Myth and Magic: The Art of John Howe [Hardcover]

John Howe (Author), Peter Jackson (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2001

For the first time ever, a portfolio of illustrated work from the award-winning artist, John Howe, which reveals the breathtaking vision of one of the foremost fantasy artists in the world. Myth and Magic is arranged into six sections, which looks at the books by J.R.R. Tolkien that have inspired John, as well as a fascinating tour through the paintings that he has produced for some of the finest fantasy authors working today. From the beloved painting of Smaug which decorates The Hobbit, his numerous and bestselling calendar illustrations, the world famous "Gandalf" picture, which is synonymous with the HarperCollins one-volume edition of The Lord of the Rings, this large-format hardback will delight fans of Tolkien, and anyone who has been captured by the imagination of the artist who so brilliantly brings to life the literary vision of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Artists the world over have endeavored to capture the essence of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle–earth: the passion and heroism of the characters, the heart–stopping drama of the action, the mythic grandeur of Middle–earth itself. Few have succeeded. Pre–eminent among those who have is John Howe. Now, in Myth and Magic, which features 250 of his paintings and sketches, we are offered a splendid gallery of his work, including all the Tolkien pieces as well as a selection of his other fantasy paintings. From the beloved picture of “Smaug” that adorns The Hobbit to the spectacular images that appear on best–selling novels, this collection will delight both Tolkien fans and all who have been captivated by one of the finest fantasy artists in the world.

About the Author

John Howe was born in 1957 in Vancouver, Canada. He moved to France in 1976 and gained a Diploma in Illustration at the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs de Strasbourg in 1981. He has illustrated many French children's books, but is best known for his Tolkien calendars, book jackets, maps and posters, and he is currently working as a production designer on New Line Cinema's forthcoming Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK (December 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0007107951
• ISBN-13: 978-0007107957
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 8.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,051,753 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Visions of fantasy, March 21, 2003

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Myth and Magic: The Art of John Howe (Hardcover)

John Howe and Alan Lee are the indisputed masters of "Lord of the Rings" artwork. And this fantastic compilation of Howe's artwork, of all kinds, is a wonderful collection of artwork by an immensely talented artist. (And a cute part at the end has photographs of Howe in armor)

A great deal of the book is devoted to Middle-Earth and J.R.R. Tolkien's works. There are the creepily reptilian dragons, spiders chasing hobbits, the majestic Elves, several different incarnations of the Balrog and its battle with Gandalf, the black-armored and evil Morgoth, the dwarves dining in Bilbo Baggins' hole, a misty Treebeard, Smaug asleep on his glowing gold, the Dark Tower of Mordor with a hissing Fell Beast in front of it... all sorts of goodies. The pictures come from book covers, book illustrations, game boxes, and so forth.

But Howe's artwork is not just for "Rings" and Middle-Earth. Oh no. There are sketches (uncolored) and previously unpublished artwork. There are illustrations from picture books like "Jack and the Beanstalk," "Rip Van Winkle," Howe's fascination with armor and Arthuriana, which includes lots of solid horses, armor, and sword-wielding knights; his illustrations for books by Anne McCaffrey, Robin Hobb, Charles de Lint, Guy Gavriel Kay, Jan Siegel, Margaret Weis, a compilation of Merlin-related stories, and much more.

Howe's artwork has a lot of variety, and many of them look almost like photographs. While you can tell that they're paintings, they're frozen in one second, often in the middle of an action scene. So you almost expect them to start moving. He uses light and shadow expertly, such as in the pic where we see Smaug on his gold -- under his wings, the golden reflection of his treasure is lighting up his face and scales. Or when he is shown attacking Laketown, where everything is dark and shadowy except the fire.

When the "Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy was given the go-ahead, Howe (along with Alan Lee, ) was hired by filmmaker Peter Jackson to help with the sets and landscaping and other designs. Now Jackson has written a foreword to this book, in which he talks about what a fan he is of Howe's artwork (and was, even before the movies!), and how his artwork served as a guide of sorts to how certain things should look. (Such as Ian McKellen's "Gandalf" look, which was based on Howe's famed picture of the wise old wiz) And the afterword was by fellow artist and friend Alan Lee, who describes how they met in New Zealand in 1998, starting work on the movies, and praises Howe for his energy and skill.

This is a fantastic read for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's works, not to mention people who enjoy good artwork and fantasy/SF pictures. A lush, fantastical book of dragons, halflings, Elves and suits of armor. Marvelous.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars John Howe deserves more than 5 stars, January 30, 2004

By 

visual books vera - See all my reviews

This review is from: Myth and Magic: The Art of John Howe (Hardcover)

Plus factors: John Howe rocks!!! The details are astonishing. Just look at the medieval gear and his gothic landscapes! Looking at his gorgeous works are inspiring. It not only gives you a kind of in-the-moment draw to the pic, like you were actually witnessing an event real-time, but also has an attractive gloom to it (eg, the gray architecture of 'The Dark Tower' & 'Shelob's Lair'). Go get it!! A very good value for money.

Not so plus factors: I was expecting an insight of Howe's process of completing his artworks, his inspirations, the materials he used etc, and curiously enough, dimensions of the artworks and art mediums weren't stated. Only the title, source and year were.

Felt the text was brief, short and poured little light on his masterpieces (there were some, like the furniture in Bag-end and such)... Also, I hoped badly that the pages would be filled from page edge to edge with full glossy pics, but some artworks were reduced to a size no bigger than a Post-it! I understand that the publishers want to display as much of John Howe's works into the book, but I wouldn't mind paying twice as much for a better visual spectacle. I'd purchase Myth & Magic 2, if it existed!

Come to think of it, Myth & Magic is, afterall, a portfolio of a remarkable artist. Too many words would have killed the book. Just remind yourself to enjoy the works and forget about being an art student for once.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Does Justice To The Artist, January 17, 2005

By 

Warren Mars (Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Myth and Magic: The Art of John Howe (Hardcover)

This book shows how it should be done.

If you had to condense decades of brilliant art work into one volume this is about right.

It is obvious that the volume was put together with love. The paper and color are good, and the pictures (why most of us want to buy this book), are many, varied and quite often large.
** (Lesson for "Realms of Tolkien" editor: There are many double and single page spreads, with no white space!)

For the person who wants to know about John Howe, (not just his Tolkien work), there is quite a bit of information, although I would have liked to have seen and read more about the technical side of how he works.

There is quite a bit of his non-Tolkien work, which I found really interesting and just as good, (artistically) as his Tolkien stuff.

If you like the work of John Howe this is the book for you!

The only way to improve it would be to add another volume, (hint to the editor...).

Now if they could just do the same thing for Ted Nasmith...