Connections: Steve Leialoha (1981) and Bill Sienkiewicz (1982)

10 April 202210 April 2022 RCLeave a comment

Yes, I am familiar with the work of Clarence Coles Phillips. In fact, a book about Phillips and his work was published in 2019. Lovely!

Connections · Gino D’Achille · Howard Pyle · Illustration Art

Connections: Howard Pyle (1903) and Gino D’Achille (c. 1985)

31 March 202231 March 2022 RCLeave a comment

ABOVE: Howard Pyle, “Excalibur the Sword,” illustration for Pyle’s own retelling of *The Story of King Arthur and His Knights* (1903).

ABOVE: Gino D’Achille, illustration on the theme of King Arthur and Knights of the Round Table (c. 1985), published as a limited edition giclee print.

Book/Magazine Covers (All) · Connections · Dan Panosian · Frank Frazetta · Illustration Art

Connections: Frank Frazetta (1976) and Dan Panosian (2021)

19 January 202219 January 2022 RCLeave a comment

**ABOVE:** Frank Frazetta, *Dark Kingdom* (1976).

**ABOVE:** Conan the Barbarian, vol. 2, no. 20 (2021), with variant cover art by Dan Panosian.

BONUS IMAGE:

**ABOVE:** Karl Edward Wagner, *Dark Crusade* (NY: Warner Books, 1983), with cover art by Frank Frazetta.

Chris Achilleos · Connections · Frank Frazetta

Connections: Frank Frazetta and Chris Achilleos

24 May 202130 May 2021 RCLeave a comment

What interests me about these juxtapositions is not merely Achilleos’s obvious debt to Frazetta but that each of the artists revised his original composition after first publication. Whether the compositions are better or worse now, you can decide for yourself. In both instances, however, the changes were probably driven by what I like to call “the tyranny of second thoughts.” That is, once one gets it into one’s head that improvements are possible, it is damned difficult to resist sacrificing what one has for the promise of something better.

Book/Magazine Covers (All) · Connections · Frank Frazetta · Illustration Art

Connections: Frazetta and Maren

5 February 201610 August 2016 RCLeave a comment

[CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE]

**ABOVE:** Frank Frazetta, *The Black Star* (1972).

**ABOVE:** Maren (Mariano Pérez Clemente), *Conan* (early 1980s). Via Comic Art Fans.

Dig the fancy bladework of the attacker in Maren’s painting!

BONUS IMAGES:

**ABOVE:** Lin Carter, *The Black Star* (Dell, 1973), with cover art by Frank Frazetta. Via postmodernbarney.com.

**ABOVE:** *Delta Album* #1, with cover art by Maren.

**ABOVE:** *Delta* #30, with cover art by Maren.

Bill Sienkiewicz · Book/Magazine Covers (All) · Connections · Illustration Art · J. C. Leyendecker · Look Here

Connections: Leyendecker and Sienkiewicz

20 January 201610 August 2016 RC6 Comments

Old news, I know… but anyway… it’s the style that’s important here:

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**ABOVE:** J. C. Leyendecker, “Easter,” *The Saturday Evening Post*, March 21, 1934. Via watkin.

**ABOVE:** Bill Sienkiewicz, original art by the cover of *Electra Assassin* #4 (of 8), November 1986. Via marvel1980s.

**ABOVE:** *Electra Assassin* #4 (of 8), November 1986, with cover art by Bill Sienkiewicz. Via marvel1980s.

**ABOVE:** J. C. Leyendecker, “1936,” *The Saturday Evening Post*, Janurary 4, 1936. Via vintageholidays.

An homage done the right way by Sienkiewicz!

(If you know of a closer match, please feel free to post a link in the comments. I don’t have time to search… )

Book/Magazine Covers (All) · Connections · Illustration Art · J. C. Leyendecker · Maxfield Parrish

Connections: Leyendecker (1918) and Pound (1980)

20 January 201610 August 2016 RCLeave a comment

[CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE]

**ABOVE:** J. C. Leyendecker, “Weapons for Liberty” poster (American Lithographic Co., 1918).

**ABOVE:** John Pound, “The Lionhearted,” plate 2, from the portfolio, *Power and Glory* (Shanes & Shanes, 1980).

BONUS IMAGE (added 21 January 2016):

**ABOVE:** Maxfield Parrish, *Garden of Allah* (1918).

Connections · Frank Frazetta · Look Here

Connections: Frank Frazetta and Francisco Fernández-Zarza Pérez (a.k.a. Jano)

12 August 201510 August 2016 RC2 Comments

[CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE]

**ABOVE:** Frank Frazetta, *Spiderman* (1966), oil on board, 18 x 23 inches; first published on the cover of Bob Shaw’s *Night Walk* (Banner, 1967).

**ABOVE:** Poster for *Bahia De Sangre [Bay of Blood]* (1971), with art by Francisco Fernández-Zarza Pérez (a.k.a. Jano).

Connections · Illustration Art · Jeffrey "Jeff" Catherine Jones · Look Here · Photos

Connections: Jeffrey Jones and the great unknown

5 June 201510 August 2016 RC4 Comments

Stumbling around on tumblr today, I came across an uncredited image that reminded me of something I had seen before…

**ABOVE:** Jeffrey Jones, illustration in oil on canvas for Robert E. Howard, *Red Shadows* (West Kingston, Rhode Island: Donald M. Grant, 1978).

If anyone recognizes that photo and can tell me when and where it was published, I’d love to hear from you. And if you have a copy of the publication and could supply me with a better scan, well, that’d be just peachy.

UPDATE (22 June 2015):

Thanks to the inspired efforts of an anonymous reader (see the comments section below), we now have the precise context for Jones’s “reference photo” posted above. The source is a photo layout titled “Secrets From My Diary,” shot by J. Frederick Smith, for the December 1973 issue of VIVA (vol. 1, no. 3). And thanks to the efforts of fans on the VFILES site, we can view the photo in the context of the original NSFW article/layout:

[CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE]

The scans are small, yes, even if you click to enlarge them, but the information is much appreciated. Thanks, hsc!

Connections · Look Here

Look Here: Seven vivacious Audio Fidelity album covers, 1956-1960

5 April 201510 August 2016 RC1 Comment

Earlier this morning over at my tumblr, TRANSISTORADIO, I posted scans of seven vibrant, sexy album covers created by designers and photographers whose names are unknown to me for Audio Fidelity recordings released from 1956 to 1960. On tumblr, I generally prefer to post one image at a time, but I thought people here might like to view my selections all together, in a single post:

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