Lonestarr here: I had an opportunity this last weekend to go the brothers Tim and Greg Hildebrandt art exhibition and signings at Every Picture Tells A Story gallery, in Santa Monica, CA. It was a lovely day (as usual), and when I arrived on Saturday with my father, who is himself an artist, the small gallery was filled wall-to-wall with their most famous ORIGINAL Tolkien/LOTR paintings from the 1970’s – what a treat! They even had on display all original, rare thumbnail and pencil sketchings of pre-painting and character designs. And what nice gentlemen, giving free signings and openly talking about their work history and influences – they even said they loved the first LOTR movie: casting, direction, design, everything, but haven’t had a chance to see TTT yet.
As dad and I roamed around and spoke to them in length, Greg and Tim said they like seeing other peoples’ art work and asked to see my dad’s paintings. We came back the next day to show them his portfolio, and they graciously commented on how much they enjoyed his work. Anyways, for those of you who aren’t familiar with the Bros. Hildebrandt artwork, they helped bring Tolkien popularity to the masses around 25 years ago in books, calenders, etc. If you’re in Southern California, they will still be around till the end of the week…