Introducing Nate Furman!

The Three Fates by Nate Furman. Selected for Inclusion Into Spectrum 18.
The Three Fates by Nate Furman. Selected for Inclusion Into Spectrum 18.

I read a comment on a recent blog post of mine by artist Nate Furman. He praised the likes of Gary Gianni, Franklin Booth and Joseph Clement Coll as inspirations. This was followed by an email to me from Nate. He shared his art, technique and idols with me as well as told me a little about himself. I was impressed by both his creativity and passion, especially after reading his guest blog on the Muddy Colors site. I had not been familiar with Nate before, but I was moved by his energy and glad he introduced himself. (And it helped that he stroked my ego by praising our books.)

I invited Nate to share some samples of his art and some insight about himself for my blog. Without further ado, I turn this over to Nate Furman:

As a tiny child I discovered Al Williamson’s Star Wars strip. I could not put into words the genius of his gestural drawing, weight placement, masterful line work or his black spotting but… I knew he was good! It made me pick up a ball point pen and start making my own creations.

Much later I found Wrightson’s Frankenstein, a worn and road weary copy in a small comics shop, the white cover glowed amongst a sea of four-color covers. That book burned into my brain and I understood the word ‘Illustrator’ for what it should and could be.

When I began my career working on Conan the rpg I met artist Chris Quillams, I told him what a big fan I was of Bernie’s work, how much I Ioved doing pen-and-ink, he mentioned two names to me, Joseph Clement Coll and Franklin Booth. Those particular artists changed the way I saw line work forever. And then I discovered Flesk Publications, This fellow John was bringing all my heroes (and introducing me to new ones) to life in high quality installments! Life comes full circle sometimes.

I wanted (and hope I am) part of this illustrative legacy. After years of studying the artists of “Flesk” I was sitting around one day and all the info in my brain became something… An idea. No one I knew of in the digital field was following the complexity of line work that was the trademark of these artists (proudly carried down from the distant Demi-gods Dore and Durer), what if someone decided to tackle this style in a digital format? Would it work? And how much effort would be needed to pull it off? And if you upped the resolution and dropped your brush size to almost nothing, how many lines could you work with and cause to interact with each other? Could this be a new thing created from the old techniques that I so love?

All these questions went through my mind. So far the reaction from other artists has been amazing and the reaction from the public has been slow but positive.

Please view some samples and judge for yourself if I am on the right track.

To view my process just goto www.muddycolors.blogspot.com and do a search for “Nate Furman tutorial.” To see a bunch more of my works please check out my blog (updated several times a week) www.furmanportfolio.blogspot.com.

A big thanks to John Flesk.

Cheers all,

Nate Furman

Thanks, Nate! See below for a direct link to Nate’s blog and his posting on Muddy Colors. You can see much larger versions of his art to better see the details on his blog.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

Links:
Nate Furman’s blog
Nate Furman’s post on Muddy Colors

Mark Schultz Discusses Paper Type for Carbon and Wolff Pencils

A Flesk customer, Peter Taylor, recently wrote to me with a question for Mark Schultz, which I was happy to pass along to Mark. I found both the question and Mark’s answer intriguing, and something I thought would be of interest to others. With both Peter and Mark’s permission I am sharing their dialog here. A couple of Frederic R. Gruger originals supplied by Schultz helps to compliment the dialog. Gruger is regarded as one of the best at using carbon pencil.

Artwork by Frederic R. Gruger.
Artwork by Frederic R. Gruger.

Taylor: I have a technical question regarding Storms at Sea (Schultz’s latest book in development) and what sort of paper the art is being executed on? I’ve been using the carbon pencils quite a bit and trying it out on different surfaces and it doesn’t seem to like many of them, a lot of grainy powder and uneven finish. Oddly cheap newsprint works quite well (Life drawing was where I first started using them). Anyway I’d love to know since I’d like to continue exploring the possibilities of this interesting medium.

Artwork detail by Frederic R. Gruger.
Artwork detail by Frederic R. Gruger.

Schultz: I, too, have struggled to find the right surface for the Wolff pencils. The master of the that media, Fredrico Gruger, used a cheap photograph mounting stock called “railroad board” that gave him the surface quality he wanted, but that’s apparently no longer available. Wolff pencils seem to do best on a relatively soft drawing or pastel paper–Canson Mi-Tientes for instance–but, as I like to put a watercolor base underneath, paper doesn’t have the strength I need to handle the wet.

I have been using Strathmore bristol, plate, 4 ply; or Strathmore illustration board (use either side). The problems I’ve had with these, though, are the same as yours, I suspect–uneven finish as the already hard surface gets burnished by repeated applications. I’ve found that as I build up and get darker with my pencils that the General carbon sketch pencil, or a simple charcoal pencil, lies better, more evenly. So I’ve been experimenting with these to get a better finish. If I were you I’d just pick up a variety of carbon, charcoal or conte pencils to see if any of these give you the effects you want. For me, the solution seems to lie in mixing a variety of carbon media.

Unfortunately, the quality of the tools and surfaces today are not what they were back in the golden age of illustration. I’m still looking to find that perfect surface.

Thanks again to Mark for the tips!

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications
©2010 respective writers

Illustration Magazine #29 Now Available – See Our Flesk Ad!

Illustration Magazine #29 is hitting the stores and subscribers mailboxes now. I just received my copy today. As usual, Dan Zimmer has produced another superb issue. This one includes a feature-length article on pulp artist H.J. Ward by David Saunders. You can get your copy direct from the Illustration Magazine website here, or from Bud’s Art Books here. Also, be sure to check out our Flesk advertisement on page 15.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

New Bud’s Art Books Catalog Features Al Williamson’s Flash Gordon on the Cover!


I was thrilled to receive the new Bud’s Art Books catalog in the mail featuring our Al Williamson’s Flash Gordon book on the cover. I was a nice surprise. This is the first time one of our books has been on the cover of their main catalog.

I consider Bud’s Art Books to be the best resource for obtaining art books that meet my interests. You can view their entire stock online, or request a catalog by visiting their website here.

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

James Bama Original!

James Bama

This beautiful original James Bama painting is for sale. It was used for the paperback book cover Go To the Widnow-Maker by James Jones (author of From Here to Eternity). Mat opening is 16.5 x 13″. Art is in excellent condition and signed lower right. It’s not framed.  It is priced at $5,200 which includes FedEx shipping to a domestic address.

The art was reproduced in its paperback book form on page 96 of our James Bama: American Realist book.

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

Norman Rockwell Museum Article in the New York Times!

Alice Carter, a trustee at the Norman Rockwell Museum, sent me the following email and link.

“I was delighted this weekend when the New York Times published an article on the museum, its signature artist, and the field of illustration in general. In case you missed it, here is the link.”

It’s a nice article that is worth reading.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

Robert McGinnis Documentary by Paul Jilbert Now Available through www.theillustratorstv.com!

Robert McGinnis: Painting The Last Rose Of Summer is now available to purchase. Price for the DVD is $28.00 plus shipping from www.theillustratorstv.com. This is an amazing new documentary by filmmaker Paul Jilbert who brought us the James Bama: American Realist documentary. I highly recommend picking up a copy.

Paul Jilbert sent me the following details and thoughts.

The documentary Robert McGinnis Painting The Last Rose Of Summer is now available to purchase. I expect McGinnis fans will be excited to see the retro artwork shown in “The Art Of Hollywood” segment that highlights Bob’s icon movie poster art of James Bond of the 60’s and the Dangerous Beauties segment highlights his beautiful Femme Fatal women that adorned detective paperback covers of the 50’s and 60’s.For the first time McGinnis speaks on camera about his James Bond movie poster art and other poster art.

Most notably fans will enjoy the fantastic original retro style music composed by Stephen Greaves for these segments. Steve’s music for the James Bond movie poster segment is a stand out piece that will take you right back to that era of great spy music of the 60’s His music for the “Dangerous Beauties” chapter is homage to the seductive but deadly Basic Instinct feel but it is own and gives the segment great style and scope. Like McGinnis’s images the Beauties music brings you right into the world of dangerous dames. So if you have an upcoming project that is need of this very cool retro style or contemporary music he is the man for the job. You can listen to his current CD music at http://www.myspace.com/thesgsound Composer Ed Hartman created a classic 60’s spy movie song with vocalist Cheryl Johnson in the style Our Man Flint. Ed can also create great retro music for your film project at www.edhartmanmusic.com The McGinnis documentary DVD is available at: www.theillustratorstv.com.

Robert McGinnis film by Paul Jilbert!

Coming this summer is a new film on Robert McGinnis by Paul Jilbert. Paul is the filmmaker who made the James Bama documentary, which, to date is only available with the James Bama: American Realist limited edition book (of which we have a few copies left here).

Jilbert is producing this new documentary titled, Robert McGinnis: Painting the Last Rose of Summer. I’ve seen a preview that is absolutely amazing. There’s footage of McGinnis painting and discussing his work. I highly recommend it. It will be available for approximately $24.95 on DVD in July. For more information on this film, please visit Paul’s website here. While you’re there, check out the cool Shag clip.