Ken Kelly ( born Ken W. Kelly , May 19, 1946 , New London , Connecticut ) is an American science-fiction artist. Known for his illustrations on the theme of Conan and Tarzan , as well as works with rock groups Kiss (albums Destroyer and Love Gun ), Rainbow (album Rising ), and Manowar (album The Triumph of Steel , etc.). He published two books on art and painted more than 700 works. His paintings are exclusively made with oil paints.
| Ken Kelly | |
|---|---|
| Ken W. Kelly | |
| Date of Birth | May 19, 1946 (73 years old) |
| Place of Birth | New London , Connecticut , USA |
| Citizenship |  USA |
| Genre | fantasy , fantasy |
| Site | |
Content
Biography
Born in 1946 in the town of New London, Connecticut, but soon the family moved to Long Island . Ken began to be interested in drawing even in kindergarten [1] .
Ken Kelly is related to the famous artist Frank Frazetta . Aunt Ken Kelia is married to Frasetta. Despite family ties, Frank Frazetta never gave him drawing lessons, not wanting to give out his technique. Nevertheless, Kelly visited his workshop many times, and Frasetta's style had a great influence on his work [2] .
After graduation, Kelly joined the Marine Corps , where he served for 4 years. In 1966, having completed his military service, Kelly went with his wife to Europe, where he spent a year studying painting. On his return, he showed Frasetta his picture of the comic book character Vampirella . Frazetta arranged for him to meet with James Warren , founder of Warren . Warren bought Vampirella from Kelly and ordered 13 more covers for comics. Thus, Kelly began his career by drawing illustrations for Warren magazines, and his first professional work was the cover for the Vampirella comic strip. At first, he combined the work of an illustrator with the work of a driver [2] [1] .
Thanks to success with covers for Warren, Kelly began to receive offers from other publishers. The first cover of the book he made for the publisher Lancer [2] .
According to Ken Kelly himself, the biggest breakthrough in his career was the creation of covers for the band Kiss . Initially, the musicians wanted Frank Frazetta to draw the cover, but they could not agree on a price. They began to consider other fantasy artists and the choice fell on Ken Kelly [2] [3] .
Following the success of the Destroyer album cover, Ken Kelly began receiving orders from many other bands. Since the late 1980s, all covers of the Manowar rock band have been created by Ken Kelly [2] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Friedlander, 1990 .
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Ringgenberg, 2013 .
- ↑ Weiss, 2016 .
Literature
- SC Ringgenberg. Ken Kelly: Prolific chronicler of the Monstrous and Fabulous // Creepy: Journal. - 2013 .-- Vol. 17 . - P. 65 .
- Brett Weiss. Encyclopedia of KISS: Music, Personnel, Events and Related Subjects. - McFarland, 2016 .-- S. 92 .-- 236 p. - ISBN 978-0786498024 .
Links
- Michael J. Friedlander. Ken Kelly Biography Ken Kelly Art (1990). Date of appeal October 15, 2016.