Peter Ledger

Peter Ledger
Peter Ledger
Born	25 October 1945; Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
Died	18 November 1994(aged 49); Oakhurst, California,United States
Occupation	Cartoonist; illustrator; painter;
Nationality	Australian
Period	1970s–1994

Peter Ledger(25 October 1945^[1]– 18 November 1994) was anAustraliancartoonist,comic book artist,commercial airbrush artist, andillustrator.

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 intricateairbrushwork^[2]and fantasy images. Ledger prepared the graphics for the 1974 Australian film,Stone,^[3]^[4]as well as the 1976 film,Oz.^[5]In 1977, he won the "Art Directors Silver Award" for hisSurfaboutposter. That same year, one of his posters forGolden Breed(an Australian surfingapparelbrand)^[6]^[7]was honored in theGraphisyearbook of award-winning posters from around the world. In 1979 he won an AustralianKing of Popaward for "Best Album Cover Design" forThe Angels' albumFace to Face.^[8]From around 1978–1979, he lived in New York and worked forMarvel Comics.^[9]One of his contributions to the comic book field was the fully painted and airbrushed work on the series,Weirdworld:Warriors of the Shadow Realm.^[9]^[10]^[11]

In 1981, he moved to Los Angeles to work on a project funded byGeorge LucasandGary Kurtz.^[12]It was acoffee table art bookofUncleScrooge McDuck:His Life and Times,as written and drawn byCarl Barks.^[13]Ledger was a big fan of Barks' duck art. His contribution was to hand-paint and airbrush all the stories.^[14]He met writerChristy Marxfor the second time in that year. They were married onCatalina Islandin March 1983. They worked together on comic book, movie, and game projects for a total of thirteen years.

As a team, they produced a number of comic book stories such asCarlos McLlyr^[9]andThe Sisterhood of Steelgraphic novel.^[15]^[16]

Ledger worked in the film and television business, mainly doing storyboards and preproduction design. He painted robot suits and designed aliens for the movieThe Ice Pirates.He created the firstBabylon 5logo, did the first character illustrations and an initial painting of the B5 station.^[17]J. Michael Straczynskiused this art while selling the series.

Ledger loved planes and his particular deep interest, since he was a boy, was the German planes ofWorld 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 forSierra On-Line.^[18]He created the art forConquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail(1990 – Sierra On-Line),Ringworld: Revenge of the Patriarch(1992 –Tsunami Media Inc),Blue Force(1993 – Tsunami Media Inc) andBlood & Magic(1996 –Interplay Productions Inc).^[19]

From about 1990 on, Ledger concentrated on doing large wall murals andtrompe-l'œilpaintings. He partnered with British artist, Susie Wilson. Together, they created many trompe l'oiel works in theFresno,Oakhurst andMontereyareas. 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 toYosemite National Park:jungle scenes, desert scenes, parrots, a pterodactyl bursting in through an open (trompe-l'œil) window.

Death

Ledger's wifeChristy Marxincludes 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 asemi-trailerhauling 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

TheLedger Awards,named in honour of Ledger's contribution to comic book art, were organised to "acknowledge excellence inAustralian comicart and publishing. "^[22]The Ledger Awards commenced in 2004 and ran until 2007. They were revived beginning in 2014.

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 Duckvol. 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

