Spectrum 21 Awards Finalists

The Spectrum 21 jury left to right: J. Anthony Kosar, Allen Williams, Cory Godbey, George Pratt and Shelly Wan

The Spectrum 21 jury left to right: J. Anthony Kosar, Allen Williams, Cory Godbey, George Pratt and Shelly Wan

Judging for the 2014 edition of the Spectrum Fantastic Art Annual was completed March 1 on the campus of San Jose State University. Finalists were chosen by jury members Cory Godbey, J. Anthony Kosar, George Pratt, Shelly Wan, and Allen Williams who looked at and evaluated over five thousand entries in eight categories in a single day of voting. Their selections of the year’s best fantastic art will appear in Spectrum 21, scheduled for October release.

Spectrum: The Best In Contemporary Fantastic Art was founded in 1993 by Cathy Fenner and Arnie Fenner. Creators from around the globe participate in the competition each year. With Spectrum 21 John Fleskes assumes the positions of director of the competition and editor of the annual. Flesk Publications is the new publisher of the book: Publishers Group West will continue as its distributor. The nominated images can be seen here on John Flesk’s blog.

Gold and silver medal winners in each category will be announced at the awards ceremony during Spectrum Fantastic Art Live, a weekend long celebration of fantastic art, in Kansas City, May 9-11. The Spectrum Grand Master Award will also be presented during the ceremony.

The gold and silver finalists are:

Advertising

  • Anita Kunz — Little Monsters
  • Victo Ngai — A Tiger Beer Chinese New Year
  • Shu Yan — Go Into the Gate
  • Kent Williams — The Criterion Collection Lord of the Flies
  • Gabriel Verdon — Hiversaires

Book

  • Scott Gustafson — Little Sambha and the Tiger with the Beautiful Purple Shoes with Crimson Soles
  • John Harris — Fire: the Road Beside the Wall
  • Petar Meseldzija — The Golden Apple Tree 1
  • Nicolas Delort — The End of the Road
  • Kirsti Wakelin — Dreamboats, Lilies, Koi and Chang Kuo-lao

Comics

  • He Jie Mona — All Corners of the Country: The Lost Buildings #4
  • David Palumbo — Aliens #1 cover
  • Thomas Campi — The Red Door
  • Mark A. Nelson — Seasons, page 1
  • Goni Montes — Clive Barker’s Next Testament #6

Concept Art

  • Theo Prins — Kite City 2
  • Theo Prins — Refugees
  • Brian Matyas — Messenger Girl
  • Vance Kovacs — John Carter Punches a Thark
  • Jamie Jones — Ackzero Interior

Dimensional

  • Colin and Kristine Poole — Hot Diggety Dog
  • Shaun Tan — Grimm Tales: Thousandfurs
  • The Shiflett Bros. — Vertical Man-Tank, 1892
  • Jessica Dalvo — Don’t Mind Me
  • Forest Rogers — Goblin Spider

Editorial

  • Nicolas Delort — Rumor of Angels
  • Yuko Shimizu — Hair Tree
  • Luo Xin — Recall
  • Tran Nguyen — The Insects of Love
  • Bill Mayer — Fragile Planet

Institutional

  • Bill Carman — Shared Eyewear
  • Rebecca Yanovskaya — Ascent of Man
  • Ed Binkley — The Hag Griselle Pays a Visit
  • Justin Sweet — Blacksea
  • Donato Giancola — Huor and Hurin Approach Gondolin

Unpublished

  • Jean-Baptiste Monge — Ode to the Moon
  • Yukari Masuike — Riding Horse on the Freezing Day
  • Annie Stegg — Lilaia the Naiad
  • Omar Rayyan — The Long Walk Home
  • Audrey Benjaminsen — Lady of Light

