The Fantastic Art of Frank Frazetta

The Fantastic Art of Frank Frazetta #1

by Frank Frazetta, Betty Ballantine

>42 works, mostly color. Plates printed on one side only. Book is >11" tall.
Girl on a Horse • (1975) • interior art
Introduction • (1975) • essay by Betty Ballantine
Cindy Is Saved comic (2 pp) • (1954) • interior art
Nude woman on her knees being scolded by a male elf sketch • interior art
The Executioner • interior art
Stone Age • interior art (variant of Cover: Tarzan at the Earth's Core 1962)
Caveman • interior art (variant of Battle 1955)
Apeman • interior art (variant of Cover: Tarzan & the Castaways 1964)
Wolfmoon • (1966) • interior art (variant of Cover: Phoenix Prime)
The Sorcerer • interior art (variant of Sorcerer 1966)
Wolfman • (1965) • interior art
Neanderthal • (1967) • interior art
Sea Monster • (1966) • interior art (variant of Eerie #3 cover art)
Spiderman • (1967) • interior art (variant of Cover: Night Walk)
Wolfpack • interior art (variant of Cover: Atlan 1968)
Green Death • interior art (variant of Cover: Wolfshead 1968)
The Brain • (1967) • interior art
The Apparition • interior art (variant of Cover: Brak the Barbarian Versus the Sorceress 1969)
Berserker • (1967) • interior art (variant of Cover: Conan the Conqueror)
The Snow Giants (detail) • interior art
The Snow Giants • (1969) • interior art (variant of Cover: Conan of Cimmeria)
At the Earth's Core • interior art (variant of Cover: Witch of the Dark Gate 1972)
Woman with a Scythe • interior art (variant of Woman with Scythe 1971)
Tyrannosaurus Rex • interior art (variant of Cover: Orn 1971)
Egyptian Queen • (1969) • interior art (variant of Cover: The Fantastic Art of Frank Frazetta 1975)
Tigerwoman • interior art (variant of Sun Goddess 1970)
Atlantis • (1972) • interior art (variant of Cover: Atlantis Rising 1973)
The Silver Warrior • (1973) • interior art (variant of Cover: The Silver Warriors)
The Galleon • interior art (variant of Cover: Into the Aether 1974)
Banth • interior art (variant of "Cathoris stepped between Thuvia & the banth, his sword ready to contest the beast's victory over them." 1984)
"Behind us came the fighting men of Ugor." • interior art
"With wide, distended jaws came the great white lizard." • interior art
"Her veiled eyes seemed to read my very soul." • interior art
The Death Dealer (detail) • interior art
The Death Dealer • interior art (variant of Cover: Flashing Swords! #2 1974)
The Mammoth • (1972) • interior art (tr. of Cover: Back to the Stone Age 1973)
Indomitable • (1967) • interior art (variant of Cover: Conan the Warrior)
Man-Ape • (1967) • interior art (variant of Cover: Conan)
Swamp Demon • (1972) • interior art (variant of Cover: Witch of the Dark Gate)
Middle Earth • interior art (variant of Lord of the Rings Portfolio Plate 3)
The Bear • interior art (variant of Cover: The Oakdale Affair 1974)
Sun Goddess • (1972) • interior art (variant of Cover: Savage Pellucidar)
Chained • (1967) • interior art (variant of Cover: Conan the Usurper)
The Barbarian • (1966) • interior art (variant of Cover: Conan the Adventurer)
The Barbarian (detail) • interior art
Sea Witch • interior art
Conan the Usurper cover • interior art (variant of Cover: Conan the Usurper 1967)

Genres: Art, Fantasy, Art Design, Drawing, Adventure, Comics, Science Fiction

94 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1975

About the author

Frank Frazetta was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for work in comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, record-album covers and other media. He was the subject of a 2003 documentary.

* Complete list of his book covers.

