Paul Kidby (born 1964) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

. Many people know him best for his art based on

Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his ''Discworld'' series of 41 novels. Pratchett's first nov ...

's ''

Discworld ''Discworld'' is a comic fantasy"Humorous Fantasy" in David Pringle, ed., ''The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' (pp.31-33). London, Carlton,2006. book series written by the English author Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat pla ...

''. He has been included on the sleeve covers since Pratchett's original illustrator,

Josh Kirby Ronald William "Josh" Kirby (27 November 1928 – 23 October 2001) was a British commercial artist. Over a career spanning 60 years, he was the artist for the covers of many science fiction books including Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. ...

, died in 2001.Alison Flood (18 August 2016
"Terry Pratchett's 'artist of choice' on illustrating Discworld"
''The Guardian''. Retrieved 29 January 2016.

Early life

Kidby was born in

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North London ...

in 1964. He drew fine works during his childhood and adolescence, and left school with very few qualifications. Later Kidby was marked as a dental technician making replacement teeth, but stopped this to become a street artist in 1986. He made artwork for a limited range of products from grocery labels to consumer based plastic kettles.

Career

Between 1991 and 1995,

Future Publishing Future plc is an international multimedia company established in the United Kingdom in 1985. The company has over 220 brands that span magazines, newsletters, websites, and events in fields such as video games, technology, films, music, photogr ...

employed Kidby and he helped design and paint more than 20 magazine covers. In 1996 he started working for Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. Terry's Discworld art, and many other Terry type descriptions of pieces, are included in '' The Pratchett Portfolio'' (1996) and ''

The Art of Discworld ''The Art of Discworld'' is a descriptive book of the world of the Discworld as portrayed in Terry Pratchett's '' Discworld'' series. It showcases the art of Paul Kidby with descriptions of characters and locations by Pratchett and some details ...

'' (2004). These full versions of work and some paintings previously seen in the light of theatre. He also worked and designed an illustrated ''

The Last Hero ''The Last Hero'' is a short fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, the twenty-seventh book in his ''Discworld'' series. It was published in 2001 in a larger format than the other ''Discworld'' novels and illustrated on every page by ...

'', a ''Discworld'' "fable" and number-five bestseller in the United Kingdom, his "90 beautiful illustrations" described as "augment ngthe impact of this vividly described magical world." Kidby's art is in several cases a tribute to (or a parody of) well known paintings such as the ''

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' ( ; it, Gioconda or ; french: Joconde ) is a half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known ...

'' by

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

, '' Night Watch'' by

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...

(featured on the cover of '' Night Watch'') and ''

An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump ''An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump'' is a 1768 oil-on-canvas painting by Joseph Wright of Derby, one of a number of candlelit scenes that Wright painted during the 1760s. The painting departed from convention of the time by depicting a ...

'' by

Joseph Wright Joseph Wright may refer to: *Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797), English painter *Joseph Wright (American painter) (1756–1793), American portraitist *Joseph Wright (fl. 1837/1845), whose company, Messrs. Joseph Wright and Sons, became the Metro ...

. In December 2007 Terry Pratchett used Kidby's website to announce he was suffering from early-onset

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. In August 2016 Kidby released "Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Colouring Book" of black and white line drawings.Lisa Campbell (24 March 2016
"Terry Pratchett colouring book coming in August"
''The Bookseller''. Retrieved 29 January 2016. He had been designing the cover of the book in March 2016 when he heard that Pratchett had died.

Personal life

Kidby currently lives and works in Dorset.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kidby, Paul 1964 births English artists British speculative fiction artists Fantasy artists People associated with the Discworld series People from the London Borough of Ealing People from Fordingbridge Living people Date of birth missing (living people)