Also, this weekend (Saturday August 24 at 6pm EDT (New York time)) we’ll be returning to our Lord of the Rings book chats. This week we begin the first chapter of book four — The Taming of Smeagol — so be sure to join us for this exciting topic!

Richard Armitage, Thorin Oakenshield, dwarven king in exile

Richard Crispin Armitage was born on 22nd August 1971 and raised in Leicestershire. At 17 he joined a circus in Budapest for 6 weeks to gain his Equity Card. Armitage returned to Britain to pursue a career in musical theater. He appeared on stage in various musicals, including Cats as Admetus and Macavity.

his first major television role was John Standring in the 2002 BBC drama Sparkhouse. “It was the first time I went to an audition in character. It was a minor role but it was something I really got my teeth into… I couldn’t go back. I knew I had to approach everything the same way.” After this he took a variety supporting roles in the TV productions of Between the Sheets, Cold Feet (series 5), and Ultimate Force (Series 2).

A few of his many roles since then include police officer Lucas North in the acclaimed series Spooks, notorious villain Guy of Gisborne in Robin Hood and John Porter in Strike Back. And, of course, he’s our tragic hero Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit!

This week, Richard turns 42!

If you missed TORn’s interview with Richard last year, check out what the man himself had to say about his role as Thorin.

I looked mainly through Tolkien – I looked at all of his work, looked to mainly the dwarves, coz he writes about dwarves in general … In terms of preparation, it kind of happened by accident coz I was doing vocal work, coz I wanted him to sound a certain way. I wanted to pitch my voice lower, I wanted him to be able to speak quietly but resonantly … and I ended up using Henry V, Richard III and Macbeth as soliloquies that I could use to get some vocal production going.

But I found in all three of those characters [aspects of Thorin] … the whole idea of the rallying cry of a leader on the battlefield is very much Henry V; the self hating deformity of Richard III was sort of relevant; and also the Macbeth figure when it comes to the gold lust – this man who believes he is doing the right thing and gets corrupted by something which ultimately destroys him … I just felt that those three figures were all going to be pretty useful for me to have in my head.

Richard Armitage is Thorin Oakenshield.

John Howe, Tolkien illustrator and conceptual designer

John is, of course, one of the chief conceptual designers for The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings films. Born in 1957 in Vancouver, John’s been drawing since a young age and studied at the Ecoles des Arts Décoratifs de Strasbourg.

He’s responsible for translating some of Tolkien’s iconic scenes and characters from prose into visual art. This week he turns 56!

Even the Weta folk are in awe of Howe’s skills, as designer Paul Tobin explained to TORn at San Diego Comic-con.

[Alan Lee and John Howe] are incredibly experienced. They’re so gifted with their pencil. I was just about to reduced to tears one morning when I was working up a design for some elven armour and John was on the same brief. We were given the brief in the morning, to come back in the afternoon and show where we were at. And this was pretty early on, I’d only ever met John very briefly.

And I showed him my work-in-progress — a digital painting. Then John unrolls this A1, poster-size pencil sketch of an elven warrior … nearly life sized. And, literally, I was nearly tearing up — I can’t compete with that. That’s the difference between me and someone like John.

Morgoth and Ungoliant before the Two Trees of Valinor by John Howe.

Alan Lee, Tolkien illustrator and conceptual designer

Alan Lee, born on August 20, 1947, is the other half of the conceptual design team on Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies. An English book illustrator, he was born in Middlesex, England and studied at the Ealing School of Art.

This week Alan turns 65!

Some of Alan’s most notable illustrations for the works of J.R.R. Tolkien include the centenary edition of The Lord of the Rings (1991), a 1995 edition of The Hobbit, and the famous first edition of Narn i Chîn Húrin: the tale of the children of Húrin which was first released in 2007.

Aragorn and Eowyn by Alan Lee.

Weta designer Paul Tobin

TORn staffer Justin caught up with Weta conceptual designer Paul Tobin at the San Diego Comic-Con last month and scored this long, informative chat about the intense effort that went into the design of the dwarves of the Company, and about John Howe’s immense artistic talent.

As well as working on Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit Trilogy, Tobin has worked on James Cameron’s Avatar (2009) and Andrew Adamson’s The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), Prince Caspian (2008).

