The entire contents of this website are intended for viewing only. All the artwork-images are copyrighted @ 2009 by artist, Stephen E. Fabian. None of the contents may be reproduced or reprinted in any form in whole or in part without the written permission of the artist. NOTE: You can click on any of the Thumbnails to view a Full Sized image.
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3. Black ink and color pencil drawing on a 9 x 12 size vellum paper, circa 1966. At this time I was working in the electronics industry and drawing was just a spare time hobby, I was teaching myself to draw and paint. Occasionally I would copy a drawing of one of my favorite science fiction and fantasy artists. In this case I copied a drawing by Edd Cartier that illustrates the story, "The Potters of Firsk," by Jack Vance in the May 1950 issue of Astounding SF. Cartier's drawing in the magazine is in black and white. Many years later, around 1990, I had the great pleasure to meet Edd Cartier and we became good friends. The basement in his home was decorated like an old fashioned cabaret, with several round tables covered with red-checkered tablecloths, and dozens of antique lanterns that Edd had collected over the years, hanging from the ceiling. It was a fun place to meet, eat and chat. Sadly, Edd passed away recently. He was a decorated soldier-hero of WW2, a devoted husband and father, an outstanding illustrator, a truly decent and honorable man, it was a joy and an honor to know him.
| :: Sat 06/19/2010 @ 05:23 :: 003 |
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7. Black ink and color pencil drawing on an 8 x 8 size coquille board, circa 1968. After my drawings appeareded in "Twilight Zine" in 1967, I began to get letters in the mail from other fanzine publishers asking me to contribute some artwork, and that was very encouraging. At first there was no payment involved and I did not expect that fanzines paid for the artwork or the articles that they published, but it was not long before some fanzine publishers began to offer me payment for my artwork, and that was a real ego boost. This early spot drawing, "Space-Girl" was donated to a fanzine titled, "The Collector." At this time I still had the bad habit of imitating the styles of my favorite artists, and in this case, though the picture is original, guess who's style I was imitating?
| :: Sat 06/19/2010 @ 05:46 :: 007 |
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8. Black ink and black color pencil drawings on 11 x 14 size coquille boards. This is a sampling from a book titled, "Letters Lovecraftian" published by Gerry de la Ree back in 1974, the year I abandoned my career in the electronics field and became a full-time illustrator. For years Gerry purchased original artwork from me and eventually published two book collections of my work, "Fantasy by Fabian," and "More Fantasy by Fabian." We became good friends, I was a frequent visitor to his home, often buying old pulp magazines or books that he sold through his mail-order catalog. And, I always enjoyed seeing all those original paintings by my favorite artists displayed all over his house, even in the bathroom. One dreadful day his wife Helen phoned and told me that Gerry had only a day or two to live, and would like to see me. When I got there he greeted me at the door looking as healthy as I'd ever seen him, though I knew that for years he suffered from sugar diabetes. During the next hour or so I'm sure that very little of his imminent passing was mentioned, but I don't remember what we talked about, my mind was so numb. I do remember that when the time came to leave we looked at each other, there was an unspoken understanding that this was the final goodbye, we hugged and I left in a kind of daze. A few days later he was gone, and I'm still amazed when I think of how calm and ordinary his demeanor was during that last visit. Just before I left he pointed to his magnificent library of rare and expensive books and asked me to take any book I wanted. I couldn't do it. Instead, there was a small plastic airplane model that a neighbor's kid had made, and I took that because he insisted I take something to remember him by. And so, a wonderful part of my life disappeared, just like that! And so did that magnificent library of books and art that was sold to book dealers. That small plastic model airplane that I took sits on a bookshelf in my library.
| :: Sat 06/19/2010 @ 06:18 :: 008 |
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9. Black Ink and black color pencil drawing on 11 x 14 size coquille board, 1975. This drawing was commissioned by Helen de la Ree who gave me a 1950 photo of her husband, Gerry, and asked me to draw him surrounded by a framework of his favorite artists; Finlay, Bok, and Cartier. Gerry was the first person I met who was an insider in the science fiction and fantasy field. That was back in 1955 when he lived in River Edge, NJ., and had a home-based mail-order business selling used science fiction books and magazines. I had come to his home to buy some back issues of Fantastic Novels and Famous Fantastic Mysteries because they all featured the artwork of Virgil Finlay, Lawrence Sterne Stevens, and Hannes Bok, and I just had to have them. When I entered his home it was like stepping into the Magical Land of OZ, all those beautiful paintings hanging on the walls, all those bookcases filled with wonder-filled science fiction and fantasy books and magazines. My sense of wonder was overflowing and by the smile on his face I could see that Gerry understood how I felt. At that time I had just gotten married and was working as an electronic technician at the Dumont Television Lab in East Paterson, NJ., and if you came and whispered in my ear that someday I would become a munchkin in that Land of OZ, I would have laughed and said, "I wish!" Well, would you believe it, 20 years later, I actually did become that munchkin, living in the land of OZ, turning out story illustrations and cover paintings for science fiction books and magazines, just like Finlay, and Cartier, and Bok, and I've been doing it ever since. Please, don't pinch me, I don't want to wake up.
| :: Sat 06/19/2010 @ 04:07 :: 009 |
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10. Ink and gray pencil drawing on an 11 x 14 size vellum paper, cica 1974. This drawing is an excerpt from a larger drawing that appears on the cover of the book, "Fantasy Collector's Annual, 1975," edited and published by Gerry de la Ree. When I first went to buy some back issue magazines from her husband Gerry, way back in 1955, Helen was puttering around the plants in front of their home in River Edge, NJ., a beautiful woman with a soft unassuming voice, she not only took care of the landscaping around the house, she managed to take care of their art and library and mail-order business, and had to do most of the hard work managing Gerry's publishing ventures because his poor health prohibited him from doing it. That was years ago, though it seems like yesterday. We have been friends now for 55 years! She remains an ageless, beautiful woman, a joy to see and chat with, and I do so quite often when she, along with her companion Joe Wrzos, Janet Indick, Dean Cartier (son of Edd Cartier), and Ann and Gene Biancheri get together. We used to be known as "The Eastern Science Fiction Association," but that was a long time ago when the membership was a lot bigger. Most of the members have passed on so we just meet now as friends.
| :: Sat 06/19/2010 @ 06:24 :: 010 |
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