A photobook of the works of renowned sculptor, Jason Soles. Lead developer of WARMACHINE, influenced by Lovecraft & Giger.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Updated release for June, physical rewards complete
over 7 years ago
– Sun, Mar 12, 2017 at 08:03:45 PM
March is here, and as you may have guessed, we are a bit delayed. Chinese New Year ended up impacting our work with the manufacturer much more than expected and we were only able to get final cover files in late February. This unfortunately means that we're looking at a June ship date for the book, for which I offer my deepest apologies.
That being said, we're doing final tweaks on the back cover—it's going to have a lovely full-bleed image of the iconic Baphomet sculpture, and I'll share an image of it in the immediate future—and are in the final stages of press preparation. All that's necessary now is to have the printer approve the cover's spot UV gloss treatments, submit our pro-forma down payment and the book will be in production!
Since Soles has completed all of the physical rewards—with the obvious exception of the sculpted book covers—I will happily make arrangements to deliver physical rewards to any backers in the Seattle metro-area. Please contact me by email at: [email protected] if interested. I'm also looking into a new feature in beta testing from Backerkit to ship rewards in waves. If doing so won't result in you being charged for two rounds of shipping I'll be making arrangements to get you your sculptures in advance of the books in June.
Again, I hope you'll accept my apologies for the delay and I'm looking forward to seeing the rewards in your hands soon.
Files nearly press ready, proofing complete
over 7 years ago
– Tue, Jan 31, 2017 at 04:14:50 PM
Just wanted to let you all know where things stand at the moment. We've just completed the last round of proofing for the book and are beginning to assemble files for press. Things were a little slowed down by the advent of Chinese New Year, which effectively halts anything to do with manufacturing in China for several weeks. We're currently waiting on our final quote for the book now that we have a finalized page count and other specs. We'll receive this soon after the facilities reopen and then we'll be given a template for the case-wrap (the book's cover). With those specs we can finalize the cover, send files to press, and await the return of printer's proofs for final approval of the print run!
In the meantime, Jason's still hard at work completing the hundreds of rewards. He's nearing the finish line, though, and already returning to new bronze castings for future projects.
I'll update again in a few weeks and share the approved covers—we went for a full-bleed treatment on the back cover which is going to look really stunning! Thanks again for your support and we'll have more news soon.
Cheers!
Layout almost complete!
over 7 years ago
– Sat, Dec 24, 2016 at 04:01:03 PM
I'm very pleased to be able to say that progress continues more-or-less on schedule and that layout is nearly complete! We've approved roughly 90% of the interior pages and are now in the process of fine-tuning and about to begin the first round of proofing. To celebrate, I thought I'd share a peek at a few of the spreads.
We'll be spending the next several weeks going over the interiors with a fine toothed comb and assembling our cover files for press. As well, Jason has been hard at work completing the hundreds of sculpture rewards for all of you. His army of Cthulhus is nearing completion...
I'll be sure to keep you posted as we near completion of the files and prepare to go to press.
In other news, some of you may be aware of Jason's work on the role-playing game, Unhallowed Metropolis. I'm excited to say that Strix Publishing has acquired the back stock of this game from its previous publisher and it is now once more available! Jason and I actually when the game first came out in 2007, and I've had the pleasure of working with him on it for many years. We have some big announcements about the future of Unhallowed in 2017, but if you're interested in seeing the further depths of Jason's creative mind (and an impressive sculpture by George Higham on the cover), book bundles are available now with a further 10% discount using code STRIX66HOLIDAY!
That's all for now, but thanks again for your support and I hope you have the merriest of Yules!
Chapter 2: Dark Geometries preview
almost 8 years ago
– Wed, Dec 07, 2016 at 09:16:30 PM
Hello all,
I'm pleased to say that we're knocking out layout at a good pace. For a book like this, layout is not a simple task of dropping in the text and massaging it a little. All the images in an art book require a lot of juggling and trial and error to create a pleasing and sensible presentation. Sometimes this requires the author to write additional text, or drop images that become redundant. Below, you'll find a link that will let you see Chapter 2 in its present, near complete state.
I hope you enjoy this preview, I think the book is going to look really spectacular.
In other news, Jason continues to work tirelessly to produce the hundreds of sculpted rewards for you, our backers. He has enough finished Cthulhu statuettes now to invade a small country, but not yet quite enough to satisfy your demands for blasphemous idols. I'll be sure to share some photos of the army in its entirety upon completion.
In other news, if you're fans of H.P. Lovecraft, you may be interested in the final Strix Publishing project of the year, The Book of Three Gates.
The Book of Three Gates compiles newly edited editions of H.P. Lovecraft’s public domain stories of eldritch horror, edited and produced by Simon Berman, and illustrated by renowned deific and fantasy artist, Valerie Herron (The Book of the Great Queen, The Book of Starry Wisdom).
Accompanied by essays and musings by some of today’s premiere Lovecraftian scholars, writers, and devotees, The Book of Three Gates will be a luxurious 11.25" x 8.5", approximately 180 page hardback tome, featuring a leather textured cover with gold foil pressed symbols of significance to the Opener of Ways, 12 interior B&W illustrations, end papers displaying a map of the Township of Dunwich, as well as other features to be unlocked as the Kickstarter meets its stretch goals. This premium volume is a companion to The Book of Starry Wisdom and will be a stunning addition to the library of any enthusiast of H.P. Lovecraft or worshipper of the Old Ones.
The Book of Three Gates centers upon three of Lovecraft's stories in which the ways between worlds have been shattered, transgressed, or violated:
The Dunwich Horror The Dreams in the Witch House The Haunter of the Dark
These iconic tales are accompanied by newly unearthed essays and mad ravings that blur the line between fact and fiction, science and madness.
As well, Jason Soles is creating a small number of unique sculpted book covers for this project. Quantities are very limited, but if you missed your chance to get a sculpted book during the APOCRYPHA Kickstarter, here's another chance.
Thanks again for all your support, and we'll update again soon with more progress on APOCRYPHA: The Art of Jason Soles.
Cheers!
Update on Progress
about 8 years ago
– Tue, Aug 16, 2016 at 02:31:36 PM
Hello all, we just wanted to give you a quick update on the progress we're making. We've been paid out by Kickstarter and have begun paying our various contributors (graphic design, photo retouching, layout, etc) and are continuing the process of laying out the book. The manuscript, foreword, and photography is complete, at this point we're just going through the laborious process of arranging (and endlessly rearranging) the contents of the book. We're on track to be ready for press in late autumn, and we'll show you some sneak peeks of the sample layouts as we proceed.
In the meantime, Jason is also hard at work casting the hundreds of rewards for all of you! I visited his workshop over the weekend to check out his clutch of Cthulhus myself. These resin statuettes are only about a third of the total!
Do not feed the clutch of Cthulhu.
Jason and I had a fun—and slightly inebriated—chat about his studio work and are thinking about hosting another live stream where we'll poke around Jason's home sculpting studio and drinking too much. If we make it happen, we'll let you know in advance.
Finally, while work proceeds apace on APOCRYPHA, Strix Publishing's latest project is fresh on Kickstarter!
Never Bet the Devil & Other Warnings is a premium edition of a modern horror classic. First published in 2012 by Evil Eye Press, this collection put Orrin Grey on the map as an up and coming horror author of note. Grey has since become a renowned voice in the genre with such works at Painted Monsters & Other Strange Beasts, Gardinel's Real Estate, and Mutagenesis.
This new edition from Strix Publishing includes all ten stories from the original, including the novella, "The Mysterious Flame", as well as the heretofore hard-to-find "A Night for Mothing" and an all new story, "Goblins." Never Bet the Devil & Other Warnings will be approximately 220 pages illustrated by the brilliant M.S. Corley. This edition will feature a beautiful 6 x 9" clothbound, foil-stamped cover, and a foreword by author Nathan Ballingrud.
Black Hill, a Lovecraftian tale of oil, greed, and all-consuming blackness.
Jason is also doing a very limited run of sculpted book covers of this edition!
That's all for now, but we'll keep you posted in the coming months as we prepare for press. Thanks so much for your continued support of APOCRYPHA and Strix Publishing!
