Dungeons and Dragons Art Review - Top Tier Works from Jeff Easley and Keith Parkinson

Part two of my posts dedicated to the oil painters of TSR's the Pit - the Four Greats of Elmore, Easley, Parkinson, and Caldwell. Here I am covering Jeff Easley and Keith Parkinson. Where possible I take images directly from their websites. 

As a kid, Parkinson was my favorite of the group after Larry Elmore. I gravitated towards the natural world in many of Parkinson's paintings, especially his trees and dying autumn foliage. Another bonus for Parkinson was that he made time to play Dungeons and Dragons, where as his peers did not. One of the painting's on my list for Parkinson is certainly inspired by playing the game. Keith Parkinson passed away from cancer at a relatively early 47 years of age. Easley I appreciated less because his human figures have less accurate their hair always had a big 1970s feel. Easley was by far the most prolific of the Four Greats, came to TSR's Pit first and left latest. Over time I've grown to appreciate his style far more. He departs the real word and becomes the most magical. His mix of dark against vibrant colors is amazing. 

Jeff Easley's iconic 1983 second cover to the original AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide. 

In my previous post I included the cover to TRR's book The Art of the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Fantasy Game. That was the book that first gave me real insights into these four oil painters with author/editor Stephanie Tabat providing little vinnettes into each of the artists, while each artist individually contributed a page of writing to their likes, influences, approach to painting, and more. It was fascinating for a teenage kid and made their art feel more approachable and real. The pencil portraits Easley and Parkinson come from that book.  My twin brother and I managed to convince our parents to buy two TSR art books at the same time. Below is the cover to my favorite of the two in terms of subject matter, The Art of the Dragonlance Saga. Unfortunately it had far less to say about the painters themselves. The cover to the book is one of my very favorite Keith Parkinson paintings. 

The Art of the Dragonlance Saga, published in 1987

Jeff Easley 

Top 3 paintings covered in prior posts:

1. The Magister, cover to the 1988 AD&D Forgotten Realms sourcebook 

2. The Wilderness Survival Guide, cover to AD&D source book 

3. Wizard and Dragon - cover to the AD&D 2nd edition Dungeon master's Guide 

Top 3 and an some honorable mentions yet to be covered in this blog:

Honorable Mention: Lords of Darkness, cover to 1988 AD&D Forgotten Realms Accessory

No one does skeletons like Easley. His are rotting, covered in growths, disgusting things. Easley has many memorable drawings and paintings that include skeletons. Dymark Dread is the creepiest, but Lords of Darkness is his best. It's the bending trees, dried leaves blowing in the wind, autumn welcoming Halloween. The effect of the skeletons echoing the trees in the movement and coloration is brilliant, and the movement of both is palpable, emphasized further by the leaves blowing through the air. Just brilliant. The subdued color pallet of fall really speaks to me. I'm not a fan of horror dead things come back to haunt the living, but I love this painting. 

Honorable Mention: Astral Encounter, cover to 1987 AD&D source book Manual of the Planes

Choosing between and Easley's space-themed Spell Jammer cover painting wasn't easy. I enjoy looking at the characters in Spell Jammer more, but it also takes Frank Frazetta as a very strong reference. Astral Encounter is far more inventive and features Easley's wild colors, strange shapes and patterns. In this one the blue tunnel in the upper right corner is very interesting, as are the strings of planets and the polyhedral structures in the upper left. Seeing the human materialize out if the black void of space is a nice touch. The focal point of the paintings is clearly the monstrosity a center. It's fairly disturbing, which is why I prefer Spell Jammer. The barbed wire like spirals are odd. I'm such a softy, looking for trees and leaves. Overall there is a strong sense of forward movement. Well done. Painting's techniques and colors are so different than Lords Of Darkness. At first glance one might not think they were done by the same artist. This speaks well of Easley's talent. 

Number Three: Darkwell, 1988 Forgotten Realms novel cover  

It's challenging to find a decent copy of this painting. It was done as the cover for the third book in a relatively obscure trilogy of Forgotten Realms novels set in the Moonshae Isles. I think I am only aware of it because the painting was included in the AD&D fantasy art book. It's a wonderful example of Easley moving between extremely bright, vivid colors and dark shadow. The whitish light emerging from the well with the demon is the painting's core, and serves to highlight one of the demon's eyes. This is a painting I would love to see in person to get the full effect of that sparking eye. Also at play here are Easley's weird magical effects, that blue, viscus energy flowing off the demon. Very cool. So that's all light up causing everything else to be seen as dark silhouettes - the sky and trees in the background, most of the middle ground figures, the figures and vines in the foreground. This painting really works with Easley's strengths, emphasizing the demonic figure in the odd light  with massive scale and the human figures much smaller and in shadow. Easley doesn't do well with the human form. 

Number Two: Evil Tide, 1997 AD&D adventure module cover 

This number two spot was also challenging, both to find a decent image and also to pick the spot. I was tempted to place Easley's cover painting for AD&D's Monster Manual II here. It's a true classic. But looking through his vast collection of cover paintings for TSR for this post, I came across four or five beauties I had never seen or heard of before. Evil Tide is one. The tide rushing down the rocks in the background, weird lighting, and the person peeking over the bow of the boat moved this one ahead of the rest. A Hero's Tale, Combat and Tactics, Spells and Magic, and Heroes of Defiance were other candidates, plus the epic and more well-known painting Bloodstone Wars. In the end this one is more interesting, overall very well done, and ambitious. Oceans are always ambitious. What Easley does here is simply crazy. His figure wielding the chomped oar is better than many of his human figures. The face peering over the bow in utter fear, right in front of the viewer is a great touch. It's a shocker for me, but Evil Tide sits in my number two position. 

