Hopefully you have had a chance to notice the magnificent new artwork on the MyMiddle-earth homepage. The new background features the work of artist Justin Gerard, who has been kind enough to lend us his beautiful piece, titled, “The Battle of Five Armies.” I was fortunate enough to speak with Justin about what goes into making his artwork, as well as Tolkien, influential artists, and teaching art.
Q: How do you decide to start on a particular project?
Justin Gerard: For personal work, sometimes it is that I want practice with a certain painting technique, and so I take projects that would offer me opportunities for that. Other times it is an idea that I really want to try to capture visually.
Q: Can you give us a brief description of your process from when you decide on a subject matter to when you finish a piece?
Justin Gerard: After I decide on subject matter, I will think about the image possibilities for a while. The more I mull them over in my head ahead of time, the better they often turn out. After I have arrived at an idea for an image I like, I will draw it out dozens of times as thumbnails (tiny little 1-inch drawings), until it catches the feeling I am after. Then I draw it bigger, and with more detail. Then I start to do larger drawings of the characters and faces that will appear in the drawing. Finally, I do a full sized drawing of the entire image and paint in watercolor over that. Once I finish that, I will scan it into the computer and monkey with it digitally for a while until it looks as close as possible to that initial idea I had in my mind.
The Three Trolls - Watercolor and Digital
Q: Your website features a large number of pieces with dragons, monsters, and beasts. Are they your favorite types of characters to bring to life?
Justin Gerard: Monsters, especially monsters that are a bit anthropomorphized, and have very human personalities to them, are very interesting to me. They are certainly some of my favorite things to draw. The monsters in The Hobbit may well be the best examples of this in literature for me. The Trolls, The Goblins, The Spiders, The Wargs, Smaug, all of them are not human, yet have very human personalities, and we can readily draw similarities between them and people we have met. This makes them very interesting to draw because their personalities are written so deeply in their physical appearance. You have a chance to essentially paint their hearts on the outside.
Q: Do you have a favorite Tolkien subject matter?
Justin Gerard: It is hard to come up with a single subject with Tolkien’s works that I would call my favorite. The recurring theme of being a very small person in a very big place is one that I always enjoy. Most of the story takes place from the viewpoint of humble hobbits, yet it is set against the backdrop of a sweeping, epic world, full of wonders, kingdoms and dark powers. That is always interesting.
The feeling of a world in decline, that there was a golden age that was lost, and we are now living in a different age, one where the old powers and old magic are leaving the world, is a very interesting idea, and one that I always end up coming back to.
The recurring Nordic theme of fighting, even when all hope is lost, is another that I love.
Every time I read the stories, new themes present themselves, and I find them as fascinating and powerful as the last. So it is hard for me to pick one of so many that I resonate with.
There He Lay - Watercolor and Digital
Q: What are your bestselling or most popular prints?
Justin Gerard: The print of Smaug is probably the most popular. It was an image that had been in my head for years, and was one of the most enjoyable and effortless paintings I have ever worked on. (Another reason that I believe so much in thinking long and hard about an image before really attempting it. When you do, an image will just flow so much more smoothly.) The Battle of Five Armies has been popular as well. Though that one seems like it would be impossible to fail. Dwarves and a giant bear fighting wolves and goblins. How could it go wrong? It’s the perfect recipe for success.
Q: What other artists have influenced your work?
Justin Gerard: There are a great many, and I couldn’t possibly name them all. Rackham, Petar Meseldzija, Paul Bonner, Scott Gustafson, Wendling, Struzan, Rembrandt, Leighton, Draper, Dore, Mucha and the list goes on. I love studying past and present masters. Currently I am reading books on Leighton, Titian and Rembrandt. Every so often I get a wild urge to try and figure out exactly how they were all working with oils. So today, they are my favorites. Tomorrow it will likely be Frazetta and Donato Giancola. There are just so many talented painters to study, and so little time.
The Battle of Five Armies - Watercolor and Digital
Q: I saw that you are participating in illustration workshops at the TLC 2012 Professional Art Series. What do you most enjoy about teaching others?
Justin Gerard: Mostly the importance of drawing and learning to draw from life. That drawing isn’t some mysterious dark art, with only a few chosen ones who can know its unknowable secrets. It is a science, and like any science, it is one that anyone can master. Like cooking or flying or writing or riding a bike. Perhaps not everyone can be a genius at it, but everyone can learn it. All it takes is time and dedication.
I love working with people who really want to learn and are excited about the possibilities. That sort of enthusiasm is contagious and so I always really enjoy working in serious academic environments with people who are hungry for learning everything they can about it. (Because I still feel hungry for it myself.)
To see more of Justin’s artwork and to learn more about him and his projects, please visit his blog.
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