Gregory Manchess Exhibit Opens

Gregory Manchess

Gregory Manchess

[From the press release.] "Gregory Manchess: A Life In Paint," the first major exhibition of paintings by the award-winning artist, opens at the Museum of American Illustration in the Society of Illustrators headquarters in New York City on September 3. Renowned as both an illustrator and as an educator, Manchess' classic brushwork has appeared on hundreds of book covers and in National Geographic, Omni Magazine, Rolling Stone, and Time Magazine, as well as on stamps for the U.S. Postal Service including the most recent commemoration of the Freedom March on Washington.
The show includes over 50 original works which showcase the artist's love of the oil medium. Including portraiture, the figure in repose and in motion, and imaginative narratives, this retrospective show features selected personal paintings, covers for bestselling novels, pieces for major advertising campaigns, and illustrations for children¹s books. Several of his oils for Tor Books, Hardcase Crime, and for The Conquering Sword of Conan by Robert E. Howard appear in the exhibition.
A lecture and artist reception will take place Friday, September 27 at 6 p.m. The show is sponsored by Cathy and Arnie Fenner of Spectrum Fantastic Art LLC and is scheduled to run until October 26. Directions, museum hours, and other information can be found at the Society of Illustrators website.

Spectrum 20 Award Finalists

Spectrum 20 Jury & Directors: Tim Bruckner, Mark A. Nelson,
Irene Gallo, Michael Whelan, Cathy Fenner, Tim Kirk, and Arnie Fenner.

The Spectrum 20 Award jury members Tim Bruckner, Irene Gallo, Tim Kirk, Mark A. Nelson, and Michael R. Whelan evaluated over 6,000 entries before selecting 40 finalists for this year’s edition of the Spectrum Fantastic Art Annual.

Founded in 1993 by Cathy Fenner and Arnie Fenner, Spectrum: The Best In Contemporary Fantastic Art is among the most respected art showcases, covering a wide range of disciplines. It is the only “art annual” with categories devoted to comics, concept art, and sculpture.

Judging was completed March 2. Their selection of the year’s best fantastic art will appear in Spectrum 20, scheduled for October release in both hardcover and softcover from Underwood Books. Gold and silver medal winners in each category will be announced at the awards ceremony during Spectrum Live, a weekend long celebration of fantastic art, in Kansas City, May 17-19. The Spectrum Grand Master Award will also be presented during the ceremony, which will be held in the historic Midland Theater.

The gold and silver finalists are:

Advertising

  • Craig Elliott:ForestAwakening
  • Michael C. Hayes: Procession
  • Android Jones: Ganeshatron
  • Greg Ruth: Three Outlaw Samurai
  • Dan DosSantos: Dragon Empress

Book

  • Brom: Wipi
  • William O’Connor: Wargriffin
  • David Palumbo: Fed
  • Shaun Tan: Never Leave a Red Sock on the Clothesline
  • Charles Vess: Tanglewood: I Didn’t Know She Was a Bottle Witch

Comics

  • Jennifer L. Meyer: Aesop’s Ark,Ch. 2, P2
  • David Petersen: Mouse Guard Black Axe #4, Page 19
  • Paolo Rivera: Daredevil #10
  • Paolo Rivera: Captain America #1
  • João Ruas: Fables #121

Concept Art

  • Daniel Dociu: Guild Wars 2, Norn Lodge
  • Theo Prins: Southsun Cove
  • Paul Sullivan: Franken-animal
  • Justin Sweet: Marauders 2
  • Allen Willams: Tree of Tales

Dimensional

  • Dan Chudzinski: Turbulence
  • David Meng: Sashimi
  • Virginie Ropars: Mothra
  • Virginie Ropars: Acanthopis III
  • Katya Tal: Blanket Fairy

Editorial

  • Sam Bosma: Stability
  • Chris Buzelli: Book Monster
  • Sean Andrew Murray: He’s Gone Full-Bird
  • Victo Ngai: Best of the Best
  • Sam Weber: Cancer Monster

Institutional

  • Ed Binkley: A Cob of Chiseldon-Brimble
  • Lucas Graciano: Dragon Swarm
  • Tyler Jacobson: Ruric Thar, The Unbowed
  • Kekai Kotaki: Stampede
  • David Palumbo: Taken

Unpublished

  • Cory Godbey: The Fish Master
  • Lucas Graciano: Guardianship
  • Kekai Kotaki: Ride
  • Andrew Mar: Tell-Tale Heart
  • Tohru Patrick Awa: Sudden Shower

Spectrum Fantastic Art Awards

Quixotic Fusion at Spectrum Fantastic Art Live!

