Hobbit Art

Most images of the Argonath are from an angle similar to the movie where you're seeing it from further back. But, I really like this lower angle. This kind of looks like it comes from a computer game, but I don't know of one that has the Argonath in it. Anyone know where this is from?

found here

What is the watcher in the water? How did it get there?

The watcher gets its first kill that we know of when Balin tries to retake the mines. (If anyone knows of earlier references, please let me know.) During that attempt, the watcher gets Óin. 25 years later, it's woken up by Boromir and it nearly gets the fellowship, but instead traps them inside the mines.

Gandalf seemed to think it was one of the nameless things that lives beneath middle earth which gnawed its way to the surface. What other nameless things are there that have reached the surface?

by Joan Wyatt

“ Suddenly the great beast beat its hideous wings, and the wind of them was foul. Again it leaped into the air, and then swiftly fell down upon Éowyn, shrieking, striking with beak and claw.

Still she did not blench: maiden of the Rohirrim, child of kings, slender but as a steel-blade, fair yet terrible. A swift stroke she dealt, skilled and deadly. The outstretched neck she clove asunder, and the hewn head fell like a stone. Backward she sprang as the huge shape crashed to ruin, vast wings outspread, crumpled on the earth; and with its fall the shadow passed away.

A light fell about her, and her hair shone in the sunrise.”

I have several Tolkien prints by Angela Rizza (purchased on etsy), and this is one of my favorites.

If you look closely, you can see a pair of feet in the center. Both Merry and Pippin are trapped, but I wasn't able to see a second pair of feet.

I love all the detail in the bark and the roots of the tree. That is a very elaborate tree!

The Willow Man is Tamed by Ted Nasmith

This is the definition of Durin's Day:

Durin's Day was a yearly event noted by the Dwarves, "when the last moon of Autumn and the first sun of Winter appear in the sky together" (i.e. until sunset) on the first day of the Dwarves' New Year, which was "the first day of the last moon of Autumn on the threshold of Winter."

Since it's based on the moon, it doesn't happen on the same day every year.

The art of David Wenzel is just the best. His style is just so fun to me.

by David Wenzel

You can't go wrong with a good picture of Hobbiton.

by David T Wenzel

I'm loving this circular style of art from David Wenzel. This is the moment when the Great Goblin gets really upset that Thorin has Foe Hammer. That weapon had been used to kill many goblins in the past. It was probably glowing pretty brightly here given that it's surrounded by goblins and is being held by one.

He won't have long to be upset though. Gandalf takes him out just a few seconds from now.

by David Wenzel

I believe this is an image of Éowyn during the brief period when she was in Edoras after she was told that she would rule while Théoden went off to battle in Minas Tirith.

You can see soldiers in the background, so presumably they're getting ready to go soon. Éowyn goes with them, so I assume she's getting ready to do that right now.

by Matthew Stewart

I love the feeling in this image of the pressure he's under. He's standing precariously on a rooftop while the entire town is up in flames behind him, aiming at a moving dragon, while a thrush is trying to talk to him to explain where he needs to aim.

Note that the quiver is empty, so this is his last shot. In a way, the entire future of Middle Earth hangs on this moment. If Smaug had killed Bard here, he probably would have gone back and killed Bilbo and the dwarves. The ring would have ended up in the treasure hoard and would presumably have eventually been retrieved by Sauron.

Could Smaug have used the ring? I think it is able to change its size. Don't know if it could increase that big. But, a dragon is already nearly invincible. Imagine having to deal with an invisible one.

by Matthew Stewart

I find this picture to be super charming. Those poor dwarves, getting stuffed into barrels by Bilbo with the sleeping elves in the upper left.

Author is David T Wenzel

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/954190

As the title says, I brewed a Brown Wheat Ale with Applewood-Smoked Leaf Hops. This was my first time using smoked hops and I'm happy with the result. They imparted more of a subtle smoke flavor than smoked malt. Recipe is available here if anyone is interested.

I like art styles that stand out. The faces in this image are so expressive! Grima looks really upset, presumably because Saruman just told them all that Grima had murdered and possibly eaten Lotho.

I'm not sure if that weird bowl haircut guy is supposed to be Frodo or not.

This image is apparently by Denis Gordeev, a Russian artist born in 1964. I got the impression he was famous, but he doesn't have a wikipedia page, so I'm not sure.

