Alan Lee (illustrator) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alan Lee
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Lee in 2016
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| Born | 20 August 1947 Middlesex, England
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| 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 |
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Alan Lee (born August 20, 1947) is an English artist. He is famous for drawing pictures for books and for helping design movies. He is especially known for his amazing artwork inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novels. He also worked on the movie designs for Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films.
Contents
About Alan Lee
Early Life and Learning
Alan Lee was born in Middlesex, England. He studied art at the Ealing School of Art. This is where he learned many of the skills he uses today.
His Art Career
Drawing for Books
Alan Lee has drawn pictures for many fantasy books. He has also created covers for many more.
Tolkien's World
He is very well known for his work on J. R. R. Tolkien's books. Some of the Tolkien books he has illustrated include:
- The Lord of the Rings (1992 edition)
- The Hobbit (1999 edition)
- The Children of Húrin (2007)
- Beren and Lúthien (2017)
- The Fall of Gondolin (2018)
- The Fall of Númenor (2022)
His drawings help readers imagine the world of Middle-earth. Many people feel his art truly captures the spirit of Tolkien's stories. His style has even influenced how people picture Middle-earth.
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Alan Lee's art style is sometimes compared to older artists like William Morris.
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Lee's art helped connect William Morris's style to Tolkien's world and Peter Jackson's films.
Other Books He Illustrated
Besides Tolkien's works, Alan Lee has illustrated many other books. These include:
- Faeries (with Brian Froud)
- Lavondyss by Robert Holdstock
- The Mabinogion (an old Welsh story collection)
- Castles by David Day
- The Mirrorstone by Michael Palin
- The Moon's Revenge by Joan Aiken
- Merlin Dreams by Peter Dickinson
He also illustrated classic stories for young readers. These include Rosemary Sutcliff's versions of the Iliad and the Odyssey. He also worked on Adrian Mitchell's version of Ovid's Metamorphoses, called Shapeshifters.
Alan Lee often uses watercolour painting and pencil sketches in his artwork.
Working on Films
Alan Lee has also brought his artistic talent to the big screen.
Tolkien Films
Alan Lee and John Howe were the main concept artists for Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies. They helped design how everything in the films would look. This included characters, places, and objects. They later worked on The Hobbit films too.
For example, his drawing of the tower of Orthanc was so detailed that the set designers used it to build a huge model for the movie. He even made two small appearances in the films! In The Fellowship of the Ring, he was one of the nine kings who became the Nazgûl. In The Two Towers, he was a soldier in the armoury.
After the Lord of the Rings films were finished, Alan Lee released a book called The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook. It showed many of his amazing designs for the movies. Peter Jackson said that Lee's art "captured what I hoped to capture with the films."
Other Films
Alan Lee has also worked as a concept designer on other movies. These include Legend, Erik the Viking, King Kong, and the TV mini-series Merlin. His book Faeries, which he created with Brian Froud, was even turned into an animated movie in 1981.
Books Illustrated by Alan Lee
Here are some of the books that Alan Lee has illustrated:
- Faeries (1978)
- Castles (1984)
- Brokedown Palace (1986)
- The Lord of the Rings (1991)
- Black Ships Before Troy (1993, by Rosemary Sutcliff)
- The Wanderings of Odysseus (1995, by Rosemary Sutcliff)
- The Hobbit (1997)
- The Children of Húrin (2007)
- Tales from the Perilous Realm (2008)
- Beren and Lúthien (2017)
- The Fall of Gondolin (2018)
- Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth (2020)
- The Fall of Númenor (2022)
Awards and Recognition
Alan Lee has won many awards for his beautiful artwork:
- In 1989, he won the Chesley Award for his illustrations in Merlin Dreams.
- In 1993, he won the important Kate Greenaway Medal for his illustrations in Black Ships Before Troy. This award is for the best children's book illustration by a British artist.
- In 1998, he won his second Chesley Award for his work on the 60th anniversary edition of The Hobbit.
- Also in 1998, he won the World Fantasy Award for Best Artist.
- In 2004, Alan Lee, along with Grant Major and Dan Hennah, won an Academy Award for Best Art Direction for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. This is a huge honor in the film world!
- In 2016, he received the 'Schwäbischen Lindwurm' award from the Dragon Days Crossmedia Fantastikfestival Stuttgart.
See also
In Spanish: Alan Lee para niños
