Middle-earth Journeys

Harmless - yes, P, and a real gentleman in the true sense of the word, I reckon, but no way was I going to talk to him. I left that to Iolanthe - she's the artist.

It's worth pointing out that AL hadn't been expected to be there on the third day - and not only was he signing and chatting, but happily posing for photos for those brave enough to ask him to do so - however we didn't think it appropriate, and went for the unposed shots.

Like Merry, I've really enjoyed the Carter-Hitchin artwork used on these forums. I'd never heard of her, and will take a look at her website!

I picked up a copy of Alan Lee's 'The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook' last Tuesday in Edinburgh. It's a beautiful, very gentle book, containing sketches from both the films and his original art work for the illustrated editions of 'Lord of the Rings'. Everything in it blends and mixes to produce a work that is satisfying for both the mind and the eyes.

marbretherese~ don't be shy...he is such a lovely man and not at all intimidating! Just gush over how much you love his work, which isn't very hard to do, right??
I am hoping he comes back to my area when his book is out!!

Trouble is, Varda, I'm not that familiar with Alan Lee's work, although I've seen the films of course, and some of his artwork is used on this site in the calendar. And he did give a fascinating talk, along with John Howe, at the 2004 Fellowship Festival. So I'm keen to get the Sketchbook to educate myself. But right now I wouldn't have anything sensible to say to him !

This will be the address of Alan Lee's new website:

http://www.alan-lee.com

There is one page up with the hopeful word 'Soon...' . How soon ?

marbretherese - you can quickly become an Alan Lee 'expert' by having a look at the Rolozo Tolkien site here. There are six pages of wonderful paintiings .

I'd love to know who everone's favourite Tolkien artists are and why - it's such a rich area. I think you've all guessed mine .

Iolanthe wrote: you can quickly become an Alan Lee 'expert' by having a look at the Rolozo Tolkien site

thanks Iolanthe, they're wonderful! so much to take in. I've decided to set one as my desktop to coincide with whatever LOTR chapter is being discussed on these forums!

I think that's a great idea! Nothing like creating the right atmosphere before posting .

Rolozo Tolkien is a great site! I sometimes watch baseball games on the Internet, and a visit to view Tolkien art is a great way to spend a few minutes between innings.

I don't like to be predictable, but Alan Lee is my favorite Tolkien artist. Some of them seem too Xena for my tastes, and I think Tolkien would disapprove, too. But Lee has such respect for the nuances.

Feel free to post an image here to share. We have an attachment function that is quite easy to use. We do ask you give credit to the artist.

Merry wrote:I don't like to be predictable, but Alan Lee is my favorite Tolkien artist. Some of them seem too Xena for my tastes, and I think Tolkien would disapprove, too. But Lee has such respect for the nuances.

I know just what you mean about the nuances. Some are very 'Xena-ish', some are too 'children's fairy story', some are too 'Norse Myth' looking. Somehow he hits it about right for me. But it also depends on your own personal view of Middle Earth, I suppose. I would love to hear what Tolkien would say if he could see them all and if any of them would be 'spot on' with his inner vision. Maybe we would be really surprised!

I know that he was really pleased by the illustrations of Pauline Baynes.

It is a shame we can't see what Tolkien's visions of his characters were...most of his drawings only included an elf or two, a hobbit here or there. He wrote such vivid descriptions of people,places and things!

It is a shame, Varda, it would have been nice to see how he visualised the characters. I expect he was only confident drawing his landscapes and buildings.

Pauline Baynes was my first 'Tolkien Artist' as she was the jacket illustrator of my first ever copy of Lord of the Rings, and, or course, all my childhood Narnia books. I love her pictures though for me they come in the 'children's fairy story' school of Tolkien art. But I still really like them, they are quite magical.

If anyone isn't familiar with her Tolkien book covers there are a bunch of there here .

I love Pauline Bayne's work. I was brought up on her illustrations of Narnia and had a much beloved copy of 'Lord of the Rings' with her cover illustration which has sadly been long lost in the mists of time.

This is one of my favourite Tolkien-inspired pictures. It's by an artist called Catherine Karina Chmiel. I think she has captured the atmosphere of Middle-earth really well and her 'Aragorn' is almost the same as the 'Aragorn' I have had in my imagination for many long years.

Oh, yes! That's my Aragorn, too, aflon.