I think Tolkien himself was a very good illustrator (though not great at depicting people perhaps, as he seems to agree sometimes), but today I'll start off with a humorous tidbit concerning another favorite Tolkien artist of mine, Pauline Baynes. Tolkien liked her art, but not, it seems, every single depiction.
I wondered if Tolkien saw PB's depiction of the Fellowship, and if so, if he had any commentary. Recently Hammond and Scull suggested (at least) that he did, and now in the new book on The Hobbit, note 14 to The Bladorthin Typescript, Rateliff notes (concerning the art for a poster map by P. Baynes)...
Quote:
'... In addition to ten vignettes on the map itself, Baynes added a headpiece at top showing all nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring (plus Bill the pony) and a tailpiece at bottom showing the Black Riders, Gollum, Shelob, and a horde of orcs. Although Tolkien greatly admired Baynes' work on the whole, he disliked this particular piece so much that, in addition to writing this essay he had the top and bottom cropped off the original painting when he had it framed for presentation to his longtime secretary, Joy Hill (personal communication, May 1987).'
'... In addition to ten vignettes on the map itself, Baynes added a headpiece at top showing all nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring (plus Bill the pony) and a tailpiece at bottom showing the Black Riders, Gollum, Shelob, and a horde of orcs. Although Tolkien greatly admired Baynes' work on the whole, he disliked this particular piece so much that, in addition to writing this essay he had the top and bottom cropped off the original painting when he had it framed for presentation to his longtime secretary, Joy Hill (personal communication, May 1987).'
