Frank Frazetta

Frank Frazetta (1928-2010) was one of the grandfathers of fantasy art. His was a unique talent and vision. Frazetta's gift was such, that he was enrolled at the Brooklyn Academy of Fine Arts at the age of eight.
http://www.frankfrazetta.net/index.html

Above is the image that started my obsession with fantasy art. Back when I was a kid and saw this as a poster on a friend's wall, I knew I had discovered something special for myself. Images and information were hard to come by all those years ago so for the longest time, I had no idea who the artist was or that there was more of this kind of art out there. Now, in the age of the internet, I spend hours looking at fantasy art and collecting it.