Alan Lee | |
|---|---|
 Lee in 2016 | |
| Born | (1947-08-20)20 August 1947 (age 78) Middlesex, England |
| Education | Ealing School of Art |
| Known for | Illustration, painting, conceptual design |
| Awards | Chesley Award 1989, 1998 Kate Greenaway Medal 1993 World Fantasy Award 1998 Academy Award 2004 |
| Signature | |
 | |
Alan Lee (born 20 August 1947) is an English bookillustrator and filmconceptual designer. He is best known for hisartwork inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novels, and for his work on theconcept design ofPeter Jackson's film adaptations of Tolkien,The Lord of the Rings andThe Hobbit film series.
Alan Lee was born inMiddlesex, England, and studied at theEaling School of Art.[1]
Lee has illustrated dozens offantasy books, including some non-fiction, and many more book covers.[2] Among the numerous works byJ. R. R. Tolkien that he has illustrated are the 1992 centenary edition ofThe Lord of the Rings, a 1999 edition ofThe Hobbit, the 2007The Children of Húrin, the 2017Beren and Lúthien, the 2018The Fall of Gondolin, and the 2022The Fall of Númenor. He has given numerous conferences, interviews and masterclasses, such as the one recorded at the Bibliothèque nationale de France[3] in 2020, during the exhibition "Tolkien : voyage en Terre du Milieu".[2]
![Velten suggests that Lee followed Tolkien's liking of Morris by adopting something of his visual style. Morris's tapestry The Failure of Sir Gawaine illustrated.[4]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aHoly_Grail_tapestry_The_Failure_of_Sir_Gawaine.jpg)
![Morris's visual influence on Tolkien and beyond, via Lee's illustrations and Peter Jackson's films[4]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aMorris_visual_influence_on_Tolkien_and_beyond.svg)
Hans Velten writes that Lee was influenced byWilliam Morris's graphic approach. He suggests that Lee was comfortable withTolkien's acceptance of Morris, and accordingly made his Middle-earth illustrations more like Morris's style. In Velten's view, Lee's work, especially as concept artist onPeter Jackson's 2001–2003The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, has influenced the audience's "collective imagination" of how places and people should look in Middle-earth.[5]
Non-Tolkien books he has illustrated includeFaeries (withBrian Froud),Lavondyss byRobert Holdstock,The Mabinogion (two versions),Castles by David Day,The Mirrorstone byMichael Palin,The Moon's Revenge byJoan Aiken, andMerlin Dreams byPeter Dickinson.[2]
He has illustrated retellings ofclassics for young people. Two wereRosemary Sutcliff's versions of theIliad and theOdyssey—namely,Black Ships Before Troy (Oxford, 1993) andThe Wanderings of Odysseus (Frances Lincoln, 1995). Another wasAdrian Mitchell's version of Ovid'sMetamorphoses—namely,Shapeshifters (Frances Lincoln, 2009).[6]
Lee made cover paintings for the 1983 Penguin edition ofMervyn Peake'sGormenghast trilogy.[2] He also did the artwork forAlive!, a 2007 CD by the Dutch bandOmnia, released during theCastlefest festival.Watercolour painting and pencilsketches are among themedia that Lee commonly uses.
Lee andJohn Howe were the leadconcept artists ofPeter Jackson'sLord of the Rings films between 2000 and 2003.[8] They were recruited by directorGuillermo del Toro in 2008 for continuity of design in the subsequentThe Hobbit films,[8][9] before joining Jackson when he took over theHobbit films project. Jackson has explained[10] how he originally recruited the reclusive Lee. By courier to Lee's home in the south of England, he sent two of his previous films,Forgotten Silver andHeavenly Creatures, with a note from himself andFran Walsh that piqued Lee's interest enough for him to become involved. Lee went on to illustrate and even to help construct many of the scenarios for the movies, including objects and weapons for the actors. For example his illustration of the tower ofOrthanc was closely followed by the set designers ofThe Two Towers to create a "bigature" at 1:35 scale for close-up filming.[7] He made two cameo appearances: in the opening sequence ofThe Fellowship as one of the nine kings of men who became the Nazgûl; and inThe Two Towers as aRohan soldier in the armoury (over the shoulder ofViggo Mortensen'sAragorn who is talking toLegolas in Elvish).[11]
Two years after completingThe Lord of the Rings film series, Lee released a 192-page collection of his concept artwork for the project,The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook (HarperCollins, 2005). Peter Jackson said, "His art captured what I hoped to capture with the films."[12]
Lee had an uncredited cameo appearance inThe Fellowship of the Ring as one of thenine kings corrupted bySauron. He can be seen as the second person from the right, for a few seconds.[13]
Lee worked as a concept designer on the filmsLegend,Erik the Viking,King Kong and the television mini-seriesMerlin.[8] The art bookFaeries, produced in collaboration withBrian Froud, was the basis of a 1981 animated feature of the same name.[14]
For his 1978 book with Brian Froud,Faeries, Lee was runner-up for the fantasyLocus Award, year's best art or illustrated book.[16]
For illustratingMerlin Dreams byPeter Dickinson (1988), he won the annualChesley Award for Best Interior Illustration[16] and he was a highly commended runner-up for the Greenaway Medal.[17][a] He also won theBSFA Award for Best Artwork, for that year's best single new image.[16] Five years later, he won theKate Greenaway Medal from theLibrary Association, recognising the year's best children's book illustration by aBritish subject. The book wasBlack Ships Before Troy byRosemary Sutcliff, a version of theTrojan War story.[18]For the 60th anniversary edition ofThe Hobbit, Tolkien's 1937 classic, Lee won his second Chesley Award for Interior Illustration (he is a finalist eight times through 2011).[19]For that year's work he won the annualWorld Fantasy Award, Best Artist, at the 1998World Fantasy Convention.[20]In 2000, he won the competitive, juriedSpectrum Award for fantastic art in the grandmaster category.[21]Lee,Grant Major andDan Hennah earned the 2004Academy Award forBest Art Direction forThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, third in the film trilogy.[22]In 2016 he was awarded the 'Schwäbischen Lindwurm' of theDragon Days Crossmedia Fantastikfestival Stuttgart.
