SciFi and Fantasy Art: Strider in The Prancing Pony

Awesome!! Just how i thought it would look...its lovely, really, great job!I'm glad you like it, and that it matches your imagination so closely.

Hope you don't mind but this image looks wonderful.
The background is crowed with people,i like the little dwarf,frodo is great,i like how aragorn is in alittle corner,and to me it looks like frodo is going to sit with aragorn. (am i anywhere close to what you were going for?
If not i'm sorry it's just my opinion. It should'nt matter
what i think about your art, but for the record i think it's great, Why would I mind? This is a great, complimentary comment, and I can only thank you for it. And yes, you were very close to how I picture it .

Kool! The smoke is really good!Thanks a lot.

Ummm... this is alright i guess, for a painting. But as for the rendering i don't think it looks to great, but i know how hard it is to paint people so i will lay off. This looks nothing like what i imagined before the movie came out... Oh well.Well, I would have preferring a bit more detailed and constructive criticism, but yeah... Oh well.

This is a great picture! It would have been cool to put that half orc/human in it, but it is good.
-Daniel HicksThat's a good suggestion, but obviously, there's little I can do about it now.

Love the smoke ,the dwarf and frodo and everyone else who i dint name . It rocksI'm glad you like it.

I enjoy the atmosphere you have created with the smoke and color scheme. It creates a very bar/inn-like feeling. I also am impressed with the confidence you have portrayed in Aragorn's eyes, and the apparent uncomfortable feeling of Frodo in this bustling establishment. Thanks for a great addition to the wide world of LOTR art!And thanks to you for taking the time to comment. I appreciate your compliments very much.

"I don't picture Aragorn as ugly in the least bit, nor that he shouldn't ever be imagined as good looking. When did I ever say that? I just believe that his 'loveliness' is hidden deeply within years of wearisome travelling and beneath a great burden. He is 88 by the time that he meets Frodo, and being a Numenorean, would not grow a beard or stubble at all (since he has elvish blood in him, as well as that of the devine; Melian is his foremother). Mortenson just doesn't look lordly enough, kingly enough, noble enough, and is far too young. And, to be honest, I thought Aragorn was such an amazingly strong character in the book, but that Mortenson cannot pull that off. The difference between him, and say Sean Bean for example, in the same scene was unbelievable. I realise it's another's portrayal, just not my own. I was very disappointed by him, I must say."

Okay I think someone's a little bias. Watch the fellowship scenes again Aragorn looks plenty weary of many years. Watch ROTK again he looks plenty lordly. As for the beard thing thats a rather lesser known fact. I doubt you new that when you first imagined Aragorn. I'd like to see how many people you can find that have no beard or stubble. Its one of those details no one should care about. I think Mortensen does fine "pulling Aragorn off" and your just bias cause you probably expected to hate the movies protrayal of everything and Surprise thats what happened. Think how much worse it could have been. What if they casted stars. Mell Gibson as Aragorn. Silvester Selton as Boromere. Be glad it turned out this well.All your claims are down to personal interpretation. Just accept the fact that Mortenson is not how I envisage Aragorn in the slightest, and move on.

You're keeping medival style alive alright. The cloak looks a little pale as aposed to dark grey. And it looks more like its growing mildew then getting stained by travel and battle.

I have a question. In ROTK the Dunedan all have a silver star shaped brotch. Shouldn't Aragorn have one to?At this early point in the story, Strider is said to wear a 'travel-stained cloak of heavy dark-green cloth'. No mention is made of him wearing a star shaped brooch. I assume he would have one, but wearing it would contradict Tolkien's claim that the Rangers were meant to be inconspicuous, and obviously they wouldn’t want to reveal who they are. By the time they show up in 'RotK' they are going to open war, so that's obviously a different matter.

Let's give poor Peter (may I call you Peter?) a break. Firstly, there are definitely dwarves in this scene. Read the book! Secondly, he's already expressed his views on how Aragorn should look, and on Viggo Mortensen's portrayal. And he's already stressed that that is merely his opinion. AND he's also already said how all of us are perfectly entitled to our own opinions just as much as he is to his. So let's stop debating on how good Viggo Mortensen looked or didn't, or how good his acting was or wasn't, since Peter's asked not to be made to go round in circles about it, and focus on his art! Okay, moving on... I like the smoke a lot. How DO you manage to produce that effect of translucence? Personal preferences aside, I think you've done a good job with Strider's face. The expression suits someone who's conducting an interrogation. Yup! He certainly is the centre of our attention in this peice. I love the detail on his cloak as well! I also like the toning on the wall behind Strider. That wall looks SUPER real! The table could have been better, I think, maybe if you'd shown the grains of the wood. Somehow to me, it doesn't look that realistic as it is. The people in the background near Frodo look fine. The two dwarves especially look nice. I assume the partially-hidden one in blue is the drunk one... otherwise I wouldn't like to think about why he's hugging the dwarf in brown in that, err, mildly suggestive manner, and fingering the other's beard too... unless he's a she! Tolkien did say dwarf women were often confused for dwarf men! ;P But I think the people in the far background could be improved on. Not because they have less detail. I just think they look a bit cartoony. Frodo looks nice notwithstanding his neck, though different from your other pictures. I'll put this down to the fact that this is one of your older pictures. Great pic on the whole! The ammount of effort you've put on Aragorn really shows.Once again, thank you for the comment (and support). I think the criticisms in this comment are definitely valid. The table could definitely be improved upon, as well as the 'extras' in the further background, were I to draw the scene again. Actually, the front dwarf in brown is the one that's drunk. He's so drunk that he can't walk straight and has wobbled backwards, so the one in blue is trying to hold on to him and steady him! The fingers in the beard were not intentional on his part .
As for Frodo -- I think what I tried to do here was to make him a look a little more chubby and hobbit-like compared to later on (more specifically, after he notices some weight-loss in the 'looking-glass' of Rivendell). After all, he's only just left home! Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out quite as I intended.