Silmarillion art (book)?

[gkgyver 1,645]

Is there a Source out there, preferrably a book, that has art and illustrations on the tales of the Silmarillion? How much exactly did Alan Lee and John Howe do there?

I'm not familiar with other Tolkien artists.

[Incanus 5,713]

I don't think there is any single book showcasing just the art of the Silmarillion per se. Both Alan Lee and John Howe have done quite a few illustrations based on the early Legendarium and Silmarillion (including the complete The Children of Húrin and Beren and Lúthien illustrations by Lee).

 

Another major illustrator who has created extensive art inspired by the Silmarillion (and Tolkien is general) is Ted Nasmith whose landscapes are simply gorgeous (he excels less with characters).

You can find his site HERE. It is full of wonderful illustrations.

 

John Howe's and Alan Lee's work can be found in various art books that compile their work.

 

John Howe's own site is a great resource. He also writes quite extensive and often brilliantly scholarly blog posts on art and life in general.

Myth and Magic is a great John Howe art book that compiles both his Middle-earth and other works into one beautiful tome.

Alan Lee doesn't unfortunately have his own site but his work has been compiled on various sites on the net and in several art books as well.

[Bilbo 3,709]

Nasmith did an illustrated Silmarillion so that'd be a good start. 

[Incanus 5,713]

Indeed. But I don't think there is a book that would solely focus on Nasmith's Silmarillion or LotR art. And he has done a lot more paintings than were included in that volume.

[Nick1Ø66 4,687]

I have the Nasmith Silmarillion and it's beautiful. Sits on my shelf right alongside my Alan Lee editions.

 

I do remember a while ago reading about someone who was working on a graphic novel of The Silmarillion, but I can't remember if anything came of it.

 

Edit: Here's a link to the project. It looks like it's informal and he never got a publisher, but if you're looking for visual representations of scenes for the book, it might be a good resource. Some of these illustrations are actually pretty nice.

[Incanus 5,713]

6 hours ago, Nick1066 said:

I have the Nasmith Silmarillion and it's beautiful. Sits on my shelf right alongside my Alan Lee editions.

Do you have the version with Maglor casts a Silmaril into the sea or the White Ships From Valinor cover on the dust jacket? I own the latter.

 

[Nick1Ø66 4,687]

Maglor. Though I've seen the White Ships cover around as well.  And my unabridged audio CD's have yet another cover.

 

 

[Incanus 5,713]

Ah and also with a Nasmith cover. I vaguely remembering seeing that as well.

 

And there seems to be another one:

[Quintus 5,399]

I remember being quite disappointed that Ted Nasmith was overlooked by the film production, his art for Middle-Earth was always my reference point for all the fiction, it's fabulously detailed and evocative.

[Nick1Ø66 4,687]

My first exposure to the artwork was Professor Tolkien's own, which is what I associated with the trilogy the first time I read it. I still find it incredibly evocative, simple as it may be.

 

And then later the Brothers Hilderbrandt, who were among the first, and best Tolkien artists but are often overlooked.

 

In addition to the complete CD edition I have, the Nasmith artwork was also featured on a three volume CD release.

 

 

[BloodBoal 7,538]

17 minutes ago, Nick1066 said:

And then later the Brothers Hilderbrandt, who were among the first, and best Tolkien artists but are often overlooked.

 

Yes! Give me the Hildebrandt brothers over Ted Nasmith any day of hte week, Sunday included! I know many don't have a high opinion of them, given some of their weirdish designs (their depictions of Rivendell and Lothlorien come to mind...), but they've done some great artwork nonetheless.

 

[Quintus 5,399]

Those are very good, apart from his Gollum, but it's a minor and subjective criticism.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Agreed!

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Yes it can be easy to make Gollum into a sort of goblin, which doesn't feel right for the character.

[Nick1Ø66 4,687]

14 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

 

Yes! Give me the Hildebrandt brothers over Ted Nasmith any day of the week, Sunday included! I know many don't have a high opinion of them, given some of their weirdish designs (their depictions of Rivendell and Lothlorien come to mind...), but they've done some great artwork nonetheless.

 

 

Brother! Yes!

 

And let's not forget these great illustrations they did of the fellowship. Their Gandalf's a little young, but otherwise it's brill!

 

[Quintus 5,399]

See these ones are beginning to look a bit Sword of Shannara. Oh wait - was this a fantasy fiction joke? Sorry, I'm a bit slow with that sort of thing.

[Nick1Ø66 4,687]

14 minutes ago, Quintus said:

Those are very good, apart from his Gollum, but it's a minor and subjective criticism.

 

It's certainly better than the Rankin/Bass version, which if a child saw first could be forgiven upon later reading the book for saying "Hey, where's the frog!?"

 

 

[Incanus 5,713]

Hildebrandt brothers have never been a favourite. There is something Disney-fied about their style that doesn't sit well with me.

