For those of you that enjoy the work of Frank Frazetta and those of you that haven't a clue who he is this docu-bio is a must see.
Frazetta is revered in the art world as the Godfather of Fantasy Art. He is the inspiration for all you see these days in this type of artwork. He is worshipped by the likes of Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell, Simon Bisley, Bernie Wrightson and countless others.
The man is pure talent. This movie is just a taste of what this man has done to art in the last 50 years. He's one of the few "Modern Day Masters" if not the only one.
Catch this if you can:
The premiere has already been shown, but these are the dates that it can be seen again on the Independent Film Channel (IFC). All times are EST.
TV Schedule Results (Next 30 Days) Frazetta: Painting With Fire (2003) Tuesday, Sep 21 2004 10:00 PM Frazetta: Painting With Fire (2003) Tuesday, Sep 21 2004 3:45 AM Frazetta: Painting With Fire (2003) Wednesday, Sep 22 2004 4:30 PM Frazetta: Painting With Fire (2003) Tuesday, Sep 28 2004 10:30 AM Frazetta: Painting With Fire (2003) Tuesday, Sep 28 2004 3:45 PM Frazetta: Painting With Fire (2003) Wednesday, Sep 29 2004 8:00 AM
Hope ya'll enjoy!!
R.T.
Posted by Bob Burns (Member # 268) on :
I remember when FRAZETTA was drawing for E.C. COMICS (MAD, WEIRD SCIENCE, WEIRD FANTASY, etc.) back in the '50's. You could see his talent even then!.....and talk about "different".....anyone remember BASIL WOLVERTON!?
Posted by JDuckett (Member # 4505) on :
Thanks for sharing. I look forward to seeing this
Posted by Bob Stephens (Member # 858) on :
I have every illustrated book done by Frank Frazetta. He was a big influence on me in my early airbrushing days.
Another incredible pair of artist were the Hilderbrant twin brothers. They were commissioned to do the Lord of the rings" illustrations for a calendar put out by Ballentine Press. If you ever get to read a biography on these two you will be amazed at what they did together.
I wish I had cable and could watch the program. I bet its very insightful.
Posted by Steve Aycock (Member # 3612) on :
I'm also a Frazetta fan. As well as a fan of the other artisits you mentioned plus the Hildebrandt brothers. I caught the tail end of the premiere and was wondering if it was going to come back on. Thanks for the info. I'll tune in for sure.
You likely have but if not be sure to check out Frazetta's web page The wife and I hope to make a trip to his museum one day.
Steve
Posted by AdrienneMorgan (Member # 1046) on :
OH YEAH!!! Big Frazetta fan here too!!!
He's been an inspiration to me since high school days....my favorite piece is the one with the warrior driving two white polar bears through the snow!!!
What an amazing illustrator he was..I saw that bio on the IFC too RT, thanks for the heads up on the repeats as I want to get this on tape!!
Bob, is it true that the Hilldebrant {sp?} bros actually started from one side of the painting and met in the center? Not sure where I heard this, but I wouldn't be surprised.
Another Comic book illustrator I used to like was Berry Smith...HAD issue # 2 or 3 of Conan with his drawings in it....lost it years ago (please don't tell me what it was worth!then again, my Grandmother threw out my Dad's old Superman comics many years ago.......grooaan!) Any fans of Robert E. Howard here?
A:)
Posted by Ray Rheaume (Member # 3794) on :
Oh goodie....my kind of post!
Frazetta was a huge influence in my wanting to become an illustrator and airbrush artist. Boris Vallejo was also one of my favorites.
Jack "the King" Kirby set the style for many of the comic artists for 40 years, co-creating characters with Stan Lee like the Hulk, Fantastic Four and the Xmen. (little tid bit: although Steve Ditko is credited with co-creating Spiderman, Kirby designed the costume and did the first cover he appeared on.) Sadly, much of his original work was lost or damaged over the years.
Artists like Burne Hogarth (Tarzan), Joe Kubert (Sgt. Rock) and others went on to start schools for comic illustration. Definitely worth a look if you're curious.
Some of the truly talented comic artists include Dave Stevens (Bettie Page, Rocketeer), Jim Steranko (Captain America, Nick Fury), John Byrne (Superman, Xmen, Fantastic Four), Jim Lee (Xmen), Frank Miller (Batman, Daredevil, Wolverine) and Todd McFarland (Spiderman, Spawn).
Although the pencillers of comics are talented, many of them had favorite "inkers" who became closely associated with them by fans. Inkers and colorists to this day still use brushes to finish the work needed to bring the comics to life.
Brothers of the brush all. Rapid
PS: There's a former comic letterer right here in Letterville...Mark Rogan. Mark was at Marvel Comics where he lettered issues of Spiderman, Dr. Strange, Captain America and other titles. How cool is that?
Posted by Mark Matyjakowski (Member # 294) on :
Bummer, I don't think my cable company carries that channel ... they do sell the video on his website, cool (thanks for the link Steve)
Back a few years ago I bought complete trading card sets of Frazetta, Boris, Olivia, Ken Kelly. Best reference materials I have!
Posted by Richard Bustamante (Member # 370) on :
>>>Ray Rheaume I'm pretty sure that Bob Kane created and drew Batman. Bob Kane died some ten years back. During his final days, he lived in LA California. The last Batman drawing that Mr.Kane did was "Night Vigil over Gotham" which was never released to the public. Before Batman ever got popular, DC Comics bought the rights, and Mr.Kane was pretty much squeezed out of any real profits. To this day DC Comics still ownes Batman.
I knew Bob Kane. He was my friend, and I will always be greatfull for his help.
-Rich
PS. The "Night Vigil over Gotham" was consigned by: Gail Jensen, Scott Jensen, Tod Spencer, and Richard Bustamante during the last year of his life. Those of you who still have this poster, you better hold on to it, cause its going to be worth alot. We could only afford to print 2K copies.
Posted by Ray Rheaume (Member # 3794) on :
Richard,
In respect for his creation of the character, Bob Kane got a brief cameo appearance in the first Batman movie directed by Tim Burton. There is a scene whe he appears with a humorous picture of a bat in a "zoot suit". His legacy will live on forever and I'm looking forward to the new movie "Batman Begins", coming out soon. Kane's inspiration for the character stemmed from his love for Sherlock Holmes novels. The first appearance was in Detective Comics...which later created the company name "DC".
Stan Lee, who created almost every Marvel Comic character, has had similar appearances in the Spiderman movies, and along side the original TV green goliath, Lou Ferrigno in "The Hulk" as well. (That one cracked me up.) Lee and Jack Kirby worked for Timely Comics during WWII. Their first character was Captain America, created 1943, as was Batman.
Rapid
Posted by George Perkins (Member # 156) on :
RT, I just wanted to thank you for this heads up. We watched it last night and it was thouroughly enjoyable! How refreshing it was to watch something on a talented artist and see that he was also a wonderful human being , husband and father. He also had great network of friends that dated back to their childhood. I highly reccommend this one.
Posted by R T Thomas (Member # 355) on :
George,
The thanks really go to my sister. She knows what a fan of Frazetta I have always been. She just happened upon the premiere showing and watched it. She couldn't get in touch with me at the time and told me about it later. I proceeded to do a few searches and found the info. I was watching it at the next showing.
She was amazed at how humble the man really is. He is in awe of the people that are in awe of him. The man is amazing. I give him all the credit in keeping me interested in art years ago when I had "other" ideas.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)