Riddles in the Dark: Sketch

Riddles in the Dark: Thumbnails

Once again I return to my love of caves for the scene of the Bilbo and Gollum's riddle game from The Hobbit.  

Of all the characters that I lost in my mind after having seen Peter Jackson's rendition, Gollum was probably the one best kept intact. I thoroughly enjoyed the stunning work that Jackson, Weta and Andy Serkis did to bring this potentially difficult character to life on the big screen. They managed to make him convincing, threatening, miserable and human in a way that I had not seen as possible outside of classic animation techniques. 

However, in spite of the solid designs I never did quite forget how I had seen Gollum and I have tried to recreate here what I remember.  You will probably think it all looks the same, that one rose blossom looks like another, but there were a few odd points in my mind that I always saw a bit differently. So we shall have to see how they turn out.  

The Great Goblin: Final Digital Steps

Next Up: Riddles in the Dark

The Great Goblin: Digital Process

The Great Goblin: Reference Hunting

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. 

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.  

The Great Goblin: Watercolor

The Great Goblin: Sketches

"We were on a journey to visit our relatives, our nephews and nieces, and first, second, third cousins and other descendants of our grandfathers, who live on the East side of these truly hospitable mountains," said Thorin, not quite knowing what to say all at once in a moment, when obviously the exact truth would not do at all.
"He is a liar, O truly tremendous one!" said one of the guards. "Several of our people were struck by lightning in the cave, when we invited these creatures to come below; and they are dead as stones. Also he has not explained this!" He held out the sword which Thorin had worn, Goblin-cleaver.
"Murderers and elf-friends!" The Great Goblin shouted. "Slash them! Bite them! Gnash them! Take them away to dark holes full of snakes, and never let them see the light again!"

Bilbo and the Trolls: Final Digital Treatment

"You're a fat fool, William," said Burt, "as I've said afor this evening.
"And you're a lout!" said William.
"And I won't take that from you, Bill Huggins!" and Burt put his fist in William's eye.

Next up: The Great Goblin!

The Hobbit: The Blood of Numenor

We take a break from your regularly scheduled hobbit posts to bring you another paper test. This time we are working on Rives BFK 400.  

Bilbo and the Trolls: Reference Hunting

This is the Alpine Lakes, in the Cascades region of Washington State. I spent a week here with friends in 2007. There was a particular stretch of trails that we were on that keep coming to mind when I imagine this scene from the Hobbit.

I am certain that trolls have met here.  North American trolls at that. 

Tolkien's story ends with the Trolls being turned to stone. It made sense to use rocks for the main reference for the trolls.

"And there they stand to this day, for trolls as you probably know, must be underground before dawn, or they go back to the stuff of the mountains they are made of and never move again."

I had considered making the trolls more organic, and more inspired by moss covered rocks. Moss-covered rocks are wonderful. They conjure the feelings of places that are either remote, and undisturbed by man or secluded and well-tended by man. In the end, adding the moss to the trolls stony skin seemed too tranquil a covering for a set of characters who are about to cook our hero and a dozen dwarves.
At some point I think I may go back and do a piece of the 3 trolls as the giant stones, from when Frodo and Sam camp amongst them. Alan Lee has done what could be considered the definitive version of this scene, and it is marvelous. But I would still like to illustrate it, with these trolls, covered in moss and sticks and over-run by woodland creatures.

Bilbo and the Trolls: Early Digital Process

Bilbo and the Trolls: Watercolor