Paul Kidby (born 1964) is an English artist, best known for his art based on Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of fantasy novels. Kidby has created the sleeve covers since Pratchett's original illustrator, Josh Kirby, died in 2001.
Early life
Kidby was born in West London in 1964. He worked as a dental technician making replacement teeth, before becoming a commercial artist and then a freelance illustrator in 1986.
Career
Between 1991 and 1995, Future Publishing employed Kidby and he helped design and paint more than 20 magazine covers. In 1993 he began work on 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 (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, a Discworld "fable" and number-five bestseller in the United Kingdom, his "90 beautiful illustrations" described as "augment the impact of this vividly described magical world."
Kidby's art frequently parodies well known paintings such as the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, Night Watch by Rembrandt (featured on the cover of Night Watch) and An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump by Joseph Wright.
In December 2007 Terry Pratchett used Kidby's website to announce he was suffering from early-onset Alzheimer's disease.
Kidby was painting the cover for The Shepherd's Crown, the last Discworld novel, when he heard that Pratchett had died.
In August 2016 Kidby released Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Colouring Book of black and white line drawings.
In 2023 the Royal Mail released a set of eight stamps featuring Kidby's artwork to commemorate the 40th publication anniversary of the first Discworld novel.
A jigsaw puzzle entitled The World of Terry Pratchett using original artwork from Paul Kidby will be published in October 2024.
Personal life
Kidby currently lives and works in Dorset.
References
- ^ Alison Flood (18 August 2016) "Terry Pratchett's 'artist of choice' on illustrating Discworld", The Guardian. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
- Paul Kidby, PaulKidby.com Archived March 19, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- Manveet Kaur (18 December 2002). "Need to fill those stockings?". New Straits Times. Kuala Lumpur. Archived from the original on 21 September 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014 – via HighBeam Research.
- Kidby painted the Mona Ogg, which is on the cover of The Art of Discworld.
- Raphael G. Satter (12 December 2007). "Author Terry Pratchett has Alzheimer's". USA Today.
- Lisa Campbell (24 March 2016) "Terry Pratchett colouring book coming in August", The Bookseller. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
- Royal Mail "Terry Pratchett's Discworld Stamp Set"
- "Laurence King to publish 1,000-piece Discworld jigsaw puzzle". The Bookseller. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
