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Special Guest - Alan Lee
Alan Lee was born and grew up in London. He studied graphic art and design at the Ealing School of Art. After graduation he became a freelance illustrator doing mostly book covers and illustration, partly inspired to do so by his interest in mythology and folk tales. He worked as an illustrator in London until the mid-1970s, later moving to Dartmoor. Subsequently, he established himself as a world-class book artist, creating illustrations and paintings for many notable books, including The Mabinogion, Castles, Merlin Dreams, and Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of the Illiad, (which won the prestigious CILIP Kate Greenaway Award, for an outstanding book in terms of illustration for children and young people). In 1978 Alan Lee and Brian Froud created the book 'Faeries', inspired by the Dartmoor countryside. It went on to become a bestseller, and a 25th anniversary edition was also very succesful. To celebrate the centenary of J.R.R. Tolkien’s birth, Harper Collins commissioned Lee to produce 50 paintings to illustrate a special hardcover edition of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, thus beginning his association with the author. He subsequently illustrated Tolkien’s Ring by David Day and the 1997 edition of The Hobbit. Lee spent seven years working with Peter Jackson on the three Lord of the Rings movies, creating the distinctive look of Middle Earth, alongside fellow artist John Howe. The similarity of their previous illustrations to the design of the finished movies is striking. The three movies won the Hugo Award, Science Fiction’s highest honour, in 2002, 2003 and 2004. In 2004 he also received an Oscar for his work as part of the art direction team on The Return of the King. He has also designed for other films, including Legend (with Ridley Scott), Erik the Viking (with Terry Jones), and Merlin. His next book, The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook, is due out from Harper Collins in September 2005. Alan appears at Interaction in cooperation with the Tolkien 2005 conference, and will attend the convention on Saturday 6 August and Sunday 7 August. Personal quotes: "To draw a tree, to pay such close attention to every aspect of a tree, is an act of reverence not only toward the tree, and toward the earth itself, but also our human connection to it. This is one of the magical things about drawing -- it gives us almost visionary moments of connectedness." More information about Alan and his work can be found at the following websites:
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Page last updated 12th April 2005
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