“I have been under the spell of the faeries for most of my life. The pictures and stories that move me most are those that expose the thinness of the veil that separates us from the Otherworld, and if my own drawings do not feel animated by some unquiet presence I soon lose interest in them. For me, faeries are the creative spark in nature, the tricksters who beguile and confuse us and then point out the path that leads to further adventure, and who provoke the desire to explore and connect with processes we don’t understand.” – Alan Lee
International best-selling illustrator and Oscar winning Conceptual Designer Alan Lee is the Guest of Honor at FaerieCon International, October 10-12 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.
An awarding winning illustrator with a career spanning nearly forty years, Alan’s masterful watercolors and drawings have attracted world wide acclaim and defined the visual identity of numerous fantasy books, most notably J. R. R. Tolkien’s classic series, THE LORD OF THE RINGS. These illustrations attracted the interest of Australian director Peter Jackson and lead to Alan’s engagement as concept designer and art director for five years on the feature films for which he won an Academy Award in 2004 for Art Direction–Set Decoration (shared with Grant Major and Dan Hennah). Alan has also contributed concept designs to LEGEND, THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE and KING KONG.
Faeriecon International is Alan Lee’s first US convention appearance. He
will be presenting a slideshow talk featuring his work for THE LORD OF THE RINGS films and books on Saturday on the Main Stage as well as meeting fans and signing autographs at his booth each day. Alan will also be joined by his daughter, illustrator and sculptor Virginia Lee who worked on the film and sculpted some of the LORD OF THE RINGS plaques for Sideshow Collectibles.
Alan will join FaerieCon Guest and host, Brian Froud, international best-selling faerie artist and concept designer of THE DARK CRYSTAL and LABYRINTH on the 30th anniversary of the publication of their classic book, FAERIES, in their first public appearance together in the US. A publishing phenomenon that is still in print after 30 years with millions of copies sold in numerous languages, FAERIES presented a dramatic new vision of faeries and inspired generations of writers, artists and lovers of faerie around the world. Alan and Brian drew their inspiration from traditional faerie folklore, celtic myth and the mist shrouded moors, rivers and woodlands of the Devon countryside where they make their homes. Their images are clearly born of this rugged and beautiful land and create a compelling alternative vision to the “pretty girls with wings” faerie imagery that rose to popularity in the Victorian period and continues to this day.
FaerieCon International is the largest gathering of faerie artists and authors in the world, and features the largest assembly of faerie arts, crafts and apparel vendors in the US. Other artists attending FaerieCon include, Wendy Froud, Holly Black of THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES, Jessica Galbreth, Charles Vess of STARDUST, Michael Buckley of THE SISTERS GRIMM, Wendy Pini of ELFQUEST, Kinuko Craft, Michael Hague, Linda Ravenscroft, John and Caitlin Matthews, Jasmine Becket Griffith, Helena Nelson Reed, Jen Deleth and J. Corsentino.
For information on FaerieCon, please visit: FaerieCon.com