Number One: Legends and Lore, 1984 AD&D source book cover 

Back to the basics here. Legends and Lore is just beautiful. Easley did 13 cover paintings for AD&D core rule books and source books. This was one. All had orange spines and the new TSR and AD&D trade dress with the fire breathing dragon as the ampersand. I believe the D&D Gazetteers were the best designed series of books from TSR cover-to-cover, but these 13 books come close. I think Easley does a poor job with the human figure in general, but here he strikes gold. He takes easy liberties with musculature as the figure is a god, Odin. Still, Odin's pose and positioning on the mythical flying horse Sleipnir are excellent. And he certainly comes off looking like a god. The arrangement of the sky leads the viewer to the face of the Sleipnir, then to the magical spear Grugnir, and then to the face of Odin and his resplendent beard.  That sky is pure beauty. Easley fits in almost all of Odin's core imagery with his wolf and raven companions, flying steed, spear, and magical ring. What is difficult to see without viewing the painting in-person is whether Easley accounted for Odin's missing eye. I would love to see this painting up close to discover what Easley did with eye. In summary of Legends and Lore: This is one of Easley's more technically accomplished works, and it is his most tasteful, classical, and beautiful. After looking through so many of his paintings, it was easy to place this as my number one.

Keith Parkinson  

Top 3 paintings covered in prior posts:

1. Horseman Near Lake, cover to the 1987 AD&D Forgotten Realms boxed set

2. Dragons of Desolation, cover to the Dragonlance adventure module

3. Queen of the Spiders, cover to 1988 AD&D adventure module 

Honorable Mention: Creature Catalogue, 1986 D&D monster source book

This is another piece of art that is hard to find on the internet, and unfortunately the copy is very poor. I have very fond memories of this painting and the book it accompanied, The Creature Catalogue, which, for my money, was the most useful book on AD&D or D&D monsters out there save for the original Monster Manual. This is the painting that shows Parkinson played D&D. I can see this scene playing out with many a gaming group. The gear on human and the dwarf also comes from a time when RPGs focused on resources and equipment. Being well supplied and prepared was half of the adventure. People generally don't go in for that sort of thing now days, and I've only ever seen snickers and snide remarks about this painting on the internet. I really enjoy this painting because of the transition from Parkinson's earthy natural woodland to that horrific tunnel glowing red. 

Honorable mention: The Savage Coast, cover to 1985 D&D adventure module 

We played this adventure module exactly one time as kids, probably ten years old. It baffled us.  We couldn't figure out how to have our characters overcome villages of natives who could muster one hundred warriors at a time. The point was to negotiate or become allies, but we were too thick to go that way. Look at that cover. It screams "Charge!" That's what we did. But I do love this cover. The faults are the lead white horse being too small, and feet. Parkinson always struggled with feet. Leave those aside, and this is a very fun painting that spoke to the way my twin brother and I approached the D&D game, which was through the lens of medieval English history. Here English type knights of the 12th century are thrown into a wildly different environment. The sailing ship abandoned on a desert cliff is so whimsical. How did it get there? What really makes this painting jump out for me is the charging horses, stones and dust flying.  Parkinson does it especially well with the second horse. The knight there with the mace is the strongest figure in the group. The movement in the mace is impressive. I also enjoy the wizard type figure in purple robes carry a staff, just a nice reversal from armed warriors. 

 

Dungeons and Dragons Art Review - Top Tier Works from Larry Elmore and Clyde Caldwell

In the next two posts I'll go back to the Four Greats from TSR's Pit - Larry Elmore, Jeff Easley, Keith Parkinson, and Clyde Caldwell. 

I've been so focused on Frank Frazetta's art work over the last few months, but outside of my dad, these four guys remain my entry point to art, especially fantasy art. Ok, they might as well be called the Four Beards, prominent for their facial hair more than their art. Pouring over their extensive collections of paintings I see gobs of mediocre to poor work - puppet-like human figures removed from their midgrounds, meandering or thoughtless composition, lazy recycling of ideas, lack of imagination and ambition, static lethargy. Some of their stuff is embarrassingly bad, and most of that comes from their later years. It takes me back to youth being the font of creative energy. All of this said, these four artists created some amazing work that propelled TSR's Dungeons and Dragons to the height of success. They set the standard for commercial art in the 1980s. A select few of their paintings entered American cultural as iconic images. I can't ignore or forget them - Elmore, Easley, Parkinson, Caldwell. 

Some their their best and most loved paintings I introduced in previous posts on this blog. Here I want to hit more of their great paintings, my picks for top three paintings not yet covered for each artist, plus a few honorable mentions. I am not claiming these are their best works per say, just my favorites. I was reminded first hand at the Frazetta museum that brushwork, color, and materials of original paintings  cannot be reproduced in prints, at least not the quality of prints I can my hands and eyes on. 

Spell of the Winter Wizard for, a TSR 1983 Endless Quest book. This is a cool painting Elmore did early in his career at TSR when his style was looser, perhaps more free and imaginative. He took more risks. 

The foundation of my knowledge of TSR's Four Greats goes back to some TSR publications we picked up in 1989.  My twin brother, Leif, and I convinced my parents to buy us two art books from a game store in the Boulder's Crossroads shopping mall: The Art of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Fantasy Game (Art of AD&D), The Art of the Dragonlance Saga. I recall that it was the preliminary design sketches in the Dragonlance art book that we used to convince our dad, who is an artist, to buy the books for us. "Look, we can learn from the sketch and design process!" We poured through these books on a weekly basis, but my favorite was the Dragonlance book. We were still reading Dragonlance novels at the time and tried our hand at running adventures in the AD&D setting using 2nd Edition rules.  I loved looking at Larry Elmore's depiction of the main characters. He clearly had a special attachment to them, and indeed, was a lead designer in the original Dragonlance concept. The Dragonlance art book also had paintings from Jeff Easley, Keith Parkinson, and Clyde Caldwell - the Four Greats from TSR's The Pit. I was especially drawn to the many exposed female thighs and Caldwell's bikini clad Dark Queen. My imagination and hormones ran wild. 

