Frank Frazetta died today, he was 82. As a teen in the 80's his artwork certainly struck a chord with me as I listened to Heavy Metal, played Dungeons & Dragons, read the Conan novels and watched the movie over and over. He also animated the feature length movie 'Fire and Ice'. We used to rent that movie every weekend, listen to Iron Maiden and Ozzy, play D&D and geek out. His art often had a sense of mystery behind it that lured you in. You could spend hours just staring at the images and in your mind create your own stories and backgrounds for the mighty warriors and scantily clad heroines. The main characters were bold, scary, and powerful while the women in his paintings were also powerful and beautiful. Especially beautiful to teenage D&D dorks.
His artwork appeared on album covers and concert fliers too. I've used his artwork on punk rock fliers and my brother even has a Frazetta tattooed on his calf, the cover of 'Conan the Cimmerian'.
I'd have to say he was one of my favorite artists, if not my very favorite. His work seemed to have more life in it than another popular artist of the genre, Boris Vallejo. But art isnt to be compared I suppose.
If your not familiar with his stuff check it out. If you are then join me in celebrating his life and google some of his images to enjoy.
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