Photos (and Drawings?) of Tolkienian Landscapes

[Ursa major]

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Child...?!

Didn't they know that the picture is of an Eagle rescuing Frodo...?

 

[Toby Frost]

Is there a thread for Tolkien's own drawings? I don't know much about the technical side of things, but I always found his illustrations for The Hobbit to be very memorable and rather eerie.

 

[Extollager]

Yes, the Hobbit illustrations have a kind of uncanny quality, at least some of them. When I was a boy I had a Ballantine paperback -- without the drawings, of course -- but photocopied some of the drawings and paintings from a library hardcover edition. That was back when photocopies reproduced black-ink originals in grey, in fact everything was grey. Even the paper used seemed not quite a bright white.

 

[Toby Frost]

From an untrained point of view, a lot of the pictures are symmetrical, which I'm told is unsettling to the human eye. Also, many of them involve looking towards some sort of distant viewpoint, which I think makes them mysterious. I get the same feeling looking at primitive computer games and some pixel art. This sort of thing (and not just because it's a fantasy setting):

This picture of Bilbo's house reminds me of Edward Gorey or maybe even Edward Lear:

It would be interesting to know what Tolkien thought of his artwork, and whether he was consciously following anyone.

 

[Extollager]

The funny thing about that picture of the Hall at Bag End is that the perspective is astonishingly off -- for example, the door is enormous vis-a-vis Bilbo and his table, etc. -- and yet it works well in its context. The cozy foreground opens on a road and landscape -- so important for this book.

 

[Toby Frost]

Yes, that door's got to be about twice Bilbo's height - assuming that it wasn't meant to be that big. There's something a bit Beardsley-ish about those blacked-out trees.

Likewise this picture of Smaug flying over the Lonely Mountain:

 

[Extollager]

I had the great pleasure of seeing Tolkien's original art for The Hobbit about 35 years ago at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. New to me was a sketch of Gandalf looking towards the hill where the trolls had their fire -- with the fire in red ink. Happily, one can see all this art now in lavish books.

I love this drawing:

Again, the perspective is free -- those pines or firs in the middle distance would have to be enormous; and there are mountains like teeth that must exceed the physical possibilities (I forget what the technical term is).

The science of steep mountain slopes - Futurity

But it's a wonderful drawing, so evocative.

 

[Extollager]

Tolkien had opposed the idea of an illustrated edition of The Lord of the Rings until he saw Mary Fairburn's pictures -- then he wanted to discuss the possibility. Fairburn has published an autobiography. Check the page here

Borne on the Wind – Kelly & Rose (kellyandrose.com.au)

for a reproduction of a letter to her from Tolkien.