Middle-earth Journeys

I see I forgot to add my last Hobbit themed print. This one entitled Huine Taurë Ninque Sulë or Dark Forest, White Spirit is the result of the first layered project I had started last week. I'm not totally happy with it for reasons you can read about on my blog The Melete Project. But as you can see it's from the Mirkwood forest adventure when the white hart jumps out at the company startling them. My reaction to the print is "mmmehhh".

© LM Gildersleeve

I like the idea for the print, Philipa, but I can see what you mean about the watery ink. I look forward to seeing your next steps.

You didn't show us Beorn, either!

It makes it look very ghostly! Not sure how to solve the watery problem, or how to get the effect I can see you want by cutting back the block ....

Merry wrote:
You didn't show us Beorn, either!

And then there's another one too. Today's a crazy day for me...I'll post soon I promise Merry.

Ladies, I have been both swamped with work and dealing with family health issues, so I am most remiss in responding to the wonderful artistic contributions over the past few weeks.

marbretherese -- Your Yavanna is just STUNNING! How lovely and organic she is!

Riv -- I love your Laketown concept. Just splendid! This new style is really bringing out some wonderful shapes, interpretations, and colors for you. Merry, you are correct that we don't often get illustrations of Laketown. However, in addition to The Professor's wonderful depiction, Alan Lee did two illustrations for the Houghton Mifflin 60th anniversary edition -- one of Laketown proper, and the other of Smaug "crashing down from on high in ruin," although to be truthful, we don't see much of Laketown in that one, just lots of "ruin."

Philipa -- I think your white stag is quite lovely and "ghostly," although perhaps the end result is less satisfactory to you in reality than it is to me online. I am definitely enjoying your blog!

As always, ladies, I am amazed and quite envious of your considerable talents!

Thank you and take care of yourself L. Remember, "this too shall pass".

So I wonder how the PJ and the designers will make Laketown? Will it be a lovely environment that we will dream of living in or will they do to it what they did to Bree and the Prancing Pony?

Merry, did you mean to post this in the Hobbit Movie thread?

Well, I thought about posting it there! But it seemed to me a continuation of the discussion here about Laketown art, too. But we can move it if you want!

Hopefully Laketown will be as the book. I think they got too carried away with Bree being threatening in FotR, to ramp up the sense of danger. There was enough danger with the Nine without making the Prancing Pony feel like a Saturday Night inner city dive for ne'er do wells.

Iolanthe wrote:There was enough danger with the Nine without making the Prancing Pony feel like a Saturday Night inner city dive for ne'er do wells.

Merry I don't care either way.

OK, good!

I imagine there is the potential for some large rats in Laketown. We can't imagine that PJ would pass that up!

Here's one that took me a while to complete. Too many distractions. It is called The Great Gates to Thranduil's Hall and you can read some of my thoughts about it here in my blog.


The Great Gates to Thranduil's Hall

© Rabbit Ridge Art

This has been an interesting series to watch develop, RR. I can appreciate the organic shapes and the suggestion of different materials and, as always, your beautiful use of colors. What I like best here is the suggesion of a starry sky behind the 'exotic shapes'. I suppose that if elves had to live in caves, they would make the darkness look like a starry night!

I like this VERY much. I particularly like that the designs in the middle of the gate almost suggest "The Green Man." Thranduil, the Elvenking, comes off very much like "The Green Man" in The Hobbit, at least to me. There's something really fey and feral about him. Very, very nice!