Frazetta Sketchbook
J David Spurlock
Hardcover
(Vanguard, Feb. 27, 2013)
The world's greatest heroic fantasy artist, Frank Frazetta teams with J. David Spurlock, the bestselling author of How to Draw Chiller Monsters Werewolves, Vampires and Zombies for the all-new art collection entitled, The Frazetta Sketchbook. In the revolutionary artist's extensive, May 10, 2010 obituary, The New York Times said, "Frazetta helped define fantasy heroes like Conan, Tarzan and John Carter of Mars with signature images of strikingly fierce, hard-bodied heroes and bosomy, callipygian damsels" Frazetta took the sex and violence of the pulp fiction of his youth and added even more action, fantasy and potentcy, but rendered his works with a panache seldom seen outside of Fine Art. Despite his sword-and-sorcery, science-fiction and fantasy subject matter, the quality of the work has not only drawn comparisons to the most brilliant of illustrators, Maxfield Parrish, Frederic Remington, Norman Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth, J. Allen St.John, and Joseph Clement Coll but even to the most brilliant of fine artists including Rembrandt and Michelangelo and major Frazetta works sell for over $1,000,000. The November 24, 2003 Forbes magazine article Schwarzenegger's Sargent led with the line, "Which artist helped make Arnold governor? Frank Frazetta, the Rembrandt of barbarians." Vanguard created the comics and fantasy artist sketchbook boom with editions on Al Williamson, Neal Adams, Wally Wood, Jeffrey Jones, John Buscema, John Romita and Alex Horley. Vanguard continues both their original sketchbook series and the Vanguard Frazetta Classics series with The Frazetta Sketchbook which was planned shortly before the icon of fantastic art's passing. The collection is brimming with rare and previously unpublished drawings and painting preliminaries of the subjects Frazetta is best remembered for including barbarians, wild beasts, Tarzan, buxom beauties, monsters and Conan.