That said, The ART of AD&D was the most revealing on the painters themselves. The Four Greats all wrote page-long excerpts on their painting process and interests. The book's author/editor was Stephanie Tabat, who did production design, layout, graphics, and cartography at TSR from 1986 to 1993. Evidently she worked closely with the art team in the Pit, and she provides her insights on the each of the Four Greats, plus newbie Fred Fields, and a few other contributing artists. The book's primary focus is Elmore, Easley, Parkinson, and Caldwell. Its Tabat's writing that revealed Elmore's wife, who hard dark, curly hair, was the muse of many of his most famous works. I was fourteen when I read that. It struck me and stayed with me all these years. The Art of AD&D is a great book, well worth purchasing for fans of fantasy art. I won't spoil more of its revelations here, but I will barrow the four pencil portraits of Elmore, Easley, Parkinson, and Caldwell that accompany each of their written pieces. 

Larry Elmore

Top 3 paintings covered in prior posts:

1. Waiting for Shadamehr

2. Ancient Red, cover to the Basic D&D box set

3. Death of Sturm - Dragonlance

Top 3 and an some honorable mentions yet to be covered in this blog:

Honorable Mention: Hidden Danger, 1986 Dagon Magazine issue #108 cover

An earlyish Elmore painting. The trees are more simplified, as is the sky, showing a bit of Frazetta influence. That's not a bad thing. I think Elmore's great departures from Frazetta are his beautiful landscapes and the detail he places on clothing, weapons, and armor. Elmore does not begin to approach Frazetta in dynamic human forms, but he normally makes up for this with strong composition and beautiful natural scenery. I like this painting for three reasons: One, the composition literally has the trees grab the viewer, leading to focus on the woman's face, and yet not leaving out the crouching beast. Two, the muse in Elmore's wife is on display. Three, this is one of Elmore's few paintings or drawings in which the monster looks and feels mysterious, threatening, evil.

Honorable Mention: Weasel's Luck, 1988 Dragonlance book cover

This probably does not make a lot of favorite lists. I love the composition, the direct, straight lines of the trees leading to the characters, dividing them from each other, their blades also going in different directions. I did not read this book and have zero familiarity with the story, but I get a strong sense that they are opposites who still need each other to survive. I could be completely incorrect. The mustachioed man with the sword and armor is some of Elmore's better work with the human form. It's not top notch, but interesting. You can see how the neck doesn't move naturally into the body beneath the clothing and armor. Otherwise it's a great pose, gesture of the hand and arm with the cloak. The colors of the trees and water give a strong sense of place. I love how Elmore treats the water soaking up their pants' legs. Very cool. Overall this is a subdued painting, not much about it that is flashy or yells "Look at me!" That's fine. The composition is very good, and it has a strong sense of story and place. 

Number Three: Star Frontiers, 1982 space opera science fiction role playing game cover 

Elmore is a fan of classic cars, fast cars, and space ships. He didn't get to do those with Dungeons and Dragons. TSR's 1982 sci-fi space opera game Star Frontiers gave him a chance to change genres. I don't know if the art directors said keep the spaceships to a minimum and give us something more like your D&D covers, because all we have here is the crashed, burning hulk of a small and speedy looking spaceship while the focus is on the adventurers. Regardless, this painting has energy and the geometry is full of angles shooting out in different directions from the core of the work, that spaceship. The colors are vibrant and compliment each other well. The characters have fun and ambitious positioning and Elmore didn't appear to use models here. If he did, his female character's twist in the hips and shoulders is exaggerated  beyond what a human model is going to give. Same for the crouch of the male character out front. You can capture that in a photo, but a model can't hold that position. In other words, Elmore let his imagination run with the figures and arrived at dynamism. This is top notch early Elmore. 

Number Two: Test of the Twins, 1986 Dragonlance book cover

This is a controversial pick, to be sure. I'm a twin, so this one just speaks to me. Beyond that, it's the most unique of Elmore's painting compositions, and it works. Why? The composition is essentially only what is necessary to know about the two characters. Virtually everything else is left out. Elmore has three only paintings that do this, and they are all book covers for this Dragonlance Legends trilogy. The composition suits the theme and the title perfectly. Even if the viewer is unaware of the underlying story, the dichotomy between the brothers is obvious. The sword and the staff reaching upwards, and Elmore occupies that background with a beautiful sky that reflects each of the brothers personalities and stories while not distracting from them.  Overall the faces, posing, and accoutrements are rather cheese cake and could fit on the cover of a romance novel, but at this point Dragonlance was drifting into romance novel territory. It fits. Finally, I just love Raistlin's eyes and Caramon's battered shield. Really well done. Elmore tried something new here as an artist, has yet to go back to it, and who knows why. I love that he did something completely different with composition and clearly poured passion into the composition, detail, and execution. 

1. The Crystal Shard, 1988 Forgotten Realms book cover

This is a masterpiece! It's comes from an early Forgotten realms novel cover that launched the career of the infamous dark elf Drizzt Do'urden, seen in the middle foreground, flanked by Wulfgar to the left and Bruenor to the right. I think Elmore and author R.A. Salvatore took their queue from the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers as Aragorn leads Legolas and Gimli the hunt for the two missing hobbits, Merry and Pippin. Here I see Drizzt as Aragorn, Wulfgar as Legolas, and Bruenor as Gimli. Leave that aside though. This painting just rocks. First, the composition leads the viewer down through the faces of the characters, then to Drizzt's finger in the snow, then to the trail of blood and menacingly large footprints leading directly to the viewer. It creates story, tension, mystery. Composition doesn't get better than this. The work exudes cold. Elmore is an expert with snow, ice, and frozen rock. This is one of his best examples. The handling of the characters, the strong positioning but weight carried in different ways, and realistic integration into the overall painting is some of Elmore's very best work with human form. He may have done this from human models. If so, this is the way to do it, poised for a group portrait rather than moving in action. I think this can easily be Elmore's best painted work. 

