Blingwraith

The Lord of the Rings novels by J.R.R "Orc-in Man" Tolkien

In my head, the Ringwraiths wore orcskin boots.

They were pretty fly for some dead guys!

Anyway, the Ringwraiths weren't always scary bad-asses. In their former lives, they were "entrusted" with the seven Rings of Power that were given to mankind. Who would have thought that the power would corrupt them? Sauron, of course.

If you killed one, he'd spawn back to "life" in Mordor. His ride, however, would stay dead. So eventually, after their horses were killed, flying creatures were procured to help the evil war effort. Go, team, go!

I want those boots.

Here's what it looks like scanned straight from my moleskine:

Ringleader

The Lord of the Rings novels by "Fantasy Fire-hydrant" J.R.R Tolkien

Here's everyone's precious: Gollum. From corrupted Hobbit to superstar celebrity, Gollum has come quite a ways to frantically burrow his way into our hearts.

Gollum appeared The Hobbit and kept sneaking around throughout the LOTR trilogy. When he wasn't eating raw fish, Gollum liked to conspire and plot to get his Precious back. Well, half of this character's personality would plot, anyway. You see, all those years under the power of the One Ring had deformed what was originally an upstanding hobbit named Sméagol. Extending his life and ravaging his body, the One Ring asserted itself as Sméagol's master.

After Bilbo happened upon the Ring (it had been momentarily misplaced by a certain slimy little character), Gollum set out in search for his Precious (the One Ring). He was eventually captured by the forces of Mordor and through torture revealed the words "hobbit" and "Shire." This pretty much put events in motion for LOTR.

Anyway, above is a drawing of Gollum being all "GIVE ME MY PRECIOUS. IT BELONGSES TO ME!"

Here's the b/w version, just so you can see how it looked before the coloring process:

The Wisest Wizard

The Lord of the Rings books by J.R.R "Lore-inator" Tolkien

Did you know that the wizards in the LOTR universe weren't human? They are ancient beings of the Maiar, sent by Valar to help stave the forces of darkness in Middle-Earth. The elves called them Ishtari and mankind called them I remember reading about all that some time after completing the series. And I also remember thinking "WHERE THE HECK WHERE THE OTHER LAZY JACKLEGS?" Did Gandalf have to do all the work? Well, apparently not all of the Maiar ventured out into the area that the books' setting. I suppose had Gandalf and the Fellowship failed, Sauron might have run into other wizards eventually in other lands. Radagast the Brown was the one who sent the eagle to save Gandalf at the White Tower, though Radagast didn't do jack besides that.

Anyway, the Maiar took the form of "old humans" to help them blend into the land. They were sent to guide the races of Middle-Earth. There were a few mentioned in the series, but only two were key. Gandalf The Gray and Saruman The White, whom Sauron (the big baddie) corrupts and becomes one of the man foes of the Fellowship.

Anyway, Gandalf was the dude. The illustration above is him delivering his classic line "YOU SHALL NOT PASS." Not many people know that in the book, the next line he says to the balrog is "Your ass is mine."

Two of a Kind

The Lord of the Rings books by J. R. R. "Mr. Fantasy" Tolkien

Is it just me, or do more people confuse Merry and Pippin? Don't shake your head at me, Elise! Or anyone else that loves Merry and Pippin, for that matter. Alright, maybe it's just me. Merry was the hobbit with the most knowledgeable of the four hobbits of the Fellowship, with an interest in lore and such things that for your average hobbit would be a tall order. Of the two, he's also the one I found myself cursing at the least.

"PIPPIN, LEAVE THAT PALANTIR ALONE!!!"

"PIPPIN! Why on MIDDLE-EARTH are you swearing your allegiance to Denethor???

Etc.

Pippin was the youngest, so I'm sure we can just blame it on that. Young people, tssk tssk.

And yet, without a bit of carelessness and mischievousness, things might have turned out a whole lot worse. For example, Faramir was saved because of Pippin being so close to Denethor.

And plus, they became exceptionally hobbit-tall once they drank the Entwine! That's got to count for something, eh?

About the illustration:
Here are Merry and Pippin plotting to do something thoughtless that will annoy Burt very much. Hahaha.

Sam & FroD'oh!

The Lord of the Rings books by J.R.R. "Fantasy Dude" Tolkien

Continuing with the Fellowship illustrations, here are Sam and Frodo, as I remember them.