 

My holy trinity is Howe, Lee, Nasmith, the people whole have most ignited my imagination and lined up with my own visions of Tolkien's world while reading the novels and indeed exceeded my imaginings (thank you John Howe for defining e.g. the terrible majesty that is Barad-dûr).

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I think Vermeer's interpretation is best

 

[Incanus 5,713]

Smeagol with a Gold Ear-Ring?

[Quintus 5,399]

10 minutes ago, Incanus said:

Hildebrandt brothers have never been a favourite. There is something Disney-fied about their style that doesn't sit well with me.

 

My holy trinity is Howe, Lee, Nasmith, the people whole have most ignited my imagination and lined up with my own visions of Tolkien's world while reading the novels.

 

I was right there with the employment of John Howe on the films, his LOTR work is fantastic. Alan Lee's stuff though I was never actually all that moved by.

[Nick1Ø66 4,687]

They're all good, just different visions of the same world...the Hildebrandt's just got me young though.

 

[Incanus 5,713]

6 minutes ago, Quintus said:

 

I was right there with the employment John Howe on the films, his LOTR work is fantastic. Alan Lee's stuff though I was never actually all that moved by.

Lee's contributions to the films are perhaps even more extensive than Howe's but his work has quite a different quality e.g. in his illustrations of LotR. There is if it can be described like that a lyrical quiet quality to his water colours that doesn't have the immediate energy of Howe's often in medias res depictions. I always thought they were quite complementary to each other though in both the LotR and the Hobbit design.  

[BloodBoal 7,538]

18 minutes ago, Incanus said:

My holy trinity is Howe, Lee, Nasmith

 

Howe, Lee, Cor Blok for me.

 

[Incanus 5,713]

Block the Blok out of your mind BB! Tove Jansson is the one you want!

[BloodBoal 7,538]

Too many details! I prefer the simplicity of Blok's drawings. They directly go to the point, they capture the essnce of a scene!

 

Though, gotta admit: I like Jansson's Gollbeard (or is it Treellum?).

[Incanus 5,713]

3 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

Too many details! I prefer the simplicity of Blok's drawings. They directly go to the point, they capture the essnce of a scene!

 

Though, gotta admit: I like Jansson's Gollbeard (or is it Treellum?).

Pretty trippy that one. 

 

Blok's 8 Mexicans and a dark mental patient is a classic though.

[Chen G. 3,942]

21 minutes ago, Incanus said:

Lee's contributions to the films are perhaps even more extensive than Howe's but his work has quite a different quality e.g. in his illustrations of LotR. There is if it can be described like that a lyrical quiet quality to his water colours that doesn't have the immediate energy of Howe's often in medias res depictions. I always thought they were quite complementary to each other though in both the LotR and the Hobbit design.  

 

Actually, Ted Nasmith contributed, too. Peter Jackson certainly wanted him onboard, as well, but he was otherwise engaged. However, a lot of his existing artwork clearly inspired some of the designs, if not actual shots in the film.

[Bilbo 3,709]

2 hours ago, Quintus said:

I remember being quite disappointed that Ted Nasmith was overlooked by the film production, his art for Middle-Earth was always my reference point for all the fiction, it's fabulously detailed and evocative.

 

He wasn’t overlooked at all. He was approached the same as Lee and Howe but he turned it down for personal reasons.

[Incanus 5,713]

36 minutes ago, Bilbo said:

 

He wasn’t overlooked at all. He was approached the same as Lee and Howe but he turned it down for personal reasons.

Of course both the Hobbit and LotR took years of commitment from Howe and Lee which is something not all artists might feel comfortable with. Especially since they relocated to New Zealand for extended periods of time.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

Did Nasmith have something better to do? I doubt it!

[Bilbo 3,709]

I thought I recall family reasons or something but I could be wrong. 

[Incanus 5,713]

Well it was polite of the film makers at least to ask Nasmith.

[KK 3,307]

1 hour ago, Nick1066 said:

They're all good, just different visions of the same world...the Hildebrandt's just got me young though.

 

 

Same. I used to carry around a pocket book version of the Hildebrandt illustrations when I was a kid. They were my first exposure to Tolkien illustrations.

 

And while you can argue that they have more character than your usual sweeping Tolkien depictions, I think Howe/Lee/Nasmith are closer to my preferred Middle-Earth aesthetic.

[Nick1Ø66 4,687]

15 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

Did Nasmith have something better to do? I doubt it!

 

Think he's regretting saying no about now?

[BloodBoal 7,538]

Worst decision in the history of bad decisions!

[Nick1Ø66 4,687]

At some point Nasmith and Sean Connery probably went out, got drunk and tried to console each other.

[Quintus 5,399]

2 hours ago, Bilbo said:

 

He wasn’t overlooked at all. He was approached the same as Lee and Howe but he turned it down for personal reasons.

