Life in Middle Earth

My Blog for my Tolkien art archive and a place for general Middle Earth related discussions or questions should you have any. This is a friendly anti elitist zone where diversity is highly encouraged. Please do not repost my art without permission.

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A rather crappy snapshot of an Angbang doodle I did, based around the ‘seduction’ of Mairon. I also took this opportunity to give Melkor snazzier horns than my previous version of the character.

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Sorry I haven’t submitted much lately. The laptop I currently use for scanning has been acting up. Studying and a minor bout of depression did not help much either. I also have a larger sketchbook alongside my a4 ones but I currently don’t have access to a big enough scanner to get good quality pictures, so for now I will just submit my favourite sketches to show off from that one. Here is a picture I actually managed to complete from my other books though.

I have always liked to imagine that Elrond and Gil Galad had a deep relationship in the Second Age which never quite reached it’s full fruition due to the war and everything. Also I just love power couples ❤️

After the whole Shadow of War debacle I was inspired to put them in something that resembles a co-operative fantasy game setting. I know that’s not going to happen though because according to Warner Bros, LGBT couples are ‘scandalous’ and disloyal to Tolkien Lore, but turning Shelob into a generic sexy lady and loot boxes are totally fine 🙄

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Here’s some Russingon :p (pity my scanner had to mess it up again)

At the top is some basic fluff. As for the bottom I thought since winter is on it’s way, it might be a good time to see what they would look like in a colder climate. Their winter wear as you probably guessed is semi-inspired by Game of Thrones with a touch of Wintery colours, although they ended up looking like Elsa and Santa Claus more than anything :L Either way, I found it a pretty ironic time to post this, especially with the rumour of a GoT-esque Tolkien adaptation coming soon (I really hope they don’t try to ‘GoT-ify’ it by the way, as much as I enjoy the TV series).

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Sorry if the picture looks a bit too dark. The colours did not come out well on the scanner so I had to darken it up a bit in Paint.Net to make them stand out a bit more.

Anyway here are some doodles of my interpretation of Elrond, (as well as an expecting, very happy Celebrian, and little Arwen ^^). Don’t get me wrong, I love the Peter Jackson films and have no problems with Hugo Weaving as an actor, however as the great Lindsey Ellis once said, the films do not do a spectacular job at depicting Elrond’s character. I also don’t like how he is a bit of a jerk to his own adoptive son but that’s another rant for another time…

I wanted to make him look a bit more youthful but also while he may seem carefree and welcoming, it is obvious that he has a dark and tragic past. I’m surprised this guy got through thousands of years without any therapy. His clothing is inspired by typical fantasy wear but there is some Indian influence mixed in there too. I like to imagine that he wears mostly red too, as a tribute to a certain family he once had close ties with.

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Maedhros and Fingon, fighting I guess? I wanted to practise designing fantasy armour and weapons. The armour was somewhat inspired by the style of Fire Emblem although I added many of my own touches. 

In Maedhros’ armour especially I considered the elves’ relationship with nature which is quite a prominent theme in the books, so I incorporated a leafish design into his armour. His shield meanwhile was actually inspired by the Jackson films. Being as strong as he is I imagine he would be more of a heavier armour type, although not so heavy that it completely slows him down (looking at you every RPG game ever made... -_- ). Fingon meanwhile is wearing lighter armour but carrying a heavier sword, mainly because I have a guilty pleasure for over the top weapons :p

While I have been practising armour design however, I clearly haven't been practising anatomy because a lot of it looks quite bad in places >-< My background is nothing special either but considering I’m not a landscape artist, it feels like a masterpiece at my skill level.

Anyways I hope you can look past some of the flaws (as well as the horrible scanning) and enjoy :) 

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Militant Tolkien purists/racist fans in general: ‘But the Feanorians aren’t supposed to be black! There were no black people back then!’

Me: 

Anyway this is my depiction of the Feanorians as they were in Valinor, in a more noble getup. Partly inspired by the amazing photography of James C Lewis, I think their clothing is also more practical for the warm Valinor climate. I wanted to practice different hairstyles too. I think my shading could have been better in places, and the colouring in some areas looks awkward. I also still draw the necks too long and I can’t draw hands to save my life. I think it turned out okay overall though, I just wish my scanner could have done it more justice.

Top: Amrod and Amras. Character wise they are the least interesting of Feanor’s sons in my opinion (at least in canon), but it’s probably because we don’t see them in the narrative all that much. Design wise however I think they look good enough.

Middle left: A rather dashing looking Celegorm, and by the looks of things the only one who enjoys posing here. I wanted to capture especially his free spirited attitude, as well as him being a dog person. I really like how his design turned out and if it were not for his later actions in the story he would probably be one of my favourites.

Centre: My favourite bad tempered elf, Caranthir and easily the most underrated of the seven (seriously he is the only one of Feanor’s sons to lack his own wikipedia page). In my version of the Silmarillion he actually has a bad limp, due to a childhood accident which I hope to go into later, also I like the idea of having more disabled elves in the mix.

