Today there are two artists I want to introduce to you – because they are intrinsically tied together for their work at J.R.R. Tolkien and his epic novel ‘Lord of the Rings.Alan Lee & John Howe
Alan's Short Bio:Alan Lee is an Academy Award winning, English book illustrator and movie conceptual designer. He and John Howe are best known for illustrating the 1991 one-volume hardback edition of ‘The Lord of the Rings’. They also served as chief conceptual designers for Peter Jackson’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’ movie trilogy.
Rivendell The Mirror of Galdriel Orthanc
The Ruins of Osgiliath Within Minas Tirith
John's Short Bio:John Howe did the illustration for the ‘Lord of the Rings’ Boardgame (created by Reiner Knizia) and re-illustrated the maps of ‘The Lord of the Rings’, ‘The Hobbit’, and ‘The Silmarillion’ in 1996–2003, too. His work is however not limited to this, and includes images of myths such as the legend of ‘Beowulf’.
He also illustrated many other books, amongst which many belong to the fantasy genre. Howe also contributed to the film adaptation of ‘The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe’ by C. S. Lewis. In 2005 a limited edition of George R. R. Martin’s novel ‘A Clash of Kings’ was released complete with numerous illustrations by Howe.
Gandalf Gandalf and the Balrog Shelob
Éowyn and the Nazgul The Lieutenant of the Black Tower of Barad-Dur
Interesting Information about their work on Lord of the Rings:Their paintings are designed to set a mood and fire the viewer's imagination, rather than trying to dictate how a certain Middle-Earth person or place should look. Along with John Howe, Alan Lee was chosen to be a concept artist for the Lord of the Rings movies.
In a documentary interview, Jackson details the comical story of how he managed to contact Lee in his home in the south of England. By couriering a package to him containing two of Jackson's previous films with a note from himself. Alan's interest was piqued enough to become involved.
Lee went on to illustrate and even help construct many of the scenarios for the movies, including objects and weapons for the actors. In 2004, he won an 'Academy Award for Best Art Direction' for his work on the third film in the trilogy, 'The Return of the King'. Lee has also worked as a conceptual designer on the films 'Legend', 'Erik the Viking', 'King Kong' and 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' and the television mini-series 'Merlin'.
Evidently from observing his work, watercolour is his preferred painting medium, along with pencil for his sketches. Alan recently did the artwork for the CD Alive! by the Dutch band Omnia.
For the upcoming films 'The Hobbit', director Guillermo del Toro has been in consultation with Howe and fellow conceptual artist Alan Lee to ensure continuity of design.
For a list of books & movie works by Alan and John please check the new blog article here:
http://openbooksociety.com/article/artist-profile-alan-lee-john-howe/
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