Next week we will be launching a new Kickstarter campaign for a trio of stunning hardcover deluxe limited edition books that will focus on Wendy Pini’s entire career. The Art of Elfquest, The Art of the Story: Elfquest and Line of Beauty: The Art of Wendy Pini combined make up over 900 pages of her works reproduced direct from the Pini archives.
We are working on building the campaign page and making the promotional video right now. You’re going to love the bonus goodies that we have in store for our supporters.
During my most recent trip to The Netherlands I had the opportunity to film Petar Meseldzija in his studio. Over the course of a few days I filmed him painting and was able to capture a series of interview segments. The core of this material has been turned into a painting demonstration that has been made available for free to our The Book of Giants Kickstarter supporters. There was enough extra footage to create this second video highlighting bonus interview footage that showcases some of Petar’s works. This we have made available for your viewing pleasure here and on the Spectrum Fantastic Art website.
To view our books on Petar and to watch another video, please visit here.
Bill Carman’s new art book Imagery from the Bird’s Home is on the press! This is a terrific book in which I am proud to be the publisher. Bill designed this book himself and it looks stunning. We’re currently putting together a video with interview footage with Bill and it will include some sample spreads. I’ll get it posted here once ready.
Just before going to press, we decided to make a small special publisher’s edition for Bill’s book. It is limited to just 300 copies and includes an alternate cover with an extra 16 pages of art. It is only available direct from Flesk. This edition will not be available through the book trade.
For more information or to pre-order the book, please follow this link to the Flesk website. The book ships in mid-October.
We’re at Comic-Con in San Diego! The Flesk booth #5019 is set up and we are rocking our seven new titles, all of which are premiering now! We’ve got Storms at Sea and Portfolio by Mark Schultz, a small number of advance copies of Tribes of Kai and Pridelands by Daren Bader and Lance HaunRogue, Surrender, My Sweet by Bruce Timm, Monsters Attack!!! by Arthur Adams, and our new series of Flesk blank sketchbooks by the following artist hot dogs: Frank Cho, Terry Dodson, Petar Meseldzija, Iain McCaig, Mark Schultz and Bruce Timm!
Adams, Bader, Cho, Dodson, HaunRogue, Schultz, Timm and also, Gary, Gianni, David Palumbo, Richard and Wendy Pini, Jim Silke, William Stout and Craig Elliott are all here! It is a Flesk bonanza. Come and see us!
And for those who can’t make the show, all of these books can be had from our Flesk online store!
Come and visit us at our Flesk/Spectrum booth #5019 at Comic-Con International in San Diego. Here’s a quick list of the new titles that you can find at out booth.
The Book of Giants by Petar Meseldzija
We will have copies of the trade hardcover and deluxe edition at the show! (Order here.)
Storms at Sea by Mark Schultz
We will have copies of the trade edition with us at the show. Or, order online. (Order here.)
Mark Schultz will be at our booth signing each day!
Portfolio by Mark Schultz
The deluxe limited edition and the trade edition are here! We will have them at the show and Mark Schultz can personalize your copy! (Order here.)
The Tribes of Kai by Lance HaunRogue and Daren Bader
We will have a very small number of advance copies at our booth for the show. Stop by and meet Daren and Lance each day! (Order here.)
Pridelands by Lance HaunRogue and Daren Bader
A small batch of advance copies will arrive just in time for the show. Plus, Daren and Lance will be signing at our booth each day! (Order here.)
Arthur Adams Monster’s Attack!!!
We will get a few cases of these just in time for the show. You can get them from us at our Flesk booth #5019. Arthur is sitting near us at his booth where he can sign these for you. Now available for pre-order on our website. (Order here.)
Surrender, My Sweet by Bruce Timm
This all-new 64 page digest sized paperback collection will premiere at our Flesk booth #5019 at Comic-Con! Bruce has created a full range of new stunning and beautiful nudes. Only 1000 copies have been made and this will only be available direct from Flesk. This $25.00 collection is available on our website now. (Order here.)
Blank Sketchbooks
We have produced a set of blank sketchbooks with covers by your favorite artists. We have these available on our Flesk website and they have arrived in time for us to bring to the show with us. (Order here.)
Here’s the latest scoop on all of our Flesk 2015 books that have just arrived, are coming soon, or are nearly finished.
