Meeting Alan Lee

"You can't afford to have an off day."
--Artist Alan Lee, when asked about artist's block and the experience of working on The Lord of the Rings movies

I stopped by Borders on Thursday to use a coupon, and while I was there, I saw an announcement about Alan Lee doing a book signing Friday night. He would be signing The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook, and I called two of my sisters to see if either of them wanted to go. Michelle was able to go with me, so I agreed to pick her up after work on Friday night.

The announcement indicated that there would be a presentation and a signing, scheduled to start at 7:00 PM. Michelle and I arrived around 6:45. I felt pretty lucky to get a seat. We had been there for about 15 minutes before we learned that we needed to have a ticket for the signing part. This was a bit frustrating, because we could have gotten the ticket much earlier if we had known we needed one.

Anyway, before the presentation started, Alan Lee was talking to a teenage boy about drawing. I couldn't hear what the boy was saying, but he was showing his sketches, and I thought it was wonderful that Lee paid so much attention to the boy. The boy was grinning from ear to ear when the presentation began.

The presentation itself consisted of 30-40 minutes of slides. Some were of sketches Lee did for The Lord of the Rings movies, while others were photos from the movies. It was amazing to see how the concepts were played out.

After the presentation, Lee answered questions from the audience. Here are a few of the questions and answers.

• Someone asked about the most satisfying part of working on The Lord of the Rings movies. He said that he really enjoyed following the process from one drawing to the finished scene. As for the set he liked most, he was most happy with the Golden Hall.
• One fan of the movies asked Lee to talk about Rivendell. He said that the idea for Rivendell was that it should have an air of melancholy, since the Elves were soon to leave. This was why there were leaves on the floor and trees growing over the architecture.
• Lee was asked about what he received as his farewell gift when he was finished on the movie. He said that he got one of Gandolf's staffs.
• One person asked whether the sketches of the cast would ever be available for sale. Lee said he is asked that question at every appearance. :) Anyway, he said he thought that would make a nice portfolio, and perhaps it would happen.
• Someone asked an interesting question about whether Lee is able to capture on paper the ideas he has in his head. Lee responded that quite often the idea crystalizes on paper rather than in his head beforehand.
• One person asked about the artists who influenced him most. He said that he was influenced by so many artists that it was difficult to say, but he named a few: Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Durer, and Edmund Dulac.

Some other interesting things Lee mentioned are that the anatomy and life drawing classes he took were the most valuable to him. Also, he believes that art has more to do with temperament than innate ability. Artists are happy spending hours in an interior world, and should be prepared to be self-critical about their work.

After the Q&A session, he asked to take pictures of us because he is doing a travel blog. I was quite intrigued by this. Anyway, my sister and I are in two photos on his blog.

Everyone lined up to get their books signed. When everyone was lined up, I realized that my sister and I were 2 of the last 15 or so people in line. This was frustrating, because we probably should have been in the first 20 or so based on our arrival. We ended up waiting about an hour and a half to get to the front of the line. It was worth it, despite the long wait. I got a picture (albeit a fuzzy one, below) and a signed book.