Middle-earth Journeys

Then, I would vote for Howe. Just one piece?

Yup.

Bagend




Riders in the Shire




Galadriel




Hobbiton




Middle-earth Map




Legolas and Gimli




Guards of Minas Tirith




Minas Tirith

© John Howe

I'd go for Howe too - Lee is too subtle for a 'grab-you-by-the-throat' poster which needs to stop students in their tracks, and Ted's best work is outside LotR.

Legolas and Gimli (above) is my favourite (and is one of his most popular paintings). You can see a whole load of Howe stuff here. They come up quite large.

Wow! Those are magnificent! Thanks, RR. Isn't it funny: I had settled on Howe last night, even before you had recommended him, and I'm glad Iolanthe agrees. I had been leaning toward the map, which is kind of cheating, since it is a collage and might be too complex for what I'm trying to do, but after looking at these, I'm not sure.

Any other votes?

Like Iolanthe, my favourite is the Legolas & Gimli pic, but I also like the final one, because it's nice and bright. Cerulean blue attracts the eye (my eye, anyway!).

Merry, while I can see what you are saying about the map (it is the most all inclusive), if you had to pick just one to represent your idea of the essence of Tolkien...which would it be?

For me, maybe that would be Guards of Minas Tirith. It encompasses the groundwork themes of Tolkien...magnificent cities...great civilzations and cultures...prominence of warfare and being ever vigilant.

That's a very hard question, Professor! I'll get back to you.

It is VERY hard to decide, but I keep being drawn back to that wonderful illustration of Bag End -- looking out the door at the Road that Goes Ever On and On. It just screams, "Step out the door and join me on an adventure!" Isn't that what you're enticing these students to do, Merry?

The problem is that it doesn't have a single character in it, and I believe we are always most attracted to pictures/illustrations that have people or animals in them -- we are attracted to FACES.

I like the Minas Tirith illustration very much, but it troubles me that it only represents the race of Men. There are no Hobbits, Elves, Dwarves, or Wizards. Same with the gorgeous illustration of Legolas and Gimli -- no men, Hobbits, or Wizards (and where on earth would Legolas have obtained that helmet during his adventure)?

I looked at all the Howe illustrations on Rolozo Tolkien. Too bad there isn't a good one including all the members of the Fellowship. THAT would be my choice.

There is always this classic from Tim and Greg Hildebrandt...

It looks so dated now though (mainly because of the costumes and Aragorn posing as Robin Hood's camp cousin from Middle-earth). I think it would put modern post-Peter Jackson students right off.

Not to mention Legolas looking more like a fugitive from Santa's workshop, and Gimli without an axe of any description and wearing a HAT!!! Plus, the hobbits look like leprechauns. The only characters that look remotely like Tolkien's descriptions are Gandalf and Boromir.

I did find this one by Ted Nasmith of the Fellowship leaving Rivendell:



I also ran across a spectacular John Howe illustration of Eowyn and the Witch-King that I've somehow never noticed before. He captured her attacking the fell beast so effectively! Just WOW!

This is fun! I agree about the Hildebrandt Fellowship--I can just see Kevin Kline (one of my favorite actors and a native St. Louisan) camping it up as Aragorn! I've used the Nasmith Fellowship for another event's poster last year, where the theme was specifically fellowship.

I've narrowed it down to the Bag End, the map collage, and the cerulean Minas Tirith (without guards). Reason: the class will be on Tolkien and the fantasy genre, but I don't want students unfamiliar with the genre to be turned off by something too fantastic, like it's a class on Xena or something! I've got a few students who have been advising me about the class, and so I think I'll run those three pictures by them to see which one speaks to them. One of them is a graphic design major and a big Tolkien lover, so I'm hoping he'll create the poster for me.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Again, I say, this was fun! I'll let you know which one we use.

That sounds like a very good idea - just the right kind of feedback before you commit it to print .

I love the Howe painting of Eowyn and the Witchking. He manages to get such dynamic movement into those sorts of scenes. Look at the way the tail curls back around her!

Merry wrote:I can just see Kevin Kline (one of my favorite actors and a native St. Louisan) camping it up as Aragorn!

I'd pay a lot to see that - what a fantastic spoof it would be.

Marbretherese, Jonick and I will off to Morton in March tomorrow for ADC Books annual Tolkien art exhibition:

Lands of Enchantment

We're not sure what events are happening on which day but as it's a Saturday I imagine we won't miss much of the good stuff .

Expect the usual illustrated reports .