The Book of Giants by Petar Meseldzija
We received our copies of The Book of Giants by Petar Meseldzija at our Flesk warehouse. We’ve been working hard to pack all of our Kickstarter pledges and pre-orders. Over 200 packages have been shipped so far with many more going out soon. We’re doing our best to get the books delivered to everyone as fast as possible.
The book turned out amazingly well. The printing and the extra production details that were made available by our Kickstarter supporters, such as the extra gold spot color on the trade edition dustjacket and the improved binding and slipcase for the deluxe, have allowed us to make the premium book that we wanted to see.
The trade edition and deluxe editions are available now direct from our Flesk online store. The trade edition will be available through the book trade toward the end of July. The deluxe can only be purchased direct from us. (Order here.)
We will bring copies along to the San Diego Comic-Con International. Our Flesk booth number is 5019. We hope to see you there where you can peruse the book in person and see how terrific it came out!
Storms at Sea by Mark Schultz
The trade edition has arrived with us! We are thrilled to have Storms at Sea by Mark Schultz. At only $24.95, this hardcover collection features 32 full page Wolf pencil pieces with 32 pages of accompanying story pages. New spot drawings were also completed by Schultz. (Order here.)
You can purchase this book now through our Flesk website or pick it up from our Flesk booth #5019 at Comic-Con International next month, or wait to get it from your favorite retailer through the book trade on August 1st. Mark Schultz will be making an appearance each day at our Comic-Con booth. He will have many of his Storms at Sea originals at the show for purchase, too. This is a rare opportunity to obtain a unique piece from this beautiful book.
We are planning on a premium oversized deluxe edition that will be signed and limited to 500 copies. This will be available in late 2015. Why the delay? It’s simple, we are busy wrapping up five new titles that need to completed in the next month. After the summer we can concentrate on this special edition. Portfolio by Mark Schultz
Portfolio is done and in transit to our Flesk warehouse. The deluxe edition is a stunner! Housed within a slipcase with cloth quarter-binding, with a bonus signature page, this book is limited to only 500 copies. Much larger than the original volumes, this collection has had all of the artwork prepared from scratch for a brilliant new collection. The deluxe is $100.00 and the trade edition only $50.00. Order now from our Flesk website and get a pre-order price. As soon as they arrive in our warehouse the pre-order price will go away. (Order here.)
We are told that Portfolio should arrive just in time for Comic-Con International where we will have it available at our Flesk booth #5019. The best part is that Mark Schultz will be with us during the duration of the show to sign copies.
The deluxe edition will only be available to purchase direct form Flesk. The trade edition will also be available through the book trade and can be found at your favorite book or comic store in August.
Imagery From the Bird’s Home: The Art of Bill Carman
This is nearly done! This book should only take another few days of design work to finalize the few pages still needing to be completed. Bill Carman designed this book himself and he has done a stunning job. There is a fun balance between his sketches, preliminaries and finished pieces. We will send it to the printer soon and keep you updated. (Order here.)
The Nexus Chronicles by Steve Rude
As with the Bill Carman book, this collection is nearly done. Only a few pages are left to design prior to being sent to the printer. Many of our favorite Nexus stories appear here direct from the original art. This has taken years to put together. Tracking down all of the artwork was a lot of work, but well worth the time. I’ll give a full report on this title once it has been completed. (Order here.)
The Tribes of Kai by Lance HaunRogue and Daren Bader
Done and at the printer! With the proofs being approved and with Lance and Daren having signed the signature page, this collection is currently being printed and bound. It should be off the press by the end of this month and on schedule to be shipped to our warehouse in early July. It’s looking terrific. Thanks to our Kickstarter supporters there have been many production additions making this a handsome collection. Both editions are available for pre-order on the Flesk website. (Order here.)
Pridelands by Lance HaunRogue and Daren Bader
Limited to only 500 copies, this was made possible by our Kickstarter supporters. This collects the original art boards by Daren Bader and the original script by Lance HaunRogue from the original 1990s version into a unique behind the scenes look. It’s the perfect supplement to Tribes of Kai and serves as a standalone book that is enjoyable in itself. This is available for pre-order now on the Flesk website. (Order here.)
The Art of Elfquest by Wendy and Richard Pini
I love this book! This collection is 304 pages of material taken direct from the Pini original art archives. From covers to holiday cards, you will find every bit of rare and special work with many captions and annotations by Wendy and Richard.
At this time, the artwork has been finalized and positioned on the pages. The captions are being written. Once the writing is done, the designing stage will progress and should be wrapped up by August 1st. (Order here.)
