RIP Frank Frazetta 1928-2010



Almost always found among the top ten lists for the greatest fantasy artists of all time, and certainly one of the finest artisans of the latter 20th Century, Frank Frazetta's name is synonymous with sword-and-sorcery paintings and illustrations of fantastic fiction.

I've been aware f him ever since I was given a book of fantasy illustrations as a young boy in the early 1980's. My love of the fantasy genre can be attributed to Frazetta and other luminaries such as Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell, Keith Parkinson and later H.R. Giger (but that was when I got into my dark phase).

Recently, my fondness for Frazetta has increased as I've been collecting the Death Dealer series of comics from image and the assorted comics that tell a back-story to each of his paintings.

He is one of those great artists I'd love to have met, but now that opportunity has passed.

I was alerted to this news through several of the groups and contacts I've made on deviantArt, and the news seems to have hit a lot of people pretty hard. I've started a thread on Story Games to see what influence he has had on members of the gaming community.

Comments

Jeff Russell said…
For me, he was one of those artists I saw everywhere and recognized, but didn't know who he was until criminally late, which is when I realized how amazing he really was. That's a shame, and fantasy art is poorer for his loss.
Wednesday, 12 May, 2010
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