John Howe

I recently discovered John Howe's website (http://www.john-howe.com). For those of you who don't know who John Howe is, he is one of the two artists most responsible for shaping how most people imagine Middle-Earth. He and Alan Lee were the two conceptual artists that Peter Jackson hired for the Lord of The Rings movies. He is the one most responsible for the way Bag End, Minas Tirith, Cirith Morgol, and The Black Gates look. He is also responsible for the images of Shelob and many of the orcs we saw in the movies. Many of his drawings and paintings are beautiful pieces of art in my opinion. I remember getting to see a painting he did of the outside of Bag End that was at the Lord of the Rings film exhibition. It was stunning. One unique ability Howe has is the ability to imbue light in his paintings. A classic example which you can see on his website is his drawing of the front hall of Bag End. You get to look out the front hall through the open front door into the countryside beyond. It's just one of a number of outstanding works done by John Howe. There are many more on the website to be enjoyed including a number of works not related to the Lord of the Rings. I would definitely recommend this site to any Lord of the Rings or Hobbit fans. I would also recommend it to any who love fantasy art. John Howe is without doubt one of the finest illustrators and fantasy artists in the world today. If you can, use the link provided and see pictures of worlds that never existed but you might wish had.