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“Among those of his servants that have names the greatest was that spirit whom the Eldar called Sauron, or Gorthaur the Cruel. In his beginning he was of the Maiar of Aule, and he remained mighty in the lore of that people. In all the deeds of Melkor the Morgoth upon Arda, in his vast works and in the deceits of his cunning, Sauron had a part,  and was only less evil than his master in that for long he served another and not himself. But in after years he rose like a shadow of Morgoth and a ghost of his malice, and walked behind him on the same ruinous path down into the Void.” - The Silmarillion Paintings by John Howe

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"Not far from the mouth of the Forest River was the strange town he heard the elves speak of in the king’s cellars. It was not built on the shore, though there were a few huts and buildings there, but right out on the surface of the lake, protected from the swirl of the entering river by a promontory of rock which formed a calm bay. A great bridge made of wood ran out to where on huge piles made of forest trees was built a busy wooden town, not a town of elves but of Men, who still dared to dwell here under the shadow of the distant dragon-mountain." - The Hobbit - A warm welcome - JRR Tolkien Top illustration by Alan Lee

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Caudimordax and Egidio by Alan Lee.

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Sketch of Moria Architecture by Alan Lee

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"Full on the town he fell. His last throes splintered it to sparks and gledes. The lake roared in. A vast steam leaped up, white in the sudden dark under the moon. There was a hiss, a gushing whirl, and then silence. And that was the end of Smaug and Esgaroth,…"  The Hobbit - Fire and Water - JRR Tolkien "Fairy tales are more than true — not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten.” - Neil Gaiman llustrations by Alan Lee

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Illustrations by John Howe for The Lord of the Rings

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Schweizer Premiere of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug featuring John Howe, Aidan Turner, Sylvester McCoy and Dean O'Gorman.

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Rivendell, by Alan Lee. Such an amazing painting, definitely…

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John Howe, Dragon’s Milk

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Fun facts: This video is the reason why I decided to be a set designer.

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by Alan Lee

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John Howe and Alan Lee's Views on Peter Jackon's Movie Adaptations

((Wow but that is a really horrible title. Sorry, but I couldn’t think of a way to shorten it!))

Of course, this is entirely my opinion/view of the subject, since I haven’t met either Alan Lee or John Howe, and of course interviews are construction to push certain messages and silence other ones. For all we know, both actors absolutely hate the movies, and just haven’t been caught saying so out loud.

But, I don’t think this is the case. In one of the commentary/interview videos included with the Lord of the Rings extended edition (I cannot at all remember which one), they talk about how the two actors were originally invited to join the project. The stories themselves are kind of cute, but the basic point of them was that both Alan Lee and John Howe were very eager to be involved.

The question then becomes what they thought of the project once they saw what changes were being made. As far as a quick Google search could tell, they haven’t actually been asked this in an interview yet (please correct me if I’m wrong, and please provide a link to that interview!) But they would have been on-scene to see most changes being made, so it’s not like there would be any real surprises for them.

Anyway, here’s the real proof for me: both John Howe and Alan Lee agreed to work with Peter Jackson again on The Hobbit trilogy. I think that, if either of them had really had a problem with the changes made in Lord of the Rings, they wouldn’t have wanted to be involved with The Hobbit. Ergo, my theory is that neither of them have any real problems with the changes made for the movies.

SOURCES: That commentary/interview video that I mentioned. Seriously, can’t remember which one. But it’s one of the, like, 8 hours of interviews included with the LOTR Extended Edition DVDs…

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"It’s kind of like being a little kid again. You get to sit at the table with the edge of the table under your arms."—John Howe on the set of Beorn’s house [x]

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Alan Lee

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Ouroboros

John Howe Concept Art

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Gryphon

by John Howe