In 2004 I had the pleasure of touring Carlsbad Caverns while on a roadtrip of the American West.
Like most, I was stunned by the beauty of the cave formations there. They are spectacular and well worth the trip across the desert.
As I read through these passages on Bilbo and the Dwarves being lost in the Misty Mountains I remembered wandering around the stone halls and tunnels of Carlsbad. It brought back to mind all the inky dark pools, the cold, still air and the sound of water dripping somewhere off in the darkness.
Like most, I was stunned by the beauty of the cave formations there. They are spectacular and well worth the trip across the desert.
As I read through these passages on Bilbo and the Dwarves being lost in the Misty Mountains I remembered wandering around the stone halls and tunnels of Carlsbad. It brought back to mind all the inky dark pools, the cold, still air and the sound of water dripping somewhere off in the darkness.
My friend Zach argues that this is why literature is such a compelling form of art. The more life experiences you have, the more fully your imagination can engage in the story. Whereas in movies, for instance, you are given concrete, unchangeable information and your imagination is not required to be active.
Caves freak me out though. The eerie stillness, the claustrophobic closeness. The thought that if the lights went out down here I would never make it out. I have always pictured the tunnels in the Misty Mountains and the Goblin's Lair to look like what I saw at Carlsbad.
It doesn't take too much imagination to see troll and goblin shapes in some of the stalagmite formations. For the Great Goblin's throne I used reference from some of the photos from Carlsbad. If I was a great, fat goblin, I would certainly have made a throne out of these formations.
"My friend Zach argues that this is why literature is such a compelling form of art. The more life experiences you have, the more fully your imagination can engage in the story." — Or that is why experiencing life is such a compelling form of art.
ReplyDeleteThe lighting on those forms is so gorgeous. Carlsbad Caverns is indeed an amazing place.
ReplyDeleteHi Justin,
ReplyDeleteBeen following your work and sharing it aroudn the office here. Love your stuff, really inspiring. Question: When doing the final drawing do you draw on the watercolor paper or do you transfer your drawing using saral graphite?
Hey Brian,
ReplyDeleteI draw on the watercolor paper. I have experimented using graphite transfer methods on a few projects and while I usually like the result, I find I personally get better results just developing the drawing on the paper itself. It allows me to explore the ideas a little more and it lets the drawing reveal itself on the page. There's something nice about having alot of rough framework sketching buried underneath your final painting that I feel i lose in the saral graphite method. For me building the drawing with increasingly darker and darker pencils gives the painting a little more depth and personality.