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.
The blogging is light, because I am not here. On the road, doing business stuff, and off to New York for the Lord of the Rings event.
I meant to get more commissions posted, but didn’t have time to scan any more before I hit the road. However, the pages from A Distant Soil are archived and ready to load.
My Tolkien art lecture has been truncated somewhat to fit the short time we have, and many people attending the Lord of the Rings weekend cannot make the Sunday lectures. I will post my notes and recommended research list here as time permits.
Until then, I can’t think of a better book to inspire the budding professional creator than Fantasy Art Workshop by John Howe, the famous Tolkien illustrator and conceptual artist. Howe is not only one of my favorites, but this book is also an excellent overview of life as a professional artist: fighting procrastination, late-paying and deadbeat clients, organizing the files. Nuts and bolts discussion that I find fascinating (and which dominates this blog.)
Like many artists, I assume the people I admire walk on water and have beds lined with rose petals. It is comforting reading accounts by someone as successful as Howe, who candidly relates mundane concerns with which all artists struggle. I truly enjoyed this book. Published by the same company as my Girl to Grrrl Manga and Manga Pro Superstar books. It’s on sale for a super-low price at Amazon just now.
I liked him so much, I took a picture. Actually, I think the publicity guy at Impact Books took our picture.
Here’s John Howe and Little Me at an Impact Books signing, promoting our tomes.
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