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For me it started with my brother Bob's green book shelf. My two brothers and I shared a bedroom when we were young, but when my brother Bob turned about 17, our dad built a basement bedroom for him. It was the Seventies, and Bob would often blare Pink Floyd and Elvis Costello in his basement pad. He never let me in, but I would often linger outside his door where he kept this green bookshelf stacked with paperbacks. That was where I discovered Tolkien, Asimov, and my favorite, Robert E. Howard. The cover of Conan the Conqueror by Frank Frazetta was the one that stuck out in my mind the most. It really captured my imagination. Still does. The horror and brutality of it! Yes, for me it starts with Frank Frazetta.
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Frazetta's awesome and has always been my favorite (although I like Jeffrey Jones a lot too). I had a Death Dealer replica painting hanging in my room growing up and always had Frazetta calendars. Once they'd expired, I cut the art out and posted it on my walls as well. I really found the imagery mesmerizing and powerful - I just never got sick of admiring it. As a result, it really influenced the way I perceived the genre then and now. For better or worse, it's hard for me not to see fantasy through a Frazetta lens.
I could post dozens of pieces that I like, but I'll limit myself to one.
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This reminded me growing up I had Frazetta's "Frost Giant's Daughter" on my wall. I love his stuff. I haven't heard of Jeffrey Jones, I'll have to check him out.
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Adding the image since it did not allow me the first time:
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Frazetta is awesome. It took my college roommate to point out to me that the frost giant on the right has already been struck in the throat by the human sword wielder-see the blood drops on the ground. I never caught that back in the day.
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I never noticed that either. Very cool.
Another thing I like about that frost giant depiction is although they are clearly larger than the man, they're not ridiculously so. Most of Frazetta's stuff has this primordial world feel to me, which I love. In this case, the giants are like the last of an older race, from a time when everything was bigger and deadlier (wooly mammoths, dinosaurs), rather than some goofy exaggeration or clownish contrivance.
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Agricola wrote:
Frazetta is awesome. It took my college roommate to point out to me that the frost giant on the right has already been struck in the throat by the human sword wielder-see the blood drops on the ground. I never caught that back in the day.
FWIW, I always thought that Conan had lopped the giant's arm off at the elbow :D
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I've got a repro of this on my wall in my rec room, it's my favorite print I've got by Frank:
I remember getting it framed over a decade ago, and the dude doing the framing at the shop said it reminded him of his heavy metal album covers.
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Frazetta is one of the best, and his images did a lot to shape my basic concept of what fantasy art "should" be. I have some old John Carter hardback books which are illustrated on the inside by Frazetta and they are fantastic.
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The man was the master.....I quit!
on second thought....I'll just try and improve every time I put pen to paper!
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I was 18 and in the Marines when I was exposed to Frank Frazetta and Robert E. Howard's Conan with an Ace paperback. I've been a huge Frazetta and Howard fan ever since. Pic related:
Last edited by Brock Savage (10/17/2016 1:36 am)
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Not sure how cool it is to post commercial type links on this forum (mods feel free to chastise me) but here is an ongoing Kickstarter with Frazetta based miniatures (seemingly sponsored by whoever owns the Frazetta rights in Canada).
A decent Death Dealer (if a little big) at least and at a price that's not insane.Offline
That Death Dealer mini is pretty cool!
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Super cool! I want this bad, but I feel like miniatures Kickstarters have a spottier track record. Hmmmmm...
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Chainsaw wrote:
Super cool! I want this bad, but I feel like miniatures Kickstarters have a spottier track record. Hmmmmm...
I'm tempted to bite too (though I think I'm waiting on 3 late mini kickstarters right now!) the fact the prices are in Canadian dollars makes it feel like you would be getting a discount right off the bat.