Conan Sketch

I was musing (again) about Frazetta's groundbreaking painting of Conan for the Lancer edition of Conan the Adventurer from the mid-60's. I was thinking about the bizarre expression Frazetta put on Conan's face in that painting and tried to drudge it up from memory. I didn't get close, but came up with a passable barbarian none the less.

A Bridge Too Far

My Sister gave me some Dover editions of Bridgman's Life Drawing sometime in the '70's and I've referred to them ever since. I heard Gil Kane speak at the '94 San Diego Comicon and he mentioned how Frazetta had copied all of Bridman's Life Drawing in one night. Occasionally I get the urge to do the same, then fizzle after 4 or 5 pages. Here I'm more concerned with goofing with my new mix of ink than anything else.
I've always loved Bridgmans drawings. Note the "sack of oatmeal" quality around the rib cage. He was one of the biggest influences on early 20th century illustrators, and it's clear when you look at the dramatic contraposto poses of cartoonists like Alex Raymond and Hal Foster. Heck, even newsters like Jim Lee have put in time sweeping up Bridgmans peanut shells. I have no idea what I meant by that.

All things must pass

My brothers Lancer edition of Conan the Adventurer featuring artwork by Frank Frazetta. I think this was the first thing I'd ever seen of Frazetta's. Trust me, in the late 60's, nothing else looked like this. This was the doorway to everything for me- comics, art, illustration, literature, pretty good for a .95 cent paperback laying in my brothers forbidden room!

Frazetta died today in Florida at 82. It was news I expected to hear any day, but I couldn't let it pass without mention. I toured the Frazetta museum with my Mother in 2001, which was appropriate, because I felt like I was 13 again with my eyes falling out of my head, grunting and whimpering occasionally. Well, the Internet will be full of cloying Frazetta obituaries written by boobs like me, I promise to return to our regularly scheduled program tomorrow.