Sir Ian McKellen made a comment on his own website that fans have spent more time discussing how characters will look than how their surroundings will look. I think we’ve kept people pretty well-informed about the look of the place, but it reminded me of a recent email from a correspondent who urged me to look at some of the NZ landscape art that captures the ‘Middle-earth’ nature of the place. She suggested some online galleries such as Fishers Gallery.
The site uses frames so you have to browse within it. I found some pretty nice landscapes, many from the South Island around where filming’s taken place. Check out Margaret Rhodes, Peter Beadle, Tim Wilson, Aston Greathead, and one or two from the current exhibition, Ivan Clarke.