Brian Froud
Encyclopedia
Brian Froud is an English
fantasy
illustrator
. He lives and works in Devon
with his wife, Wendy Froud
, who is also a fantasy artist. The landscapes in his paintings are frequently inspired by Dartmoor
.
s such as The Dark Crystal
and Labyrinth
(both in conjunction with Jim Henson
's Creature Shop
). He collaborated with Terry Jones
, who was a screenwriter
on Labyrinth, on The Goblins of the Labyrinth (1986, re-issued in abridged form as The Goblin Companion: A Field Guide to Goblins in 1996), and subsequently on a number of non-Labyrinth-related books about fairies
and goblin
s, namely of the "Lady Cottington" series, such as Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book. He has also worked with American writer Ari Berk on more recent books, including Goblins and "The Runes of Elfland", and produced art books such as Good Faeries/Bad Faeries. One of his most famous art books, Faeries, produced in collaboration with Alan Lee, was the basis of a 1981 animated feature of the same name.
Froud has also dabbled in other media and created a deck of Oracle cards
entitled "The Faerie's Oracle" with Jessica Macbeth, based on his artwork in Good Faeries/Bad Faeries. In March 2010 a sequel to the deck, "Heart of Faerie" was released. He also designed the album artwork for the German band Qntal
's 2006 release Qntal V: Silver Swan. The enhanced 2CD version of the album also featured a second CD featuring a short gallery of his fairy and goblin work.
and Viking Press
respectively.
, one of his father's works.
Toby Froud is currently studying filmmaking and special effects techniques in London. He is also apprenticed at the Muppet workshop in New York City, and on the set of The Lord of the Rings
films in New Zealand, in addition to working as a stilt-walker with a troupe in England.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
. He lives and works in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
with his wife, Wendy Froud
Wendy Froud
Wendy Froud, born Wendy Midener in Detroit, is an American doll-artist, sculptor, and puppet-maker, best known for her work creating Yoda for "The Empire Strikes Back" and creatures for the Jim Henson films The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth...
, who is also a fantasy artist. The landscapes in his paintings are frequently inspired by Dartmoor
Dartmoor
Dartmoor is an area of moorland in south Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers .The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The...
.
Biography
His work has been used as the inspiration for creatures in filmFilm
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s such as The Dark Crystal
The Dark Crystal
The Dark Crystal is a 1982 British-American fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. Although marketed as a family film, it was notably darker than previous material created by them. The animatronics used in the film were considered groundbreaking. The primary concept artist was the...
and Labyrinth
Labyrinth (film)
Labyrinth is a 1986 British/American fantasy film directed by Jim Henson, produced by George Lucas, and designed by Brian Froud. Henson collaborated on the screenwriting with children's author Dennis Lee, Terry Jones from Monty Python, and Elaine May .The film stars David Bowie as Jareth the Goblin...
(both in conjunction with Jim Henson
Jim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
's Creature Shop
Jim Henson's Creature Shop
Jim Henson's Creature Shop is a company founded in 1979 by puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets, and Frank Oz.It was originally created as a result of the observation that the team that had been put together for The Dark Crystal was extremely hard to recreate for Labyrinth, since the...
). He collaborated with Terry Jones
Terry Jones
Terence Graham Parry Jones is a Welsh comedian, screenwriter, actor, film director, children's author, popular historian, political commentator, and TV documentary host. He is best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy team....
, who was a screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
on Labyrinth, on The Goblins of the Labyrinth (1986, re-issued in abridged form as The Goblin Companion: A Field Guide to Goblins in 1996), and subsequently on a number of non-Labyrinth-related books about fairies
Fairy
A fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term...
and goblin
Goblin
A goblin is a legendary evil or mischievous illiterate creature, a grotesquely evil or evil-like phantom.They are attributed with various abilities, temperaments and appearances depending on the story and country of origin. In some cases, goblins have been classified as constantly annoying little...
s, namely of the "Lady Cottington" series, such as Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book. He has also worked with American writer Ari Berk on more recent books, including Goblins and "The Runes of Elfland", and produced art books such as Good Faeries/Bad Faeries. One of his most famous art books, Faeries, produced in collaboration with Alan Lee, was the basis of a 1981 animated feature of the same name.
Froud has also dabbled in other media and created a deck of Oracle cards
Oracle card decks
Oracle card decks claim to provide insight and positive outlooks to people. Modern oracle cards are conceptually similar to divinatory tarot cards, but they are often not divided into playing card suits. They often lack what is often seen as the "darker" images of traditional tarot cards. Unlike...
entitled "The Faerie's Oracle" with Jessica Macbeth, based on his artwork in Good Faeries/Bad Faeries. In March 2010 a sequel to the deck, "Heart of Faerie" was released. He also designed the album artwork for the German band Qntal
Qntal
Qntal is a German "electro-medieval" band founded in 1991 by Michael Popp and Ernst Horn. They later added vocalist Syrah to complete the band. It has roots in Estampie, a band of similar genre but different style; Michael Popp and Syrah are the principal members. Horn left the group in 1999, to...
's 2006 release Qntal V: Silver Swan. The enhanced 2CD version of the album also featured a second CD featuring a short gallery of his fairy and goblin work.
Illustration works
- Romeo And Juliet (1971)
- The Man Whose Mother was a Pirate (1972)
- A Midsummer Night's Dream (1972)
- Lovecraft: A Look Behind the Cthulhu Mythos by Lin CarterLin CarterLinwood Vrooman Carter was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft and Grail Undwin.-Life:Carter was born in St. Petersburg, Florida...
