Ancient Magic . . . Weird Dream Worlds

Case in point, about Kelly Freas — what a fun cover for a fun book.

Frank Kelly Freas

As a teen, I just couldn't get enough of Freas and Jones and Frazetta and Krenkel and many others as some of you have pointed out. This is getting to be an old tune I sing out of key, but going into the drugstore in the 60s and browsing all those books on the spinner with all those great covers by the great illustrators of that time was mind boggling. I'm glad I had enough sense to pay attention back then. As I've said before, that was MY little golden age . . . and of course, for some of you as well!

I guess any teen can have a golden age in any era, if they just pay attention.

Joi de Sci-Fi

There's something about a Freas cover that was always enjoyable—a certain spirit, a certain joi de sci-fi. He could combine realism and caricature in a way that felt balanced . . . and fun! I used to collect Freas stuff with a fervor. I've got some more coming up.

Frank Kelly Freas — July, 1977

Feverdream of the Future

And the Freas women! Many times they had the same facial structure, but hey, that's what makes a style a style. They were always part of that feverdream of the future.

Rhapsody

For all the many fine artists illustrating science fiction, I still have to say Kelly Freas is my favorite. He was not 'realistic' in the traditional sense.

He was like Frazetta, painting much from the imagination, and stylized in the form of a feverdream or vision. He painted the future from memory.

And just as an aside, I like the word 'rhapsody'.

Sensuousity

Kelly Freas was responsible for selling SO-MANY sci-fi books with his intriguing covers. I bought many just for his art and then stayed and read the books as well. He brought his own brand of sensuousity to the genre (I know that's not really a word, but I felt compelled to use it in honor of Freas' uniquisity).

Art by Kelly Freas for Up to the Sky in Ships by A. Bertram Chandler

Original art by Kelly Freas for The Star-Crowned Kings

Art by Kelly Freas for The Star-Crowned Kings by Robert Chilson

Backwater Planets

Frank Kelly Freas' work was always a treasure to be collected. No matter how loose or cartoony his work was, he always captured the essence of galactic intrigue and backwater planets that is such a part of the science fiction that I love.

front cover

back cover

Flandry Redux

The graphic vision of Dominic Flandry, Agent of Imperial Terra, was revisited by Michael Whelan in 1979. While totally different from Kelly Freas' style, Whelan gave Flandry a young and adventurous flair.

Below is Whelan's preliminary sketch for the above cover:

Then the art director wrote comments over it:

Whelan then made a full size pencil drawing:

Below is the painting in progress:

Below, the completed painting (acrylics on illustration board):

Below, two more in the series by Michael Whelan:

Really, read these books. They're intelligent fun!

Flandry of Terra

Frank Kelly Freas had a style that nearly bordered on caricature. Yet his cover visions of Galactic Empires were always my favorite, never failing to put me in the mood to read the book. Of course it helped that Poul Anderson was pretty good at evoking Galactic Empires with word pictures. Flandry of Terra zoomed between stars in just hours, a necessary achievement if an empire consists of thousands of stars.