Frank Frazetta

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frank Frazetta
Ritratto a pennino e china di Graziano Origa, 1997

Frank Frazetta (born February 9, 1928 in Brooklyn , New York City , † May 10, 2010 in Fort Myers , Florida ) was one of the best known and most influential fantasy and science fiction illustrators . His style has been copied and imitated by many others.

biography

Frazetta grew up in Brooklyn, his birthplace. At the age of eight, at the suggestion of a teacher, his parents enrolled him at the Brooklyn Academy of Fine Arts . He attended art school for eight years, where he was tutored by Michele Falanga, an award-winning Italian artist, who was impressed by Frazetta's apparent talent. He wanted to send Frazetta to Europe at his own expense, where he would continue his training. However, this plan was never implemented after Falanga's sudden death in 1944. When school closed a year later, Frazetta was forced to make a living.

At the age of 16 he started drawing comic books from different genres: western, fantasy, mystery, historical and other contemporary subjects. During this time he turned down several job offers from comic book giants such as Walt Disney . In the early 1950s he worked for EC Comics , DC , Avon and several other comic book publishers. Through his work on the front pages of Buck Rogers for Famous Funnies , Frazetta came to work with Al Capp on his Li'l Abner trips. His main job was to draw the daily Johnny Comet stories, but he also stepped in for Capp himself from time to time. After nine years Frazetta returned to drawing his own comics. Since he had been imitating Capp's style for years, the drawings sometimes looked a bit awkward during this period when his own style was emerging again.

It was difficult to find a job as a cartoonist. The comics had changed during the time at Capp, and Frazetta's style looked antiquated. At times he worked for Playboy and drew the comic strip Little Annie Fanny . In 1964, Frazetta began making cover illustrations for fantasy adventures. His first cover for Conan the Barbarian was a huge hit - a lot of people bought the magazine just because of the cover. From that point on, the demand for his work grew. He painted covers for various paperback books such as the classics by Edgar Rice Burroughs , Tarzan and John Carter from Mars . He also made a number of pen drawings for the interior of the books. Since then, Frazetta's work has become more commercial. He made illustrations for movie posters, book covers and calendars. Many of his drawings were created without commission, but still sold very successfully.

Frazetta's work is admired by many Hollywood greats. Clint Eastwood and George Lucas - fans and friends of Frazetta - commissioned him to work on their film projects.

Since he rose to fame, various film studios had tried to get him to work on cartoons. Most of them only offered him a name and the creative work should be done by others. Finally, in the early 80s, a production came up that allowed him more artistic development. He worked with the well-known cartoon producer Ralph Bakshi on the film Fire and Ice , which came out in 1983. Many of the characters that appeared in the film were created by Frazetta. The film was a financial failure because Frazetta's fantasy imagery could not be given enough expression with the trick technology of the time. So he returned to his roots - painting and pen drawing.

Today Frazetta's works are so sought after that even incomplete pencil drawings fetch top prices. Some of his sons make a living from selling his paintings. Frazetta's commercial work is mostly oil, but he also used watercolors, ink, and pencil.

Frazetta lived on a large Pennsylvania estate. His wife Eleanor "Ellie" Frazetta (née Kelly) died on July 17, 2009 of cancer. On May 10, 2010, he died of a stroke in Fort Myers .

Honors

In 2001 Frazetta received the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement. He was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame posthumously in 2014 .

literature

  • Arnie Fenner, Cathie Fenner: Frank Frazetta - Master of Fantasy Art. Benedikt Taschen Verlag GmbH, 1999. ISBN 3-8228-7137-0 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Los Angeles Times: Frank Frazetta dies at 82; renowned fantasy illustrator
  2. ↑ science fiction awards database - Frank Frazetta . Retrieved November 24, 2017.
personal data
SURNAME Frazetta, Frank
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American illustrator
DATE OF BIRTH February 9, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn , New York
DATE OF DEATH May 10, 2010
Place of death Fort Myers , Florida