Frazetta and me May 11, 2010

[Kevin]

Frazetta and me

Frank Frazetta died yesterday, at the age of 82. My deepest sympathies to his family, friends and legions of fans and admirers. A legend is gone

I never knew the man, personally, but I have followed, studied and have been inspired by Frank Frazetta's artwork almost my entire life. I think I own every Frank Frazetta art book ever released, and I had the privilege of seeing numerous original paintings (and sketches) at an auction company back in the 1990s. I always dreamed of some day owning an original Frazetta piece (especially a painting), but his work was priced out of my range. Still, I had books.

Frank Frazetta was a fixture in my life . . . always in the background. I remember marveling over his Conan the Barbarian book covers when I was reading them in third and fourth grade. I was dazzled by his early covers for Creepy and Eerie, and I studied his black and white comic strip in one of those titles (Creepy, I think) a thousand times. That was in the 1960s and he helped inspire me to become an artist and a storyteller.

In the 1970s I learned more about Frank Frazetta and learned about his work in EC comics and his relationship with other epic artists like Krenkel and Williamson. I laughed out loud in the movie theater when "Frazetta, Krenkel, Williamson" were part of a magical invocation in the animated film Wizards, and was happy all three artists got this informal recognition as magical gods of imagination.

I remember my fine arts teachers not caring for his work much. One criticized that his paintings were barely more than underpaintings. It's true, but to me, that made Frank Frazetta even more amazing and impressive, especially when I finally got to see one up close. Most Frank Frazetta paintings are very simple yet powerful and evocative. He focuses on the central idea and figure and suggests all of the rest. That's hard to do. He is . . . was . . . amazing.

Every painter I have ever known, and I have had the privilege of working with some of the best, all knew, admired and respected the work of Frank Frazetta. I've read about the man and have heard many stories from people who knew him.

Though many followed in Frazetta's footsteps, no painter ever surpassed him. Frank Frazetta was a one-of-kind original. A super-talent who inspired me and generations of artists and storytellers. Without the works of Frank Frazetta, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Jim Steranko, Wally Wood, Robert E. Howard and Jack London (among others) as some of my earliest and most profound influences, there might not be a Palladium Books.

Frank Fazetta inspired several generations of artists. I am one of them. A living part of his legacy. Somehow, I think his lasting work will continue to inspire generations of artists and writers to come.

Sincerely,
Kevin Siembieda
Publisher, Writer, Artist and Game Designer
Palladium Books, 29 years of publishing role-playing games

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