Category: J. R. R. Tolkien
This section contains the largest collection of images: examples of my work from the 1970’s to the present inspired chiefly by J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, but also The Hobbit and The Silmarillion.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.tednasmith.com/tolkien/moria-gate-2021/
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Gandalf and the Witch King
Private commission. Gouache, 24″ x 18.75″ The challenge was to create images of the protagonists which carry the essence of the descriptions Tolkien gives us. It needed the two opponents to seem dynamic and energized. This was easy enough with the Witch King’s dramatic entrance, whereas Gandalf is described as statue like, a sentinel …
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“He Beheld a Vision of Gondolin Amid the Snow”
Gouache, 17″ x 12″ Among the illustrations submitted for this new edition, this one in particular was key. It astonished me that up to then I had not carefully read the Unfinished Tales account and picked up on this detail. In The Silmarillion, despite that Tuor and Voronwe had come to Gondolin through a winter …
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Galadriel and Celeborn at Lake Evendim
Gouache, 17″ x 11.75″ I was excited to do this piece, based on a thumbnail taken from old concept ideas for Unfinished Tales. It offers a rare glimpse of the Elf queen and her mate Celeborn outside Lothlórien, during their long wanderings across the breadth of Middle-earth.
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Amon Rûdh
Gouache, 16″ x 11″ I was very glad to do this piece, which takes us up close to the mountain, and epitomizes the Northern landscape themes and settings of First Age tales, in particular. Mim and Turin can be seen standing under an overhang above the others. But the main interest for me was the …
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Aldarion Returns From His First Voyage
Gouache, 19.75″ x 12″ Long a favourite tale from the book, it meant a lot to be able to include this scene in my submissions for Unfinished Tales. My thumbnail was quite basic for this scene, and I fleshed it out by deciding we should see something of the land across the sound/firth, and the …
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The Oathtaking of Cirion and Eorl
Gouache, 15.5″ x 10.5″ This 2020 version improves greatly on my early 1990s version, swinging the view toward the westering sun, and taking advantage of the rich colours implied. It also carefully renders the figures said to be present, and some indications of squires. Snow upon the White Mountains reduced because the scene occurs in …
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Ithilien
Private commission. Gouache, 18″ x 12″ Detail of Frodo and Samwise:
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The Fellowship Approaches Moria
Private commission. Gouache, 13″ x 8″ Incorporates an interpretation of the Swiss mountain at Lake Oeschinen which Tolkien would have seen in 1911, which later inspired the Middle-earth version.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.tednasmith.com/tolkien/the-fellowship-approaches-moria/