Spectrum 22: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art
This book is written and in the final design stages. I’m working around the clock to have this delivered to the printer prior to leaving for the San Diego Comic-Con. This book is a lot of fun to put together. It’s right on schedule for its fall release. (Order here.)
Arthur Adams Monster’s Attack!!!
Surprise! This is the first time that I’ve mentioned this book. It is done and at the printer. We will debut it at our Flesk booth #5019 at Comic-Con. This 48 page paperback collection will be only $20.00 and is filled with the type of monsters themes that Arthur Adams excels at. We will have them available for purchase from our Flesk site soon! Only 1000 copies will be available and can only be purchased direct from us. This will not be found in stores.
Surrender, My Sweet by Bruce Timm
This all-new 64 page digest sized paperback collection will premiere at our Flesk booth #5019 at Comic-Con! Bruce has created a full range of new stunning and beautiful nudes. Only 1000 copies have been made and this will only be available direct from Flesk. We will have this $25.00 collection available on our website soon.
Blank Sketchbooks
We have produced a set of blank sketchbooks with covers by your favorite artists. These are done and shipping to our warehouse now. They are supposed to arrive with us just in time to take to Comic-Con to have available at our Flesk booth #5019. We have these available on our Flesk website for pre-order. (Order here.)
Thanks, everyone. As you can tell, it’s time to get back to work to wrap up more books!
We’ve sent Tribes of Kai and Pridelands off to the printer. We continue to be on schedule with the book for its August release date.
I’d like to provide some insight into just how busy we have been while working on these two books. What went from a simple story collection, both Tribes of Kai and Pridelands kept growing and expanding. Bonus art was added, sketches and new paintings by Daren were created, Lance added to and improved the text, original artwork was rescanned, Daren went in and color corrected the art further, the book designs kept improving, the Flesk team jumped in to help, and we had three people go through and proof the book and run final checks before packaging up the books and sending them to the printer. Then I went in and worked with the printer to explore various types of packaging and settled on the papers, binding and slipcase materials–all while consulting with Daren and Lance. These two collections were far and away much more elaborate than we had predicted.
In total, seven individuals had a hand in getting key aspects of the book taken care of. And we aren’t forgetting our Kickstarter supporters, since without their early support, these bonus features and upgrades would not have been possible.
At the moment the book is out of our hands as the printer has taken on their role in printing and binding the book. This should continue over the course of this month, then we expect to see our sample copy around July 1st. Then they ship the bulk shipment with our copies expected in late July. We will begin shipping our Kickstarter pre-orders immediately upon their arrival.
The deluxe edition and Pridelands, both limited to only 500 copies, will only be available direct from Flesk for the time being.
We’ll have another update by early July. For those making Comic-Con International in San Diego, Flesk will have a booth with Daren and Lance making signing appearances. We hope to meet some of you there.
We had an amazing time at the Spectrum Fantastic Art Live event in Kansas City, Missouri from May 22-24, 2015. I’ll be writing about the show soon, but for now enjoy these pictures from the show. Thanks to everyone who came!
The new Spectrum gold (left), grand master (center) and silver (right) awards are made of bronze and 15 inches tall on a marble base.
Spectrum Fantast Art announces the new redesigned Spectrum award unveiled at the Spectrum 22 awards ceremony on March 23, 2015 at the historic Folly theater in Kansas City, Missouri. The new awards are designed by Colin and Kristine Poole.
The Silver Awards are bronze with a silver nitrate patina. This creates the luster of silver while still being decidedly a bronze. The flame of creation is cast in sterling silver.
The Gold Awards are bronze with a golden patina. The flame of creation is sterling silver gilded in 24K gold.
Around the base of the sculpture, inscribed text alludes to ancient cuneiform writing pressed into clay tablets and features the artists’ invocation to the Muse: ‘Sing within me Muse, Dwell in my imagination, Inspire me to bring forth my creations.’
Spectrum Grand Master Award
Spectrum Grand Master AwardSpectrum Grand Master Award
The Grand Master Award has to be distinctive, so the sculpture has additional embellishments that are iconic to the body of the work of this year’s recipient–a nod to their unique brilliance.
All of the bronzes have a polished black marble base.
When the new director, John Fleskes, assumed his role with Spectrum 21, he began to lay the foundation to create an entirely redesigned award to further serve as an encouragement through the form of respect and support to the artists whose work is selected by the Spectrum jury for special recognition.
