Friday, March 28, 2008

Frazetta


Connected directly to the previous post: For my money, Frank Frazetta was the cover artist of the heyday of paperbacks. Yeah, his characters were over-the-top, but they went right along with the pulp writing perfectly. Mostly-naked muscular men, big-breasted and wide-hipped women, way cool monsters, and a vivid and striking palette of colors that gave us Tarzan, John Carter, a host of barbarians, and jungles so verdant you could smell the fetid growth and feel the humidity.

Check out the image above -- how green is that valley?

Frazetta has done comics, book covers, movie posters, and sculptures, and his originals go for insane prices these day. When I hit the lottery, I'm going to get one of his oils for my office wall. Well, not the Lotto, which is only worth a few million, but the PowerBall ...

If you have money and want to pass some of it along to him, go to Frazetta's store, run by his son, and buy something.

If you just want to see some of the paintings, check out the unofficial art site. (It's not the same as seeing them in person -- I saw a few at a science fiction con years back, and was mightily impressed.)

3 comments:

  1. Found my old 1967 copy of Conan the Usurper. Still holds up well. I have the series, split half and half between Frank and Boris, another favorite.
    Had the opportunity to meet Larry Elmore at a convention in Indy. Yeah, Powerball, right....
    Take a look.
    http://www.larryelmore.com/
    One of these days.......
    Dave

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  2. "how green is that valley?"

    There's a valley in that picture?

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  3. Yep, a valley.

    Look closely, and you can also see five big cats.

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