Book Review: The Art of The Fellowship of the Ring

The Art of The Fellowship of the Ring is one of the three art books for The Lord of the Rings. The other two being The Art of the Two Towers and The Art of the Return of the King. Also available in one condensed edition of these three art books is The Art of the Lord of the Rings.

The review you read here will be roughly the same as the ones for other books.

The three volume collects over 500 images each, consisting pencils sketches, paintings and sculptures. These are the art from conceptual to execution stage. The principal designers are Alan Lee, Paul Lasaine, John Howe, Grant Major, Richard Taylor (head of Weta Workshop) and Nigila Dickson among other talented artists. A full list of credits is provided.

The books focus on the set and environment designs of the various Middle-earth locations, including character and creature designs from the region. While there are also weapon designs, you should turn to The Lord of the Rings Weapons and Warfare for more comprehensive coverage.

The commentary and depth of the books are great. There are captions for every sketch and illustration provided, both from the artists and Gary Russell. These includes the various iterations from the discarded to the final designs used in the movies. The artists talk about the English and European influence on their sets and architecture, compositing photos and matte painting, techniques used to create the rich and seemingly authentic world, costume designs and other elements of the film.

The books provide a great insight into the amount of art and details required to produce a movie — three actually — of such massive scale. What you don't see in this book is talk on the production aspect, which is left to The Making of the Movie Trilogy and The Lord of the Rings Official Movie Guide.

The Art of the Lord of the Rings art book series is a great resource for fans as well as fantasy artists.

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