: An artist who does not 'immediately' please the eye, is Alan Lee. His pictures are at first a bit 'dim' and the colours are very 'unspectacular'. At closer inspection it's like seeing things that really happened a long time ago through the shroud of time....glimpses of a mythic past (mythic being the key word here). He is also very very subtle and thus does not fall into the trap many others have fallen into; drawing absolutely everything (with the exception of Sauron) clearly despite the lack of description to base it on (how many God awful balrogs have we seen?). Lee's characters often turn their faces away from us so that we cannot see them fully (our imagination is left something to work on), and some things like the nazgul seem like "shadows within shadows"...other things he flat out refuses to try and depict. "Tol Brandir" is classic Lee; at first we hardly see Frodo and Boromir in the tangle of trees and stones (Lee often place characters out of the traditional focal points...a very effective tool). When we see them it's like a snapshot of an event that really happened, and it feels like our earth (a Naismith drawing makes you think of a remote fantasy world with it's impossible colours). "Luthien dancing" might be his best rendering; here is an illustration to the 'weathertop sequence' where the company remembers Luthien. She's like a spirit out of a forgotten world (the elvish world) seen as a glimpse in the woods at night....marvelously 'elvish'. I could go on and on.

: Anyway, these are my thoughts. I'd be happy to hear how others think about different Tolkien artists (not only the ones I have mentioned).

: cheers
: -Frode

I agree with you totally. Another thing I have often wondered at is the amount of attention given to the RING books over the HOBBIT. I understand that the RING books must have a greater audience and appreciation but THE HOBBIT has the advantage ( and I think this is the reason for JRRT´s success )that it is a childrens book, and for this reason is packed with evocative descriptions, far more, in my opinion, than the RING trilogy.

I think that many artists approach Tolkiens books from a deep felt affection, the chance to illustrate such a wonderfull creation is a rare one, few other books have such a loving audience, and this becomes apparent to the artist.

The first Howe illustration I saw was Eowyn and the Nazgul, and that black presence against the mist quite captivated my imagination, and I remember thinking, Yes that is exactly how I imagined it, the fact that the dying Rohan king is not in the picture, nor is Merry, is neither here nor there, the essence is intact and that is the true art in illustation.
When I compare Howe with Garland, I am at a loss as to how Garland ever got any commissions at all ! And if you´ve ever seen the Hildebrandt brothers German fairy tale type illustrations, and like me, shuddered at their lack of imagination, then Howe suddenly seems all that much better.

Jan