Frank Frazetta

Fantasy artist and legend, Frank Frazetta died yesterday at age 82, and a part of my youth went with him. I would have loved to have met him.

When I was a little bitty art student, his was the work I would copy laboriously as I was learning about color and space and emotion. Frazetta inspired me as much as Caravaggio and Magritte. His art was sensuous and adventurous. It wasn't just the imagery, it was the way he built story within a static image.


I was an old person when I started writing, but I was young and raw when I began my art career. Frazetta inspired me to look for greens and purples in flesh tones, that cellulite was okay on the human female body and that bravery could be shown with as little as the taut sinew of an arm.

He painted fantasy, but there was far more realism in one square inch in his work than in entire paintings of other artists.

While his personal life was wrought with tragedy and a troublesome son, he remained prolific, amassing a huge collection.

Frazetta defined fantasy art. A true legend who will be missed, especially by me.

Comments

Kaz Augustin said…
So, just to throw a Spaniard in the works, M, what you're saying is that, by copying Frazetta "laboriously", you did the art equivalent of fanfic...? Should Frazetta's estate sue?
Maria Zannini said…
LOL. No. It's not like that at all.

Most art students copy the masters. It's considered gauche to sell or show the piece in public. It's not for entertainment purposes either. It's just practice.

I always painted over my practice pieces. As far as I know, all my other peers did too. Canvas was/is too expensive for one time use--especially for pauper artists.