Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Frank Frazetta. 9 Feb 1928 – 10 May. 2010


I was saddened to read just now, that Frank Frazetta passed away yesterday. A truly inspirational artist, his work and legacy surpass many of the so called modern masters and its no surprise that I didn't learn of the great man's death via a main stream media news source, but from a wargaming forum.

I've always enjoyed Frazetta's work (not least his disposition for painting truly curvacious women!) and always felt that many of the artists who tried to follow his lead, Vallejo and Bell for example, failed utterly to tread the path he'd blazed. Where Frazetta gives me fantasy, others give me parody. This was one giant whose shoulders were crowded though and others did a better job. I even gave my hand to his style once, in art school and although my painting (a 'tiger woman' eating a man on a savannah) was admired by some of my class mates, my tutor called it "the worst shit he'd seen in two years". Experimentation was no excuse for offending Brinn Manley's sense of aesthetic! To this day that crit rankles.

82 years old. Frank Frazetta leaves a legacy most artists would murder for. I hope hehad a good and happy life.

3 comments:

Steve-the-Wargamer said...

Shame - the stuff of young mens fantasy's...

..and slightly more lightly - what are Molly Hatchet going to do for album covers now? :o))

brando said...

Vallejo copied Frazetta? I'm often surprised by your knowledge base, but I shouldn't be when it comes to art.

Oleg said...

That's sad.

He's one of my favourites as well.