Speaking to TheOneRing.net, Tobin said the effort the designers put into perfecting the look of the dwarves was enormous.

The design team created over 500 different beards and hair designs in under two weeks. Crazy, crazy, crazy stuff.

He says that, generally, they would initially take the actor and paint the beard and hair up in Photoshop.

Then Peter, Fran and Philippa would discuss it … if they liked it then it would get marquetted onto the actor’s bust, of their head, so they could walk around and get a sense of the volume.

If that was good, the hair was carefully peeled off. They would then start the finishing all the prosthetics. And then the hair department would take of designing the rest of it from the photographs of the bust.

So it was quite an elaborate process.

Tobin says he himself worked on more than 50 different renditions of Thorin’s beard and hair — and other designers working were working on their own concepts.

Thorin didn’t come easy. Because he’s a really important character, we played around with a lot of different options.

He says that Ori, on the other hand was locked in within six or seven iterations.

Tobin praises the talents of Alan Lee and John Howe

The Fall of Gondolin by John Howe

He’s also a big fan, both personally and professionally, of John Howe.

[Alan Lee and John Howe] are incredibly experienced. They’re so gifted with their pencil. I was just about to reduced to tears one morning when I was working up a design for some elven armour and John was on the same brief. We were given the brief in the morning, to come back in the afternoon and show where we were at. And this was pretty early on, I’d only ever met John very briefly.

And I showed him my work-in-progress — a digital painting. Then John unrolls this A1, poster-size pencil sketch of an elven warrior … nearly life sized. And, literally, I was nearly tearing up — I can’t compete with that. That’s the difference between me and someone like John.

Click to watch our exclusive interview with Paul Tobin in full!

Beorn. A portrait by John Howe.

Fact is that, while noting that people often tend to automatically respond negatively to change then rapidly adapt, the reader response has been largely unfavourable. Overall, people don’t seem to like Beorn.

It’s a reaction seemingly propelled by the crazy mane of hair that sweeps over Beorn’s head like a mohawk, and stretches down his back like a long, rangy mullet.

It’s prompted a wide-ranging variety of negative comparisons to Sonic the Hedgehog, Blanka, Joe Dirt, ’80s hair metal bands, David Bowie in Labyrinth and Beast from Beauty and the Beast.

Re-introducing J.R.R. Tolkien’s Beorn

First, it’s maybe worth refreshing ourselves first with Tolkien’s description of Beorn when we first meet him in the The Hobbit in the chapter titled Queer Lodgings. Initially, Gandalf tells Bilbo:

He is a skin-changer. He changes his skin; sometimes he is a huge black bear, sometimes he is a great strong black-haired man with huge arms and a great beard.

Then the narrator describes him as follows:

Standing near was a huge man with a thick black beard and hair, and great bare arms and legs with knotted muscles. He was clothed in a tunic of wool down to his knees, and was leaning on a large axe.

Beorn, Lord of the Wild by Ted Nasmith.

Do Ringers like the look of Peter Jackson’s Beorn?

Now, I’m not entirely sure whether that description truly accords with what we saw. And, considering the reader response, one wonders if, a bit like the unfortunate implications of Radagast’s bird-poop-covered face, the art department really thought this one through entirely.

To try and evaluate the response of fans, we’ve done a little bit of back-of-a-piece-of-paper analysis of responses based on reader feedback and reactions left on our Facebook page, on the Disqus comments thread and on the first thread on the TORn message-boards. Of course, there are some caveats to this sort of thing — our analysis is a rough gauge that required a little bit of interpretation of occasionally fuzzy reader responses. And the sample is both smallish, and non-random. Anyone who’s done a stats course will understand that introduces bias and other issues.

That means you should think of this simply as a useful indicator of what folks seem to feel. A general yardstick. It is not meant to be, nor should be regard as, definitive.

Flip to the next page to see the results of our analysis.

Our special Beorn reader poll

But before you do, complete our special fan poll below and tell us what you feel about the Beorn spy image! Love it? Hate it? Or are you prepared to wait and see? Then stay tuned: we’ll be back to report the results next week!

