John Fleskes is the president and publisher of Flesk Publications. He
has published dozens of books featuring some of the top contemporary and
most revered artists in the field. Fleskes has contributed to numerous
books as writer, editor and designer. He is based in Santa Cruz, California.
Virginie Ropars was born in
Brittany (France) in 1976. Virginie’s figures are in between sculpture, fashion
design and illustration, building up visions sometimes full of wonders, other
times strange and gloomy where femininity took away the main place. An inner
world she primary expressed in drawings while she worked as a 2D/3D graphic
artist for computer games and TV cartoon industry.
Virginie's work is shown throughout Europe in art galleries
and art shows and also in United States and Russia. Her work has been featured
in many magazines and publications. Her dimensional interpretation of Brom's
main character Jack, in The Plucker novel won the Spectrum 19 Gold Award
(in 2012), she also received the Spectrum 20 Gold Award (in 2013) for one of
her personal work, Acanthophis III. Virginie currently resides in Brittany, France.
Erica Williams, also known as
HookieDuke, is an illustrator known for their intricate mark-making and
illustrations of flora and fauna. Tangled with fantastic and often macabre
tones much of their work focuses on the forgotten, endangered, the occult and
lore.
Erica attended Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI), and became
a freelance illustrator in 2012. Since starting they have created posters,
album art, apparel, identity, print advertisements, book covers, skateboards,
and various merchandise for a variety of clients and industries. Their work has
been included in Spectrum Fantastic Art, Curvy, Alternative Movie Posters, and
others. Erica currently resides in Michigan.
Stephanie Law's images
trace the boundary between dream and reality. She delves into the pictoral language
of allegory, explores mythology in new contexts, chases tiny worlds of wonder
from an insect's viewpoint, and highlights the beauty of growth and decay found
in nature. She interweaves texture, watercolor, gold and silver leaf, ink, and
creates intricate layered pieces with resin and custom designed frames. In a
meld of organic patterns and familiar archetypes, her paintings pose a question
on the nature of perception and beauty, and it is against this backdrop that
the ephemeral guides and strange creatures dance and beckon the viewer to
follow through her various series.
Archetypes, the basis for the universal appeal of
mythological concepts, are one of the defining inspirations for her imagery.
This is mingled with the movement of dance. Stephanie has been a dancer for
almost two decades, and she uses that experience of how the human body moves
and emotes to create a bridge into her artwork so that not only do the humans
dance across the page, but the branches of her trees move with a sinuous grace,
and the arrangement of inanimate elements has a choreographed rhythm and flow.
Growing up in California, Stephanie has been surrounded by the wealth of
natural inspiration all around her. The twisting boughs of live oaks from the
hills near her home insinuate themselves into her paintings. The chaos of
Nature's wild growth, and conversely the beauty of decay, echo in the textures
and fractal patterns of her work.
Early on, her career moved through the illustration and
gaming world, but in recent decades she has focused more on her own body of
work, gallery shows, and publications. Stephanie currently resides in Oakland, California.
Karla Ortiz is an award-winning
artist who enjoys working on a diverse and wide variety of projects.
As a concept artist with over 10 years of professional
experience, Karla has worked for Paragon Studios/NcSoft, Ubisoft, Kabam,
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), Marvel Film Studios, Universal Studios and
HBO.
As a professional Illustrator her clients include Wizards
of the Coast, Ace Books, Tor Books, Orbit Books, CB+P and has provided cover
work and art for various independent authors and toy makers.
As a fine artist her work has shown in the Studio Gallery SF,
the Safehouse studios shows, Thinkspace Art Gallery, Nucleus Gallery, Spoke Art Gallery, Hashimoto
Contemporary and internationally at Galerie Arludik in Paris, France.
Karla loves good music, good stories, good laughs and good
food. She paints her days away with her cat Keedy Bady , and that's how she
likes it. Karla currently resides in San Francisco, California.
Virginie Ropars was born in
Brittany (France) in 1976. Virginie’s figures are in between sculpture, fashion
design and illustration, building up visions sometimes full of wonders, other
times strange and gloomy where femininity took away the main place. An inner
world she primary expressed in drawings while she worked as a 2D/3D graphic
artist for computer games and TV cartoon industry.