                    Clyde Caldwell

Top 3 paintings covered in prior posts:

1.The Elves of Alfheim, Dungeons and Dragon Gazetteer 

2. Captured! 

3. The Hands of Doom 

Top 3 and some honorable mentions yet to be covered in this blog:

Honorable Mention: Spellfire, 1988 Forgotten Realms book cover

Caldwell's art is not for everyone. It's very specific, mostly featuring blatant cover girl models in minimal fantasy trope clothing blasting energy bolts from their hands or gesturing with swords. To be honest, I'm not a enamored with a majority of his repertoire. I love his paintings that adorn the covers of the Dungeons and Dragons gazetteers. I think they are the pinnacle of art and design for TSR. What about Spellfire brings it to my list? It's an easy classic for Caldwell at TSR, instantly recognizable. The cavern has a nice sense of depth. The lighting (from the lightning) is dramatic and effective, drives the composition in terms of viewing. The dracolitch monster is certainly the star. The warrior figure in the foreground has an interesting tilt to his shield. It's a fun painting.

Honorable Mention: Grand Ducky of Karameikos, 1987 Dungeons and Dragons gazetteer cover

This is not Caldwell's best D&D gazetteer cover (which I think is the Elves of Alfheim) but it is his first and set the tone and style for all that would follow. I think these gazetteer paintings must all start as a design concept, with a bust taking center stage, and a color scheme around that, then deciding what limited characters will populate the foreground, or maybe focusing on some map details and other bits of scenery to create the background first. I don't know, but they all tie together so well. Unusual for this first cover painting, I can't say how anything here relates to the content of the gazetteer book itself except for the map background. I can live with that. I love the female warrior in black leather, love the enticing gaze from the woman at center, can imagine the knight thinking I'll fight for her, or I can hang out on this cover with these ladies all day. 

Number Three: Dragons of Faith, 1986 Dragonlace adventure module cover

So, here we have some of that amazing Caldwell thigh action. That's not why this painting is in my number three spot. Yes, the thighs and groin area of the central character, the elf princess Laurana, are spectacular, and draw the viewer to the focal point of the painting, which is Laurana's face framed by the body of a dragon and the spears and wings of the draconian guards. For me the painting makes the list because of the dragon, the only effective depiction of the five-headed chromatic dragon Tiamat, in this case a manifestation of the Dark Queen, the goddess Takhisis. The somewhat incorporeal body of the monster is effectively rendered, the five heads making a nice contrast to the head of the princess. This is an ambitious piece of story telling and Caldwell pulls it off. 

Number Two: Dragons of Dreams, 1985 Dragonlance adventure module cover

This is a great painting of torment. The only other work of Caldwell's that comes to mind that enters registers pain in the human subjects is the wizard Raistlin held captive by the Dark Queen in her bikini.  I'm realizing that Caldwell does some really cool things with lighting in this painting. The contrast between the elf king Lorac's hand and face is striking. Caldwell did not need to include the dragon's hands, but  that he does gives a stronger sense of  power over the elf king. The overall circular composition is very compelling.  There are many signature elements from Caldwell's works that just come together better here; the cobwebs hanging from the throne hint at a sense of how long the king has been trapped in his nightmare. The sparing use of the colored mist shifts the scene into a different reality. The bulbous gemstones are copied in the dragon's eye. It's a wonderful departure from most of the other Dragonlace paintings by TSR's Four Greats, and a very marked departure for Caldwell from his other work. Maybe that's why I like it so much. 

1. Dragons of Despair, 1984 Dragonlance adventure module cover

I did not expect every one of my picks for Caldwell to feature dragons, nor did I think my top three paintings would all be from the original Dragonlace adventure module covers. Dragons of Despair is the first Dragonlance adventure published, and Caldwell nailed it. The composition is a little scattered, but the waterfalls do a beautiful job of drawing the gaze downward, while the columns frame the dragon. The human figures (and dwarf) are fine, but nothing special. The dragon is spectacular, the sleek, deadly positioning of the creature moves to that powerful ejection of acid from its mouth. Overall the painting bottles the spirit of this adventure like lightning, and the ruins with waterfalls tumbling out of them are absolutely fantastic. There is a lot of classic Caldwell here, from the weapon styling to the dragon's face to Goldmoon's bare thighs, but this painting also has a classically artistic and romantic feel that most of Caldwell's other paintings don't begin to approach. It's my favorite of all the Dragonlance adventure module covers, and one of my favorite Caldwell painting outside of his Gazetteer covers. 

 

 

 

The Fights of Grades 3 through 6 in Alpine, Texas

 Looking through a box of old family memorabilia this summer at my Dad and Aunt Kathee's house, I found our year book from 5th grade. It was hard to square how young everyone looked; everyone except for my twin brother and I. We looked normal. Is this because it's us? We don't see ourselves growing older? Is it because I've seen so many younger photos of us growing up over the years that youngster me in 5th grade seems normal? 

One of the class photos with accompanying name jumped out at at me - Joey. Instantly the scene focused in my memory of boys surrounding me, a circle around me, their faces jeering masks, taunting me. I can't really member the words, just the faces. I felt trapped in their circle and I knew their goal was to hurt me, first my feelings, which was working, and then physically. It was 3rd grade. We had moved to Alpine, Texas, from South Dakota. My twin bro and I might have been warmly welcomed by many of our classmates. I don't know. We were shy. We didn't communicate well with anyone except each other. Soon many of the boys went out of their way to make us feel like unwelcome outsiders. That's what it felt like. Leif and I were in different classes. I think I had the worse end of things. 

