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Tuesday, July 1, 2014

The Elvenking

King Thranduil
Medium: Photoshop paint


Every time you leave your campfire burning and it sets a forest on fire, an elf cries. Think of the elves! Protect our forest friends. Only you can prevent wildfires.

Sorry about that. Smokey the Bear popped into my mind when I finally finished this.





The Lord of the Rings and all its relations has always been my favorite story, and I've just realized that I've done precious little Tolkien-related art. I think it may be because I'm afraid I won't do the story or the characters justice. But then I thought, "Peter Jackson changed Thranduil enough. What does it matter if I accidentally change him some more?"


This is J. R. R. Tolkien's character Thranduil, the king of the Mirkwood elves. While the book will always hold a special place in my heart, I do like all three of the movies Jackson has put out. I like almost everything that he added into the story and I like how he brought Legolas into The Hobbit, even though he didn't play a part in the book. I'm sorry if die-hard Tolkien fans are about to become physically ill for hearing such blasphemy, but I like those movies. I also like Tauriel's presence as well. I'm not a huge fan of the romance between her and Kili (that smacked of a decision they made while that one guy was in the bathroom, and was so obviously thrown in just to feed the Kili fangirls), but I did like her presence. Let's be honest, if she hadn't been in it, there would have been no females in that entire movie except for the little girl in Bard's house who screamed at the orc. It kind of needed at least one female.

And then there's Thranduil. Jackson completely changed him, and I thought for sure I wouldn't like it, but I did. (Just so we’re all on the same page: I like Thranduil’s character, but I’m not a Thranduil fangirl.) I like both Tolkien and Jackson's versions. In this picture I tried to combine the two. I wanted to show the softer, "less wise" Thranduil of the book, and the hard-core, emotionally scarred Thranduil of the movie.


I mean, come on! He's an elf, which is awesome, and he's a king, which is awesome, so he's awesome + awesome, and… and…

What does that even equal?




"King Thranduil" detail
Medium: Photoshop paint
A close-up of the eyes, because eyes are fascinating and fun to paint. I painted them in a moving car. I should be proud of myself.

2 comments:

  1. I really like your art, especially the detail version. His eyes say all. I admire you and your talent - it seems to be very hard to express somebody's feelings in a painting but you do that in a great way!
    I don't love Thranduil from the movie as much as that from the book [and I don't like Jackson's ideas like rude Legolas (oh, he should try to understand his father but he kicks about him instead and worries only about Tauriel :(), strange Thranduil (he was so good in the book, in the movie he seems to be a bit bad and... strange ;/) or his wife's death (why, Peter, why? you could add his pain because of his father Oropher's and army death instead)] - but I still symphatize with him and your art just breaks my heart.

    "Let's be honest, if she hadn't been in it, there would have been no females in that entire movie except for the little girl in Bard's house who screamed at the orc."

    Oh, why so many people forget about lady Galadriel? Isn't she feminine enough? ;)

    But I understand your point of view (though I need only men to identify with :D I feel like Eowyn sometimes xD)

    I keep my fingers crossed for your next works! May a creative vein be with you all time :)

    Best wishes :)

    PS. And sorry for my English :(


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    Replies
    1. Thank you! I didn't really pick anything specific that he was sad over. The third movie wasn't out yet and since Thranduil played almost no role in the book there wasn't much to work from. Jackson made up his own backstory for Thranduil in the Battle of the Five Armies. I was just painting and it evolved into that.

      I'm not sure what you mean by is Lady Galadriel feminine enough, because she wasn't in the Desolation of Smaug. I mean, unless I missed something, she never showed her face in the whole movie.

      Yeah, it would have worked just fine without Tauriel, but I do generally prefer a mixed group. :)

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