The Alamo City Comic Con in San Antonio, Texas is this weekend! Brom and Jeffrey Alan Love are both guests of the show and will have copies of The Art of Brom and Jeff’s Notes From the Shadowed City with them. Both of these titles are published by Flesk. These are terrific guys who will be happy to sign your books at the show.
John Picacio, who will be a judge for Spectrum 24, is also a special guest who you can meet there.
Jeff will be exhibiting about 40 or so small paintings that will be for sale and he will also be taking some in-progress projects to show, like these comic pages, and some other larger paintings.
I have some exciting news to share! We will be having a Spectrum 23 book signing at Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra, CA on December 3rd!
So far we have 20 confirmed artists who will be appearing to sign your book!
We hope you can come join us to celebrate Spectrum’s 23rd year of releasing the premier showcase for imaginative fantastic arts in the book, comic, film, horror, illustration, sculpture, conceptual art, fine art and videogame genres. Meet the exceptional and talented artists whose works are featured in the book. Event runs from 7:00 – 10:00 pm.
Featured Artists to date:
Chris Ayers
Julia Blattman
Tuna Bora
J.A.W. Cooper
Alina Chau
Waiji Choo
Craig Elliott
Chuck Grieb
Brian Haberlin
Erik Ly
Victor Maury
Bruce Mitchell
Brynn Metheny
Richard and Wendy Pini
Tooba Rezaei
Joseph Sanabria
William Stout
Shane Stover
Vin Teng
Spectrum 24 Call for Entries Poster art by Justin Gerard.
Hi, everyone,
I am happy to share that the Spectrum 24 Call for Entries is now open! Here is the official press release.
The Call for Entries for Spectrum 24 is now open!
This is an invitation to all professional and student artists, art directors, publishers and artists’ representatives to submit entries to the 24th Annual Spectrum International Competition for Fantastic Art. All artworks in all media embracing the themes of science fiction, fantasy, horror and the surreal are eligible for this show. Fantastic art can be subtle or obvious, traditional or off-the-wall, painted, sculpted, done digitally or photographed: There is no unacceptable way to create art, and there are no set rules that say one piece qualifies while another does not. Imagination and skill are what matters. Work chosen by the jury will be printed in full color in the Spectrum annual, the peer-selected “best of the year” collection for the fantastic arts. Click here to submit.
The Spectrum 24 Call for Entries poster art is by the revered fantasy illustrator and educator, Justin Gerard. This poster mails for free in the U.S.A to our Spectrum mailing list. If you would like to receive a poster you can fill out the online form here.
The Spectrum 24 jury is comprised of a five member panel of some of the most exceptional artists working in the industry today consisting of Christian Alzmann, Laurie Lee Brom, Mark Newman, John Picacio and Victo Ngai.
“I’m absolutely thrilled with the jury we have brought together for Spectrum 24,” shares Spectrum director, John Fleskes. “I invited this quintet based on their outstanding work in the field. Furthermore, each has a shared passion for digital and traditional methods and they are well-versed on a wide range of contemporary fantastic art. Also of importance is that they all give back to the community through sharing online, teaching or in other ways. These five are extraordinary people in the industry who will do a superb job making the selections for inclusion into Spectrum 24.”
The Spectrum 24 jury has a deep passion for the annual, which is reflected by their praise of its community and contents.
“In 1995, while deciding whether or not to go to art school, I purchased my first Spectrum,” expresses Christian Alzmann. “It was Spectrum 2 and Frank Frazetta was Grand Master. I have bought every edition since because I am always equally inspired and humbled by what’s on its pages.”
“Spectrum and the Spectrum community have had such a huge influence on me and on the creative direction of my art,” confesses Laurie Lee Brom. “I cannot wait to feast my eyes on the entries for Spectrum 24, and am ecstatic to be on the jury!”
“I’m truly honored to be chosen as one of the jurors on this year’s Spectrum publication,” says Mark Newman. “The first time I submitted work was way back in book 3 and ever since I’ve been a big fan and thrilled to be included in quite a few issues. Spectrum represents the best of contemporary fantastical art and I feel blessed to be given the chance to contribute in this way as a juror. Thank you John and a Big High Five for keeping this wonderful tradition alive.”
“Spectrum represents such a rich visual history and standard of excellence for what we collectively dream in the fantastic art field,” states John Picacio. “I’ve always been grateful any time my work was selected for inclusion in the annual, and it’s a profound honor and responsibility to give back to the book this year as a juror.”
“Spectrum is one of the few illustration competitions I enter religiously every year since I graduated college,” offers Victo Ngai. “From getting in the first time, to my first medal, to creating the call for entry poster, Spectrum has been a goal, a running-mate and milestones in my career. This year, I am very humbled and grateful to have the opportunity to serve on the jury for the first time, can’t wait to see the brutal behind-the-scenes of this prestigious and highly selective competition.”
