David McKean (born 29 December 1963) is an English illustrator, photographer, comic book artist,

graphic designer A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, ...

, 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 Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...

Grant Morrison Grant Morrison, MBE (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, w ...

Heston Blumenthal Heston Marc Blumenthal (; born 27 May 1966) is a British celebrity chef, TV personality and food writer. Blumenthal is regarded as a pioneer of multi-sensory cooking, food pairing and flavour encapsulation. He came to public attention with u ...

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 r ...

and

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

, and directed three feature films.

Career

Comics

McKean first showed his work to editors at

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, 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 Co ...

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 thei ...

, and

Continuity Comics Continuity Publishing, also known as Continuity Comics, was an American independent comic book company formed by Neal Adams in 1984, publishing comics until 1994. History After years as a freelancer and comics art packager (with his company Con ...

when visiting New York City in 1986. McKean met writer

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 ...

'', published in 1987. This was followed in 1988 by a '' Black Orchid'' miniseries and ''

Hellblazer ''John Constantine, Hellblazer'' is an American contemporary Horror fiction, horror comic-book series published by DC Comics since January 1988, and subsequently by its Vertigo Comics, Vertigo imprint since March 1993, when the imprint was introd ...

'' covers for DC Comics. In 1989, he illustrated the

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

graphic novel, '' Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth'', with writer

. Comics historian

Les Daniels Leslie Noel Daniels III, better known as Les Daniels (October 27, 1943 – November 5, 2011), was an American writer. Background Daniels attended Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where he wrote his master's thesis on ''Frankenstei ...

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'', which explored similar themes as ''Violent Cases'' through the imagery of the

Punch and Judy Punch and Judy is a traditional puppet show featuring Mr. Punch and his wife Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically Mr. Punch and one other character ...

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 d ...

called ''

Voodoo Lounge ''Voodoo Lounge'' is the 20th British and 22nd American studio album by the English rock band The Rolling Stones, released on 11 July 1994. As their first new release under their new alliance with Virgin Records, it ended a five-year gap since th ...

'' 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 Alberto Breccia (April 15, 1919 – November 10, 1993) was an Uruguayan-born Argentine artist and cartoonist. A gifted penciller and inker, Breccia is one of the most celebrated and famous comics/ Historieta creators in the world, and specially p ...

José Antonio Muñoz José Antonio Muñoz or simply Muñoz (born July 10, 1942) is an Argentine artist. He is most notable for his influential black-and-white artwork. His hardboiled graphic novels series ''Alack Sinner'' (with writer Carlos Sampayo) is a noted sourc ...

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 com ...

. ''Cages'' was published as a single volume by

Kitchen Sink Press Kitchen Sink Press was a comic book publishing company founded by Denis Kitchen in 1970. Kitchen Sink Press was a pioneering publisher of underground comics, and was also responsible for numerous republications of classic comic strips in hard ...

in 1998, and in a new edition by

NBM Publishing Nantier Beall Minoustchine Publishing Inc. (or NBM Publishing) is an American graphic novel publisher. Founded by Terry Nantier in 1976 as Flying Buttress Publications, NBM is one of the oldest graphic novel publishers in North America. The compa ...

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 known ...

in paperback. An anniversary edition was released in 2016 by the same publisher, featuring a new introduction by

Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, comedian, animator, actor and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including '' Time Bandits'' (1981), '' ...

. 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 Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was found ...

. ''Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash'', which was a commission by the 14-18 Now Foundation, The Imperial War Museum 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 The Telluride Film Festival (TFF) is a film festival held annually in Telluride, Colorado during Labor Day weekend (the first Monday in September). The 49th edition took place on September 2 -6, 2022. History First held on 30 August 1974, t ...

. 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''. B ...

's novels, with music and lyrics by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

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 M ...

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, guillot ...

, 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 In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar system. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote ...

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 membersh ...

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse (poetry), verse. A second edition fo ...

Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of the ...

, Skinny Puppy,

Toad the Wet Sprocket Toad the Wet Sprocket is an American alternative rock band formed in Santa Barbara, California, in 1986. The band at the time consisted of vocalist/guitarist Glen Phillips, guitarist Todd Nichols, bassist Dean Dinning, and drummer Randy Guss, ...

and Steve Walsh.

Bill Bruford William Scott Bruford (born 17 May 1949) is an English former drummer and percussionist who first gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock band Yes. After leaving Yes in 1972, Bruford spent the rest of the 1970s recording ...

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), m ...

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 b ...

Iain Sinclair Iain Sinclair FRSL (born 11 June 1943) is a writer and filmmaker. Much of his work is rooted in London, recently within the influences of psychogeography. Biography Education Sinclair was born in Cardiff in 1943. From 1956 to 1961, he was educate ...

and

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including '' Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', '' The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and '' From He ...

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 re ...

