Dave McKean

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Dave McKean signs for ComicCon 2003 attendees

David Tench McKean (born December 29, 1963 in Taplow , Berkshire , England ) is a British comic artist , graphic designer , photographer , children's book illustrator , jazz pianist and filmmaker .

style

In addition to drawings , sculptures , paintings and photographs , Dave McKean's work includes illustrations for magazines ( Playboy , The New Yorker ), covers for CDs (including for John Cale , Tori Amos , Michael Nyman ) and cover designs for books and comics, which are mostly made up of There are collages to which not only graphic elements but also plastic material (e.g. flotsam , clocks , parchment , old books etc.) are added before they are finally photographed and reworked with computer graphics .

Life

McKean studied design , illustration and film at Berkshire College of Art And Design between 1982 and 1986 , where he taught audiovisual art and film for a year and a half after graduating .

After trying unsuccessfully to gain a foothold in New York as a comic artist in 1986, McKean met the writer Neil Gaiman . A long-term collaboration began with the graphic novel Violent Cases (1987). In 1988 the two created the mini series Black Orchid for the DC Universe . In addition to his work on the series Hellblazer ( mainly cover design) and the Batman graphic novel Arkham Asylum: A Serious House On Serious Earth , McKean took on the cover design for Gaiman's successful comic series The Sandman from 1989 , which finally helped both of them to break through. During this time, McKean's drawing style was often compared to that of Bill Sienkiewicz .

Between 1990 and 1996 McKean worked for the first time as an author on the series Cages - a sophisticated graphic novel whose expressive drawing style reveals influences from comic artists such as Alberto Breccia , José Antonio Muñoz and Lorenzo Mattotti .

Further work brought him back together with Neil Gaiman, with whom he created Signal To Noise and Mr. Punch in 1992 . McKean also illustrated Gaiman's children's and picture books The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish (1998), Coraline (2002), and The Wolves in the Walls (2003).

After his first experiences in the film business through his participation in two Harry Potter films as a “conceptual artist” as well as several short films and music videos, McKean shot his first feature film MirrorMask in 2004 , the screenplay of which was again by Neil Gaiman.

Dave McKean is also a jazz pianist, performed at several jazz festivals (e.g. Bracknell Jazz Festival 1986) and produced his own CDs and others. a. on his own label Feral Records .

In 1991 he was awarded the World Fantasy Award for best artist.

Selection of works

Comics & Graphic Novels

  • Hellblazer # 40 (1991 DC Comics)
  • Violent Cases (written by Neil Gaiman) (1987 Escape Comics) German Violent Cases (1994 Ehapa: Feest USA)
  • Black Orchid # 1-3 (written by Neil Gaiman) (1988 DC Comics) German The Black Orchid (1993 Carlsen Comics)
  • Arkham Asylum: A Serious House On Serious Earth (written by Grant Morrison) (1989 DC Comics) German Batman: Day of Fools (1990 Carlsen)
  • Signal To Noise (written by Neil Gaiman) (1992 Victor Gollancz) German The Last Movie (1992 Carlsen Lux)
  • The Tragical Comedy Or Comical Tragedy Of Mr. Punch (written by Neil Gaiman) (1994 Victor Gollancz) dt. Mr. Punch (1994 Ehapa: Feest USA)
  • Voodoo Lounge (1995 Marvel Music)
  • Cages (1990–1996 Kitchen Sink Press; 2002 NBM Publishing) German Cages Vol. 1–5 (Carlsen 1997)
  • Pictures That Tick (2001)

picture books

  • The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish (1998)
  • The Wolves in the Walls (2003) The Wolves in the Walls (Carlsen 2005)

Photo books

  • A Small Book of Black and White Lies (1995)
  • Option: Click (1998)

Record cover

McKean designed CD covers for

and many others;

Web links

personal data
SURNAME McKean, Dave
ALTERNATIVE NAMES McKean, David Tench (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British author and illustrator of comics
DATE OF BIRTH December 29, 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH Taplow , Berkshire , England