Freya Blackwood is an illustrator and special effects artist who was born in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. Blackwood is notable for her work with the special effects of the The Lord of the Rings film trilogy movies from 2001 to 2003 as well as for her illustrations in the children's book Harry & Hopper, for which she won the Kate Greenaway Medal

Kate Greenaway Medal

The Kate Greenaway Medal was established in the United Kingdom in 1955 in honour of the children's illustrator, Kate Greenaway. The medal is given annually to an outstanding work of illustration in children's literature. It is awarded by Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals...

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Early life

Blackwood was born in Edinburgh, Scotland during her parents' tour of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. She grew up in Orange

Orange, New South Wales

Orange is a city in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is west of the state capital, Sydney, at an altitude of . Orange has an estimated population of 39,329 and the city is a major provincial centre....

, New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

. Before becoming a full-time illustrator, she lived in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 and worked on the Lord of the Rings films, specifically the special effects for the hobbits' feet. She finished a Bachelor of Design at the University of Technology, Sydney, and finished two short films during her work in the Sydney film industry.

Film industry career

Blackwood worked in the film industry between 2001 and 2008, producing the film Blackspot (2008), acting as an extra in the short film Zombie Movie

Zombie Movie (short film)

Zombie Movie is a short zombie film produced by 2Chums Moving Pictures in 2005.-Plot:Somewhere in New Zealand in the year 1986 three young men, Paul, Darryn and Sam, find themselves trapped in a Holden EH Station Wagon without fuel and surrounded by zombies...

 (2005). She was the special effects artist for three of the Lord of the Rings films: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings...

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As an illustrator

Blackwood has illustrated a total of eleven books, three of which have been published in the United Kingdom by Scholastic. In 2010, Blackwood won the Kate Greenaway Medal for her illustrations in the children's book Harry & Hopper, which were based on a dog that she had as a child.