Kevin's Watch

Well, as most LOTR fans know, there are many who have tried to depict Tolkien's writings by use of the paintbrush. Alan Lee is my favorite, but there are many other fantastic LOTR illustrators out there.

Anyway, post your favorite LOTR-related piece of work here! It can be an LOTR-related photo instead of a painting, too. For example:



Can't think of any artists? Try clicking on this link and checking the LONG list of pros that have done Tolkien illustrations.

fan.theonering.net/rolozo/?hide=-3&view=collection

oh good grief, that pic is REDICULOUS












anyway, Michael Hague did a pretty damn good job of painting for the Hobbit...one edition i have...awesome artwork...captured the feel of it perfectly...

No discussion of this topic is complete without a mention of the art gallery from The Tolkien Sarcasm Page!.

The Waterhouse interpretation of Frodo in the Dead Marshes, for example, gives one a whole new understanding of Frodo's odd behavior while there.

I bought all three Art of the LotR movie books and they are great. Even some Alan Lee for you Foul.

I'd post links to some of my favorite LOTR fanart, but a third of it is gone, a third of it is comics and humor, and the other third is, um, slash.

I have to say that as far as LOTR book covers go, I think I am in possession of one of the least attractive fantasy covers ever... this is the 1970 Ballantine/Houghton Mifflin edition with Mount Doom exploding in the middle background and serpent-looking animals in the foreground. Curiously enough, a similar edition of TTT in the same style is not half bad.

Alynna Lis Eachann wrote: and the other third is, um, slash.

Slashfic is the lowest point in the entire history of humankind!

And the only thing worse than LOTR slash, is Harry Potter slash!

Edge wrote:

Alynna Lis Eachann wrote: and the other third is, um, slash.

Slashfic is the lowest point in the entire history of humankind!

And the only thing worse than LOTR slash, is Harry Potter slash!

When we complain about guys enjoying two women in that context, they try to make out like it's no big deal. Shoe's on the other foot now, yeah?

I'm not accusing you personally, Edge. What I mean to say is that I know which audience enjoys which pop culture trend, and the similarity is pretty revealing.

BTW... found one of my favorites. The Fellowship, by Calima, for the Bagenders fan fiction series

In the trivia thread Dawngreeter Wrote:

Fingolfin. My absolute favorite bad-ass mo-fo Noldor elf.

Here he is, being bad-ass!

interesting, but I personally think it is a mistake to try and put a face to Sauron.

Right? His eye is on top of that tower, his mouth speaks at the gates, his nose is up Melkor's butt. How can his body have a face?

Mabye he's just him trying to frighten the poor guy with and image of a scary face.

.

Double post.

Usivius wrote:interesting, but I personally think it is a mistake to try and put a face to Sauron.

I thought the picture was of Melkor.

Yeah, I guess you're right. I was just looking up something else, and it mentioned Throndor scratching Melkor's face after he killed Fingolfin. *shrug* I'm not too deep into Tolkien.

Yeah it's Melkor (or Morgoth if you want to be pedantic).

Easy mistake to make as it's a common theme in Tolkien's work:
Big Evil Guy vs Little Good Guy.
Morgoth/Fingolfin, Sauron/Elendil (or Isildur!), Witch King/Eowyn, Shelob/Sam.... I could go on. See the pattern?

This thread raises an interesting point about how we visualise Tolkien's world when it isn't described in detail (or even what he mentions as metaphor eg. Balrog "wings").
For instance it is never written what Morgoth actually looks like (in detail), but neither does it say "He by no means had big chompy teeth and a scowly expression on his face. The Dark Lord did not look like that at all".

It leaves us to imagine some of the finer details, especially in the Silmarillion which is much more about "This big event happened over here, then that happened over there." [I'm trying to get around to reading the other texts that were compiled into it, maybe there is more detail there.]

Half the fun of reading this fantastic stuff is that we've all got a different image of what it describes.
Most of my fave art is whatever fits my mental picture the closest. This is also why I tell people to read the books before watching the films.... No-one ever does though!

The Three silmarils in his crown is pretty much a dead giveaway.

It wasn't to me.

I can't help being a Tolkien geek.
In some ways you are in the best position Fist, being able to talk about things in depth but without boring the arse off your friends and family (unlike your's truly!).

Example geek question: Why does this pic more accurately portray the scene than the one in ROTK?

Uh... IIRC, the mace was in the Nazgul's left hand in the movie? Is it in his right in the book? (I don't feel like walking the 15 feet to my bookshelf. )

thats a good question, i cant think of the reason.