Besides the traditional romantic illustrators and painters of the 19th and 20th centuries, impressions from cinema, light effects observed and/or photographed, as well as pictorial reference materials in my files or from the public libraries tend to help me realize the ideas in my mind’s eye. Several influences guide my sense of how best to portray Middle-earth and its peoples, creatures, and other aspects, both in general and as I conceive an individual setting or image. Over time, it becomes not only a question of a desire to paint as many interesting scenes as possible, it’s also interesting to reinterpret certain scenes as my insights into them, as well as my skill and techniques, evolve. I frequently discover interesting visual subtexts and associations as I work which seem to reflect well the subject in question. There’s a strong desire in me to expand on his imaginary world through the medium of illustration.
I have a deep inner conviction that I am capable of interpreting his words through my artwork with a high degree of integrity. I instinctively relate to the whole phenomenon that is Tolkien’s Middle-earth, for surely his work bears comparison with the most intricately plotted, most imaginative literature ever written. His emphasis on light and shadow in particular, whether metaphorical or literal, justifies any artist’s interest. It’s difficult to describe exactly what informs my interest in Tolkien, but suffice it to say quite simply that I have a powerful affinity with his writing, so full of vast, lost, misty expanses and its unique mixture of the familiar and strange.
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