I would love this blog to be more "serial" like so I'm splitting this painting walk through into a few posts even though many of you may have seen the final product on instagram. Hopefully by doing this you all will see more current work and process from me.

To explain this piece and (hopefully) this Lord of the Rings series I'll give a brief intro starting with a question. Have you guys seen those old animated Lotr films? Weren't they awesome and slightly ridiculous at the same time? I love them. And as I think back on them I miss the obvious fantasy they portrayed. The Peter Jackson films were of course monumental in my middle school life and I appreciate the realism he brought to the stories. I hope however to go in a different direction, a direction that doesn't laugh at the ridiculous dog face orcs in those old animated classics, a direction in which fantasy can be fantasy and child like imagination can have it's say.

Why the Lord of the Rings? Every other illustrator has had a crack at them, what do I bring to the game? I don't know, but I don't care either, they're amazing books and I've got alot of love for them, so here it goes.

Thumbnail sketch and color study. After I finished this color study I really thought, "eh, should I even do a traditional work of art? It takes so much time and I have to get all my paints out and whine, whine, whine." Thankfully everyone on instagram was like "do it already!" So here goes:

Tight colored pencil drawing. Next post: Watercolor Freak Out and How to Address It.