Lupente

Lupente showcases five outstanding contemporary artists in an elegant and absorbing package. This volume - the first in our ongoingFlesk Artist Showcaseseries - features Julia Blattman, a premier visual-development artist working in the animation industry;Stephanie Law, a fine artist who pulls from dreams and reality to illuminate the boundary between those two worlds;Karla Ortiz, a concept and fine artist who is renowned for her personal works and her designs for film;Virginie Ropars, one of the most revered dollmakers today and an inspiration to sculptors around the world; andErica Williams, also known as 'HookieDuke', who has gained acclaim by mastering a unique, highly intricate style of lines and designs that centres on Nature as its inspiration.

Examples of the most highly regarded works by the five are accompanied by biographical essays, interviews, quotes and captions that reveal insights into their creative processes. In addition, Flesk's personal access to each artist has resulted in an insightful and engaging introduction to these talented creators, among the best working today.

John Fleskes is the president and publisher of Flesk Publications. Hehas published dozens of books featuring some of the top contemporary andmost revered artists in the field. Fleskes has contributed to numerousbooks as writer, editor and designer. He is based in Santa Cruz, California. Virginie Ropars was born inBrittany (France) in 1976. Virginie’s figures are in between sculpture, fashiondesign and illustration, building up visions sometimes full of wonders, othertimes strange and gloomy where femininity took away the main place. An innerworld she primary expressed in drawings while she worked as a 2D/3D graphicartist for computer games and TV cartoon industry.Virginie's work is shown throughout Europe in art galleriesand art shows and also in United States and Russia. Her work has been featuredin many magazines and publications. Her dimensional interpretation of Brom'smain 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 ofher personal work, Acanthophis III. Virginie currently resides in Brittany, France. Erica Williams, also known asHookieDuke, is an illustrator known for their intricate mark-making andillustrations of flora and fauna. Tangled with fantastic and often macabretones much of their work focuses on the forgotten, endangered, the occult andlore. Erica attended Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI), and becamea 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 hasbeen included in Spectrum Fantastic Art, Curvy, Alternative Movie Posters, andothers. Erica  currently resides in Michigan.Stephanie Law's imagestrace the boundary between dream and reality. She delves into the pictoral languageof allegory, explores mythology in new contexts, chases tiny worlds of wonderfrom an insect's viewpoint, and highlights the beauty of growth and decay foundin nature. She interweaves texture, watercolor, gold and silver leaf, ink, andcreates intricate layered pieces with resin and custom designed frames. In ameld of organic patterns and familiar archetypes, her paintings pose a questionon the nature of perception and beauty, and it is against this backdrop thatthe ephemeral guides and strange creatures dance and beckon the viewer tofollow through her various series. Archetypes, the basis for the universal appeal ofmythological concepts, are one of the defining inspirations for her imagery.This is mingled with the movement of dance. Stephanie has been a dancer foralmost two decades, and she uses that experience of how the human body movesand emotes to create a bridge into her artwork so that not only do the humansdance 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 ofnatural inspiration all around her. The twisting boughs of live oaks from thehills near her home insinuate themselves into her paintings. The chaos ofNature's wild growth, and conversely the beauty of decay, echo in the texturesand fractal patterns of her work. Early on, her career moved through the illustration andgaming world, but in recent decades she has focused more on her own body ofwork, gallery shows, and publications.  Stephanie currently resides in Oakland, California.Karla Ortiz is an award-winningartist who enjoys working on a diverse and wide variety of projects. As a concept artist with over 10 years of professionalexperience, Karla has worked for Paragon Studios/NcSoft, Ubisoft, Kabam,Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), Marvel Film Studios, Universal Studios andHBO. As a professional Illustrator her clients include Wizardsof the Coast, Ace Books, Tor Books, Orbit Books, CB+P and has provided coverwork 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, HashimotoContemporary and internationally at Galerie Arludik in Paris, France.  Karla loves good music, good stories, good laughs and goodfood. She paints her days away with her cat Keedy Bady , and that's how shelikes it. Karla  currently resides in San Francisco, California.Julia Blattman is a visualdevelopment artist having a blast working on animated feature films and showsin Los Angeles. She is currently working as an Environment Artist on anunannounced project at Netflix Animation. Julia graduated from Academy of Art University in SanFrancisco with a BFA in Illustration. After school she moved to LA and workedfor Walt Disney Parks, Experiences and Consumer Products for 2+ years creatingartwork for various games. Julia then went to Paramount Pictures Animation todo visual development work for 2+ years for animated features Rumble(2021) and Tiger's Apprentice (2022)​Outside of visual development Julia illustrate children'sbooks and book covers. Her first fully illustrated children's book is titled TheMess That We Made with Flashlight Press. The Mess That We Madeexplores the environmental impact of trash and plastic on the ocean and marinelife, and it inspires kids to do their part to combat pollution. You can see Julia's work in Spectrum 23Fantastic Art, 3DTotalPublishing Beyond Art Fundamentals – A guide toEmotion, Mood, and Storytelling, and Simon and Schuster Publishing. Julia currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

Lupente showcases five outstanding contemporary artists in an elegant and absorbing package. This volume -- the first in our ongoing Flesk Artist Showcase series -- features Julia Blattman , a premier visual-development artist working in the animation industry; Stephanie Law , a fine artist who pulls from dreams and reality to illuminate the boundary between those two worlds; Karla Ortiz , a concept and fine artist who is renowned for her personal works and her designs for film; Virginie Ropars , one of the most revered dollmakers today and an inspiration to sculptors around the world; and Erica Williams , also known as 'HookieDuke', who has gained acclaim by mastering a unique, highly intricate style of lines and designs that centres on Nature as its inspiration. Examples of the most highly regarded works by the five are accompanied by biographical essays, interviews, quotes and captions that reveal insights into their creative processes. In addition, Flesk's personal access to each artist has resulted in an insightful and engaging introduction to these talented creators, among the best working today.

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