Reviews

[William Zupancic · Rating 5 out of 5]

FRANK FRAZETTA HAS BEEN , AND IS MY ALL-TIME " FAVORITE " MAN OF FANTASY ART !!! ... I LOVE HIS WORK !!!!!!! ... WILLIAM ZUPANCIC

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frazetta did a lot of the cover art for fantasy & SF books. His covers for the Lancer editions of the Conan books were what got me interested in him. Later, I recognized his style & bought a book just for the cover art - my first Kane book, by Karl Wagner. He's done a wide range including a lot of the Barsoom series for the Martian books by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Also some Tarzan. He also illustrated for Playboy or Penthouse - I think he did the 'Little Annie Fanny' cartoons for a while.

I'm not a real art critic. His paintings seem extraordinary to me. In closeups of some subjects in the book, you can see where a single stroke of his brush creates muscle line. It's really fantastic. The washed out horrors in the backgrounds of some just become more & more eerie as you study them. His women are voluptuous, generous curves & scanty clothing. His humor is fantastic too.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably one of the best collections of Frazetta's artwork, with prints of classic paintings from Conan, John Carter of Mars, Pellucidar, Lord of the Rings, etc. Frazetta's iron-thighed barbarians and lush women are oft-imitated, never duplicated. He truly is unique among fantasy artists. Even Boris Vallejo is not his equal.

[Little Timmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible book full of some of the best paintings by my favorite artist. Beautiful large pages really bring these paintings to full viewing pleasure. If you love the art of Frank Frazetta then this is a book for you. Highly recommended.

[Beltenebros Jacobo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pues bien este #libro es para apreciar el #arte de este #famoso #pintor e #historietista donde podemos ver algunos de sus trabajos y una reseña sobre como fueron creados y donde se usaron, me atrevería a decir que todos los de mi generación conocen algo de su trabajo y que mejor ejemplo que hablar de #Conan donde el actor #Arnold #Schwarzenegger dio vida a este personaje y el cual menciono que pocas veces se ha visto intimidado ante algo y que una de esas veces fue al ver las pinturas de #Frazetta, #JasonMomoa también dice que admira su trabajo y anhelaba llevarlas a la pantalla, su papel de #KhalDrogo en #juegodetronos lo demuestra.
Leyendo descubrí que el traje de #esclava que viste la princesa #Leia en #StarWars fue inspirado de la #Reina #egipcia del cual se dijo fue la #monalisa de Frazetta, es más conocido por su trabajo inspirado en el genero #espada y #brujería, pero realizo ilustraciones de #cienciaficcion, #terror, posters para #peliculas y #comics .
Sus creaciones artísticas se cotizan en la actualidad en millones de dólares y su obra ha influenciado a películas como el señor de los anillos, #Conan, #JhonCarter de #Marte, abierto hasta el amanecer, Star Wars y la serie Juego de Tronos.
Incluso su influencia ha llegado a inspirar canciones de grupos de rock como #Metallica, #MollyHatchet, #Kiss y #Nazareth .
Por cierto, siempre quise tener este #libro, pero por una u otra razón no lo adquiría hasta que me anime a dejar a #Olaf sin comer un mes para poder comprarlo, así que es una #lectura muy recomendable.

[Rodrigo García Carmona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro de arte espectacular. Reproducciones del irrepetible Frazetta a un tamaño enorme sobre un papel que, como editor, me ha dejado sorprendido por su calidad. Los colores saltan de la página y no se da el desagradable brillo que tanto aparece en este tipo de libros; es mejor que muchos pósteres, casi parece que tuvieras la obra delante.

Además, la elección de imágenes se ha hecho con muy buen gusto y es un placer poder ver las versiones previas de obras emblemáticas como La mujer gato o Reina egipcia. Y el epílogo del hijo de Frazetta es particularmente emotivo. Solo me sobra el énfasis que se hace a veces en las cifras para transmitir la importancia del artista. No es necesario, el arte es tan bueno que habla por sí mismo.

De los que tengo, mi libro de arte favorito. Incluso más que el de Ian Miller.

[Tobin Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This first collection of Frazetta's earliest work, up to about 1974 is, as to be expected, simply gorgeous. Seeing these images—some sketches, most finished paintings—makes me feel like that twelve year old kid walking around in a bookstore, and seeing both my first Conan book, and my first Frazetta painting. And, telling the absolute truth, I bought that book for the cover.

Turns out, I loved the Robert E. Howard stories inside as well, but that cover still pulls up visceral memories for me.

Frazetta was a huge influence on my youth, and remains so today, fifty years later.

Great book. I'm looking forward to the other volumes.

[Andrew Hale · Rating 5 out of 5]

42 selected paintings and sketches by Frank Frazetta (mostly paintings) with a couple sketches in the opening introduction and well as a comic strip from 1954 called "Cindy Is Saved". Ballantine's intro is quick, with a short history on Frank. Well worth owning to have good shots of Frank's art.

[Malcolm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frank Frazetta is the godfather of modern fantasy art, for better or worse. Thrilling images of pulp battles with horrid monsters and glistening heroes. Heroes possess the ideal physical form and wear very little clothing. He painted the iconic portrayals of John Carter of Mars and Conan the Barbarian. And, indeed, I would argue that the D&D Barbarian draws far more on Frazetta's art than it necessarily does on Howard's literature.

Frazetta's flair for action was honed in early works in the style of comics. And it works. One of Frazetta's strengths is the excellent weight he gives to his subjects. Though light on gore, Frazetta's battles feel heavy with the figures launching powerful strikes even as they fight on mountains of corpses. It epitomizes the feel of pulp adventure stories and it's a trend that has carried on in fantasy art to the modern day. Frazetta was a luminary who changed the landscape of how fantasy art is made.

Frazetta also sexualized women a lot in his art. The poses are always turned this way or that to make sure boobs or butts are framed in the shot. Now, the men are naked just as often as the women and are no more fond of armor. Frazetta was not above putting man ass front and center of the framing. But it doesn't feel as leery as his women often are. An image sticks out of a nearly nude woman striking out with a weapon as the chain holding on her loin cloth breaks. Conan's undergarments never threatened to fall off in mid sword swing.

The biggest crime, I think, comes in one of the two Lord of the Rings pieces. The first is a picture of the Hobbit. It's done in a much cuter cartoonish style and I love it. The second one insults Eowyn and for that I will not stand. It's clearly a picture of Eowyn facing down the Witch King of Angmar. Cool setting, great inspiration. Eowyn is on the losing end, the Witch King towering over her threatening a lethal blow. The Witch King did break Eowyn's arm. But Eowyn is dressed in a literal breast plate. That kind of Eowyn-slander I cannot stand. She was explicitly disguised as a man and, while funny, I don't think the Rohirrim wore boob armor.

There's a lot to praise Frazetta for. His talent for action can be seen carrying through other luminaries of fantasy art and perhaps none more than Wayne A Reynolds who has a stunning knack for freeze-framing a battle in his paintings at perfectly exciting moments. But he also helped instill male gaze-y tropes in fantasy art and that has aged like fine milk. I don't think he originated these tropes by any means, but he did revel in them.

[Vansh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frazetta was an artist from the 50-80s whose paintings inspired many IPs ranging from Conan the Barbarian to W40k and you can see why.
The book contains a myriad of paintings with different emotions being invoked and range in both art style, period, and subject matter. From a Tarzan-like man swinging on trees, a pack of mammoths being fought, a mother trying to protect her child from wolves, a man running from wolves under a blood-moon, pointy hat wizards, to the flying ships and inexplicable machines in some others. There's a sense of movement and more importantly, grace present in all of them.

The women are of course beautiful, capturing the beauty standards of the era (based on Monroe) and some personal aesthetic preferences resulting in them being curvy, generally long hair, having fat in some expected places like the bum but also in some areas which appear odd to a modern audience. For example, there's meant to be a lower belly fat pouch on the female body right above the groin because the ovaries require a fat reserve for optimal hormonal function (Monroe had it too, and apparently, it was seen as a sign of fertility in the 50s). They're cool but I didn't really come here for the woman though.
The men are so beautiful. I remember in my youth looking up sculpts of David and Farnese Hercules and being inspired, breath-taken by these figures of muscle oozing so much certainty in themselves and strength. Frazetta's figures have been the only ones to capture that feeling in me again and I'm very grateful to him, and his family for preserving his art. Look up his art pieces like Atlantis or Wolf-moon. Or the fear inspired by DEATH DEALER, the sense of triumph from Indomitable, the adrenaline from Spider-Man, the pure will to Power in The Barbarian.
I like Frazetta's art. I think you will too.

[Ricardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

virou uma lenda nos anos 70 fazendo pinturas fantásticas e de sci-fi. seus maiores sucessos incluem capas de livros e hqs, entre elas tarzan, conan, john carter. criou a versão definitiva do conan no imaginário dos fãs

com esse livro na minha coleção, não dependo mais de contas de redes sociais para ver artes do frazetta. de qualquer forma, essas artes vão continuar hitando na internet.

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank Frickin' Frazetta was so The Man for young male art students back in the early 70's. Aside from the subject matter, he had such a dramatic sense of color, lighting and composition - I still get a thrill out of looking at his stuff today.

[Nguyễn Vy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phong cách vẽ nhân vật đầy đặn cơ bắp, thiếu vải với gam màu kịn dị mà pulp science fiction nào cũng minh hoạ chắc là từ tác giả này mà ra nhỉ
À trong này có cả hình minh hoạ tác giả vẽ middle earth, tarzan với conan the barbarian

[Erik Essington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grew up with this book. Images are mesmerizing.

[Van · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book disappeared from my collection long ago. Seriously miss it!

[MB Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first and best of the early five book series reprinting Frazetta's work on slick paper. Volume one reprints 6 of his legendary Conan covers for Lancer books, including the iconic Conan the Adventurer (possibly a repainting/reworking, given the ©74) and my favorite Conan, the cover to Conan of Cimmeria featuring a lone swordsman facing two larger warriors wielding doubled bitted axes.

Also included are three of my favorite Frazettas, "The Silver Warrior" (cover from a US edition of Michael Moorcock's Phoenix on Obsidian entitled The Silver Warriors) featuring a swordsman on a sled pulled by 4 polar bears; the first (I think) "Death Dealer", red eyed, astride a black horse holding an axe dripping blood; and a nice quiet piece titled "Atlantis" with a tarnished bronze statue with the ruins of city in the background.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

With all the other art books I have, I can't believe it's taken me this long to get my first Frank Frazetta artbook. Picked this up second hand and it's a more than welcome addition to my library. Full of iconic Frank Frazetta art including the 'Egyptian Queen' that appears on the cover, some interior art from the Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter/Barsoom series, The Death Dealer and more. It's old (the copy I have was published in 1976), but totally worth looking out for. If you're a fan of Frazetta's work I'd totally recommend this art book.

[Serge Pierro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first volume of the initial series of books collecting the art of Frank Frazetta, and it is probably the best. Many of the iconic paintings are featured, including the legendary "Death Dealer" (including a closeup showing the detail). Many are recognizable as the covers to the Conan paperback series and the covers to various Warren publications. Also featured is some of Frazetta's beautiful pen and ink work. Highly recommended.

[Thomas Zimmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

RIP Frank. One of the all time greats. When I see artists like Boris who try to imitate him, it only brings into focus how pure Frazetta's talent was. I can't stand it when people make jokes about painted vans and Molly Hatchet record covers, trying to reduce the huge impact Frazetta has had on illustration. He is a legend!

[Elijah Meeks · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first in a series of books exploring Frazetta's work. Ballentine's writing doesn't match up to the art and her exploration of Frazetta's technique and training is really little more than fandom, but the artwork is so spectacular that you don't mind.

[M.i. · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's something to be said about art work that seemingly transports you to the locations and worlds being displayed and doing so without the use of words or language. That's just how great this book is and of course Frazetta's artistry. My only qualm was just how quick I got through the book.

[Kamakana · Rating 3 out of 5]

090616: again. just a trip back to my childhood. just the inspiration for so many sides of vans artwork... never better than this work. kids nowadays- where can they see this style- oh yeah: everywhere in your average super violent video games...

[Friedrich Haas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frazetta was a strong new wind, fresh, powerful, vibrant, and heralding change.

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Masterfully beautiful. Frank frazetta's work is unique and fantastic in itself.

[Groot · Rating 5 out of 5]

The finest artist of the 20th century. I am Groot.