'' (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 ''Circus Live'' is a 3-disc live album by John Cale released on February 19, 2007. The contents were recorded live on the 2004 and 2006 European tours. One of the discs is a DVD containing rehearsal footage, a music video, and a two audio trac ...

'', 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

on four children's

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

s, ''

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 o ...

'' (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 y ...

'' (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 Publishing, Bloomsbury. It is based on a poem by Gaiman, with artwork by McKean. In the stor ...

'' (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 fi ...

'' (2005), and illustrated Gaiman's children's novels ''

Coraline ''Coraline'' () is a dark fantasy horror children's novella by British author Neil Gaiman. Gaiman started writing ''Coraline'' in 1990, and it was published in 2002 by Bloomsbury and HarperCollins. It was awarded the 2003 Hugo Award for Best ...

'' (2002) and ''

The Graveyard Book ''The Graveyard Book'' is a young adult novel by the English author Neil Gaiman, simultaneously published in Britain and America in 2008. ''The Graveyard Book'' traces the story of the boy Nobody "Bod" Owens who is adopted and reared by the s ...

'' (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 Nestlé ...

'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 popul ...

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's '' The Savage'' published in April 2008, '' Slog's Dad'' published in September 2010, and ''

Mouse Bird Snake Wolf ''Mouse Bird Snake Wolf'' is a 2013 graphic novel, written by David Almond and illustrated by Dave McKean, David McKean. It is about three children who create animals from inanimate objects. Reception A ''The Guardian, Guardian'' reviewer describe ...

'' (2013). In 2011, McKean collaborated with Richard Dawkins on '' The Magic of Reality'', 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

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 The James Beard Foundation is a New York City-based national non-profit culinary arts organization named in honor of James Beard, a prolific food writer, teacher, and cookbook author, who was also known as the "Dean of American Cookery." The prog ...

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 The Fat Duck is a fine dining restaurant in Bray, Berkshire, England. It is run by celebrity chef proprietor Heston Blumenthal. Housed in a 16th-century building that had previously been the site of the Bell pub, the Fat Duck opened on 16 Aug ...

, 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 5 ...

in London and Melbourne.

Stamps

McKean created six images for the

Royal Mail , kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Royal Mail.svg , logo_size = 250px , type = Public limited company , traded_as = , foundation = , founder = Henry VIII , location = London, England, UK , key_people = * Keith Williams ...

's ''Mythical Creatures'' collection, which featured depictions of mythical creatures found in British folklore, including

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years o ...

giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) *Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...

pixie A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas ar ...

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 fi ...

'', McKean's first feature film as director, premiered at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

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 for ...

and stars a British cast Stephanie Leonidas,

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 Robert Brydon Jones (; born 3 May 1965) is a Welsh actor, comedian, impressionist, presenter, singer and writer. He played Dr Paul Hamilton in the Australian/British comedy series ''Supernova'', Bryn West in the BBC sitcom '' Gavin & Stacey'' ...

, and

Gina McKee Georgina "Gina" McKee (born 14 April 1964) is an English actress. She won the 1997 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for '' Our Friends in the North'' (1996), and earned subsequent nominations for '' The Lost Prince'' (2003) and '' The Street'' ...

. 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 Sheen ...

'', 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 Genedlaet ...

's Passion play in

Port Talbot Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which dominates the south ...

which stars

Michael Sheen Michael Christopher Sheen OBE (born 5 February 1969) is a Welsh actor, television producer and political activist. After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s with stage rol ...

. 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 The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

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 the ...

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 d ...

'' (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, a young wizard, in his third year at Hogwarts School of ...

'' (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 British ...

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, and pianist

Kit Downes Kit Downes is a BBC Jazz Award winning, Mercury Music Award nominated, solo recording artist for ECM Records. He has toured the world playing piano, church organ and harmonium with his own bands ('ENEMY', 'Troyka', 'Elt' and 'Vyamanikal') a ...

, 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 is ...

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:

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. ...

Michael Nyman Michael Laurence Nyman, Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer, pianist, libretto, librettist, musicologist, and filmmaker. He is known for numerous film soundtrack, scores (many written during his length ...

, and countless more. He has a longstanding relationship with

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

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 members ...

, creating many illustrations for dozens of their

albums An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

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 Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 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 literature, fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year a ...

in the category of "Artist", and he won the award in 1991. His graphic novel ''Cages'' won the Alph-Art, Pantera, and

Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that were ...

s 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 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 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 William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...

Golden Groundhog Award for Best Underground Movie, the other nominated films were ''

Green Street Hooligans ''Green Street'' (also known as ''Green Street Hooligans'' and ''Hooligans'') is a 2005 crime drama film about football hooliganism in the United Kingdom. The film was directed by Lexi Alexander and stars Elijah Wood and Charlie Hunnam. Two s ...

'', '' 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 Des ...

''. ''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 ...

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