A L A N L E E

WHO’S WHO?

Projects and Portfolio

Illustrations Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake

Lavondyss by Robert Holdstock (1988)

Centenary edition of the Lord of the Rings by J.R.R

Tolkien (1992)

Black Ships Before Troy by Rosemary Sutcliff (1993)

The Wanderings of Odysseus by Rosemary Sutcliff

(1995)

Edition of The Hobbit by J.R.R(1999)

The 25th Anniversary Edition of Faeries (2002)

The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook (2005)

The Children of Húrin (2007)

Shapeshifters by Adrian Mitchell (2009)

Film Work Designer for Legend (1985)

Designer for Erik the Viking (1989)

Concept Artist and Visual Designer for the Lord of

the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit (1998-2014)

Concept Artist for King Kong (2005)

Concept Artist for The Chronicles of Naria: The

Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)

Alan Lee work processes are based mostly on pencil sketches

that are then reworked by watercolour or ink, using quite faded

colours, playing more on lighting. His drawing is so distinctive

due to is drawing natural shading and classic shots, working from

one perspective. He has also worked on the design and

decoration for the model of Rivendell as well as being involved

with the Visual Effects Department in relation to his work as one

of the main concept artists of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and

Hobbit films . His main body of work towards the Lord of the

Rings trilogy and illustrations for the centenary books was

inspired by his home in Dartmoor, in the South West of England,

visiting the woods and river walks in the moorland often. His

work as been compared to Art Nouveau design and patterns.

Work Processes

Inspiration and achievements

Alan Lee has been an inspiration of mine from his work on

the Lord of the Rings, playing a big part of the design of

the films. As a Tolkien fan, a lot of his personal work was

inspired by the books, which is what drew Lee into the

attention of Peter Jackson, the films’ maker. Alan Lee

produced around 2500 sketches for the design of the films,

along with John Howe, another key player in bringing the

concept art of the Lord of the Rings to the big screen.

Jackson has heaped praise on Alan Lee’s work for the

films, once saying: "Alan Lee's artwork has a beauty and

lyricism about it. His art captured what I hoped to capture

with the films.“ Lee was awarded an Oscar for his work on

The Return of the King as part of the Art Direction in the

2004 Oscar Awards.

I believe his work is relevant to the ‘Invisible Cities’ project brief, as he is a capable

concept artist, able to come up with a number of ideas for different locations, creatures

and perspectives, able to work out how the world he has created, through his designs.

He has a natural whimsicality which translates well to fantasy, and although the brief

based on the work of Italo Calvino is not just about fantastical places, it is to me about

fantasy places ground into reality and made believable through references of the real

world. Lee’s style is very traditional, using mainly exterior, level perspectives, focusing

more on grand designs of shots, but his influence is very clear as a concept designer

and as an artist.

In relation to the Brief…