David McKean (born 29 December 1963) is an English illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician. His work incorporates drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects,

digital art Digital art refers to any artistic work or practice that uses digital technology as part of the creative or presentation process, or more specifically computational art that uses and engages with digital media. Since the 1960s, various name ...

, and sculpture. McKean's projects include illustrating books by authors such as Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Heston Blumenthal,

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and ...

and Stephen King, and directed three feature films.

Career

Comics

McKean first showed his work to editors at

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. ( doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with the ...

, and Continuity Comics when visiting New York City in 1986. McKean met writer Neil Gaiman and the pair collaborated on a short

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

of disturbing childhood memories, ''

Violent Cases ''Violent Cases'' is a short graphic novel written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Dave McKean. It was McKean's first published work in comics. Though drawn by McKean in shades of blue, brown, and grey, when it was first published by Escape Boo ...

'', published in 1987. This was followed in 1988 by a '' Black Orchid'' miniseries and '' Hellblazer'' covers for DC Comics. In 1989, he illustrated the Batman graphic novel, '' Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth'', with writer Grant Morrison. Comics historian Les Daniels observed that "''Arkham Asylum'' was an unprecedented success, selling 182,166 copies in hardcover and another 85,047 in paperback...McKean produced 120 pages of paintings for ''Arkham Asylum'', offering powerful visual reinterpretations of the classic characters." From 1989–1997 McKean produced the covers for Gaiman's celebrated series '' The Sandman'', all its collected editions, and many of its spin-offs. In 1998, the cover images from ''The Sandman'' were released as one compiled volume titled ''Dustcovers: The Collected Sandman Covers''. Further collaborations with Gaiman produced the graphic novels '' Signal to Noise'' in 1992 previously serialised in ''

The Face The face is a part of the body, the front of the head. Face may also refer to: Film * ''The Magician'' (1958 film) or ''The Face'' * ''The Face'' (1996 film), an American television film * ''Face'' (1997 film), a British crime drama by Antonia ...

'' magazine, about a dying filmmaker and his hypothetical last film; and ''

The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch ''The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch'' or simply ''Mr. Punch'' is a graphic novel written by Neil Gaiman, illustrated and designed by Dave McKean. It was published in 1994. Synopsis The book, which takes place mostly in Portsmo ...

'', which explored similar themes as ''Violent Cases'' through the imagery of the Punch and Judy show. In 1995 McKean wrote and illustrated a book for

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically dr ...

called '' Voodoo Lounge'' to tie in with the release of their album of the same name. Between 1990 and 1996, McKean wrote and drew the ten issues of '' Cages'', an ambitious graphic novel about artists and creativity, illustrated in a stripped-down pen-and-ink style influenced by Alberto Breccia, José Antonio Muñoz and

Lorenzo Mattotti Lorenzo Mattotti (born 24 January 1954) is an Italian comics artist as well as an illustrator. His illustrations have been published in magazines such as ''Cosmopolitan'', ''Vogue'', '' The New Yorker'', ''Le Monde'' and '' Vanity Fair''. In comi ...

. ''Cages'' was published as a single volume by Kitchen Sink Press in 1998, and in a new edition by NBM Publishing in 2002. In 2010, ''Cages'' was released by

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops know ...

in paperback. An anniversary edition was released in 2016 by the same publisher, featuring a new introduction by Terry Gilliam. McKean's collections of short comics ''Pictures That Tick'', and ''Pictures That Tick 2: Exhibition'' were published by Dark Horse Comics in 2009 and 2015. ''Pictures That Tick'' won the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

Illustrated Book of the Year award. McKean created a wordless erotic graphic novel called ''Celluloi''d for Delcourt, which was published in the United States by Fantagraphics Books. ''Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash'', which was a commission by the 14-18 Now Foundation,

The Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

and The Lakes International Comic art Festival, was released as an artist's edition in June 2016, and was published in October 2016 by

as an oversized hardback and regular paperback. The project was also a live performance featuring cellist/singer Matthew Sharp and violinist Clare Haythornthwaite, and was performed in Amiens, Kendal, Toronto, Munich, Mumbai, London, Rye and Ashford. ''Raptor'' was released in 2021 by Dark Horse Books and is the first of a proposed series of books featuring the character Sokol.

Illustration

McKean designed the posters for the Raindance Film Festival for five consecutive years between 1996–2000. In 1997 he wrote, directed and edited a ninety-second trailer for the festival. In 2005, McKean designed the poster for the 32nd Telluride Film Festival. In 2006, he designed projections, sets and directed film clips for the Broadway musical '' Lestat'', adapted from

Anne Rice Anne Rice (born Howard Allen Frances O'Brien; October 4, 1941 – December 11, 2021) was an American author of gothic fiction, erotic literature, and Christian literature. She was best known for her series of novels '' The Vampire Chronicles'' ...

's novels, with music and lyrics by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. McKean has created a few books documenting his travels using only illustrations. Examples include ''Postcards from Vienna'', ''Postcards from Barcelona'', ''Postcards from Paris'' (2008), ''Postcards from Brussels'' (2009), ''Postcards from Perugia'' (2011), ''Postcards from Bilbao'' (2012). He created another book of 200 pages called ''Squink'' (éditions BdArtist(e)) that gathered a number of drawings in 15 chapters.

C.D. and book covers

McKean created C.D. covers for many artists, amongst others for

Counting Crows Counting Crows is an American rock band from San Francisco, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, David Immerglück, bass guitarist Mil ...

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guilloti ...

, Altan,

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

, Download,

Frontline Assembly Front Line Assembly (FLA) is a Canadian electro-industrial band formed by Bill Leeb in 1986 after leaving Skinny Puppy. FLA has developed its own sound incorporating elements of electronic body music and electro-industrial. The band's membership ...

, Paradise Lost, Dream Theater, Skinny Puppy, Toad the Wet Sprocket and Steve Walsh. Bill Bruford's

Earthworks Earthworks may refer to: Construction *Earthworks (archaeology), human-made constructions that modify the land contour *Earthworks (engineering), civil engineering works created by moving or processing quantities of soil *Earthworks (military), mi ...

commissioned McKean artworks for six of their albums from 1994 to 2004, as well as additional images for the 2019 ''Complete'' box set. He has also made book covers for

Jonathan Carroll Jonathan Samuel Carroll (born January 26, 1949) is an American fiction writer primarily known for novels that may be labelled magic realism, slipstream or contemporary fantasy. He has lived in Austria since 1974. Life and work Carroll was ...

, Iain Sinclair and Alan Moore.

Books of photography

He has published five books which include photography: *''A Small Book of Black and White Lies'' (1995) *''Option: Click'' (1998) *''The Particle Tarot: The Major Arcana'' (2000) *''The Particle Tarot: The Minor Arcana'' (2006) *''Prompt: Conversations with

Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech ...

'' (2022)

Work with John Cale

McKean designed and illustrated John Cale's autobiography ''What's Welsh for Zen'', a further biography called ''Sedition and Alchemy'', a box set of C.D.s called '' Circus Live'', and used John's Welsh-by-way-of-New York voice as the narrator for his short film ''Neon''.

Children's picture books

McKean has collaborated with Neil Gaiman on four children's picture books, ''

The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish ''The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish'' is a book by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, first published in 1997 by White Wolf Publishing. It was republished in 2004 by Harper Children's with a new cover and afterword. The story is a retelling of ...

'' (1998), ''

The Wolves in the Walls ''The Wolves in the Walls'' is a book by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, published in 2003, in the United States by HarperCollins, and in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury. The book was highly praised on release, winning three awards for that year ...

'' (2003), ''

Crazy Hair ''Crazy Hair'' is a book by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, published in 2009 in the United States by HarperCollins, and in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury. It is based on a poem by Gaiman, with artwork by McKean. In the story a father and daught ...

'' (2009), and ''

Mirrormask ''MirrorMask'' is a 2005 dark fantasy film designed and directed by Dave McKean and written by Neil Gaiman from a story they developed together. The film stars Stephanie Leonidas, Jason Barry, Rob Brydon, and Gina McKee. The music used in the f ...

'' (2005), and illustrated Gaiman's children's novels '' Coraline'' (2002) and '' The Graveyard Book'' (2008), as well as

S. F. Said S. F. Said (born 1967) is a British children's writer. His first novel was '' Varjak Paw'' (2003), illustrated by Dave McKean and published by David Fickling Books in January 2003; four months later in the U.S., ''Varjak Paw'' won the 2003 Nestl ...

's '' Varjak Paw'' (2003), ''Outlaw Varjak Paw'' (2006) and ''Phoenix'' (2013). ''The Wolves in the Walls: a Musical Pandemonium'' premiered as a play in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

in 2006 with Improbable and the

National Theatre of Scotland The National Theatre of Scotland, established in 2006, is the national theatre company of Scotland. The company has no theatre building of its own; instead it tours work to theatres, village halls, schools and site-specific locations, both at h ...

. The National Theatre of Scotland adapted ''The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish'' into a promenade performance for young people in 2013. He illustrated

David Almond David Almond (born 15 May 1951) is a British author who has written many novels for children and young adults from 1998, each one receiving critical acclaim. He is one of thirty children's writers, and one of three from the UK, to win the bie ...

's '' The Savage'' published in April 2008, '' Slog's Dad'' published in September 2010, and '' Mouse Bird Snake Wolf'' (2013). In 2011, McKean collaborated with Richard Dawkins on ''

The Magic of Reality ''The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True'' is a 2011 book by the British biologist Richard Dawkins, with illustrations by Dave McKean. The book was released on 15 September 2011 in the United Kingdom, and on 4 October 2011 in the U ...

'', an introduction to critical thinking and science for children. McKean also illustrated

's ''The Homecoming'' (2006).

''The Fat Duck Cookbook''

In 2008, McKean collaborated with Heston Blumenthal on ''The Fat Duck Cookbook'', an autobiography, compilation of key recipes and insight into Blumenthal's scientific method. The book was nominated in the James Beard Foundation Awards for Cooking from a Professional Point of View and won the Photography/Illustration award. In 2014, McKean collaborated again with Blumenthal and writer Pascal Clariss on Historical Heston, a collection of historically inspired recipes. The book won two James Beard Foundation Awards. McKean is the Director of Story at The Fat Duck, and helped to relaunch the restaurant after its refurbishment in 2015. He has created package designs, maps, menu designs and murals for The Fat Duck, as well as

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal Dinner by Heston Blumenthal is a restaurant in London, England, created by Heston Blumenthal. Opened in January 2011, it received a Michelin star within a year and earned its second in 2014. In April 2014, it was listed fifth on The World's 50 ...

in London and Melbourne.

Stamps

McKean created six images for the Royal Mail's ''Mythical Creatures'' collection, which featured depictions of mythical creatures found in British folklore, including dragons, unicorns, giants, pixies,

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes asso ...

s, and fairies. The collection was released in the UK on 16 June 2009. The Presentation Pack contains short descriptions of each subject by author Neil Gaiman.

Films

MirrorMask ''MirrorMask'' is a 2005 dark fantasy film designed and directed by Dave McKean and written by Neil Gaiman from a story they developed together. The film stars Stephanie Leonidas, Jason Barry, Rob Brydon, and Gina McKee. The music used in the f ...

'', McKean's first feature film as director, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2005. The screenplay was written by Neil Gaiman, from a story by Gaiman and McKean. A children's fantasy which combines live action and digital animation, ''MirrorMask'' was produced by

Jim Henson Studios The Jim Henson Company (formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc.; commonly referred to as Henson) is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is known f ...

and stars a British cast

Stephanie Leonidas Stephanie Leonidas (born 14 February 1984) is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the fantasy film '' MirrorMask'' (2005), the Syfy series '' Defiance'' (2013–2015), and the Crackle crime series '' Snatch'' (2017– ...

Jason Barry Jason Barry (born 14 December 1972) is an Irish actor best known for his portrayal of Tommy Ryan in the 1997 film ''Titanic''. He also starred in '' The Still Life'' for which he won numerous awards. Early life Jason Barry was born in Artane, ...

, Rob Brydon, and Gina McKee. Before ''MirrorMask'', McKean directed a number of television intros and music videos as well as several short films, such as ''The Week Before'' (1998) and ''N on' (2002), which are included in the compilation DVD of McKean's work '' Keanoshow'' from Allen Spiegel Fine Arts. McKean has directed ''

The Gospel of Us ''The Gospel of Us'' is a 2012 Welsh drama based on the Owen Sheers novel of the same name and the three-day Passion play that Michael Sheen acted in at his home town of Port Talbot in April 2011. Directed by Dave McKean, the film stars Shee ...

'', a film of the

National Theatre Wales National Theatre Wales (NTW) is a theatre company known for its large-scale site-specific productions and its grassroots work with diverse Welsh communities. It is the English-language national theatre of Wales, and refers to Theatr Genedlaeth ...

's Passion play in Port Talbot which stars Michael Sheen. The feature film ''Luna'', written and directed by McKean and starring Stephanie Leonidas, Ben Daniels, Dervla Kirwan and Michael Maloney, debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2014. McKean was a

concept art Concept art is a form of visual art used to convey an idea for use in films, video games, animation, comic books, or other media before it is put into the final product. Concept art usually refers to world-building artwork used to inspire th ...

ist on the TV mini-series ''

Neverwhere ''Neverwhere'' is an urban fantasy television miniseries by Neil Gaiman that first aired in 1996 on BBC 2. The series is set in "London Below", a magical realm coexisting with the more familiar London, referred to as "London Above". It was de ...

'' (1996), which was created and co-written by Neil Gaiman, and the feature films ''

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling and is the third in the ''Harry Potter'' series. The book follows Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, a young wizard (fantasy), wizard ...

'' (2004) and '' Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' (2005).

Theatre and live performance

McKean wrote and performed a song cycle called ''Nine Lives'' at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

as part of the Graphic Festival. This was also performed at the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the Briti ...

and at LICAF. McKean wrote the text for Wildworks' ''Wolf's Child'' site-specific theatre work as part of the Norwich Theatre Festival in 2015. ''An Ape's Progress'' was a commission by the Manchester Literature/Jazz Festivals in 2015, and was created by poet

Matthew Sweeney Matthew Gerard Sweeney (6 October 1952 – 5 August 2018) was an Irish poet. His work has been translated into Dutch, Italian, Hebrew, Japanese, Latvian, Mexican Spanish, Romanian, Slovakian and German. According to the poet Gerard Smyth: "I ...

, composer/saxophone player

Iain Ballamy Iain Ballamy (born 20 February 1964) is a British composer and saxophonist. He is considered one of the greatest modern jazz saxophonists. Career Ballamy was born in Guildford, Surrey, and educated at George Abbot School, Guildford, from 19 ...

, cellist Matthew Sharp, singer Emilia Martensson, accordionist

Stian Carstensen Stian Carstensen (born 5 January 1971) is a multi-instrument Norwegian musician, entertainer and with Jarle Vespestad (drums) and Nils-Olav Johansen (vocal and guitar), central members of the Balkan-jazz orchestra Farmers market. Biography C ...

, and pianist Kit Downes, with McKean providing film projections and keyboards. A book of the work accompanied the show. ''Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash'' is a multi-media, music, song and performance work commissioned by 14-18 Now Foundation and LICAF. McKean performs as narrator and pianist, Matthew Sharp as a performer, singer and cellist, and Clare Haythornthwaite as violinist/performer. It premiered in

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

, and has been performed in Kendal. In 2016 it was performed in Rye, Ashford and at

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It ...

Music and Jazz label

Mckean has produced

album artwork An album cover (also referred to as album art) is the front packaging art of a commercially released studio album or other audio recordings. The term can refer to either the printed paperboard covers typically used to package sets of and 78-rpm ...

for many bands, such as: Paradise Lost,

Machine Head A machine head (also referred to as a tuning machine, tuner, or gear head) is a geared apparatus for tuning stringed musical instruments by adjusting string tension. Machine heads are used on mandolins, guitars, double basses and others, and ar ...

Fear Factory Fear Factory is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. ...

, Dream Theater, Michael Nyman, and countless more. He has a longstanding relationship with industrial band

Front Line Assembly Front Line Assembly (FLA) is a Canadian electro-industrial band formed by Bill Leeb in 1986 after leaving Skinny Puppy. FLA has developed its own sound incorporating elements of electronic body music and electro-industrial. The band's membersh ...

, creating many illustrations for dozens of their albums from

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

to 2021. McKean also founded the record label Feral Records with saxophonist Iain Ballamy.

Awards

McKean has won numerous awards and accolades. Over the years, he has been nominated five times for a

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

in the category of "Artist", and he won the award in 1991. His graphic novel ''Cages'' won the Alph-Art, Pantera, and Harvey Awards for best Graphic Novel. He has been nominated six times and won three Spectrum Awards in the categories of "Advertising", "Book", and "Comic". His collection of short comics, ''Pictures That Tick'' won the V&A Museum Illustrated Book Awards Overall First Prize. In 2004, McKean won a

BSFA Award The BSFA Awards are literary awards presented annually since 1970 by the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA) to honour works in the genre of science fiction. Nominees and winners are chosen based on a vote of BSFA members. More recently, m ...

in "Short Fiction" with Neil Gaiman for their work, ''The Wolves in the Walls''. His film ''

'' was nominated for the William Shatner Golden Groundhog Award for Best Underground Movie, the other nominated films were '' Green Street Hooligans'', '' Nine Lives'', '' Up for Grabs'' and ''

Opie Gets Laid ''Opie Gets Laid'', originally titled ''Sunnyvale'' for its film festival submissions, is a 2005 American independent romantic comedy film written and directed by James Ricardo and starring James Ricardo, April Wade, Ute Werner and Jesselynn Desm ...

''. ''Luna'' won Best British Feature at the Raindance Festival Awards, and also the Raindance Award at the Möet British Independent Film Awards. In 2017 McKean was the inaugural recipient of the "Sergio Aragones International Award for Excellence in Comic Art", given as part of

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival The Lakes International Comic Art Festival, often referred to as LICAF, is an annual comics art festival. Established in 2013, the not-for-profit festival takes place for a weekend in October each year. From 2013 until 2021 LICAF took place in Ke ...

References

External links

*
Official site for children's books with Neil Gaiman (UK publisher)
an
(US publisher)
*
Dave McKean
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics

at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
Black Dog: the Dreams of Paul Nash
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McKean, Dave 1963 births 20th-century English artists 21st-century English artists Album-cover and concert-poster artists DC Comics people English comics artists English comics writers English film directors English graphic designers English illustrators English people of Scottish descent Photographers from Berkshire Living people People from Maidenhead World Fantasy Award-winning artists Writers who illustrated their own writing