The Spectrum 19 Awards in eight categories were announced May 19 in Kansas City during Spectrum Fantastic Art Live!, a convention focused on fantasy and science fiction art and associated with SPECTRUM books.

The winners in each category are:

Advertising:
Gold – Tyler Jacobson: Talon of Umberlee
Silver – Android Jones: Boom Festival

Book:
Gold – Edward Kinsella: Wooden Bones
Silver – Jean-Babtiste Monge: Ragnarok

Comics:
Gold – Alex Alice: Sigfried III
Silver – Jim Murray: DOTA 2: Tales from the Secret Shop

Concept Art:
Gold – Justin Sweet: Jack the Giant Killer
Silver – Daniel Dociu: Hangar

Dimensional:
Gold – Virginie Ropars: Jack
Silver – Thomas S. Kuebler: I am Providence

Editorial:
Gold – Jean-Baptiste Monge: Mic Mac Cormac
Silver – James Gurney: Kosmocertatops

Institutional:
Gold – Raoul Vitale: Turin and the Glaurung
Silver – Android Jones: Water Dragon 2012

Unpublished:
Gold – Michael Whelan: CK Unmasked
Silver – Justin Gerard: Portrait of a Monster #3

Grand Master:
James Gurney

Presenters included Spectrum founders Arnie and Cathy Fenner, Tor Books Art Director Irene Gallo, and artists Gregory Manchess, Greg Spalenka, Iain McCaig, Jarrod and Brandon Schiflett, Donato Giancola, and Michael Whelan.

Finalists in each category were projected onto a 30′ wide screen; the screen was also used to remember those in the artistic community who had passed away in the previous year and to review the recipients of the Grand Master Award.

Framing the festivities were performances by the nationally renowned Quixtotic Fusion dance company and by Phadroid aka digital creator Android and dancer Phaedra Jones. The awards show was produced by Lazarus Potter of the Lazarus Design Group in association with Quixotic Fusion and the Midland Theater. Spectrum Fantastic Art Live! was organized by Jim Fallone, Shena Wolf, Bunny Muchmore, Arlo Burnett, Lazarus Potter, and the Fenners.

All of the award winning work will be included in Spectrum 19: The Best In Contemporary Fantastic Art, which will be published by Underwood Books in November.

More coverage and photos at Rockville Music Magazine.

Update: 05/23/2012: Irene Gallo has granted permission for the use of her photos here. I apologize for not providing credit earlier. That happened because the photos attached to the press release were not attributed.

Arnie and Cathy Fenner

Michael Whelan

Greg Spalenka

Greg Manchess

Android Jones

Irene Gallo

James Gurney

Mike Mignola

Justin Sweet

Concept

Spectrum Fantastic Art Live
Coming to KC

Spectrum Fantastic Art Live!, happening next year, will be the Midwest’s first convention focusing solely on all forms of fantastic art, paintings and sculpture.

A living extension of Arnie and Cathy Fenner’s annual art anthology, Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, the event will take place on May 18-20, 2012 in the Grand Ballroom of Bartle Hall, located in Kansas City, Missouri.

Special guests include fantasy art and comic luminaries Brom, Phil Hale, Andrew “Android” Jones, Iain McCaig, and Mike Mignola. Other confirmed exhibitors include, Michael Whelan, Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell.

The full press release follows the jump.

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