Where was Leif, my twin, when that circle of angry, screaming boys surrounded me at recess? I don't know. I do remember turning in circles myself to look for a way out and it was a solid circular wall of jeering faces. Some were throwing arms at me, others darting in to push. I think Joey must have tried to kick me, because his foot ended up in my hands and I had my way out. Joey was a little guy, the smallest boy in 3rd grade. I easily yanked his leg into the air such that his body followed, then I had an ankle in each hand and swung him in a spinning circle, spinning faster and faster, using Joey as a club to knock the others boys down or out of the away. Their circle disintegrated. I opened my hands and Joey left me like a rocket, flying off into the distance before crumbling into a pile. I sped off and the boys gave chase. I was faster. At that age the school's playground and accompanying sports field seemed like an endless tract of real estate on which to escape pursuers. 

And so it went for the rest of 3rd grade. Our older brother, Tor, was in 6th grade, Alpine Junior High, home of the Fighting Bucks. He could go home for lunch, and rode his BMX bike past our elementary school everyday during our lunch recess, saw the commotion on the playground. He told our parents it looked like Leif and I were in daily hit and run battles with most of the 3rd grade boys on our heals. 

During fourth grade the fights were less frequent. We made some good friends and became more normal. Though less frequent, some of my bloodiest fights were in the fourth grade. Once my teacher spanked me just on the rumor that I had started a fight. It was not true. I cried as she walked me out of the classroom, paddle in hand. Benito, one of my greatest tormentors and the most popular boy in school, stood up and started clapping. It was a slow, baritone clap. It was one of those claps from the movies when someone in the crowd starts clapping for the outcast hero, recognizing that he or she had been right all along. Many of our classmates followed his example. But Benito and the others weren't clapping for me. They were clapping for our teacher. She must have felt vindicated, like she had truly caught the perpetrator and was metering out justice. Maybe in the larger scheme of things she had. But, I really had not been in a fight that day. It was a devastating experience. The spanking hurt. I think it was three solid whacks with the paddle. That clapping stung far longer. 

By fifth grade there we were in very few fights. One memory, which was not really a fight: Most of the boys in our grade playing soccer on the big sports field. I was defending our team's goal. Leif was on the far side trying to score a goal. We were on the same team, of course. The biggest dude in our grade, Walker, was on the opposing team. He grabbed Leif and body slammed him into the school yard fence, and then went to kicking Leif on the ground. Walker was huge. I can see his chubby, ruddy face breathing heavily, hair flapping back and forth and he kicked and stomped on Leif repeatedly for what seemed an eternity. I was frozen by the sight, unable to move my legs to get across the field and help him. I feel like it was the most violent thing I saw in our elementary school years. I felt the violence of the act inside me. I wanted to vomit. Leif doesn't remember it. 

On the last day of 5th grade I found myself in a fight with David, the class nerd, later valedictorian for Alpine High School's Class of 1994. He went into the U.S. Navy, was discharged for being gay during the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy days. I can't recall why we got in a fight. We hung out together quite a bit. At the end of the fight I had him on his back on the ground. I was kneeling over him, his head stuck between my knees like a vice. I gave him three or four half hearted punches to the face, bloodied his nose, and let him up. David was scrapy. It had taken a lot to get him down and make him give up.  

It was David who punched me in the face in 6th grade during recess, giving me a bloody nose. I deserved it completely. I had become a bully, picked him out to place in a head lock, which he spun out of then swung a really well placed and powerful haymaker into my face. I knew I deserved it. I told the principal it was my fault. I don't recall if I got spanked. By this point I had worked my way into the cool crowd. In the hallways between classes the cool crowd said I had to get revenge for the bloody nose, kick David's ass after school. They egged me on. The sense of urgency to maintain my hard earned place of hanging with the cool kids overtook that small shred of guilt I had felt for being the bully. I knew I deserved David's fist slamming into my nose. 

After school I led a crowd of 6th grade boys (youth, juvenile delinquents?) across the street to where David was walking home. After putting a block between us and the school I led the chase. Who was in that group of boys looking to see a fight, to make sure David got cornered before reaching his house so that I could take my shot at revenge? I don't remember. It probably included Benito and Walker. It probably included my good friend, Fred. I hope it did not include my best friend, Casey, who was a decent fellow and a friend of David's. I know the group did not include Leif.  We cornered David in an alley where he scampered up a fence. I grabbed his ankle as he pushed himself onto someone's roof, but he kicked free of my grip.

The group that had chased David with me circled around the corner of the house, jeering at David, screaming at me to kick his ass. David looked scared, but also had a sparkle in his eyes like he knew he had escaped. A man came out of the house and yelled at us, said we should be ashamed of ourselves. Go home! I'll call your parents and tell them what you did!

I was ashamed. I had come nearly full circle. I saw with ultimately clarity that I had become one and the same as the circle of boys who had surrounded me in 3rd grade. My parents' did not get a phone call. The man didn't know me or them. He didn't have to call them. The experience changed me, a change that has lasted until this day. I had fought so hard to not be bullied, to be a normal kid that was accepted, who didn't stand out like a target. I had fought so hard it earned me a ticket to hang with the cool kids. Nicole, the school crush, even said she would consider dating me, after she was done dating my friend, Fred. (That was another moment that stopped me cold, made me ask what the hell am I doing on this path with this crowd.) As I stood in that alley I realized I had become the villain of this story.  

A Poem(ish) I Wrote Tonight

I am a man, 51 years old. 

