Paul Kidby
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates 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.<ref name=guardianartist>Alison Flood (18 August 2016) "Terry Pratchett's 'artist of choice' on illustrating Discworld", The Guardian. Retrieved 29 January 2016.</ref>
Early lifeEdit
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.
CareerEdit
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,<ref>Paul Kidby, PaulKidby.com Template:Webarchive</ref> his "90 beautiful illustrations" described as "augment[ing] the impact of this vividly described magical world."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Kidby's art frequently parodies well known paintings such as the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci,<ref>Kidby painted the Mona Ogg, which is on the cover of The Art of Discworld.</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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.<ref name=bookseller>Lisa Campbell (24 March 2016) "Terry Pratchett colouring book coming in August", The Bookseller. Retrieved 29 January 2016.</ref>
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.<ref name=royalmail>Royal Mail "Terry Pratchett's Discworld Stamp Set"</ref>
A jigsaw puzzle entitled The World of Terry Pratchett using original artwork from Paul Kidby will be published in October 2024.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Personal lifeEdit
As of 2016, Kidby lives and works in Dorset.<ref name=guardianartist />