Tag Archives: Frank Frazetta

Frazetta

Legendary artist Frank Fazetta (1928-2010) was born today, February 9.

What can I say?

Frank Frazetta was one of the most influential artists of the Twentieth Cneeury. His covers for the Lancer Conan books are iconic.

In addition to Robert E. Howard, Frazetta did covers for Edgar Rice Burroughs, Karl Edward Wagner, Michael Moorcock, John Jakes, Henry Kuttner, Frank Belknap Long, and Lin Carter.

He also did covers for such magazines as Creepy, Vampirella, and National Lampoon.

While his women sometimes display a little more pulchritude than is to my taste, there’s no denying the power of his work.

There are a lot of things that can be said, and I won’t try to repeat them here. I wanted to note his birthday. I’ll raise a glass in his memory shortly. Until then, enjoy some of his work. Continue reading →

Remembering Frank Frazetta

Happy Birthday, Frank Frazetta

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One of the icons of fantasy art, Frank Frazetta, was born on this day, February 9, 1928. I’m having some issues with the blog this evening, so I’m going to keep this one short. Here are a few of his covers to enjoy.

I’m sure you’ll recognize them. Frazetta illustrated some of the biggest names in fantasy.

Frazetta at 92

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One of the most influential and arguably the greatest fantasy artist of the last century, Frank Frazetta, was born on this day, February 9, in 1928. I’m gonna shut up and let his art speak for itself.

What follows are some of his art. Enjoy and let me know which are your favorites, and that includes pieces not shown here.

Frank Frazetta’s Birthday

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Today, February 9, marks the 91st anniversary of Frank Frazetta’s birth. Frazetta was born in 1928 and needs no introduction here. Rather than write a detailed tribute, I’m going to post some of his covers and let the artist’s work speak for itself. I’d post the reproductions of the paintings themselves, but I don’t know if fair use would cover that. I don’t want to violate copyright. In the comments, let us know what some of your favorite Frazetta works are. Continue reading →

Frank Frazetta at 90

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Frank Frazetta would have turned 90 today (February 9) if he were still alive.

It’s hard to know what to write for this post. Frazetta’s stature in the fields of fantasy art and comics cannot be overstated. His work has graced the covers of some of the most fundamental titles in the canon. (I’ll probably get hate mail for even suggesting there’s such a thing as a canon.)

It was Frazetta’s covers to the Lancer (later the Ace) paperback reprints of Robert E. Howard’s Conan stories that helped to put that character on the map.

And then there were the Burrough’s covers. And Karl Edward Wagner’s Kane. And…You get the idea.

Frazetta casts a long shadow, and that’s a good thing. He brought a vitality to fantasy art that had been lacking. I was fortunate to see some of his originals on exhibit a couple of years ago.

It’s been less than a decade since we lost him. He’s still missed. Raise a glass tonight in his honor.

It’s Frank Frazetta’s Birthday

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Frank Frazetta, one of the greatest fantasy artists to ever stride this land, was born on this date (February 9) in 1928. I’m not even going to try to put the impact his art has had on my life into words, much less that of the fantasy field. Here are a couple of my favorite works of Frazetta’s.

The image on the left is the promotional poster for a Frazetta exhibit I saw in Austin last spring. That trip has really been on my mind today, maybe because the weather has been so unseasonably warm. The image was used on the cover of one of Karl Edward Wagner’s Kane books. You can read about my trip in this post.

Probably my favorite of the Frazetta Conan covers is the one shown on the right. It’s for Conan the Usurper. I saw this one at the Frazetta exhibit, and let me tell you, none of the reproductions do the images justice. It was awesome to stand in front of some of those paintings and see close up the detail and the brushwork. The painting were larger than what you see on a book cover, of course, and the detail really stood out.

I think the thing that has always captured my imagination about this picture is the snake. I hate snakes. There’s just something evil about them. I’m not sure why, but they’ve always given me the willies.

Frazetta is gone now, but his work lives on. While it might be easy to think that with his popularity, there will always be copies available to enjoy, that’s a dangerous way to think. Today hot property is too often tomorrow’s has-been, or worse completely forgotten. So take a moment over the next few days to admire a Frazetta painting, especially if it’s one you’ve not seen before or not seen in a while.

Update: Here are tributes by David J. West and Woelf Dietrich. They’re both worth checking out.

Roy G. Krenkel Was Born 98 Years Ago

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I’m trying to get ready to start the second summer term, so this is going to be short. But I wanted to point out that today was Roy G. Krenkel’s 98th birthday. Krenkel is best remembered today for his work with early comics giants such as Al Williamson and paperback covers for Ace, DAW, and Lancer.

Krenkel was a friend of Frank Frazetta, of whom Frazetta said, “I met Roy Krenkel back in 1949 or 1950, and he has never ceased to be a constant source of inspiration to me—a truly conscientious artist who will not tolerate incompetence.”

Much of Krenkel’s best remembered work was for fantasy adventure, particularly Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard. Edgar Rice Burroughs grandson Danton Burroughs considered him to be one of the great ERB illustrators.

A Visit to the Frank Frazetta Exhibit

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So last week was Spring Break. I had to go in to work a couple of days to get some stuff ready for labs, plus there were a number of things that simply didn’t get done, such as writing some reviews (although I did finish the first draft of the WIP), the backyard is still covered with pecans, etc.

I did manage to sneak off to Austin for an overnight trip. I went down to see an exhibit about violence on the border in the early 20th century, which will be the next post at Dispatches From the Lone Star Front. That will be followed by posts on La Salle and rural cemeteries. These will be lengthy posts in some cases, so it may be a week or three before they start showing up.

I got to Austin on Sunday with plans to see the museum on Monday, when a notice about a Frank Frazetta exhibit came across my Twitter feed. An exhibit that was only a short walk (9 blocks or so) away from the Bullock State History Museum, where the exhibit I had come to see was on display. It was at the Robert Rodriguez museum, a block off the state capital.

The impression I got from the announcement, reproduced at the end of the post, was that the exhibit was only for a week. I think the dates were a draw for the SXSW crowd. I didn’t care. There were original Frank Frazetta paintings that I could go see near where I was going to be in the morning.

So you know I had to go. Continue reading →

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