Frank Frazetta

I caught the last half of a documentary on the legendary artist, Frank Frazetta this morning and man was it inspiring. Not just his art, but also his life.

The guy saw a girl and pointed to her on the street, a girl about 8 years his junior, and she came running over. That was it. They were married less than a year later.

Both he and his wife were stay at home parents, Frank doing his art and Ellie managing it, and their kids couldn't have been happier.

They all got to rub elbows with celebrities who admired Frank as much as he did them.

When Frank would walk into an art studio the artists just couldn't work because they were overwhelmed by his presence.

http://frazetta.ragnarok.no/images/frank_frazetta_thesilverwarrior.jpg

Frank then hit a time of depression for eight years where he dropped 70 pounds and no doctors could find anything wrong with him. They all told him it was in his mind as a result of his artwork. His family believed this and continually told him that, and it nearly drove him crazy. He nearly killed himself a few times.

8 years later a doctor finally finds the thyroid problem, and Frank then resented his family for a bit because they made him think he was going crazy.

http://www.die-einherjar.de/volume1/frank_frazetta_birdman.jpg

A couple of years later he started having a string of strokes, the last taking him a long time to recover. He couldn't walk or speak right.

He overcame all that, but he could no longer paint with his right hand because it would jerk and ruin the piece. So he taught himself how to paint with his left hand!

None of his kids were interested in following in his footsteps, but his grandchildren all love to draw. He loves kids and lights up when his grandkids come in the room.

http://www.die-einherjar.de/volume3/frank_frazetta_conan_the_buccaneer_2.jpg

Man, this was a great, touching and inspiring story whether you're a writer, artist, or anything else creative. It was more than the art, and even more than the battles he faced (he was shunned by artists of fine art because he was doing something completely different). But it's most inspiring for his dedication to his family and enjoying life with them.

This really jerked me out of the funk I was in yesterday.

B-Out