Cremorne Orpheum Theatre, Sydney Australia – Wednesday 1st May, 2013
Introduced by: Chris Murray (Creative Director Popcorn Taxi)
Hosted by: Oscar Hillerstrom from Popcorn Taxi
by: Deleece Cook on behalf of theOneRing.net

The cheering began as soon as Popcorn Taxi’s Chris Murray walked out on stage to open the event. There wasn’t a spare seat to be had at The Orpheum Theatre at Cremorne for the exclusive screening of The Hobbit and the live on Stage Q&A appearance with Richard Armitage.

700 smiling excited Thorin Fans were in the audience – and they had come from all over Australia for the event – this is what they had been waiting for hours to see. And it didn’t disappoint. It was a wonderful night of entertainment and surprises – Richard was a talkative guest; relaxed, smiling and laughing through the interview and he tried as best as he could to answer every question put to him from the fans, and from the host Oscar Hillerstrom.

Here’s how the night went – plenty of laughter and cheering and just a great vibe all round!…

Chris Murray: “Good Evening! Do I need to ask how you’re doing? Um, I’ve never been to an underwear sale at David Jones but I suppose this is the closest thing. Ladies and Gentlemen my name is Chris Murray and I am the Creative Director of Popcorn Taxi. It gives me no greater pleasure and enormous privilege to have you here tonight to see on the big screen The Hobbit. But not only that I know why you’re here… Richard Armitage on that seat ladies and Gentlemen”

Mad applause.

Chris Murray:  “Yes, you get the chance to ask him questions – I get the chance to curl into a small ball and rock backwards and forwards in the corner.”

More laughter… Then Chris laid down some house rules regarding soft toys and portraits not coming anywhere near the stage, but he mentioned nicely that questions were welcomed from the audience.
Then the first surprise of the night was announced…

Chris Murray: We are celebrating a fantastic film, and that film is out on Blu-ray and DVD today (mad applause)… “Yes! You should buy it! Warner Bros will love me! But, what’s not on that Blu-ray and what’s not on that DVD is what I’m about to play for you now. We have 12 minutes of a little behind the scenes that you will not see anywhere else. (lots of gasps) After that, you’ll get to meet Mr Richard Armitage.

Mad cheering!

Chris Murray: So enjoy the 12 minutes and relax – get the wetness out of the seats – whatever works for you – and I’ll be back! Please enjoy this event.

The sound of the cheering audience was amazing! Then silence. The lights lowered and the huge screen lit up… and then there was Peter…

Peter Jackson: “You want the Hobbit to be a visual experience that goes several steps beyond Lord of The Rings”

And that familiar drone of singing Dwarves speaking of “Pines and Mountains cold” echoed through the theatre – every eye was glued to the screen… it was more than 12 minutes of magic!

The film covered races and character that we see in the An Unexpected Journey – with snippets of comments from the actors and crew members. It shortly gave a brief explanation of the storyline and highlighted some of the production values and costuming as well.

In no particular order – Here are just some of the presenters on the clip, and what they had to say…
____
Peter Jackson: “When we made Lord of the Rings I was absolutely sure that was going to be a once in a lifetime experience. I never realized that ten years later I’d be doing it all over again – and we actually shot the 266 days on The Hobbit which was exactly the same number of days we shot on Lord of The Rings, so I’ve sort of done the once in a lifetime experience twice now (laughs) not a third time – there won’t be a third time”

Peter Jackson: “10 years ago it was Ian playing the character of Gandalf and no one had seen any of the movies, and now that’s an iconic figure. That’s Gandalf.”

Peter Jackson: “The same creative talent. 20 or 30 of the most senior people were Lord of The Rings veterans”

Peter Jackson: “The thing that’s so incredible about Martin is that he’s always exploring, he’s experimenting, he’s always trying to figure out where Bilbo’s truth is”

Peter Jackson: “One of the scary things about adapting The Hobbit is the fact that there’s 13 dwarves – and differentiating those characters was important.”

Philippa Boyens: “I remember the day when I knew we were back in Middle-Earth. I walked over to the costume room and there was Gandalf. And I suddenly thought… We’re Back.”

Philippa Boyens: (about Dwarves): “In the end Pete fell in love with each and every one of those characters. And as much as there is a little bit of Dwarf in Peter I think there’s a little bit of Peter in all those Dwarves.”

John Howe: “I imagine that Peter will do for Dwarves what he did for Elves because he is going to give them much more density, much more history.”

Martin Freeman: (talking about his character Bilbo) “… We join Bilbo as the book of The Hobbit does, as a home faring solitary Hobbit. …certain things struck me about him suggested a certain timidity and a lot of life…”

Elijah Wood: “You’ll get taken on an amazing ride”

Elijah Wood: “To have a chance to return, pop a wig on and feet it kind of feels like I’ve stepped into a time machine. And I get to meet all of these other actors who are coming along for the real long journey and sort of seeing in them a little bit of what we felt like when we started”

Elijah Wood: “A seed is being planted for what eventually comes the time period that we meet in Lord of The Rings”.

Christopher Lee: “Middle Earth seems to be just beginning to rumble and tumble”

Christopher Lee: “The White Council – they represent enormous power. There’s suspicion amongst all of them that there’s this building power of evil – getting stronger and stronger!”

Cate Blanchett: (on Gandalf in the film): “What makes Gandalf the most wonderful hero is the courage against popular opinion. He gets to move on into the darkness that no one else is prepared to go into.”

Hugo Weaving: “Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel, Saruman, they play a role in eliminating those [forces?] from the political landscape.”

Ian McKellen: (on his character Gandalf regarding the appendices) “ Gandalf in The Hobbit; he is off and away doing other business and quite what that is, is not revealed in the novel. In the films we get to see what Gandalf was up to.”

Ian McKellen: “It’s magic. It’s pure magic. And you’ll believe it.”

The sound of the Dwarves was heard and the film ended with the audience cheering and clapping once more.

Then it was time for Richard Armitage to grace the Stage…

Peter Jackson says, “Warner Bros have kindly let me post a six-minute excerpt of the Live Event we did to preview The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, to give anyone who missed it a sense of what it was like.”

[Hobbit Sneak] [YouTube]

From the HollywoodReporter.com:

The fantasy flick, which earned $302.7 million in U.S. theaters and was directed by Lord of the Rings helmer Peter Jackson, easily outsold several other high-profile theatrical features that also bowed on disc the same week.

….

Demand was high for all three titles, but Hobbit was clearly the cream of the crop. Nielsen figures show Les Miserables sold just 33.8 percent as many units as Hobbit, while Zero Dark Thirty trailed with 21.4 percent. (To be fair, Les Mis came out on a Friday, so it didn’t have a full week of sales in the tracking period.)

[Read More] [The Hobbit Official Site]

Greendragon:  Of course I would be excited about something to do with a dragon!  It seemed to me that we saw Smaug’s ‘laser eyes’ in part of the footage – a scene was shown where Martin Freeman was playing around with putting the ring on, in Smaug’s lair.  The lighting was red, shining on a specific area and then moving across the pile of gold – suggesting the ‘piercing ray of red from under the drooping lid of Smaug’s left eye.’  It was nice to see this glimpse of the power of Smaug’s eyes – the danger of the dragon-spell!

Demosthenes: The actual extended scene we were shown from The Desolation of Smaug was of Gandalf and Radagast visiting the Nazgûl tombs. Okay, this has me excited because there’s a heap of spoiler analysis and guesswork that we can all play with. Who built the tombs? If they were built by the Dúnedain of Arnor (the selfsame Dúnedain who never make an appearance in the film of the Lord of the Rings, I might say!), then why does Radagast call the sigils on the walls foul? [In the clip, we see engraving on the walls above a door of a tomb, the bars of which have been wrenched or blasted open.]  Is that an implication that they were built by the Dúnedain of Rhudaur who fell into evil with the realm of Angmar? And what do the Tengwar letters — for they are a type of Tengwar – say? Do they bind? Do they nurture? Is it a transliteration to English? Or is it in Adûnaic, Quenya or Sindarin?

Why are they in the high fells (of Rhudaur)? What could have possibly prompted both Gandalf and Radagast to travel back over the Misty Mountains to investigate?  Lots of questions — lots of opportunity to guess stuff!  Moreover, I’m buzzed that Gandalf says there are NINE tombs. It’s what I guessed when I first saw this sequence last year, and I also felt that the bars indicated that whoever was in there broke out, and that there were letters over those doorways.

Rasputin the Evil Balrog: The boat scene got me excited [where we saw the dwarves, Bilbo and Bard on a boat, together with a collection of barrels], combined with what Peter had to say about the character of Bard being enigmatic – we don’t know if he’s good or bad. It reminded me of the way they chose to create Faramir’s character in The Two Towers, giving him much more depth and motivation than I feel he has in the books.  A lot of book purists disagree with me because they like the fact that Faramir is presented as the archetype of the ever-noble hero, but I thought the way they played him was much more modern and interesting.  I think we’re going to see something similar with Bard. In the book, he’s set in opposition to the debauched, corrupt master of Lake-town, but it seems like Peter is implying that we’ll get a few more twists and turns to our Bard story!

Deej:  In the various glimpses of scenes between Thranduil and his son Legolas, it was interesting to see that there might be a conflict between father and son regarding the way the dwarves are treated.   Although he’s not in the book, I had expected Legolas to go along with his father – it would explain why he and Gimli aren’t on friendly terms when the Fellowship is first formed.  Could this difference of opinion lead Legolas (and Tauriel?) to help the dwarves and Bilbo escape Mirkwood?

Grammaboodawg: To see Legolas with his father, Thranduil, is incredible! After years of imagining Legolas in Mirkwood and in a relationship with his father, this shot has had a profound impact on me. Like seeing the White Council… it’s exciting to have the imagined moments of this story finally becoming real.  Also, in one of the moments where we saw Bilbo in Smaug’s lair, there was an interesting glow at Bilbo’s right hand. Could it be the Arkenstone??

Kelvarhin: The thing I was most excited about was seeing the concept drawings of Mirkwood, by WETA artist Gus Hunter.  I’ve always envisaged it as being all twisted trees, dark and very menacing, and those images nailed it perfectly.  Can’t wait to see the finished images on the big screen.

Demosthenes: The beautiful concept artwork by John Howe which we were shown, for the entrance to Thranduil’s realm in Mirkwood,  is almost identical to Alan Lee’s painting of Menegroth – which can be seen here .  This is particularly cool because, for Tolkien, Menegroth was probably a template of sorts for the Halls of the Elven King as first described in The Hobbit.  I’m pretty sure that if you go back as far as the Book of Lost Tales there is some description of the halls of Tinwelint the elf/gnome king that has a similarity to The Hobbit — that bridge over the river particularly.

Kili: Glimpsing Tauriel was a pleasant surprise. She comes across as a panther whose mask of calm will shred at the slightest provocation. In comparison to fellow Elven warriors Legolas and Elrond, it was refreshing to see what a hot-blooded captain of the guard might be like. There is a lot of tension in the fandom surrounding her character, but if this glimpse is anything to go by, then she can stand proudly alongside Éowyn, Arwen, and Galadriel. Tolkien’s dearth of female characters is troublesome, and I applaud Jackson and his team for taking the risk of inventing a bold new character who not only feels authentic to her culture and circumstances, but whose ferocity will have a special resonance with her fellow woman warriors in the audience.

Quickbeam: I was completely surprised at how Peter Jackson himself appears so relaxed, playful, and at-ease. Notwithstanding all the visual surprises and exciting bits of sets/ characters/ and effects work we are treated to glimpsing, I am honestly more blown away at his casual confidence.  You must understand that P.J. is under tremendous amounts of pressure and a work-load that defies description. Yet there he is, making light jokes about Colbert’s coffee cups or showing us his favorite vintage movie one-sheets as if we, the live camera, were just old friends visiting on a relaxed weekend and he has all the leisure time in the world.  It’s a remarkable illusion, because he is the one man on Middle-earth who DOES NOT have leisure time or anything going “easy” for him — while juggling huge budgets, scheduling all the re-shoots, editing a movie with higher standards upon it than anything, yammering phone calls from the studio’s lawyers, incessant fans chirping and tweeting about the appropriateness of Azog, Tauriel, Nazgûl tombs, etc. etc. etc.  Imagine how delightful it is for us to see this creative powerhouse of a director just as cool as a cucumber. His light-hearted spirit shines through even though he carries a special burden… and that makes me VERY confident that he’s the Master of his own Destiny like no other filmmaker, and has a good handle on everything that needs doing.

