Before my trip to the United Kingdom last summer, I was only ever familiar with Tolkien's map-making skills (which are awe-inspiring, particularly to a writer who tried to draw her own fantasy maps!) and the few rough sketches I had seen in various editions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. However, when Eli and I were wandering around Oxford University last August, we happened across a dark little gallery featuring the original artwork of JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, and Philip Pullman... and at once my eyes were opened to Tolkien's extraordinary skill as an artist.
Tolkien (who lived from 1892 to 1973) grew up and spent most of his life in England. He was deeply interested in languages, storytelling, and artwork even as a small child, and he self-illustrated his stories from a young age. He sketched little scenes for his children as an adult, and we see the culmination of this skill in the artwork dedicated to Middle Earth, his creative masterpiece.
Eli and I were able to see several hand-painted originals in the gallery at Oxford, including 'Conversation with Smaug', 'Bilbo and the Eagle', 'The Trolls', and the 'Map of the Wilderland'. The most spectacular moment for me, though, was standing before the hand-drawn original covers that Tolkien designed for the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In the slideshow below, you'll see all of these pieces, along with many other illustrations that allowed Tolkien to express Middle Earth as he saw it.
Tolkien's preferred medium was watercolour, though even his ink-drawing of The Trolls is fantastic. If you're interested in a comprehensive review of Tolkien's artwork, check out JRR Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator (published by HarperCollins and Houghton Mifflin in 1995). As ever, my respect and awe of JRR Tolkien continues to grow.
