I believe it was last month that I heard that Alan Lee was coming out with a book called "The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook." He was reportedly travelling to various bookstores across the country and signing the book in efforts to promote it. I sorely wish I could've met him and got an autographed copy. As it is, I had to settle with buying the book. Yesterday, I bought it.
I expected the artwork to be breathtaking and it is. Alan Lee is a phenomenal artist. He and John Howe are the two most responsible for giving Peter Jackson an idea of what Middle-Earth could've looked like. Their visionary drawings are incredibly beautiful and make one wish such a world had really existed. The book contains over 150 drawings showing how artistic work on the Lord of the Rings movies went from start to finish. It also tells some stories of Lee's involvement in the movies, a project that would involve him for over 6 years.
To complement the incredible artwork in the book, the publishers Houghton Mifflin used high quality paper, good quality binding, and even included a ribbon book mark. It is a high quality book. The only down side in my opinion is the high quality price. My copy cost me $30. Still, you get what you pay for. This is a fantastic book that would make a wonderful Christmas present for any Lord of the Rings fan. I highly recommend it. I feel it will give you or someone you give it to as a gift many hours of pleasure looking at the incredible pictures and dreaming of a world that never was but we might wish had been.
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