View source for Ian Miller (illustrator)

{{short description|British fantasy illustrator and writer (born 1946)}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox artist
| name                      = Ian Miller
| image                     =
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| caption                   =
| birth_name                = Ian Miller
| birth_date                = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1946|11|11}}
| birth_place               =
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| nationality               = British
| known_for                 = Illustration, sculpture, film design
| training                  = Northwich School of Art, [[Saint Martin's School of Art]]
| movement                  = Fantasy, horror, science fiction
| notable_works             =
| patrons                   =
| awards                    =
| signature_alt             =
| website                   = {{official|https://www.ianmiller.studio/}}
}}
'''Ian Miller''' (born 11 November 1946) is a [[People of the United Kingdom|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 (Canadian writer)|David Day]]'s [[J. R. R. Tolkien|Tolkien]]-inspired compendiums, work for [[Fighting Fantasy]] [[gamebook]]s and various role-playing and wargaming publications, as well as contributions to the [[Ralph Bakshi]] films ''[[Wizards (film)|Wizards]]'' and ''[[Cool World]]''.

== Early life ==

Miller was born in 1946, and raised predominantly in London and Manchester. His mother, who encouraged the artistic vocation,<ref name="Ratspike">{{Cite book |last1=Blanche |first1=John |title=Ratspike |last2=Miller, Ian |publisher=GW Books |year=1989 |isbn=978-1-872372-00-6 |location=Brighton}}</ref> was a theatrical milliner for one of the leading costumiers to the film industry, which, with cinema, he cites as an early inspiration:<ref name="FantasyArtTechniques">{{Cite book |last=Dean |first=Martyn |url=https://archive.org/details/guidetofantasyar0000unse |title=The Guide to Fantasy Art Techniques |publisher=Paper Tiger |year=1984 |isbn=978-0-905895-52-9 |location=United Kingdom |access-date=11 September 2009 |url-access=registration |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

{{Cquote|My interest in the story-telling process and the world of make-believe was greatly enhanced by my mother's involvement in the theatre and motion-picture industry. I enjoyed a vivid and well-stocked childhood. 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 [...]<ref name=Ratspike/>}}

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.<ref name=Ratspike/> 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'.<ref name=Ratspike/> Between 1964 and 1967 he enrolled at [[Northwich School of Art]], before embarking on a degree at [[Saint Martin's School of Art]] in London, where he began in sculpture before switching to painting, and graduating with honours in 1970. Shortly after this he was taken on by an agent and began working in London as a professional illustrator.<ref name=FantasyArtTechniques/><ref name="OfficialBiography">{{Cite web |title=Biography |url=http://www.ian-miller.org//biography.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090828022637/http://www.ian-miller.org/biography.htm |archive-date=28 August 2009 |access-date=11 September 2009 |website=www.ian-miller.org |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

== Career ==

Miller's earliest work included magazine and book jacket illustrations, including a host of illustrations for paperback titles by [[H.P.Lovecraft]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 May 2008 |title=The art of Ian Miller |url=http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/2008/05/18/the-art-of-ian-miller/ |access-date=11 September 2009 |website=www.johncoulthart.com/}}</ref> and work for ''[[Men Only]]'' and ''[[Club International]]''.<ref name=FantasyArtTechniques/>

In 1975 and 1976 whilst Miller was staying in San Francisco, he was approached by [[Ralph Bakshi]] and invited to contribute to the film ''[[Wizards (film)|Wizards]]''.<ref name=FantasyArtTechniques/> Miller relocated to Los Angeles and worked on the animated movie, later citing it as an experience that left a profound impression upon him.<ref name=Ratspike/> He later went on to work on Bakshi's film ''[[Cool World]]'' in the 1980s,<ref name=OfficialBiography/> produce pre-production work for the film ''[[Shrek]]'' in the 1990s,<ref name=OfficialBiography/> and contribute designs and illustrations to the 2005 film ''[[MirrorMask]]''.<ref>{{Cite AV media |title=MirrorMask |last=McKean|first=Dave|last2=Gaiman |first2=Neil |publisher=Sony Pictures Home Entertainment |year=2006}}</ref>

[[File:Ian Miller - Death On The Reik.jpg|thumb|upright|left|''Death on the Reik'', which featured as the cover of the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay campaign instalment of the same name, and exhibiting Miller's line and wash method, restricted use of colour and the 'gnarled trees' Patrick Woodroffe refers to below.]]

Miller is well known for his work for the [[Fighting Fantasy]] gamebooks<ref>{{Cite web |title=Books Illustrated by Ian Miller |url=http://www.gamebooks.org/cgi-bin/search.cgi?Type=Illustrator&Text=Ian+Miller&Header=Books+Illustrated+by+Ian+Miller |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017053455/http://gamebooks.org/cgi-bin/search.cgi?Type=Illustrator&Text=Ian+Miller&Header=Books+Illustrated+by+Ian+Miller |archive-date=17 October 2007 |access-date=11 September 2009 |website=www.gamebooks.org |df=dmy-all}}</ref> which rose to popularity in the mid-1980s, providing covers for early titles in the series like ''The Citadel of Chaos'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jackson |first=Steve |title=The Citadel of Chaos |publisher=Puffin Books |year=1983 |isbn=978-0-14-031603-2}}</ref> ''House of Hell''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jackson |first=Steve |title=House of Hell |publisher=Puffin Books |year=1985 |isbn=978-0-14-031831-9}}</ref> and ''Creature of Havoc''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jackson |first=Steve |title=Creature of Havoc |publisher=Puffin Books |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-14-032040-4}}</ref> He has also contributed to the [[Games Workshop]]-published fantasy gaming periodical [[White Dwarf (magazine)|White Dwarf]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=White Dwarf Issue 84 |url=http://www.gamehobby.net/white_dwarf_magazine/white_dwarf_084.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090920180209/http://www.gamehobby.net/white_dwarf_magazine/white_dwarf_084.html |archive-date=20 September 2009 |access-date=8 October 2009 |website=www.gamehobby.net |df=dmy-all}}</ref> in which he was featured in an ''Illuminations'' exposé in issue 86,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Blanche |first=John |date=February 1987 |title=Illuminations: The Work of Ian Miller |journal=White Dwarf |volume=1 |issue=86 |pages=24–25}}</ref> and provided numerous illustrations for various [[role-playing game|role-playing]] and war gaming books and supplements published by Games Workshop during the latter half of the 1980s, including the covers for ''Terror of the Lichmaster'',<ref name=Ratspike/> ''[[Death on the Reik]]''<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gallagher |first1=Phil |title=Death on the Reik |last2=Bambra, Jim |last3=Davis, Graeme |publisher=Games Workshop |year=1987 |isbn=1-869893-59-X |location=Nottingham}}</ref> and ''[[Warhammer City]]''<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Sargent |first1=Carl |title=Warhammer City |last2=Gallagher, Phil |last3=Bambra, Jim |last4=Cockburn, Paul |last5=Davis, Graeme |last6=Masterson, Sean |publisher=Games Workshop |year=1988 |isbn=1-869893-24-7 |location=Nottingham}}</ref> for [[Warhammer Fantasy (setting)|Warhammer]], and a host of illustrations for the ''Realm of Chaos'' supplement<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ansell |first=Bryan |title=[[Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness]] |publisher=Games Workshop |year=1988 |isbn=978-1-869893-51-4 |location=Nottingham}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Brunton |first1=Mike |last2=Ansell, Bryan |date=June 1988 |title=Daemonic Names |journal=White Dwarf |volume=1 |issue=102 |pages=67–69}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Brunton |first1=Mike |last2=Ansell, Bryan |date=July 1988 |title=Weapons of Chaos |journal=White Dwarf |volume=1 |issue=103 |pages=33–47}}</ref> and the first edition of
[[Warhammer 40,000]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Priestley |first=Rick |title=Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader |publisher=Games Workshop |year=1987 |isbn=1-869893-23-9 |location=Nottingham}}</ref> In the following decades Miller went on to provide further illustrations for gaming lines published by other companies, including the [[Everway]], [[Shadowrun]], and [[Earthdawn]] RPGs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ian Miller |url=http://www.pen-paper.net/rpgdb.php?op=showcreator&creatorid=2471 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050907185201/http://www.pen-paper.net/rpgdb.php?op=showcreator&creatorid=2471 |archive-date=7 September 2005 |access-date=11 September 2009 |website=www.pen-paper.net |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Miller has illustrated cards for the ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' collectible card game.

Miller is also noted for his Tolkien-inspired illustrations,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ian Miller/2 |url=http://ski-ffy.blogspot.com/2008/09/ian-miller-2.html |access-date=12 September 2009 |website=ski-ffy.blogspot.com/}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> and contributed to the lavishly illustrated ''A Tolkien Bestiary''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Day |first=David |title=A Tolkien Bestiary |publisher=Gramercy |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-517-12077-4}}</ref> and ''Characters from Tolkien – A Bestiary'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Day |first=David |title=Characters from Tolkien – A Bestiary |publisher=Chancellor Press/Bounty Books |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-7537-0561-2}}</ref> and has provided illustrations for British science fiction periodical [[Interzone (magazine)|Interzone]]<ref name="GeometricallyExactSurrealism">{{Cite web |title=Ian Miller's Geometrically-Exact Surrealism |url=http://io9.com/391090/ian-millers-geometrically+exact-surrealism |access-date=11 September 2009 |website=[[io9]]|date=16 May 2008 }}</ref> and cover and interior images for SF titles like ''Alien Stories 2'' by Dennis Pepper.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Locus Index to Science Fiction: 2002 |url=http://www.locusmag.com/index/yr2002/b39.htm |access-date=11 September 2009 |website=www.locusmag.com |publisher=Locus Publications}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Pepper |first=Dennis |title=Alien Stories Vol.2 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-19-275189-8 |location=United Kingdom}}</ref>

A number of anthologies of Miller's work have been published over the years. His first, with James Slattery, ''The Green Dog Trumpet and Other Stories'', was published by [[Paper Tiger Books|Dragon's Dream]] in 1979,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Slattery |first1=James |title=The Green Dog Trumpet and Other Stories |last2=Miller, Ian |publisher=Dragon's Dream |year=1979 |isbn=978-90-6332-551-0}}</ref> and was followed by another, ''Secret Art'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Miller |first=Ian |title=Secret Art |publisher=Dragon's Dream |year=1980 |isbn=978-90-6332-621-0 |location=United Kingdom}}</ref> and a third, entitled ''Ratspike'', co-authored with fellow illustrator and Games Workshop art director [[John Blanche]] and published by GW Books.<ref name=Ratspike/><ref name=OfficialBiography/> Miller has also produced imagery for two graphic novels, the first, ''The Luck in the Head'', with writer [[M. John Harrison]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harrison |first=M.John |url=https://archive.org/details/luckinhead00harr |title=The Luck in the Head |publisher=Gollancz |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-575-05014-3 |url-access=registration}}</ref> and a second with [[James Herbert]] called ''The City'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Herbert |first=James |title=The City |publisher=Tor |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-330-32471-7}}</ref> as well as working on an unpublished third called ''Suzie Pellet''.<ref name=OfficialBiography/>

Miller has exhibited frequently during his career in both solo shows and group exhibitions in Britain and internationally.<ref name=OfficialBiography/>

Current projects include the production of a series of black and white panel drawings called ''Corpus Pandemonium'', and a book called ''The Broken Novel'', a reworked film project called The ''Confessions of Carrie Sphagnum'', a set of Tarot cards, and a theatre project entitled ''The Shingle Dance''.<ref name=OfficialBiography/>

==Style and technique==

Miller's style is variously described as surreal, gothic<ref name=GeometricallyExactSurrealism/> and nightmarish or grotesque.<ref name=FantasyArtTechniques/> "Edgy and surreal, Miller combines intelligent geometric exactness with a messy, fluid sense of what it means to be human."<ref name=GeometricallyExactSurrealism/> As fellow contemporary illustrator [[Patrick Woodroffe]] comments in the introduction to Blanche and Miller's Ratspike:

{{Cquote|[...] 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. There is nothing of the copyist about Ian Miller. I doubt very much that he uses reference material of any kind.<ref name=Ratspike/>}}

[[File:Ian Miller - Hollywood Gothic Fish.jpg|thumb|upright|An illustration from Miller's ''Hollywood Gothic'' series, combining forms derived from fish and mechanical elements.]]

