Monday, April 23, 2012

THE GIFT


You know, it’s pretty cool being a comic nerd/metal head sometimes.  What’s best may be the fact that there are so many folks around the world that are just like me…less the red hair and pasty skin…maybe. It never ceases to amaze me that I have met the likes of me in just about every corner of the world, completely obliterating the preconceived barriers that our various cultures have put in place.  We are a culture unto our own…Never give up! Never surrender! 
 
Where was I?  Oh yes…culture!  Culture-aka- music, art, yak shaving, etc…etc…etc.  The thing is we all have a common bond.  Like the bond between metal and comic art.  A couple of notable comic artists that have lent their brush to both comic book covers and music are Frank Frazetta (RIP) and Simon Bisley.  Mr. Frazetta is probably best known, in the music world, for his contributions to Molly Hatchet cover art.  Yeah, I know M.H. ain’t METAL, but you wouldn’t know it from the bad-ass “Death Dealer” painting on the cover.  Sweeeeeeet!   Mr. Bisley, as another example, has supplied visual aids to several Danzig records.  I know, not exactly METAL either, but Freddie Vidales likes him and that’s METAL enough for me!  Besides, Biz is the undisputed master of painting “Lobo”…and nobody is more METAL than “Lobo”!

Love of these artists’ work is certainly not limited to my two dimensional understanding of light and shadow.  There are many fans of these artistic titans that have studied their beloved style and used that inspiration to fuel their own dark visions.  A couple of years ago, when I was touring in Poland, I was able to meet one of those kindred to this particular style.  Kamil Pietruczynik has been a friend of mine and Iced Earth for many years, though I had not had the pleasure of meeting the evil genius to that point.  First, Kamil is an extremely talented and humble artist.  Secondly, he is a huge METAL fan.  He has provided many killer pieces of work to Iced Earth that features his undeniably cool skills. 
 
Last month, Kamil let me know that he was sending me something that he had been working on for my birthday.  I finally received it in the mail today…thanks U.S. Customs!  I was completely blown away.  I had no idea that it was going to be a 3x4 foot oil painting of “The Batman”!  It is the fockin’ coolest thing…ever!  Please enjoy these images while I e-shop for a kick-ass bat-frame!


PS-Check out Kamil’s website at http://www.kamilpietruczynik.art.pl/ and enjoy some more of his stuff!

5 comments:

  1. Thats fucking SICK! I love art and comic books as well. Todd McFarlane and Greg Capullo are two of my favorites from the obvious influence on The Dark Saga.

    Mark Silvestri, creator of Witchblade and the most metal character ever to grace the pages of comics, The Darkness, aka Jackie Estacado is another all time favorite.

    Travis Smith over at Seempieces has dabbled in comics and graphic novels as well.

    I should also point out Ashley Wood and his crazy ass take on Spawn.

    I've known Kamil for several years now and love his dark, grainy perspective that he approaches his craft with.

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  2. Now that's just epic!
    What a wonderful gift, the guy's got a lot of talent :)

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  3. I am very surprised Todd McFarlane and Greg Capullo didn't get a mention from you Matt.

    You should see Greg's Batman work now (if you haven't already) he does a kickass job of it!

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  4. sweet. i wish it was my birthday

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  5. Fantastic!

    It's a shame that Jon didn't use his art for the "Framing Armageddon"-album, since the one used is one of the weakest cover-art of any Iced-album; minus the original art for Night of the Stormrider of course :D

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