Illustrating Middle-earth
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Since the publication of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit in 1937, artists including Tolkien himself have sought to capture aspects of Middle-earth fantasy novels in paintings and drawings. He was follow
Gandalf fighting the Balrog on the bridge of Khazad-dûm. Scraperboard by Alexander Korotich, 1981
Tolkien thought that Milein Cosman's illustrations unhelpfully resembled the fashionable Edward Ardizzone's work (example pictured).
Tove Jansson is better known for her Moomin characters.
Frodo and Sam guided by Gollum through the Dead Marshes
Ted Nasmith
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Ted Nasmith is a Canadian artist, illustrator and architectural renderer. He is best known as an illustrator of J. R. R. Tolkien's works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. Tolkien
Illustrating Middle-earth
…and drawings. He was followed in his lifetime by artists whose work he liked, such as Pauline Baynes, Mary Fairburn, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, and Ted Nasmith, and by some whose work he rejected, such as Horus Engels for the German edition of The Hobbit. Tolkien had strong views on illustration of fantasy…
Nasmith in 2005
Nasmith's first attempt at illustrating Tolkien, his 1972 gouache painting The Unexpected Party depicting a scene from the start of The Hobbit. Tolkien commented that it made Bilbo look like a child.
Nasmith's 1972 illustration of a Buick Skylark convertible, in the style of Art Fitzpatrick.