Frank Frazetta, 1928-2010

posted 5.10.10 at 12:00 am
 The art world lost one of the greats today, Frank Frazetta, who died of a stroke at 82.


If you don't recognize the name, you've definitely seen his work.  From movie posters and book covers, he literally defined the fantasy art genre.  One of the most ripped off artists of all time, it's impossible to picture a world in which there had been no Frazetta.  Most every illustrator working today owes a debt of gratitude to this awesome and inspirational man.


Though Frank was known for his fantasy work, what always caught my eye was his humor work.  Indeed, early on in his career, after working with Al Capp on 'Lil Abner, one of many comics gigs he cut his teeth on, he went to work with Harvey Kurtzman (of Mad magazine fame) on Playboy's Little Annie Fannie.  This let to a few gigs in what would later become Mad Magazine, under the great Bill Gaines.
One in particular was this Breck shampoo ad parody: At the time, Breck (I hope I have that right) was running ads that featured portraits of celebrities and models with luxurious hair.  This Ringo portrait was Mad's take on those ads.  What a riot!

Another was this classic Tarzan take-off:
Frank did very little work for Mad; he wasn't comfortable with Mad's policy of keeping the artwork after publication.  That's a shame, because I would have loved to see more of the funny side of Frazetta.
Regardless, he was a master of everything he did: drawing, inking, painting.  And it was effortless.  He didn't even use models: he painted people how he thought they should look.  So, he drew perfect people.  And animals.  And trees. Etc etc etc.
He said once that he would have rather have been an athlete when he was younger, and keep the drawing business as a hobby.  He was a big guy, and every chance he got he'd be out playing football, baseball, you name it.  Basically what that means is: he could draw and paint world class artwork, AND he could kick anybody's ass!

Last year had the opportunity to make it to a gallery showing at his home/museum in Pennsylvania.  He wasn't in good health at the time- he'd already had a number of strokes and a number of other ailments.  But, he was there, and did a talk on his artwork and answered questions.
One of the things that struck me about this talk was that he mentioned that after his first stroke in the 90s, he lost control of his painting hand.  So, he taught himself to paint with his left hand!  Sure enough, one wall of the gallery had his left handed paintings.  Everybody was stunned: they were perfect.  Everybody was stunned, I should say, except for Frank.  He talked so matter-of-factly about the ordeal that you'd think that would be a normal reaction that anyone would be capable of.  Quitting painting was never an option: if you lose your painting had, you use the other one!  End of story.  
What a guy!


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