The second guest who will be signing is LES EDWARDS. Les was born in
1949 in Walthamstow, East London. He began his illustration career immediately
on leaving the notorious Hornsey College of Art in 1972. In the years that
followed he became a stalwart of the UK illustration scene, acknowledged for both
his versatility and his professionalism. He has worked for all the major UK
publishing houses and for many in the US, and his work has also encompassed
advertising, gaming, record and CD covers, and movie posters.
He has illustrated two graphic novels based on stories by
Clive Barker—Son of Celluloid, about an ambulatory cancer, and Rawhead
Rex, which tells of the adventures of a baby-eating monster and has
absolutely no connection to his own views on children. Both books were
critically acclaimed.
Although best known for his fantasy and horror images, he has
in fact worked in a variety of genres and still seeks to do as wide a variety
of work as possible. His paintings are to be found in private collections
worldwide.
While he began his career working in gouache, Les swiftly
abandoned this medium in favour of oil paint, which he found to be both more
flexible and subtler. He applies the paint to a smooth, gessoed board and uses
various media to aid rapid drying. He does not use an airbrush—an instrument
that he describes as "the work of the devil". There is a good deal of
preparatory work involved in the form of drawing, not only to establish a
composition but, also to define character, if that is necessary. His
fascination with the human figure and portraiture clearly permeates all his
work and he pursues this interest with regular attendance at a life class. Les
seeks to create pictures with an immediate eye-catching impact, often eschewing
the ever more elaborate style of some of his contemporaries in favour of
simpler, more direct images. This is an approach emphasised by his formal
compositional sense.
In recent years Les has also taken to painting under the
pseudonym "Edward Miller" in order to do a different kind of work and
use a more romantic style. This work has also become popular, and Les now
pursues both careers with equal enthusiasm.
Les
has been a fan of M.R. James since childhood.
He was delighted when Jo Fletcher Books offered him the chance to
illustrate the most feted author of supernatural fiction in the English
language. Curious Warnings:The Great
Ghost Stories of M. R. James was one of the most enjoyable, if daunting,
projects in which he has been involved.
The ten black and white full page paintings constitute some of his most
personal and heartfelt work.
In
1995 he was Artist Guest of Honour at the World Science Fiction Convention and
in 2010 he was Artist Guest of Honour at the World Horror Convention held in
Brighton, UK. He has been voted Best
Artist by the British Fantasy Society on seven occasions and has been nominated
in that category every year since 1994.
He has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Best Artist five
times (his alter-ego, Edward Miler, won it in 2008). He has been nominated for five Chesley
Awards.
Photograph is copyright Peter Coleborn 2010
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