Middle Right: Curufin, aka Feanor Jr. His expression just states, ‘I’m too important for any of you!’. In all seriousness though I wanted to show his father’s likeness and demeanor. Like Feanor, he also loves his bling, so I decided to reflect that too. Again, it’s a shame he turned out villainous, because he looks pretty damn fabulous here if you ask me.

Bottom left: Maedhros. Despite him being described as ‘the tall’, he is not actually the tallest elf in Tolkien’s world. However I like to imagine him being the strongest, only being rivaled by Argon. I can imagine only an elf with his strength can survive the kind of trauma he endured :( As you can possibly see, I partly based his design on a lion so he is a little bit chunkier than the others. Like a lion he is also pretty grumpy, unless he is hanging around with Fingon of course.

Bottom right: Maglor. I have a headcanon that Maglor is water as Maedhros is fire. While I imagine him being down to earth for the most part, in battle he can be terrifying, his mood kind of resembles the sea in that sense. I also like the idea of him (along with Maedhros) being a strong family man, helping to guide his younger siblings through all walks of life, as well as being close to his mother, that is likely what inspired him to take Elrond and Elros under his wing.

Again, sorry for not posting for so long. I may do the house of Fingolfin next if I am feeling up to it. Either way I will guarantee more Middle Earth art coming soon. 

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Here you go, the two partners in crime themselves, Sauron and Morgoth, looking pretty good in leather armour too.

I wanted to come up with a more original design for Grond but instead it came out weird, my backgrounds are okay though. Their fashion is kind of based on the elements, Sauron’s fiery temperament and Morgoth’s icy demeanor make a nice contrast if you ask me. I also thought it would be rather fitting to give Morgoth horns since he is technically supposed to be Middle Earth’s interpretation of the Devil. Sauron should probably be careful around those things either way.

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(Anyone who did so with my previous post, please re-like or reblog this one since I feel it is cleaner and better colour-wise too, it is amazing what digital rendering can do)

I know that the general consensus in the Silmarillion fandom is that Sauron did not take part in the War of Wrath, but I (as well as others) love the idea of Sauron having one final showdown against Eonwe when nothing else is standing between him and his master.

This is probably my most anime inspired art yet and I tried (and possibly failed) to capture the atmosphere of a typical ‘epic’ anime battle. I understand Silmarillion artists often depict Eonwe with bird characteristics which I like, so in this case his armour is inspired by ospreys, one of my favourite birds. It looks soft and fluffy but is actually pretty tough. I also liked the idea of over the top weapons in RPG games so I added that element too.

Sauron’s armour is of course inspired by that of a dragon. I often see him depicted with epaulettes but I decided to ‘take it to the next level’ so to speak taking the dragon theme into account. I imagine Sauron also being quite a fashion freak so impractical armour is all the rage for him. As a result he has decorative smaller wings alongside his real ones.

I hate backgrounds in general but this one is relatively harmless I suppose. I also have issues with anatomy, perspective and lighting. I cannot draw energy balls and the shadows on Sauron especially make him resemble Venus the cat.

Apart from those issues I hope you enjoy this piece and I’m sorry that it took so long for me to upload. I was on holiday but also I’m a perfectionist so forgive me for any delays.

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Finally, I actually completed a half decent background... yay I guess... My shading and anatomy (human and animal) could still do with some work though.

This picture was inspired by Tolkien’s original interpretation of Sauron back when he was known as Telvido Prince of Cats. I suppose this picture is a Frankenstein’s creation between that and whats depicted in the published Silmarillion so I guess you can call it a fan retelling of sorts. Wolves are kind of overrated especially since Deviantart came into being (and the many many Alpha and Omega sequels) but I also enjoy variety. There is also the factor that when Frodo looks into Galadriel’s mirror he describes Sauron’s eye resembling that of a cat’s. I know cats are quite overrated too but I love the idea of Sauron creating giant cats that can easily pluck unsuspecting elves trying to hide out of the trees. Wolves can run and bite but cats in addition to these two things also have claws and can climb quite easily. Also I’ll admit I’m quite biased because I’m the perfect definition of a ‘Crazy Cat Lady’ XD 

My version of Sauron is kind of inspired by a Celtic Warrior but I have also seen several depictions of him with freckles which I think is pretty adorable so there is that factor too I guess ^^ I also made him a bit beefier than other versions I have seen. I don’t actually mind skinny depictions of Sauron but there are some pictures, particularly yaoi art I have seen where he is practically a kitten. In my view being the former Greatest Smith in Valinor I would expect him to have at least a little bit of meat on him if you know what I mean. Also yes that is a third eye he has up there, he prefers to keep it covered though since it gives off a terrifying energy that would scare most people away, even those on the dark side. That eye cover is basically Middle Earth’s version of glasses or contact lens I suppose...

I got references for the throne from various Celtic depictions of cats as well as patterns I have seen while browsing.