{"id":158,"date":"2003-05-01T11:27:25","date_gmt":"2003-05-01T11:27:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.john-howe.com\/blog\/?p=158"},"modified":"2020-09-25T08:40:04","modified_gmt":"2020-09-25T07:40:04","slug":"excuse-me-mister-alan-lee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.john-howe.com\/blog\/excuse-me-mister-alan-lee\/","title":{"rendered":"Excuse Me, Mister Alan Lee?"},"content":{"rendered":"

or Where I Am Faced With Serious Identity Issues\u2026<\/h4>\n

About two or three times a month I am accosted in the street by people who invariably say \u201cExcuse me, Mister Alan Lee?\u201d\u00a0 Generally I reply \u201cNo, I\u2019m the other guy.\u201d or something equally intelligent and otherwise eloquent, but I\u2019m beginning to seriously wonder.
\nI mean, we look nothing alike – Alan\u2019s 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\u2019s gaze is dreamy and I squint and knit my brows. Alan ambles, I speedwalk. How is it possible?
\nAnyway, I\u2019ve decided to react. Either Alan dyes his hair blue or red and puts on 50 lbs, or I\u2019ll reply \u201cYes, it\u2019s a pleasure to meet you.\u201d and do a positively lamentable sketch and sign \u201cWith love, Alan\u201d on the spot\u2026<\/p>\n

One Day My Prints Will\u2026<\/p>\n

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%\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

These are the only signed prints available, although\u2026 there are others:<\/p>\n

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\u2019t commercially viable, and I am not owed any money.\u00a0 My requests for some kind of royalty statement have been in vain. I have never received any copies.
\nSo, in the face of this, I\u2019ve 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\u2019ve even been told, incredibly enough, that there is a THIRD print being sold, about which I know absolutely nothing .
\nThe 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\u2019t sell at all and I wasn\u2019t owed anything.
\nThe 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\u2019s fireplace. Done, delivered and never heard of again, until some kind fan sent me a card package with the artwork on it.\u00a0 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\u2026Did I ever get paid for it? Of course not. The answer: practically none were printed, and they were only ever given away.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s where it stops. Cold.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll stop complaining now, I promise! Live and learn, it takes all kinds to make a world\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n
\n\n\n
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Top: Plastic-covered Binders.
\nBottom: Foil Booster Pack, Booster Deck Box, Test of Form Card.
\nOn The Drawing Board:<\/p>\n

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\u2019s so much easier to have your inspiration handed to you by an editor: \u201cHere, illustrate this. It\u2019s for last week. Make the deadline this time.\u201d
\nTime to tape the studio door shut and get to work.
\n(Sound of tape being torn off in sections\u2026)<\/p>\n

See you next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

or Where I Am Faced With Serious Identity Issues\u2026 About two or three times a month I am accosted in the street by people who invariably say \u201cExcuse me, Mister Alan Lee?\u201d\u00a0 Generally I reply \u201cNo, I\u2019m the other guy.\u201d or something equally intelligent and otherwise eloquent, but I\u2019m beginning to seriously wonder. I mean, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[44,41,23,25],"class_list":["post-158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronicles","tag-alan-lee","tag-exhibition","tag-middle-earth","tag-print"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1PY8Y-2y","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.john-howe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.john-howe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.john-howe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.john-howe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.john-howe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.john-howe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.john-howe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.john-howe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.john-howe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}