# The best illustrator?



## Sabriel

There are so many illustrations to the books that its really hard to say..
But mine will have to be Alan Lee.
Actuaall, didn't Tolkien illustrate the Hobbit?


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## Alcuin

Tolkien drew the two maps, of course, and the cover and dust jacket. (Originally, copies of _The Hobbit_ with the famous dust jacket had a dragon on the front cover and another on the back.) He drew lots of other pictures based upon _The Hobbit_, but I don’t recall that any editions of the book were illustrated with his drawings. You can find these with many other illustrations in _J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator_ by Hammond and Scull.

You might want to check out the Tolkien art collection at deviantART. You should also check the well-known site Rozolo Tolkien; lawyers for the Tolkien Estate have required him to remove all the maps, but the artwork is outstanding, including many by Alan Lee.

There are many other sites with Tolkien art, and a forum for art here at TTF, too.


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## Ithrynluin

My favourites would have to be Ted Nasmith and Roger Garland (the colours he uses are just surreal).


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## Barliman Butterbur

Ithrynluin said:


> My favourites would have to be Ted Nasmith and Roger Garland (the colours he uses are just surreal).



You absolutely have my vote! These two artists strike me as having studied Tolkien's drawing style and used it as the basis for their LOTR paintings. My least favorite artist is, alas, Alan Lee. I find his watercolors terribly depressing, with their washed out greys, yellows and browns which seem to be the predominant color pallet. Nasmith and Garland use the vivid colors which I prefer. (Frankly, I think the best thing that ever happened to Alan was his association with PJ — who extracted from him his best work to date, all the stuff he did for the films! But I still prefer the other artists.)

Another pair of fine Tolkien artists are the Hildebrandt brothers, the identical twins who turned out the incredible artwork for the Ballentine Middle-earth calendars of the 70s. Their colors and details were superb, but the style — IMHO — was just a touch too close to the Disney look in Snow White.

@Alcuin: I have a hardcover version of _The Hobbit_ containing a number of Tolkien's line drawings.

Barley


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## Alcuin

Barliman Butterbur said:


> @Alcuin: I have a hardcover version of _The Hobbit_ containing a number of Tolkien's line drawings.


Really!? What are the publication date and ISBN number? I’ll have to look for it! Does it have the old green and blue dust cover jacket and the dragons embossed on the front and back covers, too?


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## Barliman Butterbur

Alcuin said:


> Really!? What are the publication date and ISBN number? I’ll have to look for it! Does it have the old green and blue dust cover jacket and the dragons embossed on the front and back covers, too?



The title page: 

THE HOBBIT
OR
THERE AND BACK AGAIN

Illustrated
by the Author​
© 1966 Houghton Mifflin Company Boston, ISBN 0-395-07122-4

And yes, it has the green and blue dust jacket just as you describe, but no embossed dragons. I bought it in October '91. (I had another one before that, but wore it out. This one contains all new typesetting, in a typeface I don't like as much as I did the original.)

Barley


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