For over twenty-three years the Spectrum annual has been a showcase for the best and brightest creators of fantastic art from around the globe: it serves as an invaluable resource book for art directors, art buyers, publishers and agents world-wide. Hundreds of copies are sent out gratis with the intent of generating additional work and exposure for the artists selected for inclusion in the annual. The circulation of Spectrum far exceeds those of other annuals and resource books; we deliberately maintain a price that makes it affordable for every budget. Our purpose and singular agenda is the promotion of the art and artists. We believe that Spectrum functions as a cost-efficient promotional forum and provides a bridge between creator, client, and aficionado as well. Spectrum is all about facilitating opportunities for creators, about growing the audience for imaginative work in all its forms, without pretension and without prejudice.
The largest of this field’s competitions is also the toughest to make; the act of entering art does not guarantee inclusion in the book. Not everyone gets in. The “excellence bar” is raised every year: the job of the jury to make selections gets increasingly difficult. Not being selected is not a personal criticism of the artist, but having your work chosen by the judges is of significance. Join with us to help celebrate twenty-three years by making this volume the best yet: considering the excellence of the work in the previous twenty-three books, it will be no small task, but we’re confident you all can do it.
Attention Spectrum 23 artists! Have you moved recently?
We will begin shipping out the complimentary copies of the Spectrum 23 hardcover edition to the artists who are included in the book very soon. If you have moved since you provided us with your original submission please let us know right away!
Just email orders@fleskpublications.com with your updated address.
These books will begin to arrive in your mailboxes prior to it being available in the stores!
The Spectrum 24 Call for Entries poster design is complete! This will go to press in another week. If you are not already on our Spectrum mailing list you can sign up for a free copy to arrive in your mailbox (within the U.S.A.) here:
I’ve posted an update for our Wendy Pini Kickstarter campaign supporters who pledged for Line of Beauty: The Art of Wendy Pini. It reads as follows!
We initially proposed that we would have Line of Beauty: The Art of Wendy Pini shipped to you all in August with a December street date for its appearance in the book and comic stores. We are missing these dates and I wanted to take the time to explain to you the reasons why.
Here’s the short and sweet answer:
It is because we are making a better book than we originally envisioned and that it will be worth the wait.
Here’s the long answer:
We are proud that we met the schedule for The Art of Elfquest and Elfquest: The Art of the Story. The best part about this pair of books is that they came out exactly how we wanted them to. We spared no efforts in their production. We did no compromising. We discovered that if we released Line of Beauty on the promised date the book would be rushed. It would not be the book we want it to be. It needs more time. The amount of artwork available to us to choose for inclusion is staggering. It has taken months to sort through the material. At this stage the art has been placed into what I like to call a book map where the art is ordered and grouped on all of the 304 interior pages.
At this point Richard is writing and editing the text for the final 100 pages. He has spent uncountable hours unearthing extended memories, stories and/or captions for each piece of art featured in the book. From Richard: “Very simply, I could not let Line of Beauty get rushed to press, with so much amazing material still being discovered. I asked Flesk Publications for more time, and to his everlasting credit, John Fleskes chose ‘done right’ over ‘done by the clock.’” Our revised schedule delivers the book into our warehouse in March 2017 with your copies getting to you in April.
Bonus Item Added for Line of Beauty Kickstarter supporters!
Since we’re late, I want to do something to make it up to you. In 2013 we made an Art of Elfquest and Line of Beauty Teaser that is signed by Wendy Pini and limited to 1000 numbered copies. This saddle-stiched paperback is 16 pages at 5.5 x 8.5 inches. I checked our stock and see that we have enough copies to include a complimentary copy with every pledge through Kickstarter for Line of Beauty. This is our way of saying thank you for waiting and for the trust that you have in us.
Line of Beauty will be a gorgeous collection and something that I will look back upon in the years ahead with pride knowing that we did it right.
Today is the official street release date for Notes From the Shadowed City by Jeffrey Alan Love! It’s now available at your favorite book store or online retailer.
Congratulations to Jeff on his first book! (Of many we hope!)
We have copies that come with a signed deluxe print if ordered direct from us at our Flesk online store here.
Over the last 14 years I have taken any book with a light scuff mark or corner bump and set it aside. Well, we have gone through all of the boxes that have accumulated over the years and posted these books on our Flesk website at heavy discounts. It’s time for these books to get some love!
We have listed a bunch of individual titles and comb packs for screaming deals–50 to 80% off of the cover price! You can see everything on our website at the new Discounted Books section. Some sets have just a few available, while others have a bunch.
