The Passing of Frank Frazetta

It came to my attention that fantasy artist Frank Frazetta died on the 10th resulting from complications of a stroke. He was 82.

Frank Frazetta has been one of my favorite fantasy artists since I was teenager. When I first began reading science fiction, Frank's artwork was the first fantasy art that came to my attention. Through my learning of Frank's art I then also learned of other fantasy artists such as Boris Vallejo and the Hildebrandt Brothers.

For those not familiar with fantasy art or Frank Frazetta, Frank was responsible for defining the modern image of heroes from literature like Conan, Tarzan, and John Carter of Mars. The image of a musclebound warrior defending against some horiffic creature while also protecting a scantily clad beautiful woman is the hallmark of a Frank Frazetta painting.

And if your a fan of rock band Molly Hatchet, then you have definitely seen the work of Frank Frazetta. As his paintings "The Death Dealer", "Dark Kingdom" and "Berserker" were used as covers for the first 3 Molly Hatchet albums.

A great artistic talent has been lost. By like all great artists, his name & legacy lives on by the great art that they leave behind. And Frank Frazetta left behind a great legacy of images of fantasy & heroes & damsels in distress.

And he will always serve as one of the original sources of inspiration that I rely upon when it comes to the production of my own fantasy oriented photo shoots.

Thanks for the inspiration Frank.