by Arnie Fenner
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Dr. David Winiewicz is, without question, the Frazetta expert. Though I had spent a lot of time over the years with Frank and his wife Ellie (and their kids, too), have written thousands of words about Frank, and edited a batch of books with Cathy about him…I’m a piker in comparison when it comes to Dave’s knowledge and personal experiences.
He was, after all, Frank’s best friend and probably knew him better than anyone (family included).
Oh, plenty of people might make—and have made and are making—the same claim following Frazetta’s death in 2010, but they’re mistaken. Frank and Dave understood each other; even though they came from wildly different social backgrounds and despite an age difference of around twenty years there was a unique commonality that ensured an abiding friendship. They spent a tremendous amount of time together and talked frequently on the phone about virtually everything and everybody; they struck deals and made trades and did favors for one another; Dave was Frank’s trusted confidant.
Which, eventually, didn’t set well Ellie. The whole Frazetta story—the true story, not the myths and baloney endlessly repeated—is, well, complicated. The Frazetta household was always mercurial and you were never quite sure whether you were entering a love nest or a battlefield when stepping across their threshold (or know when one might morph into the other)—but Dave always knew and that created something of an uneasy dynamic when he, Frank, and Ellie were under the same roof. People have been shocked by some of Dave’s memoirs detailing various incidents—his blog site was even hacked and taken down for a time by an incensed sycophant after one particularly revealing post—but anyone who actually knew the Frazettas and spent any time with them merely nodded and acknowledged the accuracy of Dave’s stories.
Frank and Dave were talking on the phone one day in 2001 while Ellie was out when Frank suddenly collapsed with his second major stroke; Dave’s quick response got an ambulance on the way in time and Frazetta lived nearly another nine years, thanks to that phone call. Long enough to see the resurgence of interest in his work. Long enough to see a series of retrospective books published and become bestsellers. Long enough to be the subject of a documentary. Long enough to see his museum built and attract visitors from around the world. Long enough to spend time with his grandchildren. Long enough to see one his illustrations sell for a million bucks.
Yeah, when I say that Dr. Dave was Frank Frazetta’s best friend, there’s a lot to back it up.
That Flash Gordon makes me feel like I don't know *anything* about drawing…
Loved hearing Dr. Dave discourse, though – thanks, Arnie!
Many many thanks for this gracious and much-appreciated profile, Arnie. We have been through a lot over the years, haven't we? This auction is a complete roll of the dice, but I am hoping that some collectors will recognize the intrinsic auality of these amazing pieces. I think Frazetta's reputation will continue to grow and grow over the next years.
Again, a thousand heartfelt thanks!
Docdave
Thanks Dave! Looking forward to seeing the catalog.
Sigh…Frazetta originals on sale, and me with little money at present. However, I will go to LA for a preview, and get the catalog. Maybe there's something I could escape with. I have read Dave W's Frazetta insights for many years now, and found them very interesting. FF is certainly one of my own inspirations since Jr. High School, and he stands the test of time. It's interesting to compare his work with that of the modern brush master, Mark Schultz, who of course stands firmly on Frazetta's shoulders. As technically, compositionally, and otherwise skilled as Mark has become, there is still a difference in the feel of the best Frazetta ink drawings (like several of those featured in this post). The flow of soul, as DW says.
Frazetta is my favorite artist of all time .He created some truly marvelous art during his life.Thanks Doc Dave for the many insights you've given into the man himself .It's always fascinating to hear some context to the paintings and sketches
Wow…. I might have to pick up that catalog, holy cow.
Virtually all of Frank's ink work was shot for line whenever it was printed by the various publishers, but he had absolutely the lightest touch with a brush. The originals show a veritable wealth of detail and subtly that is missing in most reproductions; the catalog should open up a lot of people's eyes. And I agree: Mark Schultz and Frank Cho are influenced/inspired by Frazetta and are walking the same path, even as they create some amazingly original ink work that really couldn't be done by anyone but them. Schultz & Cho are unique…just like Frazetta was.
Thanks Arnie. Words are funny things, and I worried my comment might be taken as a backhanded jab at Mark Schultz. It's not: he is my favorite artist currently working, and the level of control he's developed with the brush is amazing. He seems to be a real student of his craft, and always working to improve. I just find him a fascinating contrast with Frazetta, both in terms of his art, and, for example, his famously meticulous and lengthy work process, and concern for the perfection of the finished image, while the stories I've heard and read about Frazetta indicate a much more informal, off the cuff, extremely rapid working method.
I do hope to get to LA to at least see the originals, and your description of the nuances of those images makes that an even higher priority.
No, I didn't take it that you were jabbing at Schultz, but were paying him a compliment. Others have taken the occasional shot at Mark over the years because of his FF influence (and the Williamson influence, too), but he and Frank had/have an entirely unique sensibility. Maybe it's fair to say that Frank's approach was more instinctive (though he did roughs for virtually everything he ever drew or painted, so there was always a certain amount of planning) and Mark's is more contemplative. When Frank decided on a direction, doing the art was almost like a race: he'd work at it until he was done (which usually was in a matter of hours). He also preferred to work relatively small and after the strokes he was frustrated that he no longer had the steady right hand and control.
I hope you get a chance to see the preview: you'll definitely be in for a treat.
Hi Doc,
Do you still have the painting you bought from my dad?
Betsy Wollheim
interested in contacting David Winiewicz
interested in contacting David Winiewicz