Illustration

Book illustrations

Book illustrations These drawings are illustrations made for Elisabeth Currie’s historic fiction novel The Veil of Enitharmon. Part one of four is available here, the following parts will follow in the coming months. These images are full-page illustrations  designed by Ruth Lacon and drawn by me. These are illustrations for part 1 (Red Priest to King’s …

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Cartoon drawings

Cartoon drawings I typically make these for my own entertainment. Some are a way to deal with the bottomless astonishment that results when confronted with group behaviour, in particular by those who consider themselves hip, cool and avant-garde.  Others are cultural observations, such as the one that shows how, in the last decades, the electric …

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Fairy-tale artwork

Fairy-tale inspired artwork & illustrations 

These drawings and paintings of scenes and places from (or inspired by) the work of J.R.R. Tolkien were made using traditional and digital media. They are very significant to me for several reason: they were the reason that I started drawing and painting again after several years of being somewhat disenchanted with the art world. And when I did, I re-discovered why I loved to draw in the first place. And finally: it motivated me to improve that technical / classical drawing techniques that are practically universally shunned on art schools because it is believed that it impedes the artist’s free expression. I’ve never felt that that was a very compelling argument, but I’m afraid that the opposite is even true.

In that regard I have learned a great deal from studying the work of people like Ted Nasmith, who has been so kind to give me advise and critique. But I should especially mention Ruth Lacon who has provided (and still provides) inspiration and encouragement when it was most needed; insights from her (and Alex Lewis’) astounding knowledge about Tolkien and the Inklings. She’s been a great friend, and there are few things that delight me more than a long email from her.

The first slide-show below shows cover art made for Lembas, the magazine of Unquendor (the Dutch Tolkien Society). The one below that contains drawings made for a calendar published by Unquendor; and the third one shows a mixture of free work and illustrations for Lembas.

(title and / or description appears when you hover the mouse over the image)

Ai Ithil / Oh Moon (Lúthien's Lament)
Mythos arising from the trenches (Tolkien in the battle of the Somme)
West of West (Ekkaia)
Telperion the one was called in Valinor, but Laurelin the other was.

(Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter I - Of the Beginning of Days)
Nost-na-lothian (festival of flowers) in Gondolin
Many jewels the Noldor gave them, opals and diamonds and pale crystals, which the Teleri strewed upon the shores and scattered in the pools;
marvellous were the beaches of Elende in those days.

(Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter V - Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië)
West of west, the coast of the Outer Seas
Elros c.s. sailing to Númenor in S.A. 32
Armenelos in Númenor, with the White Tree and Meneltarma (left) in the days of king Tar-Elendil (S.A. ~ 600)
Armenelos in Númenor, with the White Tree and Meneltarma (background) in the days of king Tar-Ciryatan (S.A. ~ 2000) when the Shadow was falling on Númenor
Numenor [4] Sauron surrenders to Ar-Pharazon
Numenor [5] The Fall of Númenor
Gandalf and the dwarves near Hobbiton
The hobbits after they cross the enchanted stream in Mirkwood
Smaug flies around the Lonely Mountain and over the outskirts of Dale
First journey of Smith of Wootton-Major to the Sea of Windless Storm in Fairie
Second journey of Smith of Wootton-Major, coming across the King's Tree
Third journey of Smith of Wootton-Major, the Dale of the Lake of Red Light
Fourth journey of Smith of Wootton-Major, the vale of Evermorn
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Some there are who have seen her standing like a tree under heaven,
crowned with the Sun.

(Valaquenta - Of the Valar)
Telperion the one was called in Valinor, but Laurelin the other was.

(Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter I - Of the Beginning of Days)
… and therewith she made new stars and brighter against the coming of the Firstborn

(Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter III - Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor)
… and the blue fire of Helluin flickered in the mists above the borders of the world,
in that hour the Children of the Earth awoke, the Firstborn of Ilúvatar.

(Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter III - Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor)
Many jewels the Noldor gave them, opals and diamonds and pale crystals,
which the Teleri strewed upon the shores and scattered in the pools;
marvellous were the beaches of Elende in those days.

(Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter V - Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië)
The gate of that harbour was an arch of living rock sea-carved;
and it lay upon the confines of Eldamar, north of the Calacirya,
where the light of the stars was bright and clear.

(Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter V - Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië)
… for its west shores looked upon the Outer Sea, that is called by the Elves Ekkaia,
encircling the Kingdom of Arda.

(Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter I - Of the Beginning of Days)
… so that they stood thus while long years were measured by
the wheeling stars above them; and the trees of Nan Elmoth
grew tall and dark before they spoke any word.

(Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter IV, Of Thingol and Melian)
… so that Gondolin upon Amon Gwareth became fair indeed and fit
to compare even with Elven Tirion beyond the sea.

(Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XV - Of the Noldor in Beleriand)
… he came upon Lúthien, at a time of evening under moonrise,
as she danced upon the unfading grass in the glades beside Esgalduin.

(Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XIX - Of Beren and Lúthien)
High and white were its walls, and smooth its stairs,
and tall and strong was the Tower of the King.

(Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XV - Of the Noldor in Beleriand)
Ai Ithil! Or chîth hwiniol
vi Menel i thamas haered
bo vâd aduial athradol
man hae pelil ennas cened?

(not a scene described in The Silmarillion)
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Aragorn meets Halbarad (illustration for Lembas article)
The witch-king awaits Glorfindel at Gundabad (illustration for Lembas magazine)
Waterfall somewhere in Aman
Telperion and Laurelin
Sunrise over Taniquetil
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Illustrations for iOS app

Illustrations for iOS app A visual holiday pack-list application. It was an idea by software developer LuuX to create an app where the pack lists are not the text files you’d expect, but where the user chooses images from several categories, with the option to colour them and customise the pattern. Once the list(s) have …

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