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Compa_Mighty
Dor-Lomin
Jul 29 2008, 3:52am
Post #1 of 7
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John Jude Palencar's Tolkien illustrations
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I want to aknowledge WonderBroad for bringing this up in an art thread a while ago.
John Jude Palencar is best known nowadays for being the cover artist of the Inheritance Cycle, by Christopher Paolini, which includes Eragon, Eldest, the upcoming Brisingr, and the future fourth book, which according to Paolini, will have green cover of a green dragon, facing right.
Recently, he was asked to do the cover art for a box paperback set of the Lord of the Rings, which was advertised with something like "new illustrations for a new generation of readers".
There are few illustrations, and here are those I found:
Cover for Fellowship:
Cover for Two Towers: http://www.johnjudepalencar.com/Images/TheTwoTowers.jpg
Cover for Return of the King: http://www.johnjudepalencar.com/.../ReturnOfTheKing.jpg
Cover for the Box set:
Sorry for throwing some images and some links, I only used the images which were already in the forum, and I did not want to hotlink to Jude Palencar's site. I know some of you have made similar threads, showing all the images, help as to how to do it, is appreciated as well. 
So what do you think of these covers "for readers of a new generation"?
I personally like those of Inheritance better. There still isn't nothing that quite compares to Howe, Lee or Nasmith.
Here's to Del Toro becoming the Irvin Kershner of Middle Earth!
Essay winner of the Show us your Hobbit Pride Giveway!
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Idril Celebrindal
Dor-Lomin
Jul 31 2008, 4:58pm
Post #2 of 7
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Not crazy about his LOTR covers
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Palencar's paintings remind me a bit of Giger's, but are softer and more naturalistic. I've seen his covers for Octavia Butler and Jacqueline Carrey's novels before and enjoyed looking through the illustrations on his site. However, his LOTR covers are probably my least favorite out of all of his illustrations. They are well-executed but seem very static, especially when compared to Howe, Naismith and Lee's illustrations. (I also am not wildly impressed by the "Inheritance" covers; they are nice illustrations of dragons, but I just don't see what all of the fuss is about.)
The box set cover's formal composition is appropriate, though, and I especially like how the fiery Eye of Sauron contrasts with the blue sky and clouds when framed against the grey mountains. The black figure seems to be the Witch King, but I'm not sure who the white figure is supposed to represent. Gandalf the White? King Elessar? Celeborn? Elrond?
We're discussing the BBC Lord of the Rings Radio Play on the Movie Discussion - LOTR board.
With caffeine, all things are possible.
The pity of Bilbo will screw up the fate of many.
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Compa_Mighty
Dor-Lomin
Jul 31 2008, 11:05pm
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I hadn't thought much about the box set composition...
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But you are right. It does make you wonder who the white figure is. By the sword, I think it might be Aragorn.
I agree with you in that the covers aren't great, however, I do like the Inheritance covers. Certainly not the best dragons out there, but it seems like they have "personality". I can assure you Eragon sold many books thanks to that cover.
Definitely not the best fantasy painter... but it's interesting to see other views. It has always seemed to me as if Nasmith, Lee and Howe do paint the same world, and are not at all discordant in their representations.
Here's to Del Toro becoming the Irvin Kershner of Middle Earth!
Essay winner of the Show us your Hobbit Pride Giveway!
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Xinra
Registered User
Feb 6, 12:15am
Post #4 of 7
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Representation of the Two Figures
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For those that stumble across this post in 2025 (or later), I've found the answer to the box art question on the representation of the two figures. According to the artist, John Jude Palencar, the figures represent Good & Evil.
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squire
Gondolin
Feb 6, 1:11am
Post #5 of 7
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Did Palencar explain his choice to translate Tolkien's complex binary of Dark (that always contains some Light) and Light (that always contains some Dark) into a far more simplistic pair: Good and Evil, period?
Thanks for following up on an open question so many years later!
squire online:
Unfortunately my longtime internet service provider abandoned its hosting operations last year. I no longer have any online materials to share with the TORn community.
 = Forum has no new posts. Forum needs no new posts.
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Xinra
Registered User
Feb 6, 11:40pm
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I'm sorry, but I didn't ask any of those details. I only wanted to know who (or what) the two figures represented. My suggestion would be to reach out to the artist like I did, and ask him your question. Ciao!
(This post was edited by Xinra on Feb 6, 11:55pm)
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Xinra
Registered User
5:38am
Post #7 of 7
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I found a Facebook post made by John Jude Palencar dated October, 1, 2023. He explains the slipcase art.
Here's a public screenshot of the post: https://imgur.com/a/Wf5zUFA
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Gd6mN4rv4/
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