or Where I Am Faced With Serious Identity Issues…
About two or three times a month I am accosted in the street by people who invariably say “Excuse me, Mister Alan Lee?” Generally I reply “No, I’m the other guy.” or something equally intelligent and otherwise eloquent, but I’m beginning to seriously wonder.
I mean, we look nothing alike – Alan’s beard is shorter, my hair longer, I dress like a slob, Alan is dapper and chipper and all that, he positively radiates a rare benevolence and magnaminity, I scowl and slouch and frown. Alan’s gaze is dreamy and I squint and knit my brows. Alan ambles, I speedwalk. How is it possible?
Anyway, I’ve decided to react. Either Alan dyes his hair blue or red and puts on 50 lbs, or I’ll reply “Yes, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” and do a positively lamentable sketch and sign “With love, Alan” on the spot…
One Day My Prints Will…
Last week we have printed the third print on the series done in conjunction with the travelling Tolkien exhibition. These prints are all signed and numbered 1 to 250 and printed on 300 gram Lanaroyal Arches – acidfree 100% rag manufactured in a neutral environment with alkaline reserve – and are for sale wherever the exhibition goes. The 150 copies for sale (out of each run) of the first two prints are gone, but once I figure out how to go about actually selling them the remaining 100 of each will be available.
These are the only signed prints available, although… there are others:
Several years ago, I allowed two sets of limited prints to be done by a company in Holland, something I have regretted ever since (alas). These prints, of Gandalf the Grey and The Dark Tower, have all more or less been sold as I understand it, but I have NEVER received a penny for them. After several years of pursuing the subject with the person in question, the only answer I have received is that it wasn’t commercially viable, and I am not owed any money. My requests for some kind of royalty statement have been in vain. I have never received any copies.
So, in the face of this, I’ve had to disown the whole thing, and I no longer feel responsible for the whole regrettable business. I feel terribly sorry for those who may have actually purchased one of these prints, but there is nothing I can do about it. (I have also been told that there are unsigned prints floating about, which is not only dishonest but illegal.) I’ve even been told, incredibly enough, that there is a THIRD print being sold, about which I know absolutely nothing .
The same company also marketed for some time plastic-covered binders (see below) for the Middle-Earth Collectible Card Game with my artwork on the covers. These were done without letting me know beforehand, and when I asked for an explanation, I was once again told that there were big problems with them, they didn’t sell at all and I wasn’t owed anything.
The foil booster pack features an illustration commissioned for a Games Convention. It came as a bit of a surprise. The story gets better, though: I even did a piece of artwork (whatever WAS I thinking?) as a commission : the One Ring in the embers of Frodo’s fireplace. Done, delivered and never heard of again, until some kind fan sent me a card package with the artwork on it. There is also a VERY rare Dutch MECCG card entitled Test of Form that is selling for a fortune (for a card) with the same design…Did I ever get paid for it? Of course not. The answer: practically none were printed, and they were only ever given away.
So, if you come across a signed and numbered (1 to 166) print of either Gandalf the Grey or the Dark Tower, both very dark, please be aware of what you are purchasing. The same goes for the binders, and the card. The shop owner may be selling them in good faith, but that’s where it stops. Cold.
I’ll stop complaining now, I promise! Live and learn, it takes all kinds to make a world…
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Top: Plastic-covered Binders.
Bottom: Foil Booster Pack, Booster Deck Box, Test of Form Card.
On The Drawing Board:
Right now I have with the same problem most people who draw for their own pleasure have to face: what to draw? Free subjects are the hardest to do. It’s so much easier to have your inspiration handed to you by an editor: “Here, illustrate this. It’s for last week. Make the deadline this time.”
Time to tape the studio door shut and get to work.
(Sound of tape being torn off in sections…)
See you next week.
