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 Alan Lee Saturday, December 11th
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By good fortune, the book tour appearance with Alan Lee winded its way towards Hollywood- one of many cities across the US fortunate enough to see Mr. Lee's visit. However this was his last stop, and his fans from sunny California and beyond gathered at Booksoup to show their admiration for this extraordinary artist. For this tour, the programming at each stop was broken up into two sections- a presentation of slides and/or original work and signing. I had wondered how this would play out being that Booksoup was a smaller, cozy sort bookstore. Compound this with the fact the crowd here in Los Angeles was sure to be one of the largest of the entire tour, and you've got quite a problem. And indeed this affecting things quite a bit. I won't attempt a guess at the total crowd size but it was certainly substantial. I ended up somewhere a bit behind the middle of the pack in my estimation. At any rate, what eventually happened was that the front portion of the line went in for the presentation before the line was stopped off. No room left! We were assured that the rest of us would go in for a 'second' presentation. Well that was the plan anyway. The plan evolved into, ok "we'll get everybody through the signing first, and then you can hang around after and catch the presentation if we have time". It wasn't long of course before that half-formed plan dissolved entirely, and Alan spent the entire 3 hours or so signing due to the size of the line. Well these things do happen, and I really don't begrudge Booksoup too much about this. From what I've read in reports on his other stops, many of the crowd issues were alleviated by holding the event at a local library, probably not an option here. As long as I still get to meet the man, all is well. |
| This staff was rather lax and friendly at this event, which I really appreciated. Still, perhaps they were too lax in some respects. The line did not move for a solid hour or more after the signing began. I was wondering how this was even possible. The trickle of emerging fans came at a crawl. And it was a suspiciously common sight to see people with five or six of the exact same books signed coming out, big grins on their faces. What would you possibly want with five signed copies of "The Art of the Lord of the Rings" books I wonder? But dubious 'collectors' aside, Alan spent a nice amount of time with every fan, obliging for every photo opportunity. And as mentioned before about the people with multiple signed books, he did not put much of a limit on his generosity! |
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I greeted Mr. Lee by thanking him for being here, providing us eager fans with the chance to meet him. As you may have found throughout his appearances in the various LOTR DVD bonus supplements, Alan Lee is a soft spoken guy with an exceedingly kind and friendly demeanor. I asked him for something I had most wanted- a quick, small sketch. However, Alan took a look at the line and told me in an apologetic tone that he had to get through the line which was still long behind me. I completely understood and halfway anticiapted this- but I gave it a shot right? Not trying to appear too disappointed I presented with 'plan b': my trusted old hardback edition and the gorgeous Centennary edition of LOTR famously illustrated by the man himself.
He signed both, personalizing his signature to me on the edition he illustrated, telling me if I stuck around until the end he may be able to accomodate my request for a sketch. I've already wait many minutes, what's another few minutes? Worth a shot! I thank him profusely again before taking a pic with him and shaking his hand. I dropped off my goodies at the car and came back with my sketch book.
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I was the absolute last person in line. Turns out I was not alone in requesting a sketch, and here they were the fans, all five or six of them, all lined up in front of me. Here's where things got interesting! The first girl asked for a sketch, I don't know if she asked for anything specific, but what little of the 'line' dispersed quickly as we all gathered around to watch and he appeared to be sketching a hobbit, possibly Frodo, on the back of a postcard in pen. Amazing. Here I was witnessing the magic first hand, and I must say it was more than a worthy exchange for missing the presentation.
The next lad went for the gusto, asking Alan for a sketch of a Balrog! Certainly a great idea, but never something I would've ventured to ask for as it is rather a complicated subject! Nonetheless Alan went to work with a sharpie on the back of the fan's poster (a nice Houghton Mifflin 50th LOTR anniversay poster provided by Booksoup). Not knowing where he was taking this, needless to say I watched with great interest- was he just going to draw the head? Was he just going to draw a quick simplified version? First he worked out the head, starting with one of the horns. Then the body, legs and eventually wings and arms. There the small group of us fans were, watching the illustrator work his magic, almost as it were a private demonstration. A surreal experience to say the least, and being an aspiring artist, it was a priceless opportunity. With each revelation of the beast, gasps of amazement could be heard from us. The Balrog had his fiery whip, his fiery sword, and the kicker? Alan proceeded to sketch out that familiar narrow bridge, and on it, that one lonely old wizard courageous(or is it foolish?) enough to face such a creature. All of us were floored. And so it went on, he sketched out five drawings for five lucky fans in total, the last of which was me! |
 
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Orthanc is one of my favorite Alan Lee illustrations, and I was ecstatic to see the film version mirror his original design so closely. So then, it was the subject of my request and he set off sketching! To my surprise, Alan said he'd have to try and remember how it went. Literally then I was the 'last fan standing'- all the other fans before me were ushered out by the staff, leaving only me chatting with Alan Lee and a few employees milling around talking amongst themselves. Among the subjects discussed were his thoughts on seeing what was quite literally his vision of Orthanc realized on film; his working with John Howe; his contributions to King Kong; and his experience on this tour across America in general. Midway through sketching the tower, looking somewhat unsatisfied he remarks "it needs something here, maybe Treebeard". I'll not waste too much time describing what you can see for yourself below, needless to say I was awestruck when he presented me with my prize.
From here it was time to say goodbye as it was clear he had other obligations, including signing a stack of books for fans around the world who could not attend. I thanked him again for being so generous with his time, wished him a safe flight back to Europe and shook his hands once more goodbye. I consider myself extremely lucky, watching Alan Lee do five drawings is certainly a priviledge that I'll not soon forget. And the sketch is a treasured memento that I will never part with! Thanks Mr. Lee, and the staff of Booksoup. |
| (click to enlarge) |
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Purchase official signed Alan Lee prints here |
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> Read other reports < Back to The Art of Charlie Song |
 
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