There is significance in both being nominated and in winning a Spectrum award. It serves as a recognition of achievement that is made even more significant when it comes from a jury of their peers. When it comes to peer awards—artists to artists—there’s a purity that adds meaning to the honor. The Spectrum award is not something that can be won; they’re earned.
“The Spectrum awards have always been about providing the artists with an award that they could call their own,” explains John Fleskes. “I wanted to hand out an award that people would hold and say, ‘this is too nice to be an award!'” With that goal in mind, Fleskes was on a secret quest during the Spectrum Fantastic Art Live event in 2013 to find the perfect person to make the award. “I walked the floor and spent a significant amount of time at each of the sculptures booth to get to know the creators and get a close look at their beautiful works. Once the show was over I had seven people in mind who I knew would do an amazing job–and they had no idea! A month later, after consulting with Arnie and Cathy Fenner, we made our choice.
“The work of Colin and Kristine Poole immediately made an impression on me. The combination of sophistication, elegance, with a fine art flavor and touch upon the fantasy element made me feel confident that they would create something of a timeless and graceful nature. Plus, we had a few conversations during the show which gave me the assurance that they would be fun to work with. I wrote Colin and Kristine to inquire if they had the interest in taking on this monumental task. To my delight they were enthusiastic. They ended up pouring a tremendous amount of energy into every facet of the task for almost a year.”
“When John approached us about creating a new award for Spectrum, our answer was an unhesitating ‘not only yes, but hell yes!'” share Colin and Kristine Poole. “We’d be honored, delighted, thrilled and flat-out tickled pink!” For the Poole’s, having the opportunity to create an award that acknowledges the talent, imagination and creativity of the best of the best in fantastic art is nothing short of a dream.
“Within moments, a myriad of concepts raced around in our minds,” recalls the Poole’s. “One thing was certain, we knew from the start that we were going to go all-out with this. It had to be a bronze sculpture – after all, this is Spectrum! We’re sure if adamantium had been an option, we would’ve pushed for that!”
Fleskes gave the Poole’s carte-blanche to come up with a concept and design. “My style of art direction is very hands off,” explains Fleskes. “We began with extended discussions as we brainstorm topics and ideas to get the ‘feel’ of what we wanted. Then I turned them loose knowing that the outcome will be superior. It’s an exciting and invigorating process. I had no idea what the Poole’s would come up with, but I knew that the award would be superior. I was never concerned.”
After a series of emails and phone calls with Fleskes, the Poole’s had enough information and freedom to focus on the task at hand. A concept was born within a few weeks. “We often hear of the ‘Artist’s Muse,'” begins the Poole’s. “Of the nine muses in ancient Greek mythology, there actually wasn’t a muse for the visual arts–in those times, painters and sculptors were considered merely technicians who copied nature. Given the incredible range of imagination and creativity demonstrated by artists in this field, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to create the Muse of Creation to reward their achievements.
“We submitted three mockups showing the evolution of ideas we had for the Spectrum Award. From these three different possible directions, the final choice was unanimous between John, Cathy and Arnie.
“In this version, the Muse is portrayed as a classic, French-style sculpture, an elegant presence you might find on a monument in Paris – quiet, simple and direct. She is wearing an elaborate horned headdress which can be seen either as ornamentation or as part of her being. In this rendering, the Muse is enchanted by the artist’s creation and is herself presenting an award to the artist. In her outstretched hand is the ‘flame of creation’–a three-dimensional adaptation of the Flesk Publications logo.
“Creating 17 bronzes on this scale for much less than the typical foundry bid provided us with a bit of a challenge from the beginning. The uniqueness of these awards with the combination of materials would have been cost prohibitive to hire out, but we felt it was important to have these awards be different from all others. We began problem-solving with our typical ‘jump and then figure out how to sprout wings’ approach.
“We have both worked in bronze foundries and have cast our own work start to finish–including molding, wax pouring and chasing, investing with ceramic shell, pouring the actual bronze, de-vesting and chasing the bronze and patination. Kristine’s experience with silver casting also came into play as the Muse progressed. This background in bronze and silver casting processes proved critical as we were able to take on parts of the production that were too expensive to hire others to do, parceling out the mold making and the welding/patinas to the best in their fields in Santa Fe.
“This has been an adventure–not the Bilbo Baggins type (although at times it has seemed like Orks were at the door), but more akin to Iain McCaig’s ‘Shadowline’ creatures flooding our lives and keeping us awake through the night juggling persistent and inflexible deadlines, to allow the other participants in the process the time they required to complete their parts.
