Ian Miller (illustrator)
Ian Miller (born 11 November 1946) is a British fantasy illustrator and writer best known for his quirkily etched gothic style and macabre sensibility, and noted for his book and magazine cover and interior illustrations, including covers for books by H. P. Lovecraft and contributions to David Day's Tolkien-inspired compendiums, work for Fighting Fantasy gamebooks and various role-playing and wargaming publications, as well as contributions to the Ralph Bakshi films Wizards and Cool World.
Vivid because my mother took me to the cinema every Saturday afternoon, and well-stocked because I owned a toy box, full to overflowing with theatrical props and clothing from an array of theatre and film productions [...][1]As a child Miller experimented with coloured pencils and poster paints producing images of Ancient Egyptians during something he refers to as his 'Ancient Egyptian Phase', followed later by an obsession with cowboys and Indians.
[1] At the age of nine Miller attended Mortbane Academy for Boys in Invernesshire, Scotland, where he recalls regular painting expeditions to the surrounding countryside under the tutelage of the art master, nicknamed 'Old Dribble'.
[5] Miller is well known for his work for the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks[6] which rose to popularity in the mid-1980s, providing covers for early titles in the series like The Citadel of Chaos,[7] House of Hell[8] and Creature of Havoc.
"[22] As fellow contemporary illustrator Patrick Woodroffe comments in the introduction to Blanche and Miller's Ratspike: [...] Sometimes Ian made me see the world differently.
I couldn't look at a pylon or a rocking horse or a gnarled tree without being reminded of Ian's drawings [...] He is an excellent artist, which is by the way only marginally a matter of technique.
[1]According to Miller, his illustrations have a tendency to the 'frontalistic', and are also noted to often feature recurrent elements inspired by fishes, flies and robotic forms,[2] and the gnarled haunting trees which he claims originated in an attempt to cover failures of draughtsmanship.
[1][2] Other sources include the formative influence of writer Alfred Bester, and a love for the Flash Gordon RKO Radio serials,[22] and his early exposure to the cinematic medium in general which he feels lent a narrative quality to his work, as well as, of course, the every day world itself: Rust, falling facades, tottering buttresses, and an overriding sense of impermanence, these are the things which fascinate me the most.
[22] His best-known published work has tended to be characterised by a trademark pen-and-ink and wash technique executed on line board and which he refers to as his 'Tight Pen Style', emphasising line detail and a restricted use of colour, something he views as a result of both short-sightedness and Northern European proclivities:[1][2] Although short-sightedness must have influenced my close-worked pen style I think it is also true to say that this obsessional regard for surface details is very much in keeping with the Northern European Art traditions.