And a final thought: I was surprised to NOT see our shape-shifting ursine friend, Beorn.  We see just one axe chopping a piece of wood outside Beorn’s Hall, and another shot of the Company of Dwarves running into his doorway (excellent sense of scale there between the Dwarves and Beorn’s furnishings)… but certainly no Mikael Persbrandt to be seen.   That’s curious, given the recent news stories confirming his role will be expanded in The Desolation of Smaug.  So we are treated to lots of Luke Evans as Bard, which is grand, but nothing of Beorn. We shall wait and see.

Garfeimao: Lake-town interests me, with the dichotomy of what appears to be close to a shanty town on the exterior, but has much richer interiors. Or maybe it’s just like that for the Master of the Lake-town and his home. Since Lake-town is on the water, the wooden buildings all have a decayed and somewhat tilting appearance to them. But the Master’s bedroom is very lush looking, with dark wood paneled floors, walls and ceilings, a four poster bed, a giant oil painting (of himself, no less) and lovely windows on both sides. And from one of the group shots of the citizens of the town, they are in dark clothing and do not appear to be richly dressed. Last year at San Diego Comic Con, the sneak peek included a scene with the Master running into a home, one I assume is his own, and throwing back a carpet and opening a trap door beneath to reveal a horde of treasure comprised of what appears to be brass, gold and silver pots, candlesticks, dishes and the like. It is clear he is wealthy, and somewhat miserly and actually has a rather smarmy, slimy appearance to him. The fact that his servant is rather Gríma like in appearance just adds to the rather distasteful vibe he gives off. I also found it interesting they decided to give Bard a bit of a duality to him as well, so that Bilbo and the dwarves are left wondering if they can trust anyone in Lake-town.

Oh, and can I get a shout out for the wicked cool War Moose-antlered Throne that Thranduil is lounging in when the Company of Dwarves, as prisoners, are brought into his Halls? The epitome of the rather haughty Elf described in the book, to be sure.

But what I most appreciated from this hour long glimpse into The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug was the insight into Peter Jackson’s command of his mis-en-scène. This means his complete control of everything in front of the camera, from costumes and colors, hair and make up, set design and lighting to the angle of the cameras and the distance of the shot and the movement of the actors and props in frame. The example of the boat and the range of shots perfectly exemplifies how a storyteller can frame the action and use a variety of shots to tell the exact story they want because they truly have selected every frame you are seeing. Some of the quick sequences of shots shown at the very end only hint at the story to come, but it has intrigued me the way any good trailer grabs and audience.

Elessar: I was excited to see more of Mirkwood, Legolas, Thranduil, and Tauriel. Today’s event gave us plenty of that to look at, and while it wasn’t finished you can start to put that mental image together. I’ve had a mental image of what I thought Mirkwood looked like and what we saw felt like it was pulled directly from my brain! I loved seeing Legolas in action, and I love the look he has in this movie - mostly because it’s going to show the giant leap Legolas makes from The Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings. Seeing Thranduil in all his glory was fantastic, and I loved the scene of him getting in Thorin’s face, adding more to why Elves and Dwarves don’t like each other. Tauriel also looked awesome and I think I’m going to really like this character. A scene with her, Legolas, Thranduil, and an Orc looks like it will be really good. I did enjoy the Gandalf/Radagast sequence and am eager to see how the continued addition of this plot line runs. Mostly, I just loved spending an hour watching things to come. Is it December yet??

So much excitement – and we haven’t even seen a proper trailer yet!!

If you missed the Peter Jackson hosted first look at The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, or just want to watch it over again, a modified version will be archived on the Trilogy’s official website:  www.thehobbit.com/sneak. To access the footage, use your UltraViolet code on your copy The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Blu-ray Combo Pack, Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack or 2-Disc Special Edition DVD.

This artwork was created in New Zealand while the two artists were busy working on THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG, but they took time out of their work schedules to craft something special for this fundraiser.

The story takes us back to the recent holidays, where Robin’s family had gathered for a long, pleasant Christmas meal that brought everyone together — but afterward, a small bite from an over-excited family dog would have strange and tragic consequences. Robin became infected with the Capnocytophaga bacteria, commonly found in cats and dogs but very rarely ever transmitted as an infection to a human, yet the devastation through her body ultimately caused the loss of both her legs and hands. More details on her courageous battle can be found here on the Robin’s Relief Fairy Tale Art Auction page.

