John Howe
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John Howe | |
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Biographical information | |
Born | August 21, 1957 |
John Howe (1957) is a renowned artist, and served as a designer for Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings.
Life
John Howe was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He graduated from the École des Arts Dècoratifs of Strasbourg. Howe has illustrated many of Tolkien's works including The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. He now lives in Neuchatel with his wife and son.
Howe's version of Boromir is based on his own face.
Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings
Howe, along with his colleague Alan Lee, was the lead artist for Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings. Contrary to popular belief, he does not appear as one of the nine Kings of Men in the Prologue of Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring. Howe is often identified as the second from the left, but a picture with better light shows that to be a different person[1].
Published Artwork
Howe is one of HarperCollins' most used artists, and his cover art is frequently featured on translations as well.
Multiple editions
- The Hobbit
- The Fellowship of the Ring
- The Two Towers
- The Return of the King
- Unfinished Tales
- The Silmarillion
- The Book of Lost Tales Part 1
- The Book of Lost Tales Part 2
- The Lays of Beleriand
- The Shaping of Middle-earth
- The Lost Road and Other Writings
- The Return of the Shadow
- The Treason of Isengard
- The War of the Ring
- Sauron Defeated
- Morgoth's Ring
- The War of the Jewels
- The Peoples of Middle-earth
- The History of Middle-earth: Index
Calendars and books
- 1987 - Tolkien Calendar
- 1988 - Tolkien Calendar
- 1991 - Tolkien Calendar
- 1995 - Tolkien Calendar
- 1995 - The Tolkien Diary
- 1995 - There and Back Again: The Map of the Hobbit
- 1995 - The Map of Tolkien's Middle-earth
- 1997 - Tolkien Calendar
- 1997 - Iron Crown Enterprises' Middle-earth Collectible Card Game
- 1998 - The History of The Lord of the Rings boxset
- 1999 - The Map of Tolkien's Beleriand and the Lands to the North
- 2000 - Lord of the Rings (board game)
- 2001 - Tolkien Calendar
- 2001 - The Lord of the Rings Tolkien Diary
- 2003 - The Maps of Tolkien's Middle-earth
- 2004 - War of the Ring (board game)
- 2006 - Battles of the Third Age (board game)
Quotes
- "Illustrating Tolkien means treading warily, dipping one's brush in shadow and rinsing them in light. Battle and balance, down the impossible path between the clear and the obscure."
- ― John Howe on painting Middle-earth, Tolkien's World.
- "Somewhat shamefully I am obliged to admit that I first read The Two Towers and The Return of the King, and finally The Fellowship of the Ring. [...] Thus, I plunged directly into the world of Tolkien just above the Falls of Rauros and have been swimming diligently ever since."
- ― John Howe on his reading experience, Tolkien's World.
- "It was this place in North Island, and we wandered round these fields saying, well, Bag End can go here, that can be our party tree; it was very exciting. It's almost even more fun to have a location imposed upon you, because you really have to get down to brass tacks and figure it out, imagine it on paper. It's a real illustrator's job."
- ― John Howe on working for Weta, Interview.
See Also
References
- ↑ Published in: Chris Smith, The Lord of the Rings: Weapons and Warfare, page 3, also Jude Fisher, The Return of the King Visual Companion, page 32.