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,<ref name=FantasyArtTechniques/> and the gnarled haunting trees which he claims originated in an attempt to cover failures of draughtsmanship.<ref name=Ratspike/> Says Miller of his work:

{{Cquote|My images are the stuff of dreams and apparitions, the tremors that touch the skirt of day. Unspoken thoughts, stored memories, drawn up to be aired and then twisted by fancy.<ref name=Ratspike/>}}

Miller cites amongst his principal artistic influences [[Albrecht Dürer]] and [[Leonardo da Vinci]], the German Expressionists and French Impressionists, as well as an early predilection for Japanese landscape artists.<ref name=Ratspike/><ref name=FantasyArtTechniques/> Other sources include the formative influence of writer Alfred Bester, and a love for the Flash Gordon RKO Radio serials,<ref name=GeometricallyExactSurrealism/> 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:

{{Cquote|Rust, falling facades, tottering buttresses, and an overriding sense of impermanence, these are the things which fascinate me the most. [...] My early exposure to the cinematic medium had a pronounced effect on the way I perceive and construct my imagery. I see in terms of still images from a film [...] Everything I draw is part of an episodic sequence. [...] In truth, inspiration is just about everywhere you choose to look. It's all mixed up in non-artistic things in day-to-day interactions and boring interludes. It's a huge mess of pottage spiked with grit but if you're persistent you'll always find the meat.<ref name=Ratspike/>}}

Miller has experimented with various media during his career, but has a preference for pencils, technical pens, watercolour, and charcoal. "I found self-expression with the pen – with oils it was quite the opposite."<ref name=FantasyArtTechniques/> He also occasionally combines collage and photography into his pieces.<ref name=GeometricallyExactSurrealism/> 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:<ref name=Ratspike/><ref name=FantasyArtTechniques/>

{{Cquote|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. [...] [In Northern Europe] the emphasis revolved more around temporal scenes and a concern for mood and things observed close in. [...] It is also to do with the collective mind and racial memories, which touch at the roots of each successive generation.<ref name=Ratspike/>}}

More recently{{When|date=May 2010}} he has taken to adding an Apple Macintosh computer to his range of tools.<ref name=GeometricallyExactSurrealism/>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{More footnotes|section|date=May 2010}}
*{{official website|https://www.ianmiller.studio/}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071017053455/http://gamebooks.org/cgi-bin/search.cgi?Type=Illustrator&Text=Ian+Miller&Header=Books+Illustrated+by+Ian+Miller Books illustrated by Ian Miller] on Gamebooks.org
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081119062453/http://www.fantasymagazine.it/rubriche/6570 An article on Miller] in an Italian fantasy e-zine
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=fDJoV9FdRKQC&dq=Ian+Miller&pg=PP5 Alien Stories 2 illustration] on Google books
*[http://io9.com/391090/ian-millers-geometrically+exact-surrealism Ian Miller's Geometrically Exact Surrealism] at io9.com
*[http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/2008/05/18/the-art-of-ian-miller/ The Art of Ian Miller] on an arts blog
*[http://www.sci-fi-o-rama.com/category/artist/ian-miller/ A selection of Miller's images] on Sci-Fi-O-Rama
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110503013526/http://www.insideyourart.com/artists/Ian-Miller Ian Miller's Gallery] with biography and artbooks on Inside Your ART

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Ian}}
[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:Alumni of Saint Martin's School of Art]]
[[Category:British comics artists]]
[[Category:British graphic novelists]]
[[Category:English illustrators]]
[[Category:British fantasy artists]]
[[Category:Fighting Fantasy]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Game artists]]
[[Category:Games Workshop artists]]
[[Category:Role-playing game artists]]
[[Category:Tolkien artists]]
[[Category:BSFA Award for Best Artwork winner]]