Portfolio Deluxe Hardcover
Xenozoic Paperback
Storms at Sea Hardcover
Various Drawings 3 Paperback
Various Drawings 5 Paperback
Carbon 1 Paperback
Flesk Prime Hardcover
Our discounted books are those that have minor bumps, or scratches on the front or back cover, or small dings to the corners. All are great reading copies with some exterior wear. We called these our “bumped books” or “loved books” since they are perfect for those who are looking to score a batch of Flesk titles for 50-80% off the cover price to enjoy. If you are looking for perfect “new” copies please see the individual listings for the titles elsewhere on this website. Thank you!
I would like to update you all on Carbon 2, the Storms at Sea deluxe and the bonus prints for our Kickstarter campaign supporters. Also, Mark and I will be at the Baltimore Comic-Con with our pal Frank Cho. I’ll have a Flesk booth there. The show runs on September 2-4.
Also, a big thanks and a farewell to Keith!
Bonus Prints
The artwork for the fourth print was wrapped up two weeks ago. When I sent the bid request to the printer that I’ve been using for years for our prints they responded with a price that I could no longer justify paying. I decided to find a new printer that could give me the service, quality and price that I expected. I found one! I picked up the four prints for our Schultz Kickstarter campaign supporters this morning and they look beautiful! I’m so happy with them. Best prints that we’ve ever had made.
Kathy and Keith have boxed up the two prints that Mark will be signing and shipped them to his studio. I should have them back in two weeks with Schultz’s signature.
Carbon 2
As I mentioned before, this book is done and here in our warehouse. Mark and I are delighted with how it turned out!
Storms at Sea Deluxe Edition
After weeks of work sourcing materials and finalizing the design and specifications, the book is off to the printer and the proofs have been approved. It’s in the printers hands for production. As soon as I learn its schedule, I’ll post an update. Once these arrive we can ship everything out!
Baltimore Comic-Con
Early next month Flesk will be at Baltimore Comic Con, Sept. 2-4, in Baltimore, Maryland, along with the indelible Mark Schultz! We will be bringing all of our latest tiles including Storms at Sea, Carbon, Portfolio, Xenozoic, and Various Drawings 5. Drop by and say hello, meet Mark Schultz in person, and spruce up your Schultz collections! Mark Schultz will be at the Flesk/Spectrum booth all three days.
Keith Moving On, Welcome Kathy!
For over three years Keith has served as the Flesk office manager and my executive assistant here at Flesk. He’s moving on to bigger things. I’ve brought in our new office manager, Kathy Chu. Please welcome me in thanking Keith for his amazing help over the years and welcome Kathy for joining us. You’ll be hearing more from Kathy in future posts.
As always, thank you so much for your support and appreciation for what we do.
It’s been a busy few weeks here! I have a bunch of updates for you.
Terry Dodson’s Bombshell’s Sketchbook Collection Two has just arrived! This 48 pages collection gathers the out of print Bombshells Sketchbooks #4-7 and new material–all rescanned and in a gorgeous 7.75 x 10.25 inch hardcover format!
I’ve approved the printer advance copy samples of Spectrum 23! The colors came out the best ever since I took over the book. I spent many extra days and hours proofing the colors with the printer to get it just right. Not too dark, not too red–it’s vibrant and beautiful. I’m very happy with how the book looks.
The books are being prepared for transport from overseas and will be arriving with the distributor in time for its official November release date.
I wouldn’t mind doing another Spectrum release party and book signing. I’ll start looking around for a venue that can host it. Let me know if you know of any stores or galleries that would be willing!
I have a batch of Spectrum 23 coming straight to our Santa Cruz, California office that should arrive in October. We will start mailing all of the artist complimentary and pre-order copies at that time so that you should receive them before they hit the stores.
Thank you to everyone who is part of this art community!
The printer proofs for the deluxe edition of Storms at Sea by Mark Schultz have been approved! I spent the day reviewing the details of the book and pages to check the colors and to review it for any last minute changes. It’s looking sweet!
The book will be going on the press soon. I’ll share the delivery schedule just as soon as it has been made available to me.
Spectrum 24 Call for Entries poster by Justin Gerard.
Each year I have the great honor to assemble the Spectrum jury. For Spectrum 24 I have all five judges confirmed. I will be sending out a press release next month announcing who they are.
Some of the things that I look for in a judge are positivity, service to the community, works well within a group, a stellar artist and revered by his or her peers and fans. The five should represent different areas within the field and favor diversity in styles and methods. That’s a lot of checkmarks! But fortunately the Spectrum community is one where we have a lot of these types of people. The problem isn’t finding people with these qualities, it’s narrowing it down to just five.
Hi, everyone,
Jeff will be exhibiting about 40 or so small paintings that will be for sale and he will also be taking some in-progress projects to show, like these comic pages, and some other larger paintings.
