Artist Profile: Frank Frazetta

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Arleigh

FRANK FRAZETTA

For the latest “Artist Profile” I have picked one of the icons and giants in the realm of fantasy art. This artist has influenced many artists who looked up to him as a mentor and inspiration. His work has also fired up the imaginations of writers and filmmakers the world over. The artist I speak of was the great Frank Frazetta.

Frank Frazetta is one of those artists whose work has become so recognizable that people know it’s his artwork even without any sign pointing it out. He has been in the forefront of fantasy artwork since he switched from doing comic strips and comic books during the 40’s and 50’s to painting covers for Warren Comics such as Vampirella, Creepy and Eerie. It was during this same time period that he began to create some of his most iconic pieces when he painted the covers for the paperback editions of Edgar Rice Burroughs classic character such as Conan and John Carter of Mars. In fact, one of the Conan paintings he did, Conan the Destroyer, sold for $1.5million dollars at an auction this past Summer of 2010.

He would add to his body of work during the 1970’s by painting album covers for such rock bands as Dust, Nazareth, Molly Hatchert, Wolfmother and Yngwie Malmsteen. One such album cover was an earlier original painting Frank used for the band Molly Hatcher. It would introduce a character who has spawned it’s own industry of comic books, posters, novels, games and collectible statues. This painting is The Death Dealer (the picture above) and it has become the one piece of Frazetta artwork which a majority of his fans around the world consider his best work.

Frank Frazetta passed away on May 10, 2010 in a Florida hospital near his home. Frank’s legacy is not just the hundred or so of paintings he had kept through the decades of his career, but also the uncounted artists he had influenced. Fantasy artists of renown themselves such as Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell, Joseph Vargo, Ken Kelly and Brom. The pieces of work chosen for this profile are just the tip of the work Frank left behind for future generations to study and admire.

Artist Profile: H.R. Giger

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Arleigh

Luis Royo inaugurated the artist profile feature and he’s now followed up by Swiss surrealist painter and sculptor H.R. Giger.

Many who follow the heavy metal and the visual effects scenes know who H.R. Giger is. This artist who hails from Switzerland has been responsible for some of the most iconic images in science-fiction film history. Just looking at the samples of his work on this page one has to automatically notice how the designs look very similar to the alien creature in Ridley Scott’s sci-fi/horror classic Alien.

Scott had seen some of Giger’s art pieces from his Necronomicon IV art collection and instantly knew that this Swiss artist was the one to design his alien and the spacecraft it was to be discovered in. Giger’s alien and environment design were so masterful that he won an Oscar for Best Visual Effect in 1980 for his work in Alien. This accolade got him noticed to head the art design for a failed Dune film adaptation by Chilean filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky.

It was to great disappointment that when David Lynch finally worked on Dune only the basic designs Giger had created for the production was used. As one watches Lynch’s Dune bits and pieces of Giger’s signature biomechanical design does pop out. This is especially true when the film switched over to focus on scenes dealing with the Harkonnen and Giedie Prime.

Giger would go on to do some art and set designs for such films as Poltergeist II: The Other Side, Alien 3 and Species. Even now he has been tasked by Ridley Scott to work on his latest film, Prometheus, and come up with new creature designs.

H.R. Giger’s style is one of nightmarish and surreal landscapes and figures which some have described as Satanic, perverse and disturbing. He combines biological anatomy with the mechanical to create works of art that have become favorite of certain heavy metal subgenres like industrial metal and death metal. While most of his works were created using airbrushing techniques to create monochromatic pieces he has, of late, switched over to using pastels, markers and inks.

One wonders what sort images goes through such an artists’ mind to come up with some of the artwork Giger has become famous (and in some circles, infamous) for. Maybe the fact that Giger suffers from night terrors and this has led to heavily influencing the images he creates. In the end, H.R. Giger’s work defnitely falls under the old adage of “beauty lie in the eyes of the beholder”.

Official H.R. Giger Website

Artist Profile: Luis Royo

Posted on January 11, 2011 by Arleigh

LUIS ROYO

Art is a word that has a broad meaning. It could mean art in the sense of how some people perceive music and films. Some people have begun to look at video games and similar entertainment media as art. I will always look at art, first and foremost, the realm of painters and those who create images on canvas and other similar materials. I also consider such individuals as purveyors of their own brand of entertainment. While some may not find entertainment when looking upon the works of masters in a gallery for others it’s the highest form.

To start of a feature that will profile artists who have contributed to the furthering of their craft I choose one of my favorite artists of any field today. The first artists chosen is Spanish fantasist Luis Royo whose work has spanned several decades. His distinctive style of blending the sensual and erotic female form with very dark and apocalyptics settings and background has made Luis Royo one of the preeminent artist in the scifi and fantasy literary world. Royo has done covers for genre literature and has even branched out to creating covers for heavy metal bands and video game titles.

Luis Royo’s particular style was first limited to sketches whose images then unveils fully once he has put brush (both traditional and mechanical air) to the canvas. Such pieces have become quite sought after by collectors. While he’s not averse to having his pieces sold to private buyers it’s usually a rare thing for him to sell from his own collection. Most of his artistic pieces owned by private art collectors have been those sold by owners who had contracted Royo to do the piece for them.

In the 1990’s he began to create pieces both in sketch and finished form and collected them into artbooks. These books usually had their artwork fall under a specific theme Royo had in mind to tie everything together. Such collected artbook like Malefic, Prohibited, Tattoos and Subversive Beauty have become fan favorites and one doesn’t have to look too hard to find them in bookstores and comic book collectible shops.

In the last couple of years, he has begun to branch out to creating his artistic pieces using other mediums. He has begun to bring his own paintings to three-dimensional life through sculpture which he saw as just a logical step in his evolution as an artist. Maybe he’ll begin to learn how to adapt his subversive beauties beyond canvas and sculpture and into the world of CGI. From this artistic genius I wouldn’t put it past him not to make that next step into the digital realm.