John Howe (illustrator)
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John Howe is a Canadian book illustrator and concept designer, best-known for his artwork of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth.
Howe in 2017
With Alexis Metzinger during filming, 2014
In Strasbourg, 2022
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
John Howe (illustrator)
…trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien. He said he got "a real spark" from the Tolkien Calendars of paintings by the Brothers Hildebrandt, which showed him that Tolkien's books could be illustrated. Howe made drawings of his own versions of the scenes depicted in the calendar. These drawings, according to Howe, may not have survived. A year after…
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