Artwork Peter Jackson Allan Lee and John Howe

[Tolkien RJJ]

I know this mod will be using both movies and books for visual inspiration. Could I suggest that Allan Lee be used as much as possible and secondly John Howe.


Allan Lee
https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-Sketc ... 690&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/The-Hobbit-Sketc ... RH8T1V179M

John Howe

https://www.amazon.com/Middle-earth-Tra ... 4865DPZ000


The leading artists for the films were Alan Lee and John Howe. These two were the two best known Tolkien artists before the movies and were the two leading artists for the movies. Christopher Tolkien who did an amazing job preserving his father J.R.R Tolkien's works  and interpretation used both Lee and Howe [Howe did all the histories of midden earth] for artwork for his published books. Christopher was critical of Jackson's movies but not because of the artwork. He said “The chasm between the beauty and seriousness of the work, and what it has become, has overwhelmed me. The commercialization has reduced the aesthetic and philosophical impact of the creation to nothing. There is only one solution for me: to turn my head away.”

Long before the movies when Allen and Unwin the publishers of Tolkien books contact Christopher Lee about using Alan Lee for the artwork of the upcoming anniversary edition of the Lord of the Rings. Christopher said Alan Lee would be the perfect artist to use. And after the movies were produced and done Christopher still used Lee for his artwork on his later published works. For example he used Lee in 2007 for the Children of Hurin, and 2018 with Beren and Luthien, and lastly published by Christoper, he used Lee once more in 2019 for the Fall of Gondolin. On the Tolkien estate website it says


"We have always admired the work of Alan Lee, ever since he was commissioned to illustrate The Lord of the Rings at the time of J.R.R. Tolkien's centenary. While preparing the story for publication, Christopher Tolkien decided that to have the book illustrated from first publication would also underline its essential quality as a story rather than a scholarly work."

[Feanor]

IMO John Howe artwork is far superior than Allan Lee's. There's no reason to pick Lee's work over Howe's.
For example, If you look at their artwork for the iconic bridge of Moria moment, Howe's work is superior, and is his vision which ended up in the movie, not Allan Lee's.