It’s strange how things develop and change when you’re playing with ideas for a painting. I’ve been wondering for a while how I’d paint Bilbo meeting Gandalf for the first time at Bag End, so I sat down with a couple of pencils and a large sketch book and pondered. Nothing came to me, I stared at a blank piece of paper and wondered if it was like they say about carving, the piece is already there you just have to chip away the waste. Well, I tried looking at…
Read MoreTag: Tolkien
Where Next
Looking out over Tolkien’s Middle Earth wondering where to visit next. Based on this image of John Howe on top of a hill (I stood peering over the edge there once, and I’m sure I saw some misty mountains in the distance), and of course the map of Middle Earth by Tolkien. I wasn’t sure whether I wanted the place names on or not, and I’m still not sure, here’s the version without the text.
Read MoreArriving at Bag End
Four dwarves arriving at Bag End, straight from the book 😉 I may paint them differently in twelve months of course 🙂 This was a large watercolour which I stopped and started too many times, lost my way, forgot what I was doing, but I got there in the end 😉 (The majority is watercolour, but there’s a touch of gouache, some coloured pencil, and a bit of Photoshop included for good measure).
Read MoreYoung Ent
Decided to sketch a young Ent today 😉 Now to try one in colour.
Read MoreA long expected sculpture
Back in 2009 we excitedly placed an order for a sculpture from Weta. Now, we don’t normally go in for large sculptures, but this one was to be of Smaug™ the Golden and was the first piece in John Howe’s and Weta’s range of sculptures from Middle-earth™ The illustration of Smaug™ the Golden by John Howe is probably known by everyone who has read The Hobbit. Now, when I look at an illustration like this, I must admit I didn’t think it would be possible to recreate it in 3 dimensions…
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