Peter Ledger
Peter Ledger | |
---|---|
Born | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | 25 October 1945
Died | 18 November 1994 Oakhurst, California, United States | (aged 49)
Occupation |
|
Nationality | Australian |
Period | 1970s–1994 |
Peter Ledger (25 October 1945
Biography
In addition to studying art, Ledger worked with surveying teams in the Australian outback, hunted deer for the government in New Zealand, was a professional scuba diver, a leathermaker, and a gourmet cook. He raced motorcycles, flew hot air balloons, was a body builder, and in later years became a private pilot.
Ledger rose to the top as an illustrator in Australia, famous for his intricate
In 1981, he moved to Los Angeles to work on a project funded by
As a team, they produced a number of comic book stories such as Carlos McLlyr
Ledger worked in the film and television business, mainly doing storyboards and preproduction design. He painted robot suits and designed aliens for the movie The Ice Pirates. He created the first Babylon 5 logo, did the first character illustrations and an initial painting of the B5 station.[17] J. Michael Straczynski used this art while selling the series.
Ledger loved planes and his particular deep interest, since he was a boy, was the German planes of World War II, most especially the jet aircraft developed during the war. In 1988, Ledger and his wife travelled to Bonn, Germany to have his limited edition aviation print signed by famous German World War II ace, Adolf Galland.
Toward the end of 1988, Ledger and Marx started working on computer games for
From about 1990 on, Ledger concentrated on doing large wall murals and trompe-l'œil paintings. He partnered with British artist, Susie Wilson. Together, they created many trompe l'oiel works in the Fresno, Oakhurst and Monterey areas. Most are in private homes, but some of their work was seen at Castillo's Mexican Restaurant in Oakhurst, California (later renamed Casa Velasco), on the way to Yosemite National Park: jungle scenes, desert scenes, parrots, a pterodactyl bursting in through an open (trompe-l'œil) window.
Death
Ledger's wife Christy Marx includes an account of his death in a biographical article on her official website. On the evening of 18 November 1994, Ledger was driving home to Oakhurst from Monterey. Ledger was on a dark country road and is believed to have either missed or ignored a stop sign at a blind corner. He was hit broadside by a semi-trailer hauling a full load of cotton, with both vehicles destroyed in the crash. The truck driver survived; however, Ledger died instantly. He was buried in the small, historic cemetery in Oakhurst.[20]
His gravestone features a bronze plaque of his face (taken from a life mask), an epitaph poem that Ledger had written a few years earlier, and numerous sculpted details created by his son, Julian Ledger.[21]
Legacy
The
Comics bibliography
Celestial Arts
- Uncle Scrooge, His Life and Times (colourist) (1981)
Eclipse Comics
- Alien Encounters (1985–1987)
- #2 "The Monster of Planet Og!" (artist/colourist)
- #6 (cover artist and colourist)
- #11 "A World A Hurtin'" (artist/colourist)
- #13 "The Light at the End" (artist/colourist)
- Eclipse Monthly (1984)
- #6 "Carlos McLyr, the Californio: Old Gods, New World" (artist/colourist)
- #7 "Carlos McLyr, the Californio: Old Gods, New World Part 2" (artist/colourist)
- #8 "Carlos McLyr, the Californio: Old Gods, New World Part 3" (artist/colourist)
- Tales of Terror #13 (cover artist/colourist) (1987)
Fantagraphics Books
- The Flames of Gyro (inker/colourist) (1979)
Marvel Comics
- Howard the Duck vol. 2 #1–2 (cover artist/colourist) (1979)
- The Hulk! #15 (one page illustration) (1979)
- Marvel Super Special (1979)
- #10 "Star-Lord" (cover colourist)
- #11–13 "Warriors of the Shadow Realm" (colourist)
- #14 "Meteor" (cover inker/colourist)
- Open Space #2 (1990)
- "The Armada Operation" (artist)
- Savage Sword of Conan #55 (one page illustration) (1980)
- Sisterhood of Steel #5 (cover colourist) (1985)
Mattel
- Masters of the Universe: Skeletor's Dragon (artist) (1985)
TSR, Inc.
- Warhawks Comics Module #1 (penciller/colourist) (1990)
References
- ISBN 978-0-87341-256-8.
- ^ "Famous Airbrush Artists". AirbrushIllusions.com. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
- ^ Kimball, Duncan. "Stone". Milesago: Australasian Music and Popular Culture 1964–1975. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
- ^ "Stone (1974)". IMDb. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
- ^ Reid, John. "Oz: A Rock and Roll Road Movie". Vintage Movie Memorabilia. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
- ^ "The Golden Breed Story". Golden Breed. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
- ISBN 978-1-74066-740-1.
- ^ Jeff, Ron. "Australian Music Awards". Retrieved 2 November 2011.
- ^ a b c Peter Ledger at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ Perkins, Tim. "Rudy D. Nebres". Wizards Keep Ltd. Archived from the original on 6 February 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
- ^ Richards, Dave (26 September 2008). "From the Editor's Desk: Ralph Macchio". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
- ^ Plaume, Ken. "From the Vault: An interview with Gary Kurtz". Fred Entertainment. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-89087-290-1.
- ^ "Other Syudios Animation Art". Cuckoo Comics & Collectables. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
- ISBN 978-1-56308-086-9.
- ISBN 978-0-9544589-0-4.
- ISBN 978-0-345-42449-5.
- ISBN 978-0-8160-8077-9.
- ^ "Peter Ledger – Developer Bio". MobyGames. GameFly. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
- ^ "Peter Ledger Biography - Written by Christy Marx". christymarx.com. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
- ISBN 978-1-4027-3384-0.
- Ledger Awards. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
External links
- Biographical cuttings on Peter Ledger, comic illustrator, containing one or more cuttings from newspapers or journals. National Library of Australia.
- Peter Ledger memorial site
- A gallery containing the original conceptual drawings of Babylon 5's characters and settings
- Peter Ledger at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- Peter Ledger at IMDb