Look, I'll just say it. I wasn't a big fan of any of the hobbits. I mean, sure, they prove that size and stature doesn't matter, and that you can still stab big things in the feet if necessary, but come on. Come on, seriously. FOUR of them? How about two? Two would have sufficed, right? Well I guess since they are Halflings, the four of them combined would make two normal-sized characters. Why do I dislike the hobbits so much?

Don't even get me started on Merry and Pippin. Well, you won't have to get me started, because they're up next on the list.

Anyways, Sam & Frodo. Best half-buds. Sam stuck by Frodo through thick and thinner, low times and lower times. Through breakfast and second breakfast. Sam is essentially the heart of the LOTR books. He'd do anything for Frodo, and is one of the few characters who had possession of the Ring at one time and voluntarily gave it up. Morals are practically bursting out of this guy. Who could say that Halflings are half-hearted?

Frodo is pretty much the LOTR punching bag.

But he's also Bilbo Baggins' adoptive heir, and was trusted with the task of tossing a little ol' ring into a murderous demon volcano in Mordor, which was also the home of a big ol' bad guy: Sauron. So, in summary: Little dude with a big job.

This booksketch shows Sam piggybacking agony-stricken Frodo, whom Tolkien had just tossed into the frying for the eleventh or so time.

The Fellowship's Tank

The Lord of the Rings books by J.R.R "Epic Gift To Mankind" Tolkien

I would like to start this Boromir booksketch by saying that if you continue reading past this sentence, you will be subject to a very bad pun. Now, with that out of the way...

I get the impression that a lot of people out there don't like Boromir. Is it because he tried to chase poor tee-tiny Frodo around and take the One Ring? Really? Is that a reason to hate someone? Hobbits are so chase-able. I mean, who wouldn't be tempted? Plus, you have to factor in how tempting the Ring is. I mean, it literally tells you to covet it.

But with the Hobbit-assault aside, Boromir is pretty likable. Let me persuade you:

First, he's a tank. Did you SEE how much of a lickin' he took whilst continuing to tick? And deliver licks in kind, I might add. He had a very proud-warrior upbringing. This was expected, being a son of the Steward of Gondor (who was ruling in the stead of the true king, who had yet to rightly claim his throne), Denethor II.

Pardon my language, but Boromir was a bad-ass. If you don't wish to pardon my language, then replace that last sentence with "Boromir was a bad-mule." He was very passionate about his country and his position, and would do anything to defend both. A very noble noble. He put many a hurt on Sauron's forces.

Second, he loved wind instruments. Well, maybe not, but he DID carry around the Horn of Gondor, which was passed down in the lineage of Gondor's stewards. It makes me think back to the horn in the famous poem The Song of Roland. Or at least I remember there being a horn in that piece of literature. Well, if not, then I remember someone using a horn as a weapon of mass destruction in some story. Sheesh.

Thirdly, he was probably the most realistic character in the series. He's human, for one. He also makes mistakes, isn't immortal, gets pretty angry and is very passionate in his beliefs. Sure, he betrays Frodo, but he also makes up for it in a big way. He did want the Ring, but one big thing about the Rings of Power were that humans were very drawn to them and were pretty easily corrupted. Hence the Ringwraiths. The Ring tricked Boromir into thinking that he needed it to save his country. He probably thought he was Mir-ly going to Boro it.

That was the pun I warned you about.

Tolkien Arrow

The Lord of the Rings books by The All-Powerful J.R.R. Tolkien

Calm down, ladies. Here's Legolas.

I'll start off by saying that this Grey Elf was actually one of my favorite characters. Not because he was an unstoppable killing-machine. For one thing, there wasn't much mention of his battle prowess in the books. The movies turned Legolas into this untouchable warrior after test audiences responded favorably to him surfing down a staircase on a shield and shooting arrows. I'm not going to deny being very entertained by this, as well, haha.

What was interesting about Legolas was how separated he was from the rest of the Fellowship. For example, when the gang was truding through snow-packed mountain passes, Legolas was indifferent to the snow and cold. His endurance was way above any others in the group, as well. He was often off scouting ahead. And he was usually the one to remain in high-spirits. Or, at least, not in utter despair.

