The Lord Of The Rings Sketchbook

This book showcases the original sketches used in the films, including early designs for characters, creatures, and environments. The detail is incredible and the visual experience is truly enjoyable. I only wish some of the concept art included color to enhance the beauty even more, but that doesn’t take away from the quality of the book. A genuine artistic treasure for fans of The Lord of the Rings.

If you enjoyed watching the many (many!) hours of "extras" on the LOTR blu-ray box set, you will love this book. Alan Lee gives us not just his artwork, but his perspective on the making of the films. Some of his sketches look just like what was ultimately filmed, but there are also those that never were shown in detail, or at all. Amazing how much thought and design was put into making the films look and feel authentic! All the artwork is wonderful to look at. Some of the drawings are very light, but a close look reveals so much intricate line work. There are very ethereal images, but also beautiful examples of architecture and engineering, and even mundane objects. Alan Lee mentions at one point that he is still "trying to prove something" to his former professor of technical drawing, who was less than impressed with his school efforts---I think he has succeeded. The book itself is very nicely made. If you hate dustjackets, you can remove this one and still have a lovely book cover with glossy type and illustration on a matte background. The little golden bookmark-ribbon is a nice touch as well. Inside front and back cover show map drawings---although it's the same both front and back, a minor disappointment. It would have been nice to have this book in a larger size as well.

I’m a massive Tolkien fan, and I love this book. An excellent addition to any collection. The artwork is beautiful, and the construction is solid.

I bought this because I love the lord of the rings trilogy and the hobbit trilogy. The movies are exceptionally done and I absolutely love the movies. I love the landscape of the movies and these drawings take me back to like I was in the movie itself.

This beautiful sketchbook is a must-have for all LOTR / Tolkