Archive for the Swipe, Homage, or Happenstance? Category
As I was a-wanderin’ the Web for pleasure, I spied an illustration I thought looked familiar…
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ABOVE: Howard Pyle (1853-1911), The Charge (n.d.).
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ABOVE: Adrian Smith, untitled illustration (n.d.).
If it’s an homage, then Smith should be delighted someone recognized the reference, right?
BONUS LINK:
Adrian Smith, Illustrator
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ABOVE: Howard Pyle, An Attack on a Galleon (c. 1905).
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ABOVE: N.C. Wyeth, Westward Ho! (c. 1920).
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ABOVE: Frank Frazetta, The Galleon (1973).
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ABOVE: Frank Frazetta, Sea Serpent (1972), oil on canvas. Here's a bonus: another painting by Frazetta inspired by An Attack on a Galleon by Howard Pyle.
Frazetta’s obvious borrowing from Pyle has been pointed out many times in the past; however, I’ve never seen anyone add Wyeth’s painting to the mix (although surely someone has, the line of influence being so clear). Now, of the three galleon paintings, it seems obvious to me that Pyle’s original effort is not only the first but also the best of the three. It’s the best composed; it’s the most expressively painted; it’s the most dramatic. No wonder Wyeth and Frazetta (who seems to me to have borrowed as much from Wyeth’s galleon as from Pyle’s) were enthralled by Pyle’s Attack on a Galleon. It’s a masterpiece. And which of the remaining two galleon paintings is the weakest, Wyeth’s picturesque, chocolate-box cliché or Frazetta’s virtuosic but underdeveloped pastiche? You decide…
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ABOVE: Jeffrey Jones, "Idyl: Aristotle" National Lampoon (issue number?) (1973), p. 94.
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ABOVE: Esteban Maroto, "Second Genesis: Part One: Hamlyn; 2076" ( story by Gerry Boudreau), Creepy #80 (June 1976), p. 12.
Do you see it? Look for the girl with her hands on her head..
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ABOVE: Frank Frazetta, plate from the artist's Kubla Khan portfolio, artwork dated 1975, published by Frazetta Prints in 1977.
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ABOVE: Mike Sirota, Berbora (Manor Books, 1978), with cover by Stinck (?).
Perhaps I need a fourth category, like, oh, I don’t know, maybe… BLATANT RIPOFF!
P.S. If you’re wondering whether Sirota’s novel is worth reading, you might want to check out the capsule review in Forgotten Ages #21 by Morgan Holmes. It’s the third review under the heading “Son of Bad Sword & Sorcery.”
BONUS LINK:
Frazetta Thinks – Dave Winiewicz explores the genesis, through a series of four sketches by Frank Frazetta, of the “death scene” from Frazetta’s Kubla Khan portfolio.
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ABOVE: Frank Frazetta (1928- ), The Rider (1960-69), oil on board, 20 x 16 in.
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ABOVE: Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Rider (Ace, 1974), with cover by Frank Frazetta.
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ABOVE: Burroughs Bulletin #22 (April 1995), with cover by Frank Frazetta.
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ABOVE: Drazen Kovacevic (1974- ), cover of La roue, T.3 Les 7 combattants de Korrot - II (Glénat, 2003).
Either way, swipe or homage, Frazetta’s virtuoso draftsmanship, effortless skill at composition, and expressive paint handling make Kovacevic’s anemic cover-version look like the work of a rank amateur. Or, to put it another way, every change Kovacevic makes to Frazetta’s original is for the worse.
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