Now, in an effort to bring light and hope to her medical struggle, world-famous fantasy artists such as Wendy Froud, Michael Parkes, Alan Lee & John Howe, Kinuko Craft and many others have donated EXCLUSIVE new artworks that will be offered on eBay through the month of March. All proceeds go directly to a Chase Bank account setup for Robin’s Relief Fund.

Unfortunately, eBay has been pursuing a policy of NOT ALLOWING the mention of a charity fundraiser anywhere on these auctions, and recently this amazing Lee/Howe original drawing of one of Tolkien’s elves discovering the most unlikely creature imaginable (at least in terms of Middle-earth) was taken down off the auction site and all the bids were lost! None to be restored… so now they have replaced the live auction and the artist greatly desires to bring some Ringers’ attention to it before it concludes later today. TODAY IS THE LAST DAY — the current bids are not as significant as they were before being taken down — SO PLEASE BID NOW — They are in the final hours of bidding on this item and every little bit helps.

Be sure to check out and bid on the auction here and find out more details on Robin’s brave struggle on their charity info site here.  You can also follow updates on her surgeries and recovery on her Facebook page here. Thank you so much.

Tell us a bit about yourself. The cliff notes version, I guess.

I graduated with a BA(Hons) in Fine Art from Sheffield Hallam University in 2002 followed by an MA in 2003. My art training was a real highlight of my late teens and early twenties and a natural continuation from a childhood spent drawing, painting and making miniature model sci-fi films sets in the attic for my home movies. I have always loved different styles of illustration and sci-fi and fantasy art, and as an art student this was combined with a love of Salvador Dali and his striking surreal dreamscapes. As a movie fan I was drawn to pre-production concept art and miniature-scale design work that was prevalent before the advent of CGI. I found all these influences converged in one way or another during my art training along with a further immersion in contemporary art. Then something happened that I did not expect; the release of The Fellowship of the Ring…

How long have you been working as an artist, and when you began what did you want to accomplish?

I’ve been active as an artist for almost a decade now with many projects undertaken in education, theatre design work, artist-in-residence roles in schools and small-scale film projects. I’ve been exhibiting regularly as a landscape and abstract painter since 2007 in my home county of Yorkshire. What I’ve always wanted to accomplish is an art with a mysterious and intriguing pull on the viewer, providing suggestive hints of a wider narrative or mood – a little invitation for the viewer’s imagination to enter the work. This element has really come to the forefront in the collection of Tolkien inspired work. With From Mordor to the Misty Mountains I hope to begin establishing a reputation as a distinctive UK Tolkien artist, joining the ranks of others internationally who are inspired and compelled to create art in the same vein.

How did you become interested in Tolkien and Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit? What drew you to them and what do you like about them?

Going back to the release of Fellowship in 2001 it was Peter Jackson’s films that were the first entry point into Tolkien for me. Between 2002 and 2003 when The Two Towers was fresh in the mind from its theatrical release, I remember having a growing interest to respond to the world of Middle-earth artistically. A large appeal lay in the epic scope of the art direction, cinematography and the miniature-scale work of the fantasy locations. This prompted me to dig into Tolkien’s mythology deeper by devouring the books and I simultaneously began to hold Howard Shore’s magnificent film scores in high regard. Its beauty aside, Shore’s score is incredibly effective in helping you ‘see’ Middle-earth through its undulating and towering orchestral landscape. The music is now a central inspiration and I’ve been following Doug Adams’ analysis of it for well over six years, through his blog and 2010 book. I also became hooked on the BBC Radio dramatisation of The Lord of the Rings from the 1980s (the one with Ian Holm playing the role of Frodo) which tided me over until The Return of the King in 2003, and I still return to it again and again – it’s a good companion piece to both the experience of the films and reading Tolkien’s writing. The main draw for me, which feeds into the work I create, is the richly described character and believability of Middle-earth – a fantasy land rooted in the real world, epic in scale but familiar enough to see echoes of it all around you, very much like the genius move to take New Zealand and just by careful additions and manipulation transform it into a living, breathing fantasy land.