The Art Of The Lord Of The Rings By J.r.r. Tolkien

Had this on my radar for a while and managed to grab one on a nice sale. The hardcover size is typically for art books, and I thought the quality was good.

Can I start by just saying 5*, 10 out of 10, 100% just based off the Tolkien art alone? To be such a visionary, such a creative mind, and to also be an artist is just so crazy to me. Now a lot of these are pencil sketches, and some are even a stretch to call them that, but there are also full color drawings and designs that were eventually used in the books. Even saying that, it’s crazy just to see how his mind was at work creating and then editing these descriptions with actual drawing.

The book itself is organized pretty well. The only mix up is there are several parts where the writing goes on long past mentioning the referenced art, sometimes multiple references. So you’re either flipping back and forth over and over or not sure what they’re talking about. With that being said, I’ve had the same problem with some other art books, and I can’t really think of a fix, unless you really segment the writing to input the art.

A particular favorite of mine was seeing all the iterations of the cover artworks Tolkien worked on and submitted. It feels like a different world where the author has so much control in their own process. They must have really trusted him, and clearly it worked! It’s also nice to see that someone regarded as great by so many people also didn’t always know the answer. He worked and worked and sometimes it seems he even fumbled his way there, and Middle-earth fans are luckier for it.