ABOUT THE ARTIST
Last updated: 2007.11
I was born in Long Beach, CA and grew up in Anaheim, within sight of the Disneyland fireworks each summer. I'm sure this affected my brain! I loved Disney films and Disneyland as a kid (who doesn't?) and drew Bambi and Thumper with crayons in kindergarten.
I've always drawn and painted, but mostly took it for granted. My true passion was reading books--on Dinosaurs and Mythology and lots of Fiction. I discovered _The Lord of the Rings_ when I was 13 and read it five times in a row. I'd make up my own stories and draw characters. When I graduated from Junior High, I won the Art Award, mostly by painting fantasy subjects. But in High School I mostly concentrated on academic subjects.
I went off to a number of colleges and universities (for the ugly details, see below). And I had lots of fun traveling and skiing and eating and partying and staying up all night playing Dungeons and Dragons. I'd draw my characters and also started contributing to gaming fanzines.
I started going to Science Fiction conventions and sold my art in the Art Shows and also contributed art for convention program books and badges and to fanzines about Elfquest, Science Fiction, RPGs, Anime, and fantasy fiction.
Not being keen on any particular job I could get with degrees in History or English, I went to an art school to learn about Illustration. After I graduated I started free-lancing, doing black and white interior art for computer game manuals and hintbooks, and some for role-playing game books.
Friends at a start-up computer game company asked me to design some characters for a computer game--then I went to work for the company and learned to animate characters.
I went to GenCon--Nene Thomas graciously asked me if I'd share a booth with her--and started getting free-lance work for card game art.
And that's pretty much where I am today!
Education:
B.F.A. with honors (Illustration) ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN, Pasadena, California.
B.A./M.A. (History) OXFORD UNIVERSITY, England.
B.A. cum laude (English Literature) MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE, Massachusetts.
Also attended:
Edinburgh University, Scotland (Junior Year Abroad).
Orange Coast College, CA.
University of California at Irvine.
California Art Institute
Computer Game Companies I've worked full-time for:
The Dreamers Guild
New World Computing (3DO)
Liquid Entertainment
Interests:
Reading-- SF/F, Mysteries, Romances, Historical Fiction, Comics.
Art-- art books, museums, techniques, painting & drawing.
Favorite artists: Michaelangelo, Botticelli, Burne-Jones, Alma-Tadema, Leighton, Mucha, Parrish, Rackham, Beardsley, Pyle, Frazetta, Whelan, Brom, Canty, Jody Lee, Michael Parkes, James Gurney, John Howe, Nene Thomas, LA Williams, Rob Alexander, Ruth Thompson, Heather Bruton and tons more!
Travel--I've lived in Britain and toured around Europe, Morocco and the far East.
Theatre (I love the RSC and musical theatre. I've also performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and at the Academy Playhouse in Orleans, MA). I also like watching opera, ballet, movies and animation/anime.
Music-- The Cure, Peter Murphy, NIN, Loreena McKennitt, Bach, Ancient Music? and going to concerts, listening to KROQ (alternative rock). I was also a part-time radio dj once.
Snow Skiing (I spent a winter skiing at Steamboat CO; I've also skied and enjoyed: Sun Valley ID, Killington VT, Mammoth CA, Val d'Isere, La Plagne, Gstaad?
Archaeology (I spent some time digging at Crickley Hill, Gloucestershire, UK).
Ancient Egypt.
Feudal Japan.
Regency & Georgian England.
Authors-- Georgette Heyer, Dorothy Dunnett, Patrick O'Brian,J.R.R. Tolkien, C.J.Cherryh, Lois McMaster Bujold, many more! .
THE COPYRIGHTS
Site's content is copyrighted to April Lee and various Companies where noted, 2007.
This Page was Designed by Summer Skies.
