14.5.09

Tolkien

I'm not really an illustrator like, say, Ben Hatke (who is so good he could only be constantly tempted to the sin of pride) or David John (whose "photo" icon of, I think, St. John, is my single favorite thing here.) but I'm posting these anyway. I've always had a special feeling for the characters Eowyn in "The Lord of the Rings," and have tried to do her twice. One is a pencil drawing and one is done entirely in Adobe Illustrator. I have a lot of affection for them but they're really just respectable failures. The leaves picture is a sketch prep for a watercolor of part of Niggle's tree that I'm afraid to start. (I think the short story "Leaf by Niggle" by Tolkien is probably the most important literary experience for a Catholic artist. If you haven't read it, I urge you to do so. "It's a gift!") The cutout piece, about three inches wide is Ulmo from the "Silmarillion." It's really the sort of thing I do now.

3 comments:

Ben Hatke said...

I obviously need to reread the Simarillion. Is Ulmo a river spirit? Regardless, that's a really cool piece and only 3 inches wide!

Tommy said...

Somewhat atypically among serious Tolkien fans, the Silmarillion is my favorite. I once noted what the pinnacle experiences of my childhood were and one of the five was reading The Hobbit, say 1959. Ulmo is one of the primary Valar (angels, say) sent to execute and nurture Iluvatar's (God's) creation of Ea, (the world that is.) He's the "god" of the sea and all waters. I checked again: I did a 3" version, but that one is 4".

Anonymous said...

Hi Tommy, I really like the leaves, all good stuff. I'll have to read "Niggle" then on your recommendation. Unfortunately I can't claim my St John avatar as my own. It's an icon (probably a contemporary one) that I found in my searches for images of St John. Being that John is my middle name, it seems appropriate for someone learning iconography.