John Howe

John Howe
Biographical Information
Born	21 August, 1957
Images	Images by John Howe
Location	Switzerland
Website	john-howe.com

John Howe is a Canadian illustrator most known for illustrating many works of J.R.R. Tolkien as well as working on both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film series. Most recently he has worked as a concept artist for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power television series and The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.

History

John Howe was born in Vancouver, Canada. He graduated from the École des Arts Dècoratifs of Strasbourg in 1981, having obtained a Diploma in Illustration. He now lives in Neuchatel with his wife Fataneh (a fellow Tolkien illustrator) and their son Dana.

Howe first read The Lord of the Rings in high school, having borrowed the books from his school library. He started with The Two Towers because "everyone who started the first volume never got any further" and The Fellowship of the Ring was rarely available to borrow. He was inspired by the artwork of The Brothers Hildebrandt to start creating illustrations of Tolkien's works.

Howe's version of Boromir is based on his own face.

Involvement in Peter Jackson's Middle-earth film series

John Howe and Alan Lee worked as the chief conceptual designers on The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Howe is also credited as a carpenter in the first two films. He has a cameo as one of the nine Kings of Men in the Prologue of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Howe and Lee returned to work as conceptual designers for The Hobbit film series. They both make uncredited appearances as men-musicians of Laketown in The Desolation of Smaug. Howe worked as a concept artist for The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.

Artwork theft

In the night of 18 May 1997, eleven of Howe's originals were stolen from the Médiathèque of Sedan in Belgium. The thief's father contacted the Médiathèque a couple weeks later promising to try to retrieve the stolen works from his son. Eight originals were finally returned, one (Minas Tirith) was damaged beyond repair. Éowyn and the Nazgûl, Gandalf the Grey, and The Uruk-hai were never recovered.

Lord of the Brush

In 2005 Lord of the Brush, a documentary about Howe's work in the Legendarium was released to DVD.

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 One
• The Book of Lost Tales Part Two
• 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, books & games

• 1987 - Tolkien Calendar
• 1988 - Tolkien Calendar
• 1991 - Tolkien Calendar
• 1995 - Tolkien Calendar
• 1995 - The Tolkien Diary
• 1997 - Tolkien Calendar
• 1997 - Iron Crown Enterprises' Middle-earth Collectible Card Game
• 1998 - The History of The Lord of the Rings boxset
• 2000 - Images of Middle-Earth
• 2000 - Lord of the Rings (board game)
• 2001 - Tolkien Calendar
• 2001 - The Lord of the Rings Tolkien Diary
• 2001 - Myth and Magic: The Art of John Howe
• 2004 - War of the Ring (board game)
• 2004 - John Howe - Artbook
• 2006 - Battles of the Third Age (board game)
• 2007 - John Howe Fantasy Art Workshop
• 2008 - John Howe Forging Dragons
• 2009 - John Howe Fantasy Drawing Workshop
• 2011 - War of the Ring: Second Edition (board game)
• 2014 - Coloring Dragons: Featuring the artwork of John Howe from The Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit movies
• 2018 - A Middle-earth Traveller
• 2020 - Tolkien Calendar 2021 (with Alan Lee and Ted Nasmith)
• 2022 - War of the Ring: The Card Game
• 2024 - Tolkien Calendar 2025
• 2026 - Tolkien Calendar 2027

Map books (with Brian Sibley)

• 1995 - The Map of Tolkien's Middle-earth
• 1995 - There and Back Again: The Map of The Hobbit
• 1999 - The Map of Tolkien's Beleriand and the Lands to the North
• 2003 - The Maps of Tolkien's Middle-earth
• 2009 - The Road Goes Ever On and On: The Map of Tolkien's Middle-earth
• 2010 - There and Back Again: The Map of Tolkien's The Hobbit
• 2010 - West of the Mountains, East of the Sea
• 2024 - The Maps of Middle-earth

Articles

• 2013: 3 minutes pour comprendre l'univers de Tolkien
  • "Préface"
• 2014: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies: Chronicles: Art & Design
  • "Introduction"
• 2021: Switzerland in Tolkien's Middle-Earth
  • "Foreword"
• 2022: Guida completa al mondo di Tolkien
  • "Prefazione"

Filmography

• 2001 - Beyond the Movie: The Lord of the Rings
• 2002 - The Making of 'The Lord of the Rings'
• 2003 - J.R.R. Tolkien: Origins of Middle-Earth
• 2004 - Designing Middle-Earth
• 2004 - John Howe: There and Back Again
• 2009 - Reclaiming the Blade
• 2014 - A la recherche du Hobbit series (episodes 1-5)
• 2022 - The origins of fantasy series (episodes 1-4)

Quotations

”

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.

”

Visualising Tolkien, I truly believe, is a process not unlike his own transcribing of his world, with the obvious advantage of having his texts to work from. It means illustrating between the lines, casting one's net farther out, searching for the credibility that is inherent in his work, with the disadvantage of not being to always leave elements to the imagination. This said, any illustration should be an invitation, with space for the viewer to bring his or her personal experience, both in relation to the reading experience and in a wider context, to complete the picture.

John Howe

”

I see Tolkien’s artwork as a window into his mind, and a very useful one. They also reinforce the notion that creation is not so neatly divided into writing and painting or drawing, the two skills can contribute by turn to the same universe. I tend to agree with him: his universe is better not illustrated, but painting is my profession, so I will accept the contradiction. This said, while I understand his reluctance, and often talk with readers who would prefer that their imaginations not be “guided” by artwork, I do not think that the text has anything to fear from any picture. If the image does not find a symbiotic relationship with the word, then it is quickly forgotten. If the image persists, then it somehow captures what the text not only says, but more importantly, what it does not say.

John Howe

See also

• Images by John Howe
• Images of John Howe

External links

• Official website
• John Howe (illustrator) at Wikipedia
• Interview with Other Minds and Hands

References

Illustrators of The Lord of the Rings
Internal art	J.R.R. Tolkien (1937-present) · Eric Fraser/Ingahild Grathmer (The Folio Society: 1979, 1992-present) · Denis Gordeev (1992-present) · Alan Lee (1997-present)
Cover art only	J.R.R. Tolkien (1937-present) · Pauline Baynes (1970-1989) · Roger Garland (1983-1991) · John Howe (1991-present) · Ted Nasmith (1990) · Geoff Taylor (1999)

Illustrators of official Tolkien calendars

Emily Austin (2023) · Pauline Baynes (1973, 1974, 2027) · Cor Blok (2011, 2012, 2027) · Jemima Catlin (2014) · Jenny Dolfen (2023) · Inger Edelfeldt (1985) · Mary Fairburn (2015) · Eric Fraser (2027) · Roger Garland (1984, 1987, 1988, 1989, 2027) · Spiros Gelekas (2023) · Justin Gerard (2023) · Donato Giancola (2023) · Michael Hague (1986) · The Brothers Hildebrandt (1976 US, 1977 US, 1978 US) · John Howe (1987, 1988, 1991, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2013, 2021, 2025, 2027) · Tove Jansson (2016, 2027) · Michael Kaluta (1994) · Tim Kirk (1975) · Alan Lee (1987, 1993, 1999, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2024, 2026, 2027) · Ted Nasmith (1987, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2021, 2022, 2027) · Kip Rasmussen (2023) · Darrell Sweet (1982) · J.R.R. Tolkien (1973, 1974, 1976 UK, 1977 UK, 1978 UK, 1979, 2005, 2006, 2017, 2027)