Frazetta LOTR Images and Fantasy art beyond Tolkien

[Primula Baggins]

This discussion was moved from the thread "Frank Frazetta Lord of the Rings Images" in the Shibboleth forum, because the topic had moved on from Tolkien illustrations.

Frazetta does garden-gnome hobbits, too, with feet bigger than their heads.

But nobody beats him for Barsoom. This is probably the iconic image:



A less static one:



I am not an artist, but I like these. They have color and energy and are faithful to the dear, pulpy spirit of the text. And he does pretty bodies so very well. The women are babes, of course, but muscular babes who know how to fight (just as they are in the books).

[axordil]

Muscular, and yet well-padded. A fine combination if you ask me.

[Primula Baggins]

Yes, though my favorite Barsoomian heroine is Tavia the slave girl, who passes as a boy for a good part of her book . . . dressed like that. Granted, the noble narrator-hero is a bit thick, but still, she could not have been "well-padded."

[axordil]

Well, it is fantasy AND fiction.

[Alatar]

Those remind very very much of Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell's work. I used to adore Vallejo's style, and through him discovered his wife's work. I love his use of almost photorealistic images in fantasy. I wonder if Frazetta was much of an influence on them.

Here's a famous piece called "The Vampire's Kiss"




Gallery is here

[truehobbit]

Makes you wonder what she's holding on to.

[Primula Baggins]

Awww, nowwwww. . . . .

They did get married later, if that helps.

Alatar, that is a creepy painting. I would have to say either there's some influence, or what they've been asked to paint (on a book cover, say) is so similar that their work can't help but be similar as well.

I've seen his work elsewhere, of course. I did look at part of the gallery as well. Some of it looked a little too sweet for me, but then a lot of it must be book covers.

[Alatar]

Maybe my eye is just drawn to the edgier stuff, but I've never really noticed to much sweetness in Vallejo's work.

Here's another favourite.

[Primula Baggins]

I was looking at some mermaidish stuff that definitely looked sweet, but perhaps they were covers for light fantasies.

That image is not sweet at all, of course. I have to admit that despite the "fantasy" element of the tattoo coming to life, I don't care for it much. It doesn't seem like a story I would enjoy reading.

And, er, he's too muscly, too.

It's rather odd, because I do read edgy science fiction—but I don't care for edgy fantasy. Tolkien's perfect; Burroughs is a fun escape.

[Primula Baggins]

The discussion of Frazetta's non-Tolkien art and of other fantasy artists has been moved here. (link to come)

[Old_Tom_Bombadil]

There's a Frazetta painting known as "Deathdealer", a black figure on horseback with red glowing eyes, that always makes me think of Tolkien's black riders.

Of course he did a lot of Conan the Barbarian, like this "The Snow Giants", as well as Tarzan.

The Frazetta that most captured my fancy was "Escape from Venus" which pictured a woman with a dagger standing in a swampy pool in the foreground and a ravenous tiger in the background. The colors, particularly the blue, are fantastic! (The poster was much more captivating than this small image.)

Here's a link to FrankFrazetta.com. If you're near East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania you can visit the Frank Frazetta Museum.

[Frelga]

Best Frazetta theory so far.

Screenshot_20240504-095343.png (934.63 KiB) Viewed 12573 times

Although looking at his other art, such as the orca and the dwarves following Gandalf, it seems he a. really hated drawing pants and therefore b. In the Frazetta verse everyone does dress that way.

[Inanna]

lol.

[RoseMorninStar]

[Maria]

I grew up reading Tarzan novels over and over again until they were quite dog-eared. I loved the Frazzeta covers and can't remember ever giving a second thought to what they were wearing.

[Eldy]

I'd seen Frazetta's Éowyn before but somehow his thicc Orcs totally passed me by (or else I'd forgotten them, but that ass is pretty memorable ).

[Sunsilver]

Here's the updated link to the Frazetta museum, plus most of the other links, which are now dead:

You're right, he's one of the very few fantasy artists I've seen where the women are as scantily clad as the men!

https://www.frazettamuseum.com/

Escape From Venus: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/224720122224

Deathdealer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Dea ... ainting%29

The Snow Giants: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/394677784643

Six page LOTR portfolio: https://www.frazettamuseum.com/products ... -portfolio

[Sunsilver]

Many years ago, I was introduced to Janny Wurt's fantasy writing. I soon found out her husband is a well known fantasy artist, Don Maitz. I have one of his paintings as a screen saver on my computer. It's called Chasing the Wind. I love the sense of movement!

Chasing The Wind Don Maitz.jpg (157.28 KiB) Viewed 11994 times

For many years, he's been the illustrator for Captain Morgan rum. He had Janny pose for that famous picture of the Captian with his foot up on a rum barrel! (Or in this case, the rigging of a ship:
https://www.paravia.com/CollaborativeWo ... deling.php

He has illustrated book covers for many well know writers, including Stephen King, Michal Moorcock and Raymond Feist, to mention just a few in a very long list! (Not all of his cover illustrations are shown here - I know of some older ones, from lesser-known authors, which he hasn't bothered to show because the book has probably been forgotton, or been reissued with a new cover. I have one such book in my library.) https://www.paravia.com/DonMaitz/art/al ... um=Authors

He and Janny collaborated on doing new covers for Guy Kay's Fionavar Tapestry series, my most favourite trilogy after LOTR. (Yes, Janny is also an artist, and has won awards for her work!) The painting was split into 3 parts to provide 3 covers: https://www.paravia.com/CollaborativeWo ... arTapestry

I have met Janny at cons several times, and also visited her at her home in Florida. The first time we met was at World Fantasy Con in Phoenix, Arizona. She had recently completed the cover for her latest book, and entered it in the con art show. It won one of the show's top awards. My jaw dropped when I saw it - it was gorgeous!! This screengrab from the front page of her website really does NOT do the painting justice!

SplashScreen3.jpg (125.92 KiB) Viewed 11990 times

Here is a link to Janny's other award winnning paintings: All 3 were book covers for books she wrote herself. The Wizard of Owls painting became the cover for her short story collection, "That Way Lies Camelot" https://www.paravia.com/JannyWurts/art/ ... itions.php

[Sunsilver]

Re. the dragon tattoo picture Alatar posted, where the dragon appears to be alive - that's the theme for the Dragonback fantasty trilogy written by Timothy Zahn: Jack Morgan has a dragon on his back - literally. The warrior K'da species are symbiotes, can only live six hours without their humanoid host. Draycos is the sole survivor of the three ships destroyed scouting for their refugees, and Jack is the only possible choice. They may be an odd couple, but together they're more than the sum of their parts. They are destined to travel far and wide, facing many perils - human, alien, and other, as they seek justice and safety - Jack for himself, and Draycos for his people

I am guessing that MIGHT be the cover illustration from one of the earlier books. I've read all 3 of them - they are quite good!

https://www.goodreads.com/series/49579-dragonback

Edit: okay, the Dragonback series has now gone beyond those first 3 books - I have some catching up to do!