Virginie's work is shown throughout Europe in art galleries
and art shows and also in United States and Russia. Her work has been featured
in many magazines and publications. Her dimensional interpretation of Brom's
main character Jack, in The Plucker novel won the Spectrum 19 Gold Award
(in 2012), she also received the Spectrum 20 Gold Award (in 2013) for one of
her personal work, Acanthophis III. Virginie currently resides in Brittany, France.
.
Erica Williams, also known as
HookieDuke, is an illustrator known for their intricate mark-making and
illustrations of flora and fauna. Tangled with fantastic and often macabre
tones much of their work focuses on the forgotten, endangered, the occult and
lore.
Erica attended Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI), and became
a freelance illustrator in 2012. Since starting they have created posters,
album art, apparel, identity, print advertisements, book covers, skateboards,
and various merchandise for a variety of clients and industries. Their work has
been included in Spectrum Fantastic Art, Curvy, Alternative Movie Posters, and
others. Erica currently resides in Michigan.
.
Stephanie Law's images
trace the boundary between dream and reality. She delves into the pictoral language
of allegory, explores mythology in new contexts, chases tiny worlds of wonder
from an insect's viewpoint, and highlights the beauty of growth and decay found
in nature. She interweaves texture, watercolor, gold and silver leaf, ink, and
creates intricate layered pieces with resin and custom designed frames. In a
meld of organic patterns and familiar archetypes, her paintings pose a question
on the nature of perception and beauty, and it is against this backdrop that
the ephemeral guides and strange creatures dance and beckon the viewer to
follow through her various series.
Archetypes, the basis for the universal appeal of
mythological concepts, are one of the defining inspirations for her imagery.
This is mingled with the movement of dance. Stephanie has been a dancer for
almost two decades, and she uses that experience of how the human body moves
and emotes to create a bridge into her artwork so that not only do the humans
dance across the page, but the branches of her trees move with a sinuous grace,
and the arrangement of inanimate elements has a choreographed rhythm and flow.
Growing up in California, Stephanie has been surrounded by the wealth of
natural inspiration all around her. The twisting boughs of live oaks from the
hills near her home insinuate themselves into her paintings. The chaos of
Nature's wild growth, and conversely the beauty of decay, echo in the textures
and fractal patterns of her work.
Early on, her career moved through the illustration and
gaming world, but in recent decades she has focused more on her own body of
work, gallery shows, and publications. Stephanie currently resides in Oakland, California.
.
Karla Ortiz is an award-winning
artist who enjoys working on a diverse and wide variety of projects.
As a concept artist with over 10 years of professional
experience, Karla has worked for Paragon Studios/NcSoft, Ubisoft, Kabam,
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), Marvel Film Studios, Universal Studios and
HBO.
As a professional Illustrator her clients include Wizards
of the Coast, Ace Books, Tor Books, Orbit Books, CB+P and has provided cover
work and art for various independent authors and toy makers.
As a fine artist her work has shown in the Studio Gallery SF,
the Safehouse studios shows, Thinkspace Art Gallery, Nucleus Gallery, Spoke Art Gallery, Hashimoto
Contemporary and internationally at Galerie Arludik in Paris, France.
Karla loves good music, good stories, good laughs and good
food. She paints her days away with her cat Keedy Bady , and that's how she
likes it. Karla currently resides in San Francisco, California.
.
Julia Blattman is a visual
development artist having a blast working on animated feature films and shows
in Los Angeles. She is currently working as an Environment Artist on an
unannounced project at Netflix Animation.
Julia graduated from Academy of Art University in San
Francisco with a BFA in Illustration. After school she moved to LA and worked
for Walt Disney Parks, Experiences and Consumer Products for 2+ years creating
artwork for various games. Julia then went to Paramount Pictures Animation to
do visual development work for 2+ years for animated features Rumble
(2021) and Tiger's Apprentice (2022)
Outside of visual development Julia illustrate children's
books and book covers. Her first fully illustrated children's book is titled The
Mess That We Made with Flashlight Press. The Mess That We Made
explores the environmental impact of trash and plastic on the ocean and marine
life, and it inspires kids to do their part to combat pollution.
You can see Julia's work in Spectrum 23
Fantastic Art, 3DTotalPublishing Beyond Art Fundamentals – A guide to
Emotion, Mood, and Storytelling, and Simon and Schuster Publishing. Julia currently resides in Los Angeles, California.
