Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Euology for Frank



Frank Frazetta (1928-2010) died in the Hospital early May 10, 2010 A.D.  We lost a pioneer in the Fantastic art genre that day.  He inspired many of today's artists to try to get into doing fantasy art as professional illustrators and amateur hobbyists.  Between he and Boris Vallejo, many of today's 3D and comic artists can trace their roots to these two when they do fantasy art.

Again, to compare two artist styles, Frazetta's work to me was also alive compared to Vallejo's.  Looking at both of them, I got different reactions.  Vallejo's caused chemical reaction, while Frazetta let me appreciate his art from a different perspective (and not a chemical reaction).  There are exceptions, of course.  Frazetta's Vampirella and geisha inspired lust.  Compared with Vallejo's work which always inspired lust to some degree when I was younger and thought I was a slave to what I saw.

Frazetta was just different.  When you look into one of his paintings, it inspired different feelings like his art is good.  Frazetta's favorites were Edgar Rice Burroughs' type writing and The Conan series.  And it shows.  To him, to do fantastic art was the best thing to do since you are definitely working within your own world when you did it.  I found all of his paintings to have that quality.  His paintings were about a world, a different world we wished we could sometimes live in by our own choice.

I got into 3D art, mostly because of Clyde Caldwell and Larry Elmore.  However, Frazetta was a big part in exploring the world of 3D art.  Frazetta has taught me a lot, through exploring his paintings, about capturing life in Art.  He had that style, and has set the bar for future painters, comic book artists, and 3D artists like myself. Sadly, I feel like I am missing a mentor and a teacher.

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