Below is a post that I have just upload to my BlackBoard Discussion Board:
“We
wants it, we needs it. Must have the precious. They stole it from us. Sneaky
little hobbitses. Wicked, tricksy, false!”
― J.R.R. Tolkien
Most
people believe that the most important part of the movie is the actors, and
some believe it to be the director, producers, backstage and
etcetera. The most overlooked are the concept artists for they are
the ones who help to set the scene, design props and so much
more. For this week’s post I shall focus on the drawing entitled,
“Gollum, Frodo and Sam before the Black Gates” sketched by of one of the
concept artists for the Lord of the Rings movies, John Howe.
This
concept art is from Howe’s sketch book and was made to illustrate Gollum, Frodo
and Sam in “The Two Towers” before entering the Black Gates and into
Mordor. The medium Howe used is pencil on paper and it is obviously dry
media. The drawing is representational, in that the Hobbits Sam and
Frodo are sketched quickly but can be easily recognized by most
people. The image is two-dimensional and also a form of fantasy art. The
color is neutral and crosshatching is used to create shading effects and
various textures in the drawing. the contour lines creating the
figure of Gollum help to define his grotesquely misshapen Hobbit
body. Also around the body are guide lines that Howe left, since it
is a concept piece. In the background you can see the quickly sketched
form of the Barad-dûr, which is the tower that holds the Eye of
Sauron. The focal point of this image is the creature Gollum due to
the fact that there is much emphasis and detail to his body, face and shape.
As
I’ve stated before, I am a huge geek for many things and one of them just
happens to be the Lord of the Rings! And obviously, this is why I
have chosen the drawing above for this particular post. Gollum just
happens to be one of my favorite characters in the whole entire series
(book/movie) and if I were to explain why this post would be a few chapters
long! And as I read about what we were to post for this week’s DB, I
was actually watching the Two Towers’ behind-the-scenes portions and saw the
concept art and thought, “Hey! This would be great for this assignment!”
As
I searched through Howe’s portfolio, I came across many of his creations but
this one caught my attention. I love this work because it is so
simple (and I love simple works of art for they hold so much information and
emotion!), but you feel the darkness and wickedness of the creature
Gollum. Also, having Sam and Frodo in the image as two innocent
looking Hobbits and seeing how morphed Gollum, is depicts how the One Ring
twists and defiles the heart and soul of whoever bears it.
I
hope that you enjoyed my post! I will attach more links below of Howe’s concept
art for the Lord of the Rings movies below!
“All
we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
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