Preserving the Artistic Heritage of Science Fiction's Master

Elderly man smiling with glasses
Overview

Overview

Frank Kelly Freas (August 27, 1922 - January 2, 2005) was an American science fiction and fantasy artist with a career spanning more than 50 years. He was known as the "Dean of Science Fiction Artists," and he was the second artist inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.

Early Life and Background

Early Life and Background

Born in Hornell, New York, Freas (pronounced like “freeze”) grew up in Canada. Neither parent had an artistic leaning, and Kelly’s craftsmanship came from pure talent and intelligence, not the product of an artistic environment.

Military Service and Family Life

Military Service and Family Life

He entered the United States Army Air Forces right out of high school (Crystal Beach, Ontario, Canada)....

He flew as a cameraman for reconnaissance in the South Pacific and painted bomber noses during... World War II. He married Pauline (Polly) Bussard in 1952; they had two children, Jacqui and Jerry. Polly died of cancer in January 1987. In 1988, he married (and is survived by) Dr. Laura Brodian.

Read More
Early Illustration Career

Early Illustration Career

The fantasy magazine Weird Tales published the first cover art by Freas....

in its November 1950 issue. His second was a year later, followed by several Planet Stories and more Weird Tales covers, as well as interior illustrations for three Gnome Press books in 1952.

Read More
Artistic Style and Techniques

Artistic Style and Techniques

With his illustration career underway, he continued to devise unique and imaginative....

concepts for other fantasy and science fiction magazines of that period. In a field where airbrushing is common practice, paintings by Freas are notable for his use of bold brush strokes, and a study of his work reveals his experimentation with a wide variety of tools and techniques.

Read More
Major Publishing and Magazine Work

Major Publishing and Magazine Work

Over the next five decades, he created covers for hundreds of books and....

magazines (and much more interior artwork), notably Astounding Science Fiction both before and after its title change to Analog—indeed, from 1953 to 2003. He started at Mad magazine in February 1957, and by July 1958 was the magazine’s new cover artist; he painted most of its covers until October 1962 (featuring the iconic character Alfred E. Neuman). He also created covers for DAW, Signet, Ballantine Books, Avon, BAEN Books, all 58 Laser Books (which are now collector’s items), and over 90 covers for Ace Books alone. He was artist and editor (with Polly Freas) for the first ten Starblaze books.

Read More
Other Notable Work and Legacy

Other Notable Work and Legacy

Freas also designed the mission patch and painted posters for Skylab I; comic book covers; the covers of the GURPS worldbooks Lensman and....

Planet Krishna; and more than 500 saints’ portraits for the Franciscans, executed simultaneously with his portraits of Alfred E. Neuman for Mad. He was very active in gaming and medical illustration. His cover of Queen’s album News of the World (1977) was a pastiche of his October 1953 cover illustration for Tom Godwin’s “The Gulf Between” for Astounding Science Fiction.

Read More
My Inspiration - by Frank Kelly Freas

My Inspiration - by Frank Kelly Freas

Fine artists and illustrators can both paint and draw. Unlike the fine artist, whose inspiration comes from his head, the job of the illustrator is to communicate....

the words of the author. Illustrators condense hundreds of thousands of words into one potent, immediate image, giving some idea of what the story is about, raising questions, and answering few. Folks have to read the story to get their questions answered.

Read More