Alan Lee (illustrator) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alan Lee
|
|
|---|---|
Lee in 2016
|
|
| Born | 20 August 1947 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 was born on August 20, 1947, in England. He is a famous artist who draws pictures for books and helps design how movies look. He is especially well-known for his amazing artwork inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy books, like The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. He also worked on the designs for the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies directed by Peter Jackson.
Contents
Early Life and Learning
Alan Lee grew up in Middlesex, England. He went to art school at the Ealing School of Art to learn how to draw and paint.
Alan Lee's Career
Drawing for Books
Alan Lee has drawn pictures for many fantasy books and also designed many book covers. He often uses watercolour painting and pencil sketches for his art.
Tolkien's World
Lee is very famous for his art based on the books by J. R. R. Tolkien. Some of the Tolkien books he has illustrated include:
- The 1992 special edition of The Lord of the Rings
- A 1999 edition of The Hobbit
- The Children of Húrin (2007)
- Beren and Lúthien (2017)
- The Fall of Gondolin (2018)
- The Fall of Númenor (2022)
He has also given many talks and workshops about his art, like one at the National Library of France during a Tolkien art show.
Other Amazing Illustrations
Besides Tolkien's works, Alan Lee has illustrated many other books. These include:
- Faeries (which he worked on 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 drew pictures for classic stories rewritten for young people. These include Rosemary Sutcliff's versions of the Iliad (called Black Ships Before Troy) and the Odyssey (called The Wanderings of Odysseus). He also illustrated Adrian Mitchell's version of Ovid's Metamorphoses, titled Shapeshifters.
Lee also created the cover art for the 1983 Penguin editions of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast books. He even designed the artwork for a music CD called Alive! by the Dutch band Omnia.
Designing for Movies
Tolkien on the Big Screen
Alan Lee and John Howe were the main artists who designed the look of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films (2000-2003). They were later asked to work on The Hobbit films too, to make sure the designs matched.
Peter Jackson, the director, really wanted Alan Lee to join the team. He sent Lee some of his earlier movies to show him his style. Lee was interested and decided to get involved. He helped create many of the movie's settings, objects, and even weapons for the actors. For example, his drawing of the tower of Orthanc was used to build a very detailed, large model of the tower for filming.
Alan Lee even made two small appearances in the movies! In The Fellowship of the Ring, he was one of the nine kings who became the Nazgûl. In The Two Towers, he played a Rohan soldier in the armoury.
After finishing the Lord of the Rings movies, Lee released a book called The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook in 2005. It showed all his amazing concept art for the films. Peter Jackson said, "His art captured what I hoped to capture with the films."
Other Movie Projects
Alan Lee also worked as a concept designer for other films. These include Legend, Erik the Viking, King Kong, and the TV mini-series Merlin. The art book Faeries, which he created with Brian Froud, was even turned into an animated movie in 1981.
Books Illustrated by Alan Lee
- 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 Wanderer and Other Old-English Poems (2018)
- The Fall of Gondolin (2018)
- Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth (2020)
- The Lord of the Rings (2022)
- The Fall of Númenor (2022)
Awards and Recognition
Alan Lee has won many awards for his incredible artwork:
- For his book Faeries (1978), he was a runner-up for the Locus Award for best art book.
- He won the Chesley Award for Best Interior Illustration for Merlin Dreams (1988). He also won the BSFA Award for Best Artwork that year.
- In 1993, he won the famous Kate Greenaway Medal for his illustrations in Black Ships Before Troy by Rosemary Sutcliff. This award is for the best children's book illustrations by a British artist.
- He won his second Chesley Award for Interior Illustration for the 60th anniversary edition of The Hobbit.
- In 1998, he won the World Fantasy Award for Best Artist.
- In 2000, he received the Spectrum Award in the grandmaster category for fantastic art.
- In 2004, Alan Lee, along with Grant Major and Dan Hennah, won an Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Art Direction for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. This is a huge award in the movie world!
- In 2016, he received the 'Schwäbischen Lindwurm' award from the Dragon Days Crossmedia Fantastikfestival Stuttgart.
See Also
In Spanish: Alan Lee para niños
- Works inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien
