Mark Scultz: Various Drawings Volume 4 ~Mark Schultz

–published 2009
–Flesk Publications
–48 pages
–5/5 stars

The 2010 Friday Favorites continue with another Saturday edition, courtesy of a forgotten computer power cord and an all-day work conference. This post serves as both a celebration of art and a book review as I finally was able to sit down last week to slobber over this Christmas gift from my wife, Flesk Publications‘ latest release, Mark Schultz: Various Drawings Volume 4.

The tag line for this book reads: “A collection of images for those who enjoy process as well as result”, and this book delivers on that promise every bit as successfully as the three previous volumes.

One of the many pleasures of picking up the (very reasonably priced) limited edition hardcover vs. the (also very reasonably priced) softcover is the excellent signature page. Mark Schultz is one of the few artist/authors whose signature itself looks like a work of art, rather than an EKG line.

Mark Schultz is an old world soul whose work is evocative of the very best of late nineteenth century and early twentieth century illustration. Embodied within his work is the spirit of the science fiction, fantasy, and adventure novels and art of the early to mid twentieth century.

His men are rough, rugged and handsome, adventurers of the purest sort. The kind of manly hero that young boys aspire to be. His women are of the curvaceous variety, reminiscent of masters like Frank Frazetta who have paved the way before him. But unlike many of the stereotypical damsel-in-distress images associated with the ‘good old days’, Schultz’ women hold their own and more. This is abundantly evident to anyone who has had the privilege to read his captivating Xenozoic Tales series. If you have a chance to pick up this two-volume graphic novel series, I highly recommend it.

The dust jacket states, “His lifelong interest in the sciences and natural history informs his fictional work”, and this can be seen quite clearly in the amazingly rendered flora and fauna that populate his art.

This volume contains a few color-tinted images, like that of the dolphins above, that are great editions to his body of work. The subtle color adds to his art without diminishing the beauty of his pencils.

As was mentioned earlier, this is a volume that showcases the process of Mark Schultz’ creation. In his introduction, Brendan Burford eloquently expresses his feelings on an artist’s work and the rights of the fans that echoes my own feelings–which amounts to the fact that it is a true shame to not be allowed to view both the process and the end result. Interestingly enough, Mark Schultz is credited with having a very different opinion of this, a fact that I believe was discussed in previous volumes as well. All I can say is that I am abundantly thankful for whatever forces conspired together to convince Mark Schultz to go ahead and work with Flesk Publications to produce these volumes.

The book contains many examples, like that above, which showcase the preliminary study/sketch with the completed work on the facing page (as shown below).

I can tell you without fear of contradiction, my photographic examples of the work in this volume do not do them justice AT ALL. The above finished work, Pulp Neriad, is a great example of this. Mark Schultz’ use of graphite, charcoal, brush and ink produces images that have an incredible texture to them. The whites and the softer lines of his work contrasted against the deep blacks make his foreground characters appear almost to float above their backgrounds. I can only imagine just how incredible these pieces actually look in their original format.

Kudos belong to John Fleske for the quality that goes into these books. The book binding, paper weight, and quality of printing combine to form a book that is as much a collectible because of the art contained therein as it is for the production values.

(this image is not contained in the book, but I wanted to show you this completed image from the upcoming Storms at Sea illustrated story by Mark Schultz)

Each volume of Mark Schultz’ work contains a fold-out spread featuring an image that is preceded by several smaller work-in-progress shots. In the case of Volume 4, this is a two-page spread featuring work inspired by Edgar Rich Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars series. It is beautiful, impossible to show with any justice here, and I have to hope this other work whets your appetite enough to track this down to see for yourself!

Whether he is producing unforgettable images of Conan or Tarzan, or illustrating the creations from his own imagination, the work of Mark Schultz is some of the finest not only of illustrators working today, but of all the illustrators who have come before. Mark Schultz stands toe-to-toe with the big boys and his work is uniquely his own while capturing the passion of some of our most nostalgic time periods.

I am sorry that I cannot show you just how fantastic these images really are, and I encourage you to check out his work on your own, you will be amazed.

I hope your weekend is filled with adventure.

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Speaking of illustration and graphic novels, I had the privilege of guest-posting for Harry‘s Comic Book Appreciation Month. I wrote a brief essay on Reading Novels vs. Reading Comics and I would love to have you read it and share your thoughts over there. If you feel so inclined, you can find the post here.