This is Boromir floating down the Anduin. The horn is still there, so this is before he passes Faramir since I think Faramir takes the horn. Or, possibly, that might have just been from the movie. Anyone know if Faramir recovers the horn in the books?

Here's the color version of this, but I kind of like the pencil sketch version better.

By R Navy. That page links to a tumblr for that person, but it doesn't seem to exist anymore. I was unable to find a current page for the same author.

My suggestion to all the kings out there: If your advisor is named "Wormtongue", you should be suspicious of the things he says.

To be fair, even though every place I see him he is referred to as Gríma Wormtongue, that actually wasn't his name. It's just what everyone but the king called him. His actual name, as far as I can determine, is just Gríma, son of Gálmód.

From the The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook by the great Alan Lee

Who invited a cave troll to the last supper?

I'm not actually sure who the zombie-looking creature is on the left. Maybe an orc or someone from the army of the dead?

But, the rest are pretty clear. Going counterclockwise (more or less) from the top left: Cave troll, Saruman, orc?, Elrond, Eowyn, Arwen, Gimli, Gandalf, Aragorn, Frodo, Legolas, Gollum, Frodo, nazgul, balrog.

By Steve Airola

From top to bottom and left to right, here are my guesses as to which is which:

Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, Aragorn, Frodo, Merry, Pippin, Sam, Gollum. I'm assuming Sam is holding Sting and Frodo is more out front I would guess, although I don't see a chain with a ring.

This was made by the comic book artist Mike Ploog.

Ungoliant was a truly gigantic spider god type creature who is an ancestor of Shelob, the spider that attacked Sam and Frodo. She wasn't initially so huge, but Melkor fed her various powerful objects and she grew and grew. They stayed allies until she demanded to consume the Silmarils, but, like every other possessor of the Silmarils, he didn't want to give them up, so they fought. I think that's what's being represented here.

By Ruben

I initially assumed this was Saruman and Wormtongue walking to the Shire, but since his staff is intact and Isengard doesn't look like it's swarming with ents, it's clearly from before that time.

by Matthew Stewart

We see Bilbo starting out in the Shire with, I think, Rivendell in the center, followed by the Misty Mountains, Mirkwood, and the Lonely Mountain at the back.

The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are all about journeys and that lends itself well to images that are montages of every point in the journey. Is there a name for this type of artwork that covers the entire journey in a single image? I'm going to stick with "montage", but it doesn't seem specific enough.

by MatejCadil

This is a wonderful stylized version of the Middle Earth map which shows the path of the ring, although you need to zoom in to see all those lines. The orientation of things is kind of all over the place, but that was obviously done in order to fit all the different places into a single image. I wouldn't use it to actually travel in Middle Earth, but it looks amazing.

Minas Tirith and Mordor are positioned side by side like normal in the front, but behind we actually see things going westward with Isengaard in the middle left. Then Hobbiton, Bree, Weathertop, Rivendell, Lorien, and Moria along the top left to right. I won't list every place in there, but they managed to cram practically everything in there.

I wanted to link to the gif of the making of this image, but Lemmy didn't like it. But, I strongly recommend checking it out. I love seeing the stages of art being made.

Also, check out all the details about this image by Andrew DeGraff. It shows lots of detail about different parts of this image.

This tattoo has more color in it than I would normally expect. Is there a reason for that?

Found it here.

I love the way embroidery plays with having big loops of yarn to create different structures and textures like the big loops that make the tree leaves, or the different directions of the yarn to make the bricks around the door.

Got this from here.

There are so many different portrayals of what an ent looks like. Some look like shaggy humans. Others look like creatures composed of intertwining branches. This one just straight up puts arms, legs, and a face on trees.

This is the attack on Isengard. Saruman had a big section of forest cut down and that ended up really upsetting Treebeard and the other ents.

It's kind of a theme in Lord of the Rings that various factions need to be roused to fight Sauron. The ents only do it after seeing their forest destroyed. The eagles only help out when the whim takes them apparently. Theoden needs a lot of convincing and to help out Minas Tirith.

I originally was going to use the close up picture of this, but I like pictures that highlight that these are real paintings made by someone with a surface, paints, and a brush. Nothing wrong with digital images, but there's just something amazing to me about the ability to make an image out of paint without benefit of all the conveniences we have in an image editor.

This oil painting was made by Justin Gerard.