We’ll get all of the details up and on the Flesk website soon.
March 1 is the deadline to get Brom’s book to the printer. Much of February will be spent finalizing his book. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but I’m excited about every nuance and as I mentioned earlier, I feel good about our schedule.
The month of March will be spent finishing Mark Schultz’s new art book so we can have it to the printer on April 1. This will guarantee we have it to premier at Comic-Con in mid-July. We are also re-releasing Xenozoic with a new cover, and there will be a new Schultz signed print available too. I’m putting together a Kickstarter campaign to allow our advance supporters to get some bonus material and special deals. More on this in a few weeks.
In the pipeline, with no date set yet are, a full-blown retrospective on the life and art of Al Williamson, and books on three artists that I will be working with for the first time. (I’ll announce who they are soon enough.) The Williamson book will be amazing. The final material I am looking for are scans from originals for two representational EC complete stories (His Valor story would be nice. It’s one of Al’s favorites.), a representational Creepy story and a few proper page samples from Buster Crabbe. I have just about everything else that I need. If you have any of this material and you are willing to share, please let me know.
I’m working with Steve Rude on a new Nexus art book collection. I have already scanned and indexed hundreds of pages. We are looking for the final material needed and then I can get started designing the book. It’s already mapped out. This book will be stunning. I’ve never seen an approach like this done before and the idea has been in my mind for a while. I’m looking forward to getting the book out for you all to see.
There’s a little update. There is much more to share, and in greater detail, as time moves on. Stay tuned
I visited Mark Schultz in early November while on a research trip for a trio of books. (More on these in the coming months.) On his drawing board was a pencil underdrawing of “Lunar Pulpette” ready for ink. I asked Mark if he would mind my filming him while he worked in which he graciously agreed to.
Mark’s usual practice is to move the paper to align best with his brush strokes. For the sake of filming, we taped the art board down and filmed two close up sequences over the course of an hour apiece for future time-lapse demonstrations. This followed with his working in his usual method of moving the paper around and my taking grab shots for another hour with the HD camera from different angles. I asked Mark if he has ever been filmed before. He answered that he has been filmed doing quick sketches, but this is the first time when working on a full finished piece. Without his realizing it (I mentioned it to Mark after) he talked constantly about his methods, and what he was doing and why.
The video will be shared in due time. I have books I need to finish first, and then can concentrate more fully on editing the footage. I promise it will be available before the next Xenozoic story Mark has promised comes out!
I had my still camera with me and took some pictures during the filming of the time-lapse.
Looking over the shoulder of Mark Schulz while he applies ink with brush.Mark starts by applying ink heavy and wet, and then refines the details later using dry brush.Areas of unwanted ink were later removed using the electric eraser.Mark often states how slow he is, but as an observer his brush strokes appear confident and deliberate, as his hand follows a specific path mapped out in his head.The tools of Mark Schultz.Mark’s body and hand remained relaxed while he created.He continues to work on the darkest areas first. In this case, the woman’s decorative wrist band.This napkin received almost as much attention as the art. Mark continually refined the amount of ink on his brush by wiping it back and forth on the rough absorbent surface of the napkin.Don’t interrupt the man while he is working. Actually, I did a “Hey, Mark” to get him to look up at me and “click.”Mark works on the moon surface, again, by applying heavy blacks first. It almost looks like he is over-inking the drawing, but then as he refines the area it gels into an organic substance serving as a solid, and believable, base for the hero to stand on.A few more touches before calling it quits for the night.
Early this year I asked Mark Schultz if he could create a new piece of art incorporating the Flesk Publications name that I could use for website and show banners. This is the first time I have commissioned an artist for a work specific to the company. I try to be as hands off as possible, since it is the vision of the artist I am looking for, not mine. The theme, however, we did discuss. I let Mark know how much I love Jack Kirby’s imagery from his run on Thor, and Joe Kubert’s art on The Viking Prince. We continued our discussion by exploring visuals inspired by the majesty, romance, strength and power that comes with this territory, and that I was hoping for something in this vein. Then, I left Mark alone.
