Tolkien's profession of philology made him familiar with medieval illuminated manuscripts; he imitated their style in his own calligraphy, an art which his mother had taught him.

J. R. R. Tolkien accompanied his Middle-earth fantasy writings with a wide variety of non-narrative materials, including paintings and drawings, calligraphy, and maps.

May 17, 2024 · Together with his stories, Tolkien’s own personal illustrations help to elevate the process of reading his books. As a result, they are capable of fully immersing us into that very special world filled with hobbits, elves, orcs, and dragons.

Apr 29, 2015 · You can get a sense of the breadth of Tolkien’s visu­al art at the Tolkien Gate­way’s gallery of over 100 images by Tolkien, which reveal the land­scapes, let­ters, inte­ri­ors, and ani­mals with­in the cre­ator of Mid­dle-Earth­’s mind.

Jan 3, 2014 · J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator (public library) collects more than 200 color reproductions, many previously unpublished, of Tolkien’s surviving art in watercolor, pencil, and ink, spanning sixty years of his life — from his childhood drawings to his illustrations for his books to his final sketches, as well as the drawings he ...

Oct 29, 2024 · Examples of his art range from delicate watercolours depicting Rivendell, the Forest of Lothlorien, Smaug, and Old Man Willow, to drawings and sketches of Moria Gate and Minas Tirith. Together they form a comprehensive collection of Tolkien’s own illustrations for his most popular books.

Jan 29, 2025 · Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth is a 2018 art book exploring the artwork, illustrations, maps, letters, and manuscripts of J.R.R. Tolkien. The book was written by Catherine McIlwaine, Tolkien archivist at the Bodleian Library.

Tolkien was taught to draw first by his mother and then at school. His formal art education ceased when he left school and it was then that he began to explore new styles and to take inspiration from his own imagination.

Nov 1, 2011 · In creating the artwork for The Hobbit, Tolkien borrowed from a short story he had written for his son Michael, titled “Roverandom.” Also included are conceptual sketches for the now-iconic dust jacket cover painting of the mountains Bilbo …

Scull and Hammond have published extensively on Tolkien’s art and can easily be considered the experts on his attainments as a visual artist. This brief survey covers the full range of his pictorial art, from his early visionary art, to his illustrations for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and his love of patterns and lettering.