“As we write this, our studio is a beehive of activity as we are in the final all-out push with the award ceremony just around the corner–our excitement grows day by day.
“One of the great things about the entire process was experiencing people’s enthusiasm to be part of the project. More often than not, when we told people about Spectrum and the award, they were more than generous with their time, expertise and facilities. An example of the typical scenario we encountered was when we approached an engraver to produce the nameplates on a tight schedule, he responded with ‘there is no way I’m not going to be part of this! Whatever you need, I’ll make it work.’ He, like so many others, was ready to dive into a challenging time frame and work with us to make all the parts come together. Throughout the entire process, John has been exceptionally supportive and encouraging–and frankly a delight to work with. We would like to express our immense gratitude to all of these people who jumped in to help and in particular, special thanks to Brad Neighbor, Chris Gugelman, Mike Massey, and Diane Tintor.”
“Beyond the recognition of individual achievement, the awards—the iconic trophy, the ceremonies, the traditions—are a celebration of us all, of the art community as a whole,” adds Spectrum founders Cathy and Arnie Fenner. “The more attention that is attained for what we do the better it is for everyone and awards—and the electricity and excitement of presentation ceremonies—are invaluable ways to grow the public’s awareness and (hopefully) appreciation of who we are. They’re educational moments.
“That was the motivation behind the Spectrum Awards ceremony as part of Spectrum Fantastic Art Live. It would have been infinitely easier—and cheaper—to give the awards out in a hotel ballroom or in the convention center, but…where’s the fun in that? Artists and their works affect our lives every day in an infinite number of ways so it only seems right that for at least one night of the year there’s a spotlight on the art community with a gala in a real theater with all the trappings.”
The Spectrum 22 awards were presented on May 23 at the historic Folly Theater in Kansas City during Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 4. You can see all of the award winners for each category here.
The Spectrum 22 Awards Ceremony was held in conjunction with the Spectrum Fantastic Art Live event in Kansas City, Missouri on Saturday, May 23, 2015. Congratulations to all of the gold and silver award winners and to the Rising Star and Grand Master Award recipients!
Wylie Beckert’s Colder Wind. Wylie is the recipient of the Spectrum 2015 Rising Star Award.
Rising Star Award — Wylie Beckert
Spectrum Fantastic Art is proud to announce the recipient of the inaugural Rising Star Award to the Spectrum 22 Awards Ceremony. This award recognizes and acknowledges an emerging artist who demonstrates exceptional abilities and dedication in the fantastic art arena.
Scott Gustafson — Spectrum 2015 Grand Master
Grand Master Award — Scott Gustafson
Over the nearly thirty-five years that span Scott Gustafson’s career, he has had the opportunity to fulfill commissions for a number of varied clients and publishers such as Celestial Seasonings, Playboy magazine, The Saturday Evening Post, The Bradford Exchange, Dreamworks and The Greenwich Workshop.
Some of Scott’s illustrated books include The Night Before Christmas, Peter Pan, Nutcracker, as well as two original titles, Animal Orchestra and Alphabet Soup. His book of Classic Fairy Tales, released in the fall of 2003 by The Greenwich Workshop Press, was awarded a Chesley award for best interior book illustrations from the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists.
Scott is among only two artists who have appeared in all twenty-two volumes of Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art.
The Grand Master Award is decided upon by the Spectrum Fantastic Art Advisory Board each year. To be considered, an artist must (1) have a career spanning at least twenty years, (2) have achieved a level of excellence in their work that they’ve maintained throughout the course of their career, (3) have inspired other artists with their attitudes and accomplishments, and (4) still be living.
Advertising
Silver Award: Yuko Shimizu — Tokyo Night ShowGold Award: Taylor Wessling — Barbarians: Faust
Nominated: Johnny Dombrowski — Murder on the Orient Express
Nominated: Edward Kinsella III — Vernacchio
Nominated: Victo Ngai — The Cloisters
Book
Silver Award: Scott Gustafson — Jack and the Sleeping GiantGold Award: Dan dos Santos — Taking Flight
Nominated: Jeffrey Alan Love — Radiant State
Nominated: Petar Meseldzija — The Giants are Coming
Nominated: Sam Weber — cover for Dune by Frank Herbert
Comics
Silver Award: Alex Alice — Castle in the StarsGold Award: Audrey Benjaminsen — Bernadette, page 1
Enjoy,