^Thompson, Don (1993).Comic Book Superstars.Krause Publications.p. 253.ISBN 978-0-87341-256-8.
^"Famous Airbrush Artists".AirbrushIllusions.com. Archived fromthe originalon 25 April 2012.Retrieved7 November2011.
^Kimball, Duncan."Stone".Milesago: Australasian Music and Popular Culture 1964–1975.Retrieved2 November2011.
^"Stone(1974) ".IMDb.Retrieved2 November2011.
^Reid, John."Oz: A Rock and Roll Road Movie".Vintage Movie Memorabilia.Retrieved7 November2011.
^"The Golden Breed Story".Golden Breed. Archived fromthe originalon 19 July 2011.Retrieved2 November2011.
^Jarratt, Phil (2010).Salts and Suits.Hardie Grant Australia. p. 118.ISBN 978-1-74066-740-1.
^Jeff, Ron."Australian Music Awards".Retrieved2 November2011.
^^a ^b ^cPeter Ledgerat theGrand Comics Database
^Perkins, Tim."Rudy D. Nebres".Wizards Keep Ltd. Archived fromthe originalon 6 February 2015.Retrieved4 November2011.
^Richards, Dave (26 September 2008)."From the Editor's Desk: Ralph Macchio".Comic Book Resources.Retrieved7 November2011.
^Plaume, Ken."From the Vault: An interview with Gary Kurtz".Fred Entertainment.Retrieved7 November2011.
^Barks, Carl; Summer, Edward; Walt Disney Productions (1981).Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge McDuck: His Life & Times.Celestial Arts.ISBN 978-0-89087-290-1.
^"Other Syudios Animation Art".Cuckoo Comics & Collectables.Retrieved7 November2011.
^Rothschild, D. Avia (1995).Graphic Novels: A Bibliographic Guide to Book-Length Comics.Libraries Unlimited Inc.p. 56.ISBN 978-1-56308-086-9.
^Plowright, Frank (2003).The Slings & Arrows Comic Guide.Top Shelf Productions.p. 206.ISBN 978-0-9544589-0-4.
^Killick, Jane (1998).Babylon 5: Point of Return.Del Rey Books.p.4.ISBN 978-0-345-42449-5.
^Ferguson Publishing Staff (2010).What Can I Do Now! Animation.Checkmark Books. p. 122.ISBN 978-0-8160-8077-9.
^"Peter Ledger – Developer Bio".MobyGames.GameFly.Retrieved8 November2011.
^"Peter Ledger Biography - Written by Christy Marx".christymarx.com.Retrieved5 April2021.
^Bishop, Greg (206).Weird California.Sterling Publishing.p. 254.ISBN 978-1-4027-3384-0.
^"About the Awards".Ledger Awards.Retrieved14 November2011.

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 ofBabylon 5'scharacters and settings
Peter Ledgerat the Comic Book DB (archived fromthe original)
Peter LedgeratIMDb

[1] Thompson, Don (1993).Comic Book Superstars.Krause Publications.p. 253.ISBN 978-0-87341-256-8.

[2] "Famous Airbrush Artists".AirbrushIllusions.com. Archived fromthe originalon 25 April 2012.Retrieved7 November2011.

[3] Kimball, Duncan."Stone".Milesago: Australasian Music and Popular Culture 1964–1975.Retrieved2 November2011.

[4] "Stone(1974) ".IMDb.Retrieved2 November2011.

[5] Reid, John."Oz: A Rock and Roll Road Movie".Vintage Movie Memorabilia.Retrieved7 November2011.

[6] "The Golden Breed Story".Golden Breed. Archived fromthe originalon 19 July 2011.Retrieved2 November2011.

[7] Jarratt, Phil (2010).Salts and Suits.Hardie Grant Australia. p. 118.ISBN 978-1-74066-740-1.

[8] Jeff, Ron."Australian Music Awards".Retrieved2 November2011.

[GCD-9] Peter Ledgerat theGrand Comics Database

[10] Perkins, Tim."Rudy D. Nebres".Wizards Keep Ltd. Archived fromthe originalon 6 February 2015.Retrieved4 November2011.

[11] Richards, Dave (26 September 2008)."From the Editor's Desk: Ralph Macchio".Comic Book Resources.Retrieved7 November2011.

[12] Plaume, Ken."From the Vault: An interview with Gary Kurtz".Fred Entertainment.Retrieved7 November2011.

[13] Barks, Carl; Summer, Edward; Walt Disney Productions (1981).Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge McDuck: His Life & Times.Celestial Arts.ISBN 978-0-89087-290-1.

[14] "Other Syudios Animation Art".Cuckoo Comics & Collectables.Retrieved7 November2011.

[15] Rothschild, D. Avia (1995).Graphic Novels: A Bibliographic Guide to Book-Length Comics.Libraries Unlimited Inc.p. 56.ISBN 978-1-56308-086-9.

[16] Plowright, Frank (2003).The Slings & Arrows Comic Guide.Top Shelf Productions.p. 206.ISBN 978-0-9544589-0-4.

[17] Killick, Jane (1998).Babylon 5: Point of Return.Del Rey Books.p.4.ISBN 978-0-345-42449-5.

[18] Ferguson Publishing Staff (2010).What Can I Do Now! Animation.Checkmark Books. p. 122.ISBN 978-0-8160-8077-9.

[19] "Peter Ledger – Developer Bio".MobyGames.GameFly.Retrieved8 November2011.

[20] "Peter Ledger Biography - Written by Christy Marx".christymarx.com.Retrieved5 April2021.

[21] Bishop, Greg (206).Weird California.Sterling Publishing.p. 254.ISBN 978-1-4027-3384-0.

[22] "About the Awards".Ledger Awards.Retrieved14 November2011.

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