The NY Tolkien Society: Heren
Istarion Interviews:  Heren Istarion: What was your earliest experience with the works of Tolkien? 1st impressions? Reading the Lord of the Rings when I was 17, having not heard anything about the books beforehand, and falling into this world which was both familiar, and unlike anything else I'd ever experienced. Heren Istarion: What was the earliest illustration, sketch, painting etc that you did from Tolkien's works privately or professionally? The first illustration based on the books themselves was one of the three images that I produced for my book "Castles" in 1984. But immediately after reading LOTR I wrote a story - long since lost - which was heavily influenced by Tolkien, though not set in Middle-earth, and I did several illustrations for this, and many more for based on Celtic and Scandinavian myth. Heren Istarion: Why Tolkien? Having illustrated numerous other area of history, fantasy and literature what is it about Tolkien's works that you feel strongly about? I don't feel more strongly about Tolkiens work than I do about "The Mabinogion", for example, or other great works from our heritage of Myth and legend. But I do feel that what Tolkien has produced belongs in that Canon, and that his work will still be read and enjoyed in hundreds of years time. What is special for me is that the work has been produced in our time, and that I've had the privilege of being able to be associated with it. From Joe Piela and Jenna Brocious of The Lonely Mountain Forge: Do you set up your paintings with people modeling? I sometimes get people to model for me, if the pose isn't going to be too demanding. An example would be the illustration of Aragorn and Eowyn saying farewell at Dunharrow. I got two friends - father and daughter - to stand holding a cup between them. I didn't pay them; Eric enjoyed having the opportunity to stare into his daughters eyes for half an hour or so. Most of the time I draw figures from the imagination, especially for big battle scenes where, if a drawing starts to get a little awkward, you can always just shove another figure in front to hide the dislocated hip, or whatever else is causing problems. Heren Istarion: How has your work progressed over the years, especially your work on Tolkien? I hope there is some sign of improvement. The big shift for me has been working on the films, where drawings have had to convey information about the structure of what is depicted, rather than tell a story in the most beautiful way I can manage, and then learning to work in photoshop, which has been my main medium for the last three years while doing design work on the visual effects. The drawings, and ideas, have gotten considerably bigger as well, due to working with a wide-screen format - and with Peter Jackson! Heren Istarion:What artistic style has most influenced you? There are two main threads of influence; Realistic, or Narrative painting and illustration, including that of Howard Pyle, N C Wyeth, the Pre-raphaelites, and other 19th century academic artists, like Alma Tadema, - and the Romantics, like Turner, Claude, Samuel Palmer and Richard Dadd. I also get excited by Breughel and Bosch, Botticelli, Leonardo, Giovanni Bellini, Filippo Lippi, Van Eyck - and Durer has had a huge influence on my drawing. My favourite artist, though, is Rembrandt; seeing his paintings in the National Gallery in London when I was 14 was probably my first major encounter with great art, and I'm still reeling from the shock. Heren Istarion: Can it be said that fantasy is the genre you feel most comfortable exploring and expressing? If so why? My great love is for myth, and if that is being expressed through fantasy , then I can enjoy fantasy novels, but I don't really like to be thought of as working in a genre, and I don't think of myself as a fantasy artist. I don't think of Tolkien as a fantasy writer either. The problem with genre writing is that it pre-supposes that the reader has a familiarity with the conventions of plot, a willingness to remember a lot of made-up names, and more interest in the magic -or hardware, or whatever, than in the characterization; that the reader is already part of the way down the road you wish to take him or her on, and that so often leads to cliches. Heren Istarion: What function, if any, does fantasy serve in modern society? What does it do for us? Fantasy, when well done, gives us a model, a safe arena, in which we can evolve strategies for dealing with real drama and real life, and helps to develop the imagination, a faculty that is almost entirely missing in government, in decline in the rest of society, and is sorely needed.. Heren Istarion:How does Tolkien's works fulfill this function? As an artist, with a profound belief in what he is doing Tolkien is able to evoke real emotions -fear, pity, joy - which make the story ring with truth, and help us to carry within us its message of hope and the persistence of beauty. Heren Istarion: Over the years there's been a change in your portrayal of Hobbits. In the centenary edition the Hobbits seemed ethereal, almost left open to the eye of the beholder. But in your most recent work on the films, the Hobbits seem more distinct - was this a result of having models, the actors, readily at hand? I didn't ever want my hobbits to be ethereal, but I was concerned that if I created very distinct characters, they might be interfering with the images being carried in the readers head. I was worried about how they might translate into film, too, but the casting was so good, and the prosthetics, wigs and costumes were successful in that they tended towards understatement rather than characature Heren Istarion: Being a fan and admirer of Tolkien did the recent films capture the essence of LOTR? In the books, much of what we feel about Middle-earth is evoked through the poetry, languages and stories that underlie the immediate narrative, and it is difficult to get that dimension into film. What Peter tried to do was to create a visual and aural richness that would compensate for that, and I believe that we were successful in doing so. Heren Istarion. What is your favorite work of Tolkiens? "The Lord of the Rings" Heren Istarion:. Are there things in Tolkien that should not be interpreted into another media? In creating Middle-earth, Tolkien gave us another mythic universe. It will be a resource for all kinds of artists for very many years, and some interpretations will be better than others. Some will probably be downright shoddy; the Arthurian stories - the Matter of Britain - have had some very odd manifestations over the years, and they don't seem to have lost their power, and the brilliance of Tolkiens language and story-telling will always shine. Heren Istarion: What was the most difficult aspect of Tolkien's works you've ever tried to portray? I've realized that some of my book illustrations are a bit of a cop-out in that I've avoided showing too much. Tolkiens descriptions of Lothlorien are so beautiful that it is hard to come up with a visual equivalent. I do think we succeeded in the films though, but it took a lot of care and hard work from everybody involved Heren Istarion: What is your favorite aspect of Tolkien's works that you've captured? I think we did well with the Rohan culture in the films. Everything came together beautifully - Weta's work on the armour, the stunt-riders, the art departments work on Edoras, the banners, and the horse-gear. The acting, the music. I think we all contributed to creating a coherent and believable culture. We had some inspired words to guide us, but we pretty well made it all up. 
|
