Ted Nasmith
L'un de mes illustrateurs favoris en ce qui concerne la représentation du Monde
de Tolkien est sans conteste Ted Nasmith.
Le réalisme qu'il donne à ces oeuvres, associé à
son souci du détail en font un artiste impressionnant.
J'ai pu acquérir cette série de posters chez nos voisins d'Outre-Manche.
Sachant que je préfère m'abstenir de faire les choses mal, je
n'ai pas pris sur moi d'assumer la traduction des notes qui accompagnent les
illustrations. Je vous les livre donc, en la langue de Shakespeare.
Biography
A native of Goderich, Ontario, Ted Nasmith spent much of his young life on the
move and lived for three years in France. An artist prodigy, his talents were
nurtured throughout his early years. He was introduced to J.R.R. Tolkien's works
as a teenager when his sister gave him a copy of The Fellowship of the Ring
- the effect was immediate, and shortly afterwards he began making a series
of drawings based on the book.
Drawings let to paintings, and in 1986 Ted's efforts to illustrate Tolkien's
world were rewarded with the publication of four paintings in the 1987's Tolkien
Calendar. More appeared the following year, with full calendars of his art following
in 1990, 1992 and 1996. In addition to his career as an architectural renderer,
Ted has now firmly established himself as a renowned Tolkien interpreter, with
his paintings appearing on Tolkien book covers, card games and collectable china,
and the commission to illustrate The Silmarillion represents for him
a dream fulfilled.
In his approach to illustrating Tolkien, Ted blends 19th century romanticism
with 20th century dynamism in order to faithfully depict Tolkien's world. The
thrust of the paintings for The Silmarillion comes from a desire to try
to capture some senseof the beauty inherent in Tolkien's prose. His recurring
themes of light and darkness and his distinct talent for realizing mythological
ideas and weaving them into epic form invite and challenge the illustrator to
explore the visual possibilities.
From his home in Markham, Ontario, Ted Nasmith revealed his approach to the
six paintings in this collection.
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The Lamp of the Valar
by Ted Nasmith
Ted Nasmith :
"The Lamp of the Valar is attempt to portray one of the
more beautiful images Tolkien describes in his intriguing accounts of
Middle-Earth's prehistory. While I doubt that Yvanna's giant trees would
actually have surrounded the lamp Illuin, it is an artist's prerogative
sometimes to compose a picture which combines two interesting concepts
as a "taste" of his ideas."
Extrait :
And since, when the fires were subdued or buried beneath the primeval
hills, there was need of light, Aulë at the prayer of Yvanna wrought
two mighty lamps for the lighting of the Middle-Earth... and the light
of the Lamps of the Valar flowed out over the Earth, so that all was lit
as it were in a changeless day.
The Silmarillion
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Turin and his Band
are Led to Amon Rudh
by Ted Nasmith
Ted Nasmith :
"As with so much of Tolkien's writing, the land itself is prominently
described throughout The Silmarillion, and the moment when Turin
and his company first see their future stronghold in Turin and his
Band are Led to Amon Rudh seemed a fitting opportunity to portray
something of the primeval northern splendour of Beleriand."
Extrait :
On the next day they set out thither, following Mim to Amon Rûdh.
Now that hill stood upon the edge of the moorlands... And as the men of
Turin's band drew near, the sun westering broke through the clouds, and
fell upon the crown; and the seregon was all in flower. Then one among
them said : "There is blood on the hill-top."
The Silmarillion
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The Ships of the Faithful
by Ted Nasmith
Ted Nasmith :
"The sea is once again the focus in the dramatic apocalypse vision
of The Ships of the Faithful, where the remnant of Numenorean nobility
desperately try to escape the destruction of their once great island.The
white light on the ships identifies them as sanctified and protected in
the midst of chaos, and we see Sauron's dark temple on the island beyond,
the symbol of the fateful rebellion which has resulted in this outpouring
of divine wrath."
Extrait :
Nine ships there were : four for Elendil, and for Isildur three, and
for Anarion two; and they fled before the black gale out the twilight
of doom into the darkness of the world. And the deeps rose beneath them
in towering anger, and waves like onto mountains moving with great caps
of writhlen snow bore them up amid the wreckage of the clouds.
The Silmarillion
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