There are several very kind mentions of my Tolkien lecture at The One Ring.net, and this post is a great overview of the entire day of lectures featuring The Lord of the Rings music of Howard Shore, and linguist David Salo.
Having got things going with style, Mr Olsen was followed by Colleen Doran, who gave a wonderful presentation about Tolkien’s art, his own influences, and the art of those who have interpreted Middle Earth. She modestly focused largely on the work of others – though we all agreed we would gladly have spent more time looking at her own gorgeous drawings – and her talk was accompanied by images for us all to gaze upon and enjoy! She also brought prints of her ‘Gimli’s Gift’ drawing, for us all to take home with us.
I had a number of people ask why I did not show more of my own Tolkien work in the lecture. I chose to focus on other artists because Tolkien is big and I am small. I will try to find the time to post some of my notes. But I recall that I promised almost four years ago to post my Smithsonian lecture notes too, and never did.
If days were 48 hours long, I am sure I would temporarily delude myself into believing that would give me enough time to do all I want to do.
Anyway, nice pictures at the links, and a shout out to our friend Laura Cooper at Mythology Body, whose guest post on this blog can be found here.
Here is what Thranduil seems like to me, a sketch I did not show at the lecture. Can’t remember if this has been published.
Hope to get a chance to do some official portraits of Thranduil someday, but in the meantime, this sketch makes a nice Elf King!
I’m thinking actor Luke Goss who played Prince Nuada in Hellboy: The Golden Army would make an awesome Thranduil in The Hobbit film, don’t you?
If someone could tell me what’s not to like about this guy, I am open-minded enough to listen to your opinion, but whatever it is you would be wrong.
The “Out of Sequence: Underrepresented Voices in American Comics” exhibit has traveled to the Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery at Keene State College in Keene, New Hampshire. The exhibition opened at the end of October and will run into December 2009.
I have several original pieces in it, including an unpublished page from issue #7 of The Book of Lost Souls, and two pages of A Distant Soil. I was surprised how many of the pieces in the exhibit from other artists are digital.
Pen and ink slowly goes the way of the dodo.
I guess this makes me a dodo. I don’t intend on giving it up.
For all the other dodos out there, check out Paper and Inks Arts, the best pen process wonk catalogue ever.
A short list of Tolkien inspired/related books, which I recommend in my Tolkien art lectures. Not all of these are directly related to The Lord of the Rings, but feature artists closely associated with the work.
For example, Alan Lee, who is widely regarded as among the greatest of all Tolkien illustrators, has very few works in print. So, I’ve included some of his other books which I hope you will enjoy.
I’ve been asked to repeat this lecture at future appearances, so I will let you know when and where.
J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator
by Christina Scull, Wayne G. Hammond
J.R.R. Tolkien
Mariner Books; 1st Houghton Mifflin
Tolkien’s World : Paintings of Middle-Earth by J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien (Author)
Inger Edelfeldt, Tony Galuidi, Roger Garland, Robert Goldsmith, Michael Hague, Alan Lee, John Howe, Ted Nasmith, Carol Emery Phenix
MJF Books
Realms of Tolkien – Images of Middle-Earth
HarperCollins Publishers
Greg and Tim Hildebrandt, the Tolkien Years
Watson-Guptill
John Howe Fantasy Art Workshop
Impact
The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
The Art of The Fellowship of the Ring
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
The Art of The Lord of the Rings
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Myth and Magic: The Art of John Howe
HarperCollins UK
The Mabinogion
Lady Charlotte Guest
Illustrated by Allan Lee
Harper Collins
Faeries
Brian Froud and Alan Lee
Harry N. Abrams
Castles
Alan Lee, David Day
Mcgraw-Hill
Recommended websites of noted Tolkien illustrators. Not all are official websites. Kay Nielsen was not a Tolkien illustrator, but his work was a great influence on J.R.R. Tolkien’s work. The art there is in the public domain.
There are, of course, many other artists who have illustrated The Lord of the Rings who I have not listed here. This list covers those artists mentioned in my lecture.
Also, a number of Tolkien artist websites, including those of Darrell Sweet and Rowena Morrill, don’t feature many (if any) Tolkien works, so referring you to them would be beside the point. There are some unofficial sites out there which have their paintings, but I will only link directly to artist websites for the purposes of this discussion.
I’m an admirer of both artists, and Sweet in particular was a huge influence on me. As a kid, I loved his work on the adaptation of Howard Pyle’s King Arthur for Reader’s Digest. Absolutely charming!
There has not been a new collection of Tolkien art in some years. Long overdue, in my humble opinion. Of course, any collection would be contingent on the wishes of the Tolkien estate, and we have to respect that.
Gallery with over 70 drawings and paintings on permanent display by artist Roger Garland
Paintings and illustrations by Jeff Murray
Renowned Tolkien artist and scholar Ted Nasmith
Michael Kaluta website featuring extensive galleries including Tolkien calendar art
Top ranked realist Donato Giancola. Extensive galleries
Kinuko Craft, Society of Illustrators Gold Medal Winner
Ian Miller. Featuring extensive galleries and store
The cover art of Pauline Baynes
Renowned Tolkien artist and conceptual illustrator John Howe. Extensive galleries and blog
10 Time Hugo Award winning illustrator Michael Whelan
Gallery of the art of Kay Nielsen
Greg and Tim Hildebrandt, two of the most popular Tolkien illustrators
Colleen Doran. Licensing and merchandising artist. Cartoonist.
I’m totally plugging me.
My “Hobbit Feet” signed by Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, and Billy Boyd. Kinda neat.
A Distant Soil is © and ® 2011 Colleen Doran. All rights reserved.
Blog design header and maintenance by Lilith Creative. 2011 update by Frumph.
Guest blogs are © individual contributors.
Use of copyrighted works for purposes of commentary protected by Fair Use statute, but will be removed at the copyright holder's request.
Subscribe RSS: Entries | Comments
CONTACT | WWW.COLLEENDORAN.COM
A Distant Soil by Colleen Doran Site Design by NewMoon ∞ OldSoul Designs.