I was a babe, a babe born with a penis and testicles, my little twig and berries. I am a son and a brother.

As a boy I did not always enjoy this fact that I was a boy; girls were pretty, not so gross and mean. I wasn't like other little boys who punched me, buried me in sand, sat on me. My twin saved me and we escaped to our own world for a time.

Boys and men can be true brutes, their clever hands and simple minds responsible for much evil and suffering.

As a boy I was spanked by my father, my teachers, my coaches, my school principals. The coaches left marks. It wasn't so bad, hurt pride and ego more than anything.

Men kill, rape, and murder innocents more frequently than women do, and more easily. Some men can be base and brute. I do my best not to be one.

But don't tell me to understand you, think like you, or be like you. I am not you. You be you.

Don't tell me to take a pronoun of my choice. What's my pronoun? You know already. 

I am a man. 

I am a loving husband, and a loving father. I was a boy. Maybe I will become an old man, shriveled, bent and dried up. I have a penis, piddle pipe, wiener, john thomas, johnson, dick, trouser snake, cock. If I become very old I guess it will just be a forgotten, useless little thing. I have only entered into physical union with my wife. Despite our naked passion I used restraint before marriage, was as gentle as she asked after. 

I am not a brute. I have raised my voice, yes, and screamed. I have thrown household objects at walls. I did spank my older daughter. It was not hard, left no visible marks. Three times. The last was many years ago because each time it accomplished nothing but hurt. I never thought to spank my younger daughter. I evolved. 

I am a man. 

I cannot fathom the actions of some men. I don't call women foul names, make a tally of women I've laid, brag about making women squirt. I don't stay out late to come home drunk. I don't know why some men horribly beat the women or children they say they love. I don't stick my finger up my ass then in someone's mouth and laugh.  I don't throw turtles in the air to watch them explode as they hit pavement. I don't kill sheep with glee because a gun is handy.

I was a boy. I was bullied by other boys. As a boy I learned to fight back. As a teenage boy I bullied. Finally I chased another teenage boy with a gang of teenage boys, cornered that boy on a rooftop. The gang yelled kick his ass, break his nose, and the man in the house came out and shouted firmly to leave the boy alone, go home, we were shameful. 

My father and my mother both taught me to be kind and work hard. My father taught me to save and be thrifty, my mother to give and be generous. They showed me love as my parents and showed me how a man and woman love and respect one another as a husband and a wife.

I am a man. 

I love quiet walks, sunsets, clouds, and the stillness of the dawn. I feel good with hard work and hard runs. I commune with the moon and talk to animals. I hate spiders and place them respectfully outside. The sound of pencil and pen drawing on paper makes me smile. My hands are not clever. Still, I can fix a few things. I try to clean my fingernails and scrub my hands before eating, tickling my kids, caressing my wife. Sometimes I shave. 

Do not tell me I am the problem, the privileged, the colonizer. You don't know me. 

Do not call me a chauvinist, an oppressor. Do not tell me I am a brute. That was not my last fight but it was the last time I bullied. 

My male anatomy is a scientific truth, and also millennia of human tradition and belief                    Belief in the importance of boys learning to become men, men learning to become fathers, providers, and protectors, men growing old who with time maybe find wisdom to share with men, boys, families, communities.

I try to teach my daughters about boys and men, and also how to become women, as best as I can.

 I am a man.  

Limited Book Review and Rant - Can We All Be Feminists?

Can we All be Feminists? is a collection of essays on the necessity of  the feminist movement to be intersectional and inclusive, to support women who are marginalized due to their race, alter-ability, and sexual orientation. The editor is June Eric-Udorie. I have not read the entire book, only the editor's 27-page introduction, which is the focus of my response. 

Painting from Baltimore Air B&B

Why this book? First, I am staying in an AirB&B row house in Baltimore about fifteen minute's walk from my treatment at Johns Hopkins Medical Hospital. The home owner, who does not stay here, is clearly interested in feminism. The living room is decorated by her lovely paintings (one above and three below) which celebrate women and she has a collection of books on feminism. I'm open to reading new things. Second, I am married; my wife and I have two daughters. I am concerned that they have an equal place in society, that their voices are heard by authorities and that authorities are well represented by female voices. Finally, the title was intriguing. Was it asking if I, as a middle class white male, can be a feminist?  Quick answer: no. The book asks if white, middle and upper class trans-exclusionary, privileged feminism can welcome marginalized groups. The editor, Eric-Udorie, a bisexual, black woman from Nigeria with visual impairment who immigrated to the UK, hopes the answer is yes.  

Painting from Baltimore Air B&B

It's important to know my biases as I review Eric-Udorie's intro to the book. I'm not a big supporter of contemporary feminism, nor am I a supporter of LGBTQIA+ inclusion movements. I do not consider myself anti-trans or anti queer, or anti any of that growing alphabet soup. However, I firmly believe their minority causes should not/not flip the the social fabric of the majority on its head, especially when there is a wealth of evidence that the majority society in the USA has been ever more tolerant and inclusive of minorities and supportive of equal rights for women. Are there still major hurdles to be crossed and and glaring examples of backward progress for women? Yes. The average lifespan for women is decreasing. The lack of abortion rights of any kind in some U.S. states is extreme. No abortions for mothers' whose lives are endangered by the pregnancy? No abortions in cases of rape and incest? That is extreme. However, the overall arc has been one of improvement for women, in some important cases outgaining men. Women are now more likely to have high school diplomas, college degrees, and gainful employment than men are. When I was born a women could not have a credit card with out husband or father being a joint account holder. Times have changed.  

