Artist Ken Kelly and his amazing fantasy art

Everyone who loves the fantasy genre is familiar with the work of American artist Ken Kelly. His heroes and monsters adorn book covers, posters and albums of rock bands. Many consider him the second father of Conan and Tarzan, as these characters are associated worldwide with the images created by Kelly. The artist is no longer with us, but his work, as before, delights fans and inspires followers.

Ken Kelly was born in 1946 in New London, Connecticut. His artistic talent manifested itself in elementary school, and Ken tirelessly developed it and honed it. Kelly planned to study as an artist, but after school he was drafted into the army. The young man served in Vietnam and Cuba, in Guantanamo Bay.

Even participating in hostilities, Kelly did not leave his favorite pastime. His gift was soon noticed and the young man was entrusted with creating illustrations for the military magazine The Gitmo Gazette. In 1968, Kelly was demobilized and settled in New York. He plunged headlong into art and began taking orders from publishers and advertising agencies.

One day, Ken went to the famous artist Frank Frazetta, one of the leading fantasy artists in the US, and showed him some of his work. The master liked Kelly's paintings and offered him a job in his studio. Soon the young artist received his first professional commission. It was a covert aggression illustration for Vampirella magazine.

In 1969, Ken Kelly began commissioning covers and illustrations for books. He designed the Conan series by Robert Howard and the Tarzan series by Edgar Burroughs. These were real bestsellers of the 60s and 70s, and fame came to the artist.

Kelly began to be approached by rock musicians, for whom he designed album covers and posters. Among them were the mega-popular bands KISS, Manowar and Rainbow.

For two posters for KISS, Kelly won the Golden Album Artist of the Year award. After this victory, the number of orders from musicians increased dramatically and the artist became the most in-demand album cover artist in the United States. The images created by Kelly perfectly conveyed the energy of the music and complemented it organically.

Ken Kelly died in 2022 at the age of 76, leaving behind hundreds of beautiful fantasy paintings and illustrations. He took a worthy place in the pantheon of artists, next to his mentor Frank Frazetta, Boris Vallejo and other authors.