{"id":6637,"date":"2019-08-24T13:09:09","date_gmt":"2019-08-24T11:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/?p=6637"},"modified":"2020-05-30T18:15:26","modified_gmt":"2020-05-30T16:15:26","slug":"reise-durch-mittelerde-john-howe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/2019\/08\/a-middle-earth-traveller-john-howe\/","title":{"rendered":"A Middle-Earth Traveller \u2022 John Howe"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

I\u2019ve always had a soft spot for beautiful illustrations. It simply fuels the imagination when you look at fantastically drawn images and immerse yourself in a world someone has brought to life visually. Just like with the written word, the viewer has a lot of room for interpretation, as the atmosphere, story, and personal meaning come alive through one\u2019s own experiences and individual personality. There are a number of artists I\u2019ve come across time and again, and John Howe is one of them. That\u2019s hardly surprising, as he is\u2014along with Alan Lee\u2014one of the great illustrators who played a key role in Peter Jackson\u2019s film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings<\/em> and The Hobbit<\/em>. I\u2019ve often seen his beautiful drawings online and had long planned to get one of his illustrated books. When I saw A Middle-earth Traveler<\/em> in the preview from Klett-Cotta Verlag, I was immediately excited. A few days ago, the long-awaited book finally arrived, and of course, I want to introduce it to you.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I\u2019ve enjoyed reading Tolkien\u2019s books, and I really like his world of Middle-earth. While I don\u2019t share the same deep passion that many do, I love the beautifully crafted world infused with the spirit of nature. While reading and looking through this illustrated volume, I was surprised that only the broad strokes of the main plot had really stayed with me\u2014but the impressions of the many different places were still vivid in my memory. The dense forests, the vast grasslands, and the stony fortresses that blend seamlessly into the mountains\u2014Tolkien described them so wonderfully, and I\u2019ve always had a weakness for beautiful landscapes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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This illustrated volume is divided into several chapters, structured as you would expect from an artist\u2014not by story, but by setting. There\u2019s a chapter on the homes of the Hobbits, another on the deep Wild Wood, one on Orc caves, and even one on dragons. There are many short chapters like these, which together resemble a journey through Middle-earth.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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I found John Howe\u2019s introduction and afterword particularly interesting. In them, he gives some insight into his work and creative process, which is fascinating because it seems Howe followed in Tolkien\u2019s footsteps, visiting the same places as the author and even hiking in the Swiss Alps as Tolkien once did. Furthermore, John Howe embarked on an artistic journey through Middle-earth, creating countless sketches and drawings to bring Tolkien\u2019s world to life. Apparently, in a film project, illustrators are given a theme or setting by the director and must interpret it artistically. If the drawings align with the director\u2019s vision, carpenters and sculptors then transform them into real sets. It\u2019s fascinating to see how a whole visual world emerges from simple sketches. I\u2019ve always found that equally impressive in video games\u2014seeing the concept art and how it\u2019s translated into a three-dimensional, dynamic, and visually atmospheric world.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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This book primarily contains sketches but also includes some colored drawings. It\u2019s fascinating to see John Howe\u2019s range. One particularly impressive double-page spread features many small objects crafted by Dwarves. Of course, the cozy, homely Hobbit dwellings are also delightful. I also loved Radagast\u2019s little tree house\u2014especially how nature gradually merges with the house and the objects within. The illustrations of the mountain ranges, cities, grand underground halls, towers, and fortresses all bear that unmistakable, unique Lord of the Rings<\/em> style. They\u2019re wonderful to look at and quickly transport you back into the stories.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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The book has 190 pages, and for my taste, it could have been a bit more extensive, with a few more large, full-color illustrations. For example, the well-known image of Bag End appears only very small\u2014it\u2019s such a lovely classic among Howe\u2019s works that I\u2019d have liked it to take up more space. Many of the sketches are beautifully detailed and a pleasure to look at, while others are rougher and less polished. The mix works well, though, showing clearly how John Howe explored each location with varying levels of detail.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Accompanying the images are short texts that explain a bit about what is shown, provide background information, and reveal Howe\u2019s artistic reasoning\u2014why he chose certain stylistic elements, for example. You learn that Hobbiton is meant to evoke the romantic past of the English countryside, which Howe illustrates with sketches of finely drawn round windows adorned with classically inspired decorations. Behind all these drawings lies an impressive creative process\u2014something that might go unnoticed at first glance but still subtly and unconsciously leaves an impression.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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The book feels great in the hand and looks very high quality. It has a beautiful format and, contrary to what I initially expected, it isn\u2019t an oversized art book but a convenient, nicely sized volume\u2014large enough to appreciate the drawings properly. The print quality is excellent, though a few color images of Mirkwood seemed slightly blurred to me\u2014but the sharp, high-quality sketches more than make up for that, and the book focuses primarily on them. I really like the printed hardcover and dust jacket\u2014they look elegant. I was also delighted to find that it\u2019s thread-bound; Klett-Cotta clearly didn\u2019t skimp on quality here. From a bibliophile standpoint, this book is top-notch.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

A few years ago, I watched the first part of the five-part documentary series In the Footsteps of the Hobbits<\/em> on ARTE. It also features John Howe, following his travels as he seeks inspiration across New Zealand and studies the film sets in detail. You can still find the documentary\u2014at least the first three parts\u2014on the TolkienWelt<\/a> website. With a little patience, you can also catch the documentaries on ARTE\u2019s media library from time to time, as they are occasionally re-aired.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Conclusion:<\/strong> John Howe is a veteran among illustrators, and that\u2019s evident in this book. After 15 years of working on Tolkien adaptations, his archive of drawings must be inexhaustible. I found the selection beautifully curated and arranged. It\u2019s a wonderful read for an evening, immersing the viewer in the world of Middle-earth and evoking powerful, atmospheric memories of the novels and films. From the beautiful landscapes, mountains, and fortresses to the elegant realms of the Elves and the dragons\u2014this is a successful cross-section of the most iconic settings and elements of the beloved fantasy saga, seen through the eyes of one of its defining artists. A Middle-earth Traveler<\/em> is a high-quality and visually appealing edition, whose only flaw is that it isn\u2019t even more extensive. For all Tolkien fans, this book is a must-have. For those who, like me, have grown fond of the stories and the world, it\u2019s equally recommendable and a delightful read.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Book Information:<\/strong> A Middle-earth Traveler: Sketches from Bag End to Mordor<\/em> \u2022 John Howe \u2022 Klett-Cotta Verlag \u2022 192 pages \u2022 ISBN 9783608985641<\/p>\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve always had a soft spot for beautiful illustrations. It simply fuels the imagination when you look at fantastically drawn images and immerse yourself in a world someone has brought to life visually. Just like with the written word, the viewer has a lot of room for interpretation, as the atmosphere, story, and personal meaning … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “A Middle-Earth Traveller \u2022 John Howe”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"Reise durch Mittelerde \u2022 John Howe - lesestunden","description":"F\u00fcr sch\u00f6ne Illustrationen habe ich schon immer etwas \u00fcbrig. Es befl\u00fcgelt einfach die eigene Vorstellungskraft, wenn man phantasievoll gezeichnete Bilder betrach"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,2,20],"tags":[206,99,204,205],"class_list":["post-6637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-illustrated-book","category-fantasy","category-reviews","tag-illustrated-book","tag-j-r-r-tolkien","tag-john-howe","tag-tolkien"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/reise_durch_mittelerde_beitrag_neu.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}