# Your ideal illustrator



## Bellerophon (Jul 4, 2020)

If you could select any artist from history to illustrate the works of Tolkien who would you choose?

Which scenes in particular would you like to see them depict, and which of their actual works lead you to make that choice?


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## Rivendell_librarian (Jul 4, 2020)

Well I would want to choose different artists for different types of scene:

So for epic landscapes I would choose John Martin but for warts and all portraits of individuals and groups it would have to be Rembrandt.


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## Olorgando (Jul 4, 2020)

No single ideal illustrators exists, in my opinion. I may be boring, but I'd name Alan Lee, John Howe, and Ted Nasmith as coming closest.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Jul 4, 2020)

But it's an interesting question. It's one I haven't thought about before.

Hmm. . .


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## rollinstoned (Jul 4, 2020)

Tolkien HIMSELF. his art is exactly how middle earth should be in appearance.


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## Elthir (Jul 4, 2020)

I'll have to give this more thought . . . love Tolkien's own pictures; and in addition, I always loved Arthur Rackham's Eowyn!


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## Rivendell_librarian (Jul 4, 2020)

I thought the intent of the question was to name "any artist from history" rather then choose your favourites from those who have already illustrated Tolkien. That is to choose any artist from history who has not illustrated Tolkien.


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## Elthir (Jul 4, 2020)

In that arena I'll add that that's not actually Eowyn, but Rackham's Brunhilde.

Just in case any folks are not familiar with A.R. (pictured below) who didn't actually illustrate Tolkien.


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## Olorgando (Jul 4, 2020)

Rivendell_librarian said:


> I thought the intent of the question was to name "any artist from history" rather then choose your favourites from those who have already illustrated Tolkien. That is to choose any artist from history who has not illustrated Tolkien.


True.
But as my knowledge of (illustrative) art is even more limited than my knowledge of fiction writing, my query would be how much of this has been in the vein of the rightly named Lee, Howe, and Nasmith - and JRRT himself?
When painters began allowing themselves to deal with other topics than biblical ones, they seem to have gone in for portraiture - one could say the ancient precursor of the selfie, rather limited to nobility and aristocracy (which soon included the _haute bourgeoise_). Or "pagan" mythology, be it Graeco-Roman or Norse. Or cityscapes. Perhaps because "untamed nature" was viewed with suspicion, even fear for the longest time?


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## Olorgando (Jul 4, 2020)

Elthir said:


> In that arena I'll add that that's not actually Eowyn, but Rackham's Brunhilde.
> Just in case any folks are not familiar with A.R. (pictured below) who didn't actually illustrate Tolkien.


At least JRRT compared Rackham favorably with Disney - for whatever that's worth.


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## Elthir (Jul 4, 2020)

Considering black and white: I'd like "something-by-Tolkien" by *A. Garth Jones* (in this style).





And certainly anything Tolkien by *Florence Harrison*!



🐾


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## Olorgando (Jul 5, 2020)

They look very much like the artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, called in Germany "Jugendstil" ("Youth Style"), from around the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, and apparently the German counterpart of Art Nouveau. Off the cuff, they impress me as having a bit of an Elvish air.


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## Elthir (Jul 5, 2020)

I like that Elvish air Gando! I should add that the examples in my post above 
(for Florence Harrison) are a bit blurry or muddied . . . these are bit better hopefully. 
Plus a colour example.

And one of the pictures refers to "Emma" Florence Harrison. Don't mind that. 
Sometimes Florence Harrison gets confused with another artist, Emma Florence Harrison

 





🐾


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Jul 5, 2020)

Any number of Renaissance painters could have given it a go, I think.

The Battle of the Pelennor Fields, by the "School of" somebody whose name I forget.


Likewise the Academic artists of the 19th century.

The Destruction of Numenor, by Thomas Cole.


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## Elthir (Jul 5, 2020)

To mine further from the Golden Age of children's book illustrators . . . *Edmund Dulac*.

And another amazing water-colourist *Sir William Russell Flint.*

Dulac










WR Flint












🐾


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## Olorgando (Jul 6, 2020)

Elthir said:


> I like that Elvish air Gando! ,,,


To perhaps clarify: I might think such "Jugendstil" or whatever stuff appropriate as say decorations in Rivendell.
But definitely not in the sense of my personal "ideal illustrator".


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## Olorgando (Jul 6, 2020)

Elthir said:


> To mine further from the Golden Age of children's book illustrators . . . *Edmund Dulac*.
> And another amazing water-colourist *Sir William Russell Flint.*


I understand (I think): children's book illustrator the one, daddy's book illustrator the other ... 🧐


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## Bellerophon (Jul 6, 2020)

Some great thoughts here.

My own first thoughts were, for the landscape of the shire, Samuel Palmer

For Gandalf and the Balrog, William Blake, something along the lines of these two paintings


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## Elthir (Jul 6, 2020)

Olorgando said:


> ( . . . ) But definitely not in the sense of my personal "ideal illustrator".




Okay. How about *Arthur Nouveau* then?

I hear he's pretty good!


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## Olorgando (Jul 6, 2020)

Elthir said:


> Okay. How about *Arthur Nouveau* then?
> I hear he's pretty good!


@mazzly : we still don't have a "banging-head-against-wall" emoji, but we definitely need one ... 😬😬😬


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## Elthir (Jul 6, 2020)

*Gando* . . . I set you up for "*Arthur Deco"* but you didn't bite!

😇


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## Olorgando (Jul 6, 2020)

Anything to do with art is not necessarily good bait.
If you were to ask me what I think of "Art", I'm liable to answer "Oh, I loved Art Carney in the sitcom "The Honeymooners" with Jackie Gleason, which was still being re-run in syndication in the 1960s."


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## Sir Eowyn (Jul 6, 2020)

I'd love to see what Hieronymus Bosch would have made out of Mordor.

For the Shire, Pieter de Hooch, or Constable.

And the Elves, Fra Lippo Lippi.


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## mazzly (Jul 7, 2020)

Olorgando said:


> @mazzly : we still don't have a "banging-head-against-wall" emoji, but we definitely need one ... 😬😬😬


The closest I can ever find to that is the "facepalm" 🤦‍♂️ 🤦‍♀️ emojis 😁 if you want a "bang head against the wall"-emoji you have to take it up with the unicode/emoji people 😁 https://www.emojirequest.com/ seems to be a good resource for that 😉👍


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## Bellerophon (Jul 7, 2020)

Picking up on Rivendell Librarian's suggestion of Rembrandt here are a few hobbits


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## eastmill (Jul 18, 2020)

The death of Boromir by Caravaggio would be something to see.


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## Sir Eowyn (Jul 18, 2020)

eastmill said:


> The death of Boromir by Caravaggio would be something to see.



Picturing it now. That's pretty magnificent.


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## Keith Mathison (Jul 18, 2020)

Leonardo da Vinci.

He already did a drawing of a barrow wight . . .


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## Elthir (Jul 18, 2020)

The husband and wife team of Leo and Diane Dillon.


























🐾


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Jul 19, 2020)

I first saw their artwork on the covers of Ace Specials, back in the 60's.

Maybe a little cheesy of me, but I'd like to see what the illustrators of the great days of pulp might have done.


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## Elthir (Jul 19, 2020)

Mmmm. Cheese.


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