 

I had no idea.

[Chen G. 3,942]

1 hour ago, Nick1066 said:

At some point Nasmith and Sean Connery probably went out, got drunk and tried to console each other.

 

And Liam Neeson, also known as "the-other-guy-who-always-dies-in-movies" and "the-guy-that-passed-on-Lord-of-the-Rings-but-than-joined-The-Phantom-Menace-without-reading-a-word-of-the-script."

 

Anyhow, at least they did use some of Nasmith's existing artwork for the design. One shot of Mordor is lifted directly from a Nasmith painting that Jackson bought.

 

I'll just leave this here...

http://tednasmith.narod.ru/

[Bilbo 3,709]

1 hour ago, Chen G. said:

 

And Liam Neeson, also known as "the-other-guy-who-always-dies-in-movies" and "the-guy-that-passed-on-Lord-of-the-Rings-but-than-joined-The-Phantom-Menace-without-reading-a-word-of-the-script."

 

Anyhow, at least they did use some of Nasmith's existing artwork for the design. One shot of Mordor is lifted directly from a Nasmith painting that Jackson bought.

 

I'll just leave this here...

http://tednasmith.narod.ru/

 

Are you saying Neeson passed on Lord of the Rings to do Star Wars? Because that's definitely not a thing. Filming for Phantom Menace was June to September 1997 with pick ups August 98 to February 99. Lord of the Rings didn't start filming until September 99. 

[Dixon Hill 4,232]

While Lee and Howe's vision is glorious and now inextricably linked to how we view Middle-Earth, I do think I always slightly preferred the more exotic look of Nasmith.

 

 

 

 

 

[Nick1Ø66 4,687]

Those are stunning. The Kinslaying at Alqualondë has always been one of my favorites.

[Jay 37,268]

59 minutes ago, Bilbo said:

 

Are you saying Neeson passed on Lord of the Rings to do Star Wars? Because that's definitely not a thing. Filming for Phantom Menace was June to September 1997 with pick ups August 98 to February 99. Lord of the Rings didn't start filming until September 99. 

 

pwned!

[Incanus 5,713]

14 hours ago, TheGreyPilgrim said:

While Lee and Howe's vision is glorious and now inextricably linked to how we view Middle-Earth, I do think I always slightly preferred the more exotic look of Nasmith.

I don't personally view Nasmith's visions all that exotic but they do have at times the suitable elvishness to them or the darkness of Sauron or Morgoth. There is often if anything a more concrete real worldness to it compared to the veiled and misty visions of Howe or Lee, which is perhaps due to his technique and the sharp attention to detail his works, especially landscapes, have. I consider landscapes to be his forte and even when there are famous characters from the novels in his paintings Nasmith's backgrounds, the nature or architecture, seem to have the upper hand in its gorgeous light, colour and mood. His attempts at illustrating the characters (especially faces) are not very strong.

 

One of my absolute favourite works by any artist is this seemingly ordinary image of Frodo, Pippin and Sam going through the Green Hill Country, which is perhaps also one of the most beautiful visions of the Shire I have ever seen. And even here the characters who are undoubtedly in the middle of the composition play the second fiddle to the countryside and the large tree in the foreground. That sunny verdant green just jumps at you from the picture, the very essence of the rolling pastoral hobbit country with its beautiful minute details.

 

 

A good example of somewhat weak character portrayal in a gorgeous landscape. Goldberry isn't really all that striking but look at the sky and the Barrow-downs and the forest and the constrast between the greenish yellow and blue. Wonderful!

[Quintus 5,399]

5 hours ago, Incanus said:

One of my absolute favourite works by any artist is this seemingly ordinary image of Frodo, Pippin and Sam going through the Green Hill Country, which is perhaps also one of the most beautiful visions of the Shire I have ever seen. And even here the characters who are undoubtedly in the middle of the composition play the second fiddle to the countryside and the large tree in the foreground. That sunny verdant green just jumps at you from the picture, the very essence of the rolling pastoral hobbit country with its beautiful minute details.

 

 

That AMAZING picture along with these below have always been my key visual ID images for LOTR.

 

 

 

 

 

[Nick1Ø66 4,687]

Think how much more interesting Jackson's Lord of the Rings would have been had they instead been inspired by Boris Vallejo.

Tauriel Tames Smaug

 

Éowyn vs. the Lord of the Nazgul

 

Arwen Gazes Into the Palantir

[Quintus 5,399]

Superb from a technical standpoint but stylistically meh.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

Well, he's no Cor Blok, that's for sure.

 

[Incanus 5,713]

Mr. Blok is truly in a league of his own.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

Of Mr. Blok, Tolkien said: "Mr. Blok managed to capture the vivid imagery of my book with more gusto than any other illustrator before him. I merely created Middle-Earth, but he brought it to life!"