Frazetta Homage

Frank Frazetta was one of the first artistic influences on me as an art major back in highschool - not that anyone would ever suspect it with such a completely different style and medium and subject matter. The inspiration came from connecting fantasy art (and the horror and science fiction that I'd been reading) with fine art. The source was constant exposure to the cover illustrations on the works of Michael Moorcock (Elric of Melniboné series and the Eternal Champion cycle etc.), Fritz Leiber's "Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser," and of course, Robert E. Howard's "Conan," where Frank's imagery was a perfect fit. For many, many years I have always included a few of his pen & ink pieces to show to aspiring students when we cover the medium. Recently I've been on a sort of a Frazetta revival since joining some social media groups dedicated to his art, like Frazetta Girls (website here + Instagram), and this particular piece, "The Mammoth" (1974, oil on board, 16x24”), still remains one of my all-time favorites. For the past year every time I took a class on a field trip to do reference sketching up at the UAF Museum of the North I would remember this work, and make a mental note to try and recreate it: it was worth every minute of time spent building that giant pencil.