Frank Kelly Freas

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Frank Kelly Freas

Frank Kelly Freas , actually Francis Sylvester Kelly (born August 27, 1922 in Hornell , New York , † January 2, 2005 in Los Angeles ) was an American painter and illustrator . He was one of the most prolific and popular science fiction and fantasy artists .

biography

Freas grew up in Canada and later moved the family to Ohio , where he took his stepfather's family name. After a short time, he broke off his engineering studies and devoted himself to painting and drawing, initially as the art director of an advertising agency in Columbus . During his military service in World War II, he served in the United States Army Air Corps' aerial reconnaissance over the Pacific, and used his drawing talent to paint pin-ups on the noses of bombers . After the war ended, he studied at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and set up his own advertising agency. In 1952 he moved to New York and focused on illustrations for science fiction magazines.

His artistic career lasted more than fifty years and began with the illustration "The Piper" as a cover for Weird Tales magazine . Since then he has illustrated hundreds of books and magazines, including Astounding magazine from the 1950s to the 1990s and all cover illustrations for MAD magazine from 1955 to 1962. He designed the book covers for DAW , Ballantine , Avon , Laser and Ace . Freas was the editor and artist of the first ten issues of Starblaze . He stood out from other artists of his genre because he did not use the airbrush technique like them, but painted with a brush.

The NASA commissioned Freas with the design of the Skylab logos and posters, which for the space program promoted (they are now in the Smithsonian Institution issued). His work also includes comic book covers and covers for the GURPS books Lensman and Planet Krishna . His illustration of a sad robot for Tom Godwin's The Gulf Between (1953) was used as a model for the cover of Queen's album News of the World in 1977 . For the Franciscans he painted 500 portraits of saints, simultaneously with the portraits of Alfred E. Neumann for MAD . His designs for games and medical illustrations are also known.

Freas published numerous anthologies and often exhibited his works. He was the first to win the Hugo Award eleven times (in total he was nominated twenty times). No other science fiction artist was as successful as him. His soft and bright images, the lovable aliens and erotic women have become part of the modern SciFi imagery.

Awards

  • 1955: Hugo Award for best artist
  • 1956: Hugo Award for best artist
  • 1958: Hugo Award as the best outstanding artist
  • 1959: Hugo Award for best professional artist
  • 1970: Hugo Award for best professional artist
  • 1972: Hugo Award for best professional artist
  • 1972: Locus Award for best magazine artist
  • 1973: Hugo Award for best professional artist
  • 1972: Locus Award for best magazine artist
  • 1974: Hugo Award for best professional artist
  • 1974: Locus Award for best professional artist
  • 1975: Hugo Award for best professional artist
  • 1975: Locus Award for best professional artist
  • 1976: Hugo Award for best professional artist
  • 2001: Retro Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist (for 1951)
  • 2006: Admission to the Science Fiction Hall of Fame , posthumously

literature

  • Frank Kelly Freas - The Art Of Science Fiction , 1977
  • Frank Kelly Freas - As He Sees It , 2000

Web links

Commons : Frank Kelly Freas  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files