Probably the best known artist working in fantasy, Frank Frazetta has died at the age of 82.
His depiction of Robert E. Howard's Conan, particularly on the covers of the old Lancer paperbacks, more or less defined the popular view of sword and sorcery - mighty barbarians, beautiful scantily clad women and horrific monsters to be slain - and had much to do with the popularity of the Conan reprints.
His other work on covers for as diverse a range of characters as Tarzan, John Carter and Karl Edward Wagner's Kane further helped to create the visual language of s & s, to the extent where a series of his paintings were turned into short-lived but much sought after series of novels written by James Silke featuring the Death Dealer.
Bold, colourful and unashamedly fantastic, Frank Frazetta was the giant of fantasy art. He died of a stroke on May 10, 2010, in a hospital near his home in Florida.
I actually cried when I first heard this news yesterday. As an aspiring artist his visuals inspired me to draw. As a writer, they inspired me to write. I even did a report on Frank for an Art History class in college. He will be missed sorely.
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