I believe the main purpose of Leggy as a character was to show that even staunch enemies can become friends once differences are reconciled. I mentioned in the Gimli post that dwarves and elves had this bitter animosity towards one another. Well, when the Fellowship was forged, Legolas and Gimli were none-to-happy to be in each others' company. But towards the end however, they formed a steadfast friendship and were willing to defend this with blood.

Also, you have to love their little wager. Even if I still think Gimli cheated. I think the fact that there was a high orc-body count on both sides shows that Legolas actually did do stuff in battle, but it just wasn't focused on in the books. I guess they were more of "off-screen" actions. Off-page? Haha.

About the illustration:
'Twas done in Prismacolor pen and then colored in ye ol' Photoshop.

Full Stride

The Lord of the Rings books by Fantasy Funkmaster J.R.R Tolkien

Since I've decided to draw the entire Fellowship, here's my take on Aragorn, aka Strider. I know that Aragorn was a bad mamma-jamma throughout the entire series, but I personally loved his "Strider" persona. Some dark, hooded figure shows up at a tavern at the beginning of the story and wards the wee hobbits from certain doom at the hands of the Nazgûl (Ringwraiths). Why's he helping? What's he doing? Where does he come from? WHO IS HE? Well, he's simply Strider.

A very strong character. It's interesting how the movie imposed all of this self-doubt upon him. As if he was afraid to take the crown that was rightfully his. I guess they just wanted to add another element? Anyway, he was one of my favorite characters. Maybe THE favorite. I need to read the series again and decide once and for all.

Anyway, here's the rundown on Aragorn:

1) Mostly man, wee bit o' elf. That means he can have a pretty long life (as did all in the line of Númenor), and has other qualities of the elves, and was even raised by elves. But since he's mostly Man, he has the "Gift of Men," which is an eventual death.

2) In line for the throne of Gondor. Which is a large kingdom of Middle-Earth, and has the largest force to stop Sauron (the baddie of The Third Age).

3) Pretty tall and scruffy. All those years as a Ranger of the North add gruff to a character! He befriended Gandalf The Gray during his stint as a Ranger.

On a side note:
I tend to get Aragorn and Lan from Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series slightly confused. This being because Lan was modeled very similar to ol' Ary. Both were ranger-warriors, both were rugged and battle-hardened. They share a bunch of qualities, even up to the "slight bit of gray in the hair." Though I think Lan was less of a spring chicken.

4) I think my Aragorn illustration turned out a bit like Russell Crowe...

5) Oh man, I've got to draw a Ringwraith after the Fellowship is penned!

One Sketch To Bind Them

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien, aka "The Fantasy Funkmaster"

Don't mind that faux-title I gave Tolkien. But if you're a fan of epic fantasy (which I am, of course), then you pretty much owe your entire fandom to him.

I've put off doing LOTR booksketches for a while. I thought that the movies did an excellent, EXCELLENT job of portraying the novels. And yet I couldn't go through my life without putting some of the characters down on paper.

Do you know why the brave dwarf Gimli was picked to be illustrated first? He's not my favorite character. I even liked Boromir better! In fact, I was a staunch Legolas supporter throughout their competition. I still can't believe Legolas didn't win. HE HAD ARROWS, for crying out loud.

But I digress. Wait, one more thing. Legolas had arrows. Ok. You don't want to hear me complain about the small stuff. That is not a shot at Gimli's height, by the way.

Speaking of dwarven characteristics: There are only so many ways to imagine a dwarf. I mean, sorry little guys, but you've been stereotyped. Big bushy beards, stocky/muscular, wield axes. You guys like pounding stuff. You like blacksmithing. You live in mountains and are very tempermental. Don't like elves. I think that every fantasy book out there has some sort of prejudice between elves and dwarves. What's up with that?

Alright, so why did I draw Gimli first? Because he's one of the most fun to illustrate. Look at all that stuff! And it's pretty fun to render crazy facial hair. You should try it.

Side note: I have this LOTR riddle book. The first question asked me to translate a sentence from Elven to English. I don't even think they had a codec. What the heck??? That crushed my soul.

About the illustration:
Gimli was drawn with Prismacolor pens and colored in Photoshop. I used a sweet rock texture as well. Textures are so helpful. For a great texture resource, check out www.cgtextures.com. I really like how it came out, and I'm excited to take on some of the other characters!