I'm on the Icon board of directors, and between this,plus the end of the 0910 school year (not to mention ongoing book stuff) should explain why this blog drops off in April.
After the conference I'll have more.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
The TUMBLR Option
Fleish/Tumblr
What do you think? I'm exploring...it's all work in progress; so please comment, critique (fire away), advise, send love (or not).
What do you think? I'm exploring...it's all work in progress; so please comment, critique (fire away), advise, send love (or not).
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
The Poem Depot

Saturday, March 27, 2010
LOGO Me

My logo. Look for my initials: MCF. Start with a Krispy Kreme-induced brainstorm. Take a tiny drawing done with a rapidograph on a store napkin (for some good bleed). Use a nib about the size of a cat whisker. Blow it up big time on a photocopier...200-400 per cent should do it (or just scan the wee guy and enlarge to taste).

My original logo and biz card. The moose rocked (rolls, and still rules)! There was a very sweet, funny promo I drew and sent out that incorporated the moose and other various characters (including a wonderful caricature of my dear ol' dad that really nailed his likeness and cantankerous spirit). I'll try to find it and post it if I can.
There's the old area code, crisp line style, and that equally clean Kabel typeface I was so high on back in the day. Printed at Bucher Printers (then Bucher Brothers Printing) by another fine gentleman who's no longer with us.
Rest in peace, both Norm and Bob.
The Bizz-a-ness


Some time after I got my degree and made my way into the working world, there was the conscious moment when I declared, “No more non-art related jobs!” and decided to launch my freelance career. That was scary and exhilarating at the same time. Could I make it just doing what I loved?

Which was—not coincidentally—the title of a book I wrote for Allworth Press: How To Grow As An Illustrator.

If you're immersed in illustration and want to stay afloat —no, make that swim vigorously—in the bigger pool of a world only centered in the studio, you need to understand the multi-layered definition of being “an illustrator” (and what that means in today’s market, culture, and society). Certain questions pop up all the time: about what you do, how you do it, where are your motivations; why the hell do you do this?

Lifestyle, your spot in the world at large, your personal and professional communities, your place in the big picture. Success/failure, mistakes, and calamities big and small, the mental, emotional and physical. This is all part and parcel of the life business of illustration—it's not just numbers and paperwork, more than sales, marketing and promotion. What about education (from both sides of the teacher’s desk)? Staying in the field one way or another, as well as getting out of the life gracefully, are all business decisions with personal answers (or vice versa).

All illustrations © Michael Fleishman
How To Grow!

Freelance illustration grabbed me around 1980. On a route to Los Angeles, CA, I made it as far as Kansas City, MO, and my first illustration jobs. From there, I actually wound my way back east to Yellow Springs, OH, where I kicked off all this freelance stuff in earnest. And from here I have lost count of all the clients I've scribbled with over the years (amongst them, folks like CTW, Scholastic, Recycled Paper Products, and Hallmark).
But I have always enjoyed dual passions—the doing and teaching of art. I have a BS in Art Education and an MA in Fine Arts (painting and drawing) from Indiana University of PA. I love to teach art, and I’ve worked with every age level from preschoolers to senior citizens. For the last 8 years I’ve taught at Edison Community College in Piqua, OH (where I am also Program and Staffing Coordinator for the Commercial Art department).
My writing is the direct offspring of my illustration career. I wouldn’t have predicted that I’d be a writer, but here I am—and it’s a great gig. Book 5, How To Grow As An Illustrator, was my second book for Allworth Press (it's older sib, book 3, was Starting Your Career As A Freelance Illustrator or Designer)


Exploring Illustration was book # 4 and published by Cengage (then Thomson/Delmar). My new book for Cengage, called Drawing Inspiration: Visual Artists At Work, is just out (more on that coming up).


I’ve also done two books for North Light (out of print), was a contributing editor at The Artist’s Magazine for many years, and have written for a variety of publications, including How Magazine, Step Inside Design, Computer Arts Projects (UK), and The Artist’s and Graphic Designer’s Market.
I was a featured presenter at DesignWorld, How’s annual conference in 2002. I was honored with a national teaching excellence award at the NISOD annual conference in 2004 (where I also presented), and a won a SOCHE Excellence in Teaching award in 2007. I was a nominee for OATYC Teacher of the Year in 2009. I spoke at ICON 4 in 2005 (and am now on the board of directors for ICON6).
Still in Yellow Springs after 25 years. Very happily married to the award-winning documentary filmmaker, Joanne Caputo—easily the most beautiful woman in any room. We are the awe-struck parents of Max (20), and Cooper (22).
I'm a lucky guy.
Rube's Cube
I'm a bit of a closet cubist. Although I guess I've done enough of these that I'm out already. Here are a few.





Just a few words about the piece above. This work was done on an old end table top I rescued from the trash. If you look at the back, you can instantly dope out the humble, domestic origins of this "canvas". It was just the right size, weight (as in heavy and solid), and offered a dense, hardwood surface—perfect to apply layers of tissue collage with gesso primer, then scrub paint and grind oil pastels.






Just a few words about the piece above. This work was done on an old end table top I rescued from the trash. If you look at the back, you can instantly dope out the humble, domestic origins of this "canvas". It was just the right size, weight (as in heavy and solid), and offered a dense, hardwood surface—perfect to apply layers of tissue collage with gesso primer, then scrub paint and grind oil pastels.

LOGO Madness
When I initially began this blog AGES ago, I had a fine, fun time fooling with the logo for the Narrative Art concept. Eventually I decided on the title treatment you see on the masthead, BUT I did like all the (then) current concepts (and I was leaning harder towards # 2 from the top, though).
Typical... maybe I will juggle the title treatment as a running design gag, or do a poll and folks could tell me which logo they prefer on the masthead for a given time. If I can get anybody to see this blog! Hmmm...





Typical... maybe I will juggle the title treatment as a running design gag, or do a poll and folks could tell me which logo they prefer on the masthead for a given time. If I can get anybody to see this blog! Hmmm...





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