Maedhros therefore, being in anguish without hope, begged Fingon to shoot him with his bow; and Fingon strung an arrow, and bent his bow. And seeing no better hope he cried to Manwë, saying: ‘O King to whom all birds are dear, speed now this feathered shaft, and recall some pity for the Noldor in their need!’
J. R: R: Tolkien, The Silmarillion: Of the return of the Noldor
Watercolour and Ecoline on Canson Vidalon cold-pressed paper, 23×33 cm
Steps:
I doodled a very nice Fingon and Aredhel into my sketchbook yesterday – with coloured pencil, which yielded some really charming results. I decided to try watercolour on top of those – only to realise that my coloured pencils were water soluble.
So I printed the sketches out on watercolour paper again, and got to work, spraying the entire paper with water and then laying down a Quinachridone Gold wash.
A bit of flesh-tint with Burnt Sienna and Madder Red.
Some Ultramarine for the shadows.
More reddish and bluish tints. I really like this effect. Maybe next time I try this technique, I won’t do it on a character with dark hair.
Painting the hair with Ultramarine, Madder, and rather a lot of Shadow Violet.
Some final touches with paint, and later some more with Polychromos and white gel pen.
Finished:
I sat down yesterday for a reality check. Am I deluded? These all look different to me, even without their characteristic hair. So yes, they are all related (fathers and brothers and sons and daughters and cousins), so they are all immortal and ageless, and they are all beautiful in the same ethereal Elven way, and yes, there are some that are less characteristic than others. But to me, they look exactly as they should. Maybe I’ve become too much of a shepherd. Or, alternatively, it’s just that I don’t see Tolkien’s characters as wildly individual (bordering on cartoonish) as, for example, G. R. R. Martin’s.
‘What!’ cried Bilbo. ‘You can’t tell which parts were mine, and which were the Dúnadan’s?’
‘It is not easy for us to tell the difference between two mortals’ said the Elf.
‘Nonsense, Lindir,’ snorted Bilbo. ‘If you can’t distinguish between a Man and a Hobbit, your judgement is poorer than I imagined. They’re as different as peas and apples.’
‘Maybe. To sheep other sheep no doubt appear different,’ laughed Lindir. ‘Or to shepherds. But Mortals have not been our study. We have other business.'” — The Fellowship of the Ring, J. R. R. Tolkien
Or, in the words of the immortal Hiro Nakamura and Ando Masahashi: “They all look the same to me.” – “That’s racist!”
My first exhibition!
And look! I’m on the BBC!
My stand. I realised later that it was a weird mix of artists alley and actual stand. This was on the first day; I still had prints!
Jay Johnstone setting up his stand. Now THAT is a stand. I was taking mental notes on how to present myself properly.
Simo, alias Lathron, in his Elven armour that he forged himself. I wish I’d badgered him into doing another somersault that I could take a picture of. But be assured, he did do one; that armour’s very flexible.
Anke Eißmann, who shared a table with me, in the process of sketching Sherlock fanart. ;)
These two had a beautiful stand doing Elven calligraphy.
It was wonderful to see even older fans of Tolkien dressed up and generally sharing all the same enthusiasm.
Before Saruman went to subjugate the Shire under the name of Sharkey, he seems to have tried out Rugby at Lufbra Uni. Judging by the amount of trophies he gathered, it’s surprising he didn’t stick to it. Maybe it was because they always misspelt his name on the jersey.
Malcolm, winner of my purely personal Funniest T-shirt Contest. And generally a wonderful bloke.
Shaun Gunner, deputy chairman of the Tolkien Society and in charge of organising the Return of the Ring event. And yes Shaun, you’re everyone’s favourite! Deservedly.
Nancy Martsch, Ruth Lacon, Ted Nasmith, me, and Anke Eißmann at the “Illustrating Tolkien” panel.
Ted answering questions.
Ted looking at my portfolio. We had a lot of fun discussing lack of backgrounds and lack of characters. It was something I mentioned at the artists panel – that men seem to be focussing on the landscapes and women on the characters.
Me at the watercolour workshop.
Getting ready for the Traditional Knitted Dwarf Toss.
Close-up of the Knitted Dwarf.
A huge Smaug cake that was presented on Saturday night. It was delicious, too.
Ted Nasmith, Alex Lewis, and Lynn Whitaker singing Tolkien-inspired songs. One of my absolute highlights.
Breakfast time with the Dragon Vert Tolkien-reenactment company.
A seamstress from Le Dragon Vert working on a Bayeux- inspired tapestry depicting Éomer.
A setup at camp that just caught my eye.
Farewell to Lufbra. These are the student accommodations, and all in all, they’re about twice as big as the village I live in. I’d never seen such an incredibly large University.
Here are some of the quick watercolour portraits I did over the weekend:
Treebeard
Fingon
Rosie Cotton
Guess who. :D
Another Fingon.
A hobbit I did for Shaun. He said that people seem to draw hobbit feet far too large, and also told me that he had very large feet. So there.
Éowyn.
I can’t seem to stop. O_o
Maglor and Maedhros after the latter’s rescue.
And one that I’ve been wanting to (re)do for years – the Prophecy of the North.
“Tears unnumbered ye shall shed; and the Valar will fence Valinor against you, and shut you out, so that not even the echo of your lamentation shall pass over the mountains. On the House of Fëanor the wrath of the Valar lieth from the West unto the uttermost East, and upon all that will follow them it shall be laid also. Their Oath shall drive them, and yet betray them, and ever snatch away the very treasures that they have sworn to pursue. To evil end shall all things turn that they begin well; and by treason of kin unto kin, and the fear of treason, shall this come to pass. The Dispossessed shall they be for ever.”
I seem to be one of the few people who always assumed that, when Fingon had rescued Maedhros from Thangorodrim, he took him with him to the people of Fingolfin. It’s always made sense for me. He would have wanted to keep him close, and he wouldn’t have been welcome to stay in the Fëanoreans’ camp, quite apart from the fact that he’s just not brazen enough to just outstay his welcome there – neither could I ever imagine him just dumping Maedhros at his brothers’ doorstep, saying “There ya go! I dared what you didn’t!” and take the next eagle home. XD
So, the question is: How did Fingon’s family react? I imagine it was a mix of anger at his sudden disappearance, admiration for his daring deed, and resentment at helping one of the hated Fëanoreans. The latter would have been strongest in Turgon, just having lost his wife and nearly his daughter, and holding Maedhros squarely responsible, as Fëanor was no longer around to be held responsible.
Hope to finish this with coffee. Hmmmm. Coffee.
First sketch in my sketchbook. I ran out of extra lead in ALL my mechanical pencils and then even the only black Biro I had died on me. O_o Hence the “Och nee!” (German for: Oh noes!) in the corner.
Photoshop sketch done at home.
The lineart. With the help of a ref photo shot of myself with a couple of kitchen towels and a thermos flask. Dear Lord, I need to de-age that hand. You know, I’ll be forty in three years, but you’d never guess it unless you saw my hands. I swear I have the Hands of Dorian Gray. They age in my stead. XD
I decided to change Fingon’s expression as opposed to the lineart – merely concern for Maedhros, not even acknowledging his brother’s resentment, in spite of being perfectly aware of it. He wouldn’t hold a grudge. His aim was to heal a feud, not create new ones. He probably even allowed Turgon for his enmity – mostly because he still didn’t know Maedhros was blameless for the burning of the ships.
If he wasn’t so pure-hearted, I’d have fallen for Fingon instead of Maedhros. He just lacks a dark side.
Finished with coffee. :)
