New Ted Nasmith painting

Shared with Ted’s permission.

"Arrival in the Shire"; gouache on board, 22.5" x 13.75" Recently completed, this is the latest private commission. In order to avoid it resembling Tolkien's illustration 'The Hill: Hobbiton-across-the Water' I positioned Gandalf and his cart as though he was approaching Hobbiton and The Hill, passing Bywater Pool, with Bywater village seen ahead. It's set mid-afternoon, and was for me an excellent opportunity to express my love of imagery from The Shire with a basic 'postcard' pastoral image.

This makes me so excited for a future Lord of the Rings Illustrated by Ted Nasmith for the 2nd series deluxe editions of which he’s already done the Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales. 😍

Writing as a massive Ted Nasmith fan, this is an absolutely incredible painting.

Ted brings Tolkien to life in a way know one else can. A truly incredible artist and also an integral part of the Tolkien community!

Latest from Ted as seen in his social media spaces:

A recently finished commission; Orome and the First Elves; 22" x 15". In the course of this painting, which echoes the Silmarillion illustration At Lake Cuivienen, I considered a number of attending issues, as one does.

The Elves don't all react to this divinity's sudden appearance in unity, so some are wary and troubled, having learned over time that an evil power seeks their capture and enslavement, and had no reason to imagine any opposite powers. What would they wear? Homespun hemp clothing, and realistically, furs and heavy wool, like other, real-world primitive societies? And with no sun moderating the daily temperatures, life would be singularly cold! (Could forests, gardens, or flowers even grow under such conditions?) Lake Cuivienen is more of a sheltered bay of the larger inland Sea of Helcar than a proper lake, so I've depicted it as such.

The Elves, as we know, came in three distinct hair colours, so I'm showing their silver, dark, and golden hair colours as variations within this primal tribe, as would need to be accounted for. Orome himself then. He's related to the existing traditions around The Hunter divinity and The Wild Hunt, and like the character Geralt, Orome (and his fellow hunters) go about monster hunting for fun, so it isn't so strange that the Elves, on seeing this god upon his equally huge horse Nahar, might ask whether he comes as friend or foe. (We do know that a divine figure--the shapeshifting Sauron--later practiced wholesale deception against the Numenoreans as 'Annatar, Giver of Gifts.')

[Note: I am now involved in 5 colour illustrations for a deluxe edition of Jack Vance's The Last Castle. Watch for those to be posted in a few weeks!]