Alan Lee

[[File:File:Alan Lee (Greg Martin Photography).jpg|300px]]
Alan Lee
Biographical information
Born	August 20, 1947
Style	Realistic/Romantic
Images	Gallery
Location	Dartmoor, Cornwall, UK

Alan Lee (1947) is a renowned British artist. He has illustrated numerous Tolkien Calendars as well as books. Lee and John Howe were the lead conceptual designers for Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings.

Life

Alan Lee was born in London, and attended the Ealing School of ArtTemplate:Ref. At the advice of a friend, he read The Lord of the Rings when he was 17, and it greatly influenced his professional work. He had at that time never heard of J.R.R. Tolkien or The HobbitTemplate:Ref. He moved to Dartmoor and married Marja Kruÿt. They have one daughter together, Virginia, but have since divorcedTemplate:Ref.

In his paintings, Lee uses watercolour. He describes his style as a combination of Realistic and RomanticTemplate:Ref.

Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings

On November 13, 1997, New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson sent a parcel containing "Forgotten Silver" and "Heavenly Creatures", and a letter explaining an upcoming movie project, then still for Miramax. Jackson was greatly inspired by Lee, and wanted him to be part of the crew. Lee watched the movies, and phoned back 3,5 hours later to say yesTemplate:Ref. Three weeks later he flew to New Zealand, where he and John Howe joined the Weta Workshop. He would live in New Zealand for six years, before returning to DartmoorTemplate:Ref.

Lee has two cameos in Peter Jackson's movies: he appears as the second from the right of the nine Kings of Men in The Fellowship of the Ring, and as a man of Rohan at the armoury of the Hornburg in The Two Towers.

Lee has expressed interest in working on The Hobbit, "[B]ut it would have to be a pretty special film to match the experience of working on The Lord of the Rings"Template:Ref.

Published artwork

• The Children of Húrin Calendar (2008)
• The Lord of the Rings Calendar (2007)
• The Children of Húrin (2007)
• The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook (2005)
• The Hobbit (1997)
• Realms of Tolkien: Images of Middle-earth (1996)
• Tolkien's Ring (1994)
• The Tolkien Calendar (1993)
• The Return of the King (1992)
• The Two Towers (1992)
• The Fellowship of the Ring (1992)
• Tolkien's World; Paintings of Middle-earth (1992)
• The Lord of the Rings (1991)

Awards

• 1998 - World Fantasy Award, Best Artist.
• 2002 - NBR Award, Best Production Design/Art Direction, Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring
• 2003 - VES Award, Best Effects Art Direction in a Motion Picture, Peter Jackson's The Two Towers
• 2004 - Academy Award, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Peter Jackson's The Return of the King
• 2004 - Golden Satellite Award, Best Art Direction, Peter Jackson's The Return of the King

References

1. Template:Note IMDb biography
2. Template:Note Interview, EInsiders.com.
3. Template:Note Biography of Marja Lee Kruÿt.
4. Template:Note Interview, HerenIstarion.org.
5. Template:Note "Disigning Middle-earth", Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring, Extended Edition.
6. Template:Note "Lord of the Drawings", BBC Interview.

External Links

• IMDb Profile
• Wikipedia Profile