Monday 10 May 2010

Goodbye, Frank.


When summer goes and autumn comes
To paint the leaves with sombre fires,
I feel, like throbs of distant drums,
The urge of distant nameless sires.

--"One Blood Stain," Robert E. Howard
I've broken the news on The Cimmerian, but this news undoubtedly deserves more. Frank deserves more. When I can get my thoughts sorted out, I'll be posting a tribute on The Cimmerian to this legend.

I rarely call any one person my favourite writer, director, poet, or artist. Frank was an exception: he was my favourite illustrator. I'd always wanted to meet him, though in retrospect, the man I would've met wouldn't have been the same man who painted all those masterpieces. Part of me is sad, but another part is relieved. His pain, be it physical or mental, is now over. He's reunited with his love Ellie, and whether they're together in heaven or peaceful black oblivion, they are at peace.

So long, Frank, and thanks for being the greatest fantasy illustrator of them all.

4 comments:

  1. Absolutely, its so hard to say anyone is my favorite anything but Frank is the pinnacle, the absolute king.

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  2. a very emotional post Frank Frazetta didn't deserves the less... he was the creator of the canon of Conan and the modern barbarian hero...
    Francisco...

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  3. Agreed, he was the best. I love the great Tolkien illustrators--Howe and Nasmith in particular--but Frazetta was a greater talent and visionary.

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  4. Gotta go with the consensus. In a world where the term "giant," "icon" and "legend" are tossed around like confetti, Frazetta was one entirely deserving of such honourifics.

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