Part One of A Wide-ranging Conversation with a Master of Middle-earth! There's a great scene in the "From Book to Vision" documentary section of the "'Fellowship of the Ring' Special Extended Edition" where movie director Peter Jackson describes his efforts to track down and contact renowned artist Alan Lee. Lee's illustrations for published editions of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings novels had been a major inspiration behind Jackson's interpretation of Middle-earth, so the filmmaker naturally wanted the man himself to lend his masterly touch to the motion pictures. At the time, Lee's where abouts had been a bit of a mystery, and the DVDs capture Jackson's nerve wracking, anxious efforts to track him down, then convince him to be a part of the production team. Of course, Jackson succeeded on both counts, and the epic trilogy benefited immensely from Lee's awesome imagination.
In 2004, Mr. Lee is -- thankfully -- a lot easier to find. In fact, he's making himself available to his legion of fans across the U.S.A. by embarking on a nationwide lecture tour in which he discusses his accomplished career. Speaking by telephone from his home in England, Lee says, "I haven’t done anything quite like this (in decades). The last tour that I did in the states was actually twenty years ago, in 1984. It was for a book called ‘Castles.’ I was traveling with Ian Ballantine, the publisher of the book and founder of Ballantine Books, a wonderful kind of mainstay of the publishing world.
"We visited quite a few places, and we had this traveling exhibition that we were dragging around, big wooden boxes filled with pictures. In some places, it went very well. In others, it was a complete flop, depending on how good the advance publicity was, I suppose!"
This time around, Lee is wowing audiences by showing original paintings, slides of his work, and snapshots taken on location during the making of the films, as well as, “just talking about the experience of working with (characters created by) Tolkien over so many years.”
If collectors and admirers are thrilled to meet Lee himself, the artist insists the feeling is mutual. “The main benefit for me is to be actually meeting people who’ve known my work for years. Some of them bring along almost a complete collection of the books that I’ve done, ”he laughs, “and it’s really lovely, because you wouldn’t know about them otherwise. You wouldn’t know that there are people who really like the work. I don’t do a lot of (public appearances) but when I do, I really enjoy it. It’s great to meet people who are really enthusiastic about the same things that you are.”
He adds that feedback at public appearances gives him a fresh perspective of his own work.
“Sometimes, people are enthusiastic about the less showy things that you have a private enthusiasm for, and that’s always rewarding: When you do something that you’re kind of quietly pleased with and other people pickup on that as well, and enjoy it.”
One of the best things to come out of these events is the opportunity for Lee to speak with fellow artists who've pursued their own creative dreams as a direct result of his work. "I have had that, and that's amazing," he says. "I haven't met that many, but I have met people who got excited about illustration or the kind of work that I do after seeing a book or seeing my work somewhere, and have decided that that's what they want to do. It's quite amazing to have that sort of effect on somebody's life."
He's equally pleased by the variety of fans who turn up. Usually, it's across-section of society, not just a particular demographic. "That's really rewarding as well: Meeting very young children or teenagers who love your work, and grandparents as well, and everyone in-between."
Admittedly, Lee does find it hard to get any work done while flying from city to city. There are too many distractions, and too few hours of sleep, for him to throw himself fully into a project. Still, he makes the best of the situation that he can. He explains, "I haven't really done that many (tours), but I usually travel with a sketchbook or a laptop if I think I'm going to do some writing or some organizing. What I find is that when I get on a plane is I go into this state of suspended animation. I get fed and go into this dream state and wait 'til it's over."
Often, he whiles away the hours listening to CDs.
"I've actually got fairly eclectic tastes as far as music goes. I like a lot of classical music. At the moment, I'm listening to quite alot of American classical music, and Spanish. It seems to be a flavor I'm into. But I also love country music, and blues. I've been listening to a lot of these wonderful new country singers like Gillian Welch and Alison Krauss. I just love them. And (I enjoy) jazz, a lot of the classic jazz singers like Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. I can't have enough of those."
Coming up: Lee discusses the challenges involved in bringing Middle-earth to the movie screen, how his artistically-inclined daughter became involved with the creation of "LOTR" goodies by Sideshow Collectibles, his hopes for a "Hobbit" movie, and more! The road goes ever on and on, but it leads back here!
by Claude Flowers
