I wanted a border for my Elf portraits, and I couldn’t find what I wanted so I drew it.
But designing it was a long-winded affair, and with so many changes that the best way to show it was with an animation (scroll down).
Above it is a photo of the work in progress, impasto gold paint on black drawing paper.
Eöl the Dark Elf from JRR Tolkien’s Silmarillion.:
“But Eöl, though stooped by his smithwork, was no Dwarf, but a tall Elf of a high kin of the Teleri, noble though grim of face; and his eyes could see deep into shadows and dark places.”
This glowering gentleman was painted in a different way (for me): sketched entirely in paint, no line drawing at all until the end for details.
An interesting exercise, though riddled with mistakes and horror and doom. :)
Eöl (detail)
Thingol, King of the Grey Elves, from JRR Tolkien’s Silmarillion.
“In Beleriand, King Thingol upon his throne was as the lords of the Maiar whose power is at rest,
whose joy is as an air that they breathe in all their days,
whose thought flows in a tide untroubled from the heights to the deeps.”
Thingol throned in his grand and secret underground kingdom The pillars were said to be sculpted like great beech trees, with golden lamps hung from all their branches.
In the frame, either side of him are symbols based on those for Melian (his wife) and Luthien (his daughter), and above him his doom: the ‘Nauglamir’ necklace with a Silmaril in the middle.
He can also ornament your own underground lair, with pretty printed things from my RedBubble shop here.
Thingol (work in progress)
Thingol (detail)
Father and son (one of them) with the border design I made especially for Elf portraits
(you can see it being made here.)
Fëanor whose name meant ‘spirit of fire’.
“Curufin the crafty … who was of perilous mood.”
Both from JRR Tolkien’s Silmarillion.
I did this as an indulgence just because I think Sylvester McCoy has a glorious face, and I loved the idea of framing Radagast with lovely living things.
This is the movie version of Radagast-ish, but without the bird poo etc. because he’s better than that.
Pencils and acrylics on paper, 20x30cms.
And here’s how he was done. :)
If you’d like to win this sketch of Bag End check out my Facebook post to see how! :)
Hera and Aphrodite
Aphrodite and Hera work in progress
Sketch cards (artist returns) for the Perna Studio set ‘Classic Mythology II’.
Acrylics, pearl media, crystals, 22k gold and silver leaf. 2.5×3.5 inches
My deep-sea monster ladies are inspired by the works of HP Lovecraft and various sea creatures; this one a starfish – specifically the ‘Egyptian sea star’, which then suggested a sunken (or sinking) Egyptian temple for her to haunt.
(The statue is based on a particular pharaoh, extra points if you know which.)
Prints and shiny things available here!
This monstrous little she-creature is part of a small, on-going series inspired by the works of HP Lovecraft and different sea creatures.
This one takes after an astonishing ghostly white octopus found a mile and a half under the sea, in the frozen black and crushing depths at the bottom of the Antarctic Ocean. There they survive on the vents of volcanically-heated water erupting from under the seabed. That’s about as extreme as it gets. If we tried to visit we’d be simultaneously boiled, frozen, and pulped.
So my Antarctic Octopus mermaid is a force to be reckoned with: pictured here resting sweetly on the skull of a much larger foe that she vanquished before breakfast.
21x29cms, acrylics and gold leaf, digitally-added frame.
Prints and pretty things available here!
“Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn”
“In his house at R’lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.”
HP Lovecraft
‘Dreaming Cthulhu’ in a range of Lovecraftian colours: Cyclopean sepia, non-Euclidean green, Decadent indigo, and Daemoniac black. Now there’s a cosmic horror to suit every mood and occasion. Available here.
The original (available on Etsy here)
In acrylics, pastel, and pencils, 21×29 cms
A tree-herder, or ‘Ent’ inspired by the Big Belly oak of Savernake Forest in Wiltshire, and the excellent walking (and talking) trees from JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.
Mixed media on A4 200gsm paper, 21 x 29.7 cm, or 8.3 x 11.7 inches.
Prints and shiny things available here.
Treebeard and Ent sketches,
For those of you whom I met in Porto last week, I was trying to explain what sketch cards are and give an idea of work I’ve done before. But it’s easier to show you. :)
Here’s a sample of sketches included with the trading card set for Topps & New Line Cinema Lord of the Rings:
There are more HERE and HERE.
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And some of the sketches for various Star Wars sets for Topps and Lucasfilm :
There are (many) more here for the Empire Strikes Back, and here for the animated Clone Wars series (which I really enjoyed), and here for all the Star Wars things before the new movies.
And here’s a sample of the tarot cards (major arcana only) I was asked to make for the Penny Dreadful set, based on the themes & symbols of the show, but not using the actors’ likenesses.
You can see more about these particular cards HERE, there are many more which I still need to upload to my site!
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And if you still want to know more, go here: https://bohemianweasel.com/about/
And then come and say ‘hi’ on Facebook! :D https://www.facebook.com/BohemianWeasel/
In my Etsy shop now: hand-embellished fine art prints of Snow White and the Poisoned Apple, gilded with gold leaf.
See listing for more details.
And remember kids: an apple a day keeps the prince away. So maybe try pears instead.
‘I wish it need not have happened in my time,’ said Frodo.
‘So do I,’ said Gandalf, ‘and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.’
From The Fellowship of the Ring (chapter ‘Shadow of the Past’) by JRR Tolkien.
The famous words of comfort and wisdom spoken by Gandalf to Frodo (book version).
Pencil and acrylics on painted paper, 21×30 cms. Prints available here.
Gandalf and Frodo, work in progress
I’m honoured to have my illustrations featured in and on the most recent publications from the Tolkien Society:
Inside, and on the back cover of, ‘Mallorn’; and the cover of ‘Amon Hen’.
If you’re a Tolkien fan, consider joining too! :)
https://www.tolkiensociety.org/
I drew this Hogwarts-inspired diagram years ago, as an aide for English classes to help students learn the names of rooms in a house. …And of course all houses have turrets and potion cupboards… But I like the drawing, so I gave it a sepia tint and put it on RedBubble for anyone who’d like a copy. Might also be fun for people who like colouring-in. ;)
Prints and other shiny things can be found here.
Each one measures 2.5×3.5 inches and is a mixture of acrylics and pencils, except for ‘Arwen’ which is heavily gilded in Dutch leaf and 22k gold leaf.
Lots of experimentation went into these tiny Middle-earth landscapes. All of them have handmade borders made from pieces of filigree, and then gilded in gold or silver with a few tiny crystals.
All cards measure 2.5×3.5 inches. Stickers, cards and shiny things of them can be found here. :)
For the ‘Shire’ card I went back to a technique I tried for the first time with a Star Wars set (for Topps here) but made even shinier with all the bright colours of Hobbiton. Crystal flakes, sequins, and individual bits of glitter were pressed into glass glaze.
Shire stained-glass effect gilded sketch card
Brought to life with a little animated light and the influences of creation and destruction.
A test drawing for a #Rohan painting idea to get a feel for the landscape. I wanted to do a golden landscape under a cold, blue sky, (got the idea from living in Scotland) because even the grassiest places aren’t green all the time – however, my go-to Tolkien expert siad Rohan must be green; so this is as far as this version will ever get. I still like it though. :)
Rohan landscape sketch
