Ben Wootten

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Ben Wootten
Born	1969 (age 37) Essex, England, UK

Benjamin (Ben) Charles Wootten is a graphic artist and designer based in Wellington, New Zealand. He was born in Essex, England in 1969. Ben studied zoology at the University of Otago in Dunedin before moving to Christchurch where he studied Graphic Art at Christchurch Polytechnic.

Immediately on graduating Ben began working at the Weta Workshop as a designer and started to work on the films of Peter Jackson. At first Ben worked on King Kong (which was originally planned to be made before The Lord of the Rings trilogy). When Kong was canceled Ben began to work on designs for Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. A notable piece of work there was being closely involved in designing the Balrog.

He has also worked on the film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

His designs combined his knowledge of zoology with his artistic skill.

Ben is now a freelance illustrator, working out of Wellington. Most of his recent work has been for RPGs and TCGs, clients including Wizards of the Coast, Paizo and Upper Deck.