A few months later he presented me with four sketches showing different compositions and ideas. After I made my pick, I discovered it was his least favorite of the quartet. (Well, it’s his fault for showing it to me!) Mark ended up refining and tweaking the composition by taking elements from the sketch I highlighted and from another that he felt had ingredients that he wanted to incorporate into the final art. A new fifth sketch was formed, which I gave him my thumbs-up to. Mark went on to use a blue pencil to delineate the underdrawing, and then used a brush and ink to finish the drawing.
Mark added the “Flesk” to the flag, and you can see part of our logo on the left edge of it. He also incorporated an “FP” on the axe held by the main warrior. He then went on to hand color the art using watercolors on a separate board, which was then scanned and added as a layer under the scan of the brush and ink art.
I love the outcome!
This art premiered on our Facebook page a few weeks ago.
If you are wondering about what all of the sketches I mention look like, you will have to wait to see them in the next Schultz art book coming out in summer 2013. I figure being a Schultz fan you are used to waiting…
I visited with Mark Schultz a few weeks ago. We went over the details for three books, two of which will appear in 2013. I’ll start off talking about the books first, and then I have a request for your help to find and scan Schultz Xenozoic Tales originals for two stories.
The “Xenozoic” cover for the first printing.
The recently sold out Xenozoic complete collection is the first book we discussed. Outside of the few dozen copies I have for direct sale from the Flesk website (a handful of which are signed by Mark Schultz and the introduction writer, Craig Elliott, at no extra charge) the book is out of stock. We both want to continue keeping this collection in print, and we will have a new printing available by next summer. As a bonus, Mark is working on a new cover.
The second book we talked about is the new Various Drawings. Mark suggested starting a new series instead of focusing on Various Drawings Volume Six. He raised the importance of reinventing the series while it is doing very well for us, to keep the books fresh. I was open, and before long we had a new series planned. We will be increasing the dimensions to 9 x 12 inches, and creating a new title and new design and look to the series. We also will be adding a second gatefold to the book. Mark has created enough material to fill the first volume. We’ll be working on the book over the next few months and have it ready for summer 2013.
“Storms at Sea” was originally announced in 2008 with this promotional poster.
The third book is the long talked about Storms at Sea. We are both well aware that we said this book would be out a few years ago, but Mark didn’t realize the process he is using for the works for Storms at Sea would take as long as it has. It will be worth the wait. I will not share a release date until the final piece is completed. I’ve seen what Mark has finished so far, and the art is stunning!
Xenozoic Scans, we need your help!
In our current Xenozoic collection, there are only two stories not reproduced from the original art. (We used proofs.) The originals for two stories were let go years ago before scanning technology was available to preserve the art for future use. We are trying to find the originals to get fresh scans. The following is a list of the pages needed. If you can help us locate the art, please send me (John) an email at info@fleskpublications.com. We would be privileged to include you in the acknowledgments page and get you a complimentary copy of the book.
Splash page for “The Rules of the Game”
The first story is “The Rules of the Game.” This 10-page story was inked by Steve Stiles. It was originally published in Xenozoic Tales #2 from Kitchen Sink in 1987.
Splash page for “Green Air”
The second story we are looking for is “Green Air.” This is an 11-page story originally published in Xenozoic Tales #6 in 1988. I noticed that this story was auctioned at Heritage Auctions in 2009. Heritage was kind enough to provide us with the scans in their archives, but unfortunately they are too small and will not work for the size I would like to reproduce them at. The story was split up, and most likely the pages are owned by multiple individuals.
We would also like to locate any Xenozoic Tales stories drawn by Steve Stiles. These served as backup stories to the original Xenozoic Tales series written by Mark Schultz and published by Kitchen Sink Comics. Here is a list.
The first two printings of the complete Xenozoic collection by Mark Schultz are sold out. (With the exception of a few dozen copies we held on to for direct sales on our Flesk website, which come signed, too!) I am committed to keeping this book in print and making the stories Mark wrote and drew accessible at an affordable price. The latest printing will be available this summer with a new cover.