(cover illustration) - Ultra-violet catastrophe! Or, The unexpected walk with Great-Uncle Magnus Pringle (1975)
- Are All the Giants Dead? (1975)
- The Wind Between the Stars (1976)
- The Land of Froud (1977)
- Master Snickup's Cloak (1979)
- Faeries (1979) — With Alan Lee
- The World of the Dark Crystal (1982)
- Goblins: Pop-up Book (1983)
- Goblins of the Labyrinth (1986)
- The Goblin Companion: A Field Guide to Goblins (1986)
- The Dreaming Place (1990)
- Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book (1994)
- Quentin Cottington's Journal of Faery Research: Strange Stains and Mysterious Smells (1996)
- Good Faeries/Bad Faeries (1998)
- The Faeries' Oracle (2000)
- The Runes of Elfland (2003)
- Goblins! (2004)
- The Secret Sketchbooks of Brian Froud (2005)
- Chelsea Morning (2005)
- Brian Froud's World of Faerie (2007)
- Heart of Faerie Oracle (2010)
Brian Froud's Faerielands series
Froud also produced a collaborative series of books collectively known as Brian Froud's Faerielands. He produced the Faerielands artwork in 1991, then invited four top fantasy authors (Patricia McKillip, Terri Windling, Midori Snyder, and Charles de Lint) to choose their favorite pieces and write the story that the pictures evoked for them. The first two books were published in elegant hardcover editions with numerous Froud illustrations. However, Bantam then cancelled the series due to changes in their fantasy and science fiction lineup. Windling's and Snyder's books were later published by Tor BooksTor Books
Tor Books is one of two imprints of Tom Doherty Associates LLC, based in New York City. It is noted for its science fiction and fantasy titles. Tom Doherty Associates also publishes mainstream fiction, mystery, and occasional military history titles under its Forge imprint. The company was founded...
and Viking Press
Viking Press
Viking Press is an American publishing company owned by the Penguin Group, which has owned the company since 1975. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim...
respectively.
- Something Rich and Strange by Patricia McKillip (1994)
- The Wild Wood (1994) by Charles de LintCharles de LintCharles de Lint is a Canadian fantasy author and folk musician. He is also the chief book critic for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction....
- The Wood Wife (1996) by Terri WindlingTerri WindlingTerri Windling is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. Windling has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and her collection The Armless Maiden appeared on the short-list for the James Tiptree, Jr. Award...
- Hannah's Garden (2002) by Midori SnyderMidori SnyderMidori Snyder is an American writer of fantasy, mythic fiction, and nonfiction on myth and folklore. She has published eight novels for children and adults, winning the Mythopoeic Award for The Innamorati...
Conceptual works
- Faeries (television and VHS) (1981)
- The Dark CrystalThe Dark CrystalThe Dark Crystal is a 1982 British-American fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. Although marketed as a family film, it was notably darker than previous material created by them. The animatronics used in the film were considered groundbreaking. The primary concept artist was the...
(1982) - LabyrinthLabyrinth (film)Labyrinth is a 1986 British/American fantasy film directed by Jim Henson, produced by George Lucas, and designed by Brian Froud. Henson collaborated on the screenwriting with children's author Dennis Lee, Terry Jones from Monty Python, and Elaine May .The film stars David Bowie as Jareth the Goblin...
(1986) - The StorytellerThe StorytellerThe StoryTeller is a live-action/puppet television series. It was an American/British co-production which originally aired in 1988 and was created and produced by Jim Henson....
(1988) - Little Nemo: Adventures in SlumberlandLittle Nemo: Adventures in SlumberlandLittle Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, known in Japan as simply Nemo, is a 1989 animated film directed by Masami Hata and William T. Hurtz. Loosely based on the comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland by Winsor McCay, the film went through a lengthy development process with a number of screenwriters...
(1988) - The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus (2000)
- Peter PanPeter Pan (2003 film)Peter Pan is a 2003 fantasy film released as a joint venture of Universal Studios, Columbia Pictures and Revolution Studios. P. J. Hogan directed a screenplay co-written with Michael Goldenberg which is based on the classic play and novel by J. M. Barrie. Jason Isaacs plays the roles of Captain...
(2003) - Power of the Dark Crystal (2011)
Toby Froud
Froud's son, Toby Froud, played the baby in LabyrinthLabyrinth (film)
Labyrinth is a 1986 British/American fantasy film directed by Jim Henson, produced by George Lucas, and designed by Brian Froud. Henson collaborated on the screenwriting with children's author Dennis Lee, Terry Jones from Monty Python, and Elaine May .The film stars David Bowie as Jareth the Goblin...
, one of his father's works.
Toby Froud is currently studying filmmaking and special effects techniques in London. He is also apprenticed at the Muppet workshop in New York City, and on the set of The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings is an epic film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King .The films were directed by Peter...
films in New Zealand, in addition to working as a stilt-walker with a troupe in England.
External links
- World of Froud, official website of Brian Froud
- Short biographies of Brian & Wendy Froud
- Endicott Studio article on Froud
- The Froud Collectors Group on LiveJournal executive producer Thomas W. MooreThomas W. MooreThomas Waldrop "Tom" Moore was an American television executive who headed ABC in the 1960s.Moore was born in Meridian, Mississippi. He attended Mississippi State University and graduated from University of Missouri, then served in the United States Navy as a pilot through World War II...
and others - Faeries AllMovie
- Faeries (Brian Froud animated special) Part one of three, YouTube
- http://www.themagicaltimes.com/#, The Magical Times Magazine regularly supports and features Brian Froud