A year ago today we sadly lost one of the foremost and talented Fantasy & Sci-Fi illustrators of all time, Frank Frazetta who passed away on the 10th of May at the age of 82. Frank's career spanned an unbelievable 60+ years. He first started working in the comic book industry at the age of 15, initially providing pencil clean-ups, he soon progressed to drawing comics, and by the 50’s was producing work spanning a raft of genres including Western, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Historical Drama. Later a spoof illustration of Ringo Starr for MAD Magazine would bring Frazetta to Hollywood’s attention and he was soon producing Movie Poster artwork, the first of which for the 1964 feature “What’s New Pussycat?” earning him $4,000 – back then this was a year's salary for only one afternoon's worth of work!
Frank’s commercial work was primarily rendered in oil paints, but he also worked in Watercolours, Ink’s and Pencils – examples of which are included above – a style which incorporates brooding compositions of ultra-defined muscular heroes and heroines, always poised for action. Other telling trait’s include tattered flailing clothing, powerful ornate armour and weaponry, all beautifully lit beneath apocalyptic skies.
Read more about Frank: his obituary at The Gaurdian.co.uk http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/may/13/frank-frazetta-obituary or at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Frazetta
Frank once teamed up with Director Ralph Bakshi to create the 1983 animated feature film “Fire and Ice”.
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