A few final items for note on my biases. I grew up in a largely progressive household and my mom considered herself a feminist. I was a bit of a radical by high school standards, existing well outside societal norms for American teens. I had long hair, listened to folk and indigenous music, refused to touch tabaco or alcohol, planned to remain celibate for life and wanted nothing to do with affection from my peers - no hugs or kisses, groping or fondling, no sex. I was agnostic, but only because I avoided conflict and could not imagine the consequences of nothing after death. I liked the idea of being a monk but it was not possible because I was agnostic, so living in a cave in nature seemed like a decent alternative. I was devastated when I learned that Henry David Thoreau only lived on Walden Pond for two years and that Walden Pond was not in the wilderness but in the town of Concord. There were no models for me to follow.  As I've grown older I have certainly become more conservative in my social norms and my politics. I love a good cuddle from my wife! 

Back to Eric-Udorie's introduction to Can We All Be Feminists? I was prepared to dismiss it the moment I saw her use LGBTQIA+. That the ever growing list of letters has already reached the point of absurdity in length and is an essential proof of flawed concept. That said, Eric-Udorie makes fair statements about the brutality and oppression women, gays, and nonbinaries face in the Nigerian context, which transfers in some (not all) contexts in the the UK and USA. She makes fair statements that women of color, the alter-abled (or disabled), immigrants, and trans people are at a disadvantage here. She writes powerfully about marginalized people's struggle for greater rights and inclusion. Intersectionality is a buzz word that drives me nuts, but Eric-Udorie does it justice when she writes; 

       Intersectionality matters. It has always mattered. Long before the word exited, it was the lived             experience for millions. And yet, current mainstream feminist politics still takes a one size-fits all             approach...feminism aims to end sexist oppression for all. 

Painting from Baltimore Air B&B

My rant against her intro is as follows: Eric-Udorie speaks of women having blind spots, especially white, middle and upper income, straight, feminist women. These feminists do not appreciate or consider the struggles of the marginalized, do not see that in some cases the are the oppressor. My answer - Why should they see? They are not you and you realistically cannot expect them to be you. They have experienced different lives. They will not think exactly the same as you think. If every progressive, feminist or otherwise, takes the stance of my truth, you must appreciate me or at least think like me, then the movement turns on itself like a snake in an ever-tightening coil eating its tail. The reality is that the progressive movement from 2016 onwards has been doing just that: turning on itself for lack of purity, canceling and denouncing each other for this, that, or another perceived micro-transgression. Beyond this, biological women are perfectly logical and have every right to not be lumped in with transgender people, or with non-binary men, or men who have chemically castrated themselves to become women, or men who feel themselves to be women. Leave aside progressive and feminist women. Traditional women have their own stories, their own identity, and experiences just as Eric-Udorie or any other person does. Are they illegit, not worthy of opinion or existence? Who is Eric-Udorie to take away their right to be biological women? After all, women who believe that womanhood is essentially biological and physiological remain the majority. The ever expanding alphabet of LGBTQIA+ will still remain the minority. (I imagine a person of unspecified gender saying where is my letter? How dare you oppress me and further marginalize me by calling me +!) When a minority forces the majority to follow its norms, that is tyranny. 

I will conclude with this: In a democratic republic the majority has the moral responsibility to protect the the basic rights of the minority. In the USA those are the rights granted to us by the Constitution and, when possible, the right to life, liberty, and happiness.  I'm fine if an adult wants to change their gender. I'm fine calling a person they or another preferred pronoun. Moving beyond gender identity issues, I want women to have equal access to leadership roles and the same pay for the same work. If a woman does not want to marry, not have kids, have kids with another woman, or join in a civil union with another woman, I am fine with that. I'll support her/his, they, its right to do so. If a woman wants to marry another woman in a religion with doctrine that allows it, then go for it. Call it a marriage if you want and our laws will ensure that your union is supported with the same civil rights as heterosexual couples that marry in the dominant religions of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, etc.

Eric-Udorie's call for recognizing, appreciating, understanding, and legally upholding every single marginalized person's truth becomes a contradiction in reality that ultimately erodes the fabric of a functional society. A society functions when it organizes around communally accepted principals and norms. I would be a miserable failure of a human if I had tried to live alone in a cave for years. We are a miserable, crumbling society when we all retreat to the caves of our own personal truths. I'm not religious at all. Yet I have to admit that American society is healthier and functions better when we organize around the religious principles of family, marriage, and respect for elders. We can do this while also protecting the Constitutional civil rights of minorities. That's my rant. 

Master Artist Part Two - Photos at the Frank Frazetta Museum in Stroudsburg

 Now that I have had the chance to go through the small number of photos I took at the Frank Frazetta museum located at his home in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, I need to do a second entry on the topic. In my previous post I mentioned my admiration of two little known paintings, a portrait Frazetta did of his mother, and a left handed painting of gorillas and a nude female which he did near the end of his life. It turns out I have photos of both, and did not think that was the case in my original post. 

Again I feel the need to thank Lori Frazetta for giving us a tour and spending time to answer many of my questions. She was informative, gracious, and shared some stories and thoughts that were on the personal side. Link to the museum website here. https://www.frazettamuseum.com/

Lori's grandkids instructed us not to take close up or detailed photos of any of the art work, so none of my photos here will be mind blowing. 

First, that portrait Frazetta did of his mother. You can see part of the nude painting Frank Frazetta did of his wife, Ellie, for a size comparison. What jumps out to me with his mother's portrait is an immediate sense of warmth, detail is on her eyes and smile. I mentioned previously that Frazetta rarely put details into eyes. Here are two paintings where he did, his mother and his wife. With most of Frazetta's sketches of women, and I think his paintings too, he does very little with the nose. It's part of the famous Frazetta girl esthetic. Here his mother has a wonderful nose full of detail. The overall composition is not standard portrait. There's a real sense of movement, of breath, of solidity and strength. You can collect all of Frazetta's drawings and paintings of women with blades and spears ready for combat and none look as strong as his mother. I do think this is one of Frank Frazetta's very best paintings. I love it. 

Portrait Frank Frazetta painted of his mother

Second, I mentioned previously that I was at first disappointed by Frazetta's post-stroke left-handed paintings. There are three in the museum. My feeling of disappointment changed to satisfaction that he also did mediocre work, and then to amazement that he did any of these paintings at all. He was, after all, old, crippled, and painting with his left hand after a stroke took away his ability to use his right hand, not being able to paint at all for several years. Of the three paintings, I felt one was quite beautiful. He titled it Gorillas. I could not find an image on the internet and did not think I took a photo, but I did. Here it is along with a photo of Frazetta drawing with his left hand. I hope I didn't take this at too close a distance. There is enough here to appreciate the detail beyond the composition and color. The gorillas and nude female still carry some of Frazetta's wicked and dynamic posturing, but are strictly in profile, which was very unusual in his pre-stroke drawings and paintings. 

 

Frazetta's left handed painting Gorillas

I mentioned I enjoyed seeing many rough prep sketches and water colors Frazetta did as he organized ideas and composition for his larger oil paintings. Below is Wild Ride along with the initial water color. I have read that Frazetta did not spent much time painting, my impression being that he completed one or two paintings a month in the space of one day per painting. Lori emphasized he did most of his painting at night in one long burner of a session, and I've read similar stories. He spent his ample free time with family and enjoying himself. Painting was work and it took up a small portion of each month. Still, I have the sense that he sketched frequently. He also spent time redoing his paintings. Look around the internet and in Frazetta art books and there are hundreds of pencil and ink sketches, and a good number of simple water color "sketches". I am sure he was drawing something virtually every day. My older daughter, Solveig, draws or doodles with most her free time. Frazetta's sketches are amazing. I enjoy them far more than his paintings. The dynamism he pulls from a modicum of lines is often genius. He gets so much story and fun out of such simple little things. There is a quote attributed to Frazetta that goes something along the lines of "Forget painting, drawing is everything." So, below are Wild Ride with the accompanying sketch, and some sketches Frazetta did as a boy of panthers, obviously a lifelong passion. Even as a youngster it's clear Frazetta was experimenting with movement composition. 

Frazetta's Wild Ride with a rough water color below for preparation. This is one of many paintings which Frazetta altered over the years. Here he changed the the riding position of the woman and made her more slender. It's my guess that he made her look more like his wife, Ellie. 

Frazetta, early pencil sketches of panthers

I'll have to do a separate post on nude figure drawing and gesture drawing. Frank Frazetta is one of  the all time greats in this regard, and the topic brings back interesting memories of when I was a nude art model. To end this post I'll add a few broader photos to give a better sense of the museum in hopes that other folks will make the visit. It's worth it! https://www.frazettamuseum.com/

Frazetta's easel with his painting of Satan and Hell that Ellie Frazetta despised and never allowed to leave the studio. It appears Frank worked on it at many different times. In the back are paintings he did of Maasai warriors for Ellie, who had a passion for African pieces. Lori explained that beside the large original painting of a single warrior is a smaller painting of the same theme, but it is only a small copy of the original (white dots in the corner of frames denote copies) which Frank sold in order to pay a bill without Ellie's knowledge. She was upset at the loss of a favorite painting, so Frank painted her a new one, same size and same theme. The differences between the two figures are very striking. The original warrior appears far more threatening, while the new warrior appears friendly. His red cape is also drawn aside, showing his full, large penis. The original warrior's groin is covered by his cape. I guess this change was an extra treat for Ellie's loss of the original painting. 

Death Dealer III Revised and copy of the unrevised original below, with Silver Warrior to the left and Barbarian with Axe to the right, both originals. According to Lori, Frazetta was dealing with thyroid issues when he first painted Death Dealer III. The original warrior, standing over the bodies of his victims, looks physically spent and the red eyes are angled in sadness. It may have been subconscious, and it ultimately was no the look Frazetta wanted. He revised the warrior so that the stance is powerful and the red eyes are fierce. My photo does not pick up on the difference in Death Dealer's eyes, but the change Frazetta made to the body is clear enough.

Cat Girl, final revision, copy of original Cat Girl below, and to the left is a peak at The Huns, which is brilliant. In both of these paintings the colors must to be seen to be fully appreciated. I think that is the corner frame for Silver Warrior to the right, which literally pales in comparison to Cat Girl. That face and those eyes, even in shadow, trap the viewer. When not looking at Cat Girl in person, it's very obviously her breasts that stand out. In person it's her eyes. 

Both original paintings of Atlantis, the only other work for which Frazetta revised a painting by doing a completely new one, if the Maasai warrior is included. The differences are again very striking. Lori pointed out that the revised, second painting has the concealed image of a woman holding up the warrior. 

Frazetta's The Mammoth. I don't recall what is to the right and left. The mammoth's eyes are incredible. This is one of Frazetta's great masterpieces. 

In the foreground is a collection of paintings done by Frank's children, mostly Frank Jr. The image of Spider-Man is a copy. On the rear wall is a line of famous Frazetta paintings, including Night Stalker and Monster From Out of Time done on masonite boards. The much more famous Black Star is also there. It's an impressive painting collection.

Paintings Frazetta did in his youth. The lute he painted at age eight. He gave it to his aunt, Lori said perhaps because it wasn't very good. The metal horse appears in another painting he did later that year which is much better and the painting stayed with him. I don't recall at which age he did the upper two paintings. I believe he was already enrolled in the Brooklyn Academy of Fine Arts, so pre teen or teenager. The dog and lamb are a copy of another painting which Lori said his mother liked, so Frank painted her a copy.