May 11 2010
An Homage to the Late, Great Frank Frazetta (1928-2010)
As you’re probably now aware, the world lost a terrific artist yesterday with the passing of Frank Frazetta. A recent series of strokes couldn’t prevent Frank from producing incredible pieces of artwork – as he amazingly taught himself to paint with his left hand – but one final stroke yesterday was unfortunately more than his body could take. Frank specialized in fantasy and science fiction paintings, and you’ve undoubtedly seen some of his work, like maybe some of his awesome Conan stuff. I actually used to have his “Deathdealer” painting hanging on my wall when I first moved to New York.
I suppose there’s some solace in knowing that even though Frank isn’t with us anymore, his paintings will stand the test of time. You can check out some amazing works from a truly incredible artist after the jump. R.I.P.
More Unreal Posts
- A Massive Gallery of Pokemon Paintings
- The Final Countdown: Geek Photo Updates, Unexpected Songwriters and Next Gen Xbox Details
- 15 Amazing “Dreaminism” SciFi and Fantasy images
- Unreality Skate Deck is the Greatest Thing Ever Made
- A Gallery of The Big Lebowski as Fine Art
what a great artist i love the robert e. howard stories but they were made even greater buy franks badass art work. and not one blue cat person in the bunch what a brilliant talent (if there was a blue cat person he painted i have to admit it would be a hardcore avatar esque picture but only because of franks talent because avatar sux)
Man this stuff is pretty epic. I’m disappointed that I didn’t know of this guy before now.
He’s got a Michaelangelo-esque mastering of body forms and muscle contours. That stuff is super tricky to get right.
I love it.
Oooo…
Eye candy. This guys work is gorgeous. The women have meat on their bones.
The heroes are ripped.
I hate to use this word, but… EPIC battle scenes…
Sweet.
This is the artwork I grew up on. My dad was into fantasy hardcore and made sure I grew to love it too.
Good, he’s gonna be devastated when I tell him Frazetta died.
Tishy, you and I are on the same page. My Dad had a couple of these illustrations framed on the walls of his office at work and as a kid I was blown away by them.
Clint, you are absolutely right; Frazetta’s art enhanced Howard’s work. When I think Conan I visualize Frazetta’s interpretation of him.
@ chrystani
Hah – glad you mentioned that the women had meat on their bones. Goes to show what “attractive” meant to this guy back then. I personally think it’s great that the women aren’t all Raquel Welch-like. The girls he painted are sexy as hell to me.
“Only when we die, do we truly have a name.”
Looks like those polar bears aren’t exactly harnessed to the sleigh in the 5th picture. But that’s forgivable, Gary Larson made the same mistake in one of his comics.
He was a master, as has already been stated. I don’t even know how many books I read, just because his cover art was so incredible. An original, a genius, he will be missed.
I think it should also be mentioned his collaboration with Ralph Bakshi on the animated movie Fire & Ice. If you want to see a masterpiece of an animated movie then this is definitely one to see.
See the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz-yLWGaIxM
Additionally, his Death Dealer paintings were so spectacular that James R. Silke worked with Frank and wrote a series of books (appropriately titled Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer) that are simply amazing.
[...] Frank Frazetta (February 9, 1928 – May 10, 2010[1]) was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for work in comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, record-album covers, and other media. He died on May 10th at the age of 82. Share and Enjoy: [...]
I would for him to paint the side of my van.
As a young artist I struggled through the countless forms of expression. I found I had a passion for fantasy and sci-fi but it wasn’t until I found Frank’s work did I truly see where my skills could go and what I needed to do to get there. Between Frank’s creativity and Boris’ technique I honed my skills to honour both of my role models. What an incredible loss of one of our greatest artists. He will never be forgotten!
Thanks from Spain,
Frank was a real influence in my life and my carreer.
He rest in war in his fantastic hero worlds.
[...] une galerie ici. [...]
@illeaturfamily Um . . . have you SEEN Raquel Welch? If you mean to point out that Frazetta’s women don’t look like stick bugs, she’s the wrong example for the opposite.
Welcome to Valhalla, oh glorious wielder of the brush. May you color the skies of Odin’s hall with your baleful hues, summoning visions of steely warriors and lustful demons.
FRAZETTA WAS THE BEST!!!!!