Jemima Catlin
| Jemima Catlin | |
|---|---|
| Biographical information | |
| Born | 27 October 1986[1] |
| Education | Arts University at Bournemouth |
| Location | Dorchester, UK |
| Website | Jemima Catlin |
Jemima Catlin (b. 27 October 1986) is a British artist who illustrated the 2013 edition of The Hobbit and the subsequent Tolkien Calendar 2014.
Early life[edit | edit source]
Catlin first encountered The Hobbit when she was 12, as her grandfather was a Tolkien fan and collector. She studied a Diploma in Art and Design at Weymouth College and continued studying Visual Communication at the Arts University at Bournemouth before graduating with a degree in Illustration in June 2010.[2] She lives in Dorchester, England with her husband.[3]
The Hobbit[edit | edit source]
As part of her final project in her degree, Catlin chose to illustrate Roverandom. After sending the images to David Brawn at HarperCollins, he invited her to their offices in London; although Christopher Tolkien did not feel that Catlin's style suited Roverandom, Christopher and his wife Baillie were sufficiently enamoured of her work to commission her to illustrate The Hobbit a year later.[3]
This edition needed to appeal to children, but The Hobbit is loved by all ages so I tried to illustrate it in a way that both audiences would enjoy it. My main influence were Tolkien’s own drawings, I really loved his illustrations and wanted to stay true to how he wanted the characters/landscapes to look. I adore Alan Lee’s work, his style is so detailed and photo-realistic, but so different from my own that I didn’t find it influenced me. I love the films and have seen The Lord of The Rings trilogy numerous times. My depiction of The Hobbit was just how I saw it in my imagination and it happened to be quite different to Peter Jackson’s vision. Tolkien had done lots of illustrations for The Hobbit and these were my inspiration – I really wanted to bring The Hobbit back to its original roots.
—Jemima Catlin on comparison with Alan Lee[4]
The completed version of The Hobbit took over two years to illustrate, included 150 illustrations and was released on 12 September 2013 (the same day as Tolkien Calendar 2014).[5] Two weeks later Catlin exhibited her artwork at The Tolkien Society's Oxonmoot 2013 event. She describes herself as "proud" of her achievement, whilst still expressing a desire to illustrate either Roverandom or The Lord of the Rings.[6]
Artistic style[edit | edit source]
Catlin's artistic style has been compared to Tove Jansson (illustrator of The Moomins and a Swedish edition of The Hobbit), E.H. Shepard (Winnie-the-Pooh) as well as the anime style of Studio Ghibli.[2] Catlin herself states that she was only influenced by Tolkien's own drawings whilst deliberately avoiding the films.[3]
Bibliography (as illustrator)[edit | edit source]
- 2013: The Hobbit
- 2013: The Hobbit - Deluxe Edition
- 2013: Tolkien Calendar 2014
- 2013: The Hobbit: Jackanory (cover)
External links[edit | edit source]
References
- ↑ "Jemima Catlin on Twitter" dated 25 October 2013, Twitter (accessed 24 October 2015)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Interview: Jemima Catlin, Illustrator of “The Hobbit”" dated 5 September 2013, Foes of Reality (accessed 24 October 2015)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Interview with Jemima Catlin about the new illustrated edition of The Hobbit" dated 6 October 2013, Tolkien Library (accessed 24 October 2015)
- ↑ "Interview with Jemima Catlin" dated 22 January 2014, Edinburgh Book Review (accessed 24 October 2015)
- ↑ "Bringing Us There and Back Again: An Interview with Jemima Catlin" dated 9 September 2013, Middle-earth News (accessed 24 October 2015)
- ↑ "Jemima Catlin and The Hobbit" dated 17 February 2015, Legendarium Media (accessed 24 October 2015)
| Illustrators of The Hobbit | |
|---|---|
| Internal art | J.R.R. Tolkien (1937-present) · Eric Fraser (The Folio Society: 1979, 1992-present) · Michael Hague (1984-1992) · David T. Wenzel (graphic novel: 1989-present) · Alan Lee (1997-present) · David Wyatt (1998-2001, 2012-2013) · John Howe (pop-up: 1999) · Jemima Catlin (2013-present) |
| Cover art only | J.R.R. Tolkien (1937-present) · Pauline Baynes (1961) · Roger Garland (1987-1989) · John Howe (1991-present) · Ted Nasmith (1989-1991) · Barbara Remington (1965 US) |
| Illustrators of official Tolkien calendars |
|---|
| Emily Austin (2023) · Pauline Baynes (1973, 1974) · Cor Blok (2011, 2012) · Jemima Catlin (2014) · Jenny Dolfen (2023) · Inger Edelfeldt (1985) · Mary Fairburn (2015) · Roger Garland (1984, 1987, 1988, 1989) · 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) · Tove Jansson (2016) · Michael Kaluta (1994) · Tim Kirk (1975) · Alan Lee (1987, 1993, 1999, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2024) · Ted Nasmith (1987, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2021, 2022) · Kip Rasmussen (2023) · Darrell Sweet (1982) · J.R.R. Tolkien (1973, 1974, 1976 UK, 1977 UK, 1978 UK, 1979, 2005, 2006, 2017) |
