Mith, I have exactly the same complaint about Lee's work. What he paints is brilliant; how he paints it doesn't always do the best service to the subject, in my opinion. In real life the sun does come out occasionally!
When I rewatch the films I always wonder whether the deliberate dulling of color in some sequences, to the point where they seem almost monochromatic, was due to Lee's influence. I don't think it helped the films, either.
Your favourite Tolkien artistes
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Primula Baggins
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“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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truehobbit
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Lee is my favourite of the three just because of his subdued colours.
I like Nasmith's Lúthien a lot, but that's because it's so untypically monochrome. Mostly, his colours are just too intense for my taste.
And yikes about getting the plants so wrong (you'd think 'hemlock umbels' would give one a clue...)
(Though, maybe he just meant her to be in a forest, and the firs just firs, without any hemlock at all?)
I like realistic faces, that's why the Russian artists on that website appealed to me so much.
I like Nasmith's Lúthien a lot, but that's because it's so untypically monochrome. Mostly, his colours are just too intense for my taste.
And yikes about getting the plants so wrong (you'd think 'hemlock umbels' would give one a clue...)
(Though, maybe he just meant her to be in a forest, and the firs just firs, without any hemlock at all?)
I like realistic faces, that's why the Russian artists on that website appealed to me so much.
but being a cheerful hobbit he had not needed hope, as long as despair could be postponed.
It was emphasized over and over that Doriath consisted of forests, so I have never had a problem with his painting, even if she should clearly be in a forest glade for that scene. She looks like she's running through the woods here, and I like that!
His first batch of Silmarillion paintings were done pre-HoME, so I can forgive his lack of red hair for Maedhros and the like. Though not realizing Finrod was golden-haired was an honest mistake.
My sister also prefers realism to 'illustrations', and so she was not much moved by Dolfen or Chmiel. But I showed her Ivanneth, and she was dutifully appreciative.
Ivanneth's artwork
Ivanneth also writes fanfic - amazingly good Fëanorean stuff. I think she's out of the fandom, now, but Sirielle would know how to get ahold of her. Chmiel has illustrated a few scenes from 'The Follower' (unfinished, unfortunately...) her stories
Head the warnings.
His first batch of Silmarillion paintings were done pre-HoME, so I can forgive his lack of red hair for Maedhros and the like. Though not realizing Finrod was golden-haired was an honest mistake.
My sister also prefers realism to 'illustrations', and so she was not much moved by Dolfen or Chmiel. But I showed her Ivanneth, and she was dutifully appreciative.
Ivanneth's artwork
Ivanneth also writes fanfic - amazingly good Fëanorean stuff. I think she's out of the fandom, now, but Sirielle would know how to get ahold of her. Chmiel has illustrated a few scenes from 'The Follower' (unfinished, unfortunately...) her stories
Head the warnings.
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solicitr
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OMG, Mith- Ivanneth is brilliant! Those portraits reveal so much *personality*- let's hear it for classical art training!
On Ted's Lúthien- well, yes, Neldoreth was a forest- but a *beech* forest. You're not going to see giant conifers, Tsuga or Abies, in the bottomlands of Esgalduin!
Ted's 1st batch of Sil illustrations were commissioned in 1996 and published in 1998, so all XII volumes were already out by then.
On Ted's Lúthien- well, yes, Neldoreth was a forest- but a *beech* forest. You're not going to see giant conifers, Tsuga or Abies, in the bottomlands of Esgalduin!
Ted's 1st batch of Sil illustrations were commissioned in 1996 and published in 1998, so all XII volumes were already out by then.
Oh...I forget these things.
'98? Really? I thought...hmmm. The first Silmarillion I read was the one that he illustrated. I got it for Christmas from my parents. Was that really '98? I thought it a bit earlier.... though no earlier than Dec. '96. I remember who I was dating that Christmas, but I dated him for 4 years, so it's not helping!
I tend to mix up when things came out with when I discovered them. <grin> So, the original Star Wars trilogy is one week in June of '94, and LotR is 'when I was 12' and finding out that Tolkien had died was when I picked up Carpenter's biography in high school, 'cause the LotR I'd read had the 'living author' comment on the back (a '72 paperback of my parents). I remember being so...bowled over...by that that I told a friend on the phone, "We weren't even alive at the same time!" She thought that was such an odd way of putting it that she wrote it down, and I later saw her scribbled note when I was visiting
.
I did not find out about HoME until much later, so I always forget it was published earlier. I remember reading the LotR appendices and wishing for this Silmarillion he kept mentioning...to find out it really had been published was amazing....even though that happened before I was born, just like Star Wars.
I will just say that clearly, Ted hadn't read about Maedhros' red hair, or he would have painted him differently. Maybe HoME was out, but it was hardly well known. Yes, I know it should be a birch forest. Eissmann has a lovely birch forest where Aragorn meets Arwen. But it's still a nice picture and in the woods
.
And I believe you wanted Real Russian People, Hobby?
Ivanneth is wonderful.
'98? Really? I thought...hmmm. The first Silmarillion I read was the one that he illustrated. I got it for Christmas from my parents. Was that really '98? I thought it a bit earlier.... though no earlier than Dec. '96. I remember who I was dating that Christmas, but I dated him for 4 years, so it's not helping!
I tend to mix up when things came out with when I discovered them. <grin> So, the original Star Wars trilogy is one week in June of '94, and LotR is 'when I was 12' and finding out that Tolkien had died was when I picked up Carpenter's biography in high school, 'cause the LotR I'd read had the 'living author' comment on the back (a '72 paperback of my parents). I remember being so...bowled over...by that that I told a friend on the phone, "We weren't even alive at the same time!" She thought that was such an odd way of putting it that she wrote it down, and I later saw her scribbled note when I was visiting
. I did not find out about HoME until much later, so I always forget it was published earlier. I remember reading the LotR appendices and wishing for this Silmarillion he kept mentioning...to find out it really had been published was amazing....even though that happened before I was born, just like Star Wars
. I will just say that clearly, Ted hadn't read about Maedhros' red hair, or he would have painted him differently. Maybe HoME was out, but it was hardly well known. Yes, I know it should be a birch forest. Eissmann has a lovely birch forest where Aragorn meets Arwen. But it's still a nice picture and in the woods
.And I believe you wanted Real Russian People, Hobby?
Ivanneth is wonderful.
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Rowanberry
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Of Russian artists, also check Maria Filatova. Maedhros especially for Mith , but her Fingon is also quite swoonworthy, and her Thranduil is probably the best I've seen!
, but her Fingon is also quite swoonworthy, and her Thranduil is probably the best I've seen!
See the world as your self.
Have faith in the way things are.
Love the world as your self;
then you can care for all things.
~ Lao Tzu
While we're putting forward Russian artists...
Check out Tuuliky. Her English is limited, but her drawings are beautiful. Well, not all, but she has several very nice ones.
And a lovely Celeborn by icy-maiden, who is Italian. I like this one for the Tengwar, I will admit.
And since I seem to keep leaving out the guys, it's only fair to include the Finnish Antti Autio. His stuff is certainly nice, though not quite in the same caliber as the professional artists this thread began with.
I feel so multi-cultural
Check out Tuuliky. Her English is limited, but her drawings are beautiful. Well, not all, but she has several very nice ones.
And a lovely Celeborn by icy-maiden, who is Italian. I like this one for the Tengwar, I will admit.
And since I seem to keep leaving out the guys, it's only fair to include the Finnish Antti Autio. His stuff is certainly nice, though not quite in the same caliber as the professional artists this thread began with.
I feel so multi-cultural
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Rowanberry
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I feel like posting a few others as well:
Dagmar Jung — his hobbits are like I pictured them
Hope Hoover — some of her works are well known, but I didn't see them in this thread, so I'm posting anyway. Her Morgoth and Lúthien are NOT as I pictured them (or that canon), however.
Wynahiros — I searched randomly on DeviantArt and found her stuff; the Tolkienian material is a few pages into her gallery. I think it's somewhat movie-inspired, though.
Adele Sessler — I love her art; she has a few LotR drawings here, though she specializes in other art.
Dagmar Jung — his hobbits are like I pictured them
Hope Hoover — some of her works are well known, but I didn't see them in this thread, so I'm posting anyway. Her Morgoth and Lúthien are NOT as I pictured them (or that canon), however.
Wynahiros — I searched randomly on DeviantArt and found her stuff; the Tolkienian material is a few pages into her gallery. I think it's somewhat movie-inspired, though.
Adele Sessler — I love her art; she has a few LotR drawings here, though she specializes in other art.
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Primula Baggins
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Thanks for posting those, Tyrhael!
I agree with you about Jung's hobbits. Those always seem to be the acid test for an illustrator, and ones who get everything else right often portray hobbits as knobby children or stubby clowns. Being hobbit-centric, I can't help but be annoyed. Jung's hobbits look like adults and have dignity, and they are as Tolkien described them, in correct human proportion to their height.
I love Frodo's look of loving amusement in "Famousest of the Hobbits," but I think my favorite image is "Sam Grieving."
I agree with you about Jung's hobbits. Those always seem to be the acid test for an illustrator, and ones who get everything else right often portray hobbits as knobby children or stubby clowns. Being hobbit-centric, I can't help but be annoyed.
Jung's hobbits look like adults and have dignity, and they are as Tolkien described them, in correct human proportion to their height.I love Frodo's look of loving amusement in "Famousest of the Hobbits," but I think my favorite image is "Sam Grieving."
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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Rowanberry
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I also like Jung's hobbits; they are really portrayed as miniature humans with hairy feet, not as some kind of freaky midgets. (The artist is a she, BTW.)
The siblings, Alice and Angel Falto, also have many very nice Tolkien illustrations (if you like their style), especially among those that aren't influenced by the movies.
The siblings, Alice and Angel Falto, also have many very nice Tolkien illustrations (if you like their style), especially among those that aren't influenced by the movies.
See the world as your self.
Have faith in the way things are.
Love the world as your self;
then you can care for all things.
~ Lao Tzu
Just had to bump this thread, since I missed it originially...
I already started a thread for an artist I only just stumbled across, Paul Raymond Gregory, but wanted to mention here two of my favourite Tolkien illustrators, whom no one else has bought up so far:
Firstly, Stephen Hickman whose overall style I love, though his costuming choices for some characters can be a little bizarre for my tastes... His earlier work is not featured on his website, but his original 1970s posters, such as this "Watcher at the Gate"
are still available from the Tolkienshop.com
and secondly, Matt Stewart, whose painting of Arwen and Aragorn is among my all-time favourites:
http://tolkiengateway.net/w/images/e/ec ... ragorn.jpg
I already started a thread for an artist I only just stumbled across, Paul Raymond Gregory, but wanted to mention here two of my favourite Tolkien illustrators, whom no one else has bought up so far:
Firstly, Stephen Hickman whose overall style I love, though his costuming choices for some characters can be a little bizarre for my tastes... His earlier work is not featured on his website, but his original 1970s posters, such as this "Watcher at the Gate"
are still available from the Tolkienshop.com
and secondly, Matt Stewart, whose painting of Arwen and Aragorn is among my all-time favourites:
http://tolkiengateway.net/w/images/e/ec ... ragorn.jpg
There is magic in long-distance friendships. They let you relate to other human beings in a way that goes beyond being physically together and is often more profound.
~Diana Cortes
~Diana Cortes
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Voronwë the Faithful
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I don't much care for Stephen Hickman, but that Arwen and Aragon by Matt Stewart (which I had never seen before) is absolutely lovely.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
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ToshoftheWuffingas
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I discovered some fine works here. Thank you for the research.
I particularly enjoyed this one:
http://www.elfwood.com/~dagmarjung/If-y ... 61225.html
I particularly enjoyed this one:
http://www.elfwood.com/~dagmarjung/If-y ... 61225.html
<a><img></a>
I always used to use the old Rolozo Tolkien Site. Its been rolled into TheOneRing.net now and has a LOT more artists!
http://fan.theonering.net/~rolozo/cgi-b ... on?hide=-3
http://fan.theonering.net/~rolozo/cgi-b ... on?hide=-3
The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End
Tolkien artistes
Deviantart is a website worth checking out for all things arty. It's an online gallery where you can display your works and allow for comments. It also has its own space for things tolkien
Three or four artists have been mentioned on this thread whose works are displayed on this site.
John Howe and Allan Lee's works of anything Tolkien is second to none and I admire their work.
Three or four artists have been mentioned on this thread whose works are displayed on this site.
John Howe and Allan Lee's works of anything Tolkien is second to none and I admire their work.
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Voronwë the Faithful
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Very cool! I know that some people love Cor Blok but I am not a fan, and so I'm glad that they are going to the artists that I enjoy.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."