Artist: Anke Katrin Eissmann

I have been into the Lord of the Rings since the movies came out when I was younger. I don't think anyone could have known how much I would love that world Tolkien made. I gathered all the pictures I could find from the movies online. I read the trilogy of books some time after adoring the films. Then I found fan-fictions of the movie and the books, online. I've written a few, myself. But then, I started searching for art work of the stories.
I'll probably never recall the exact moment I found one of her drawings or paintings, but I knew my reaction: "How can anyone create so much detail with water color!?" I adore using water color with my own art, though I don't as often as I'd like, and what she created with her medium just awed me.
Her name is Anke Katrin Eissmann, she's a German illustrator for many books and a graphic designer. And she loves J.R.R. Tolkien. Look at her galleries, and you'll see she has a slew of them for each book, and for the books that house tales from before the Lord of the Rings that Tolkien wrote. (Books such as: the Silmarillion [the History of the Elves], the Children of Hurin, Unfinished Tales, etc. Most of which, I've read, or plan to read.)
Her favorite character (I assume it is, since nearly-- or more than-- half her Tolkien-inspired work is of this character) is Faramir, son of Denethor. I have to do a happy dance in my office-chair every time I see those works, too, because he is also my favorite character from the books.
Her medium varies, though I believe her most beautiful pieces are mostly watercolors, and she has many drawings and sketches with pencil and charcoal, as well as black ink for other finished products. I admire her style, her skill, and the objects and stories contained within so many of her works. I have to recommend her to you, and I advise you-- if you have any interest in fantastical dragons, knights, or Tolkien tales-- to browse through her galleries on her website and check some of them out. Her English site is here.


The paintings I've posted are: Above- "Hall of Fire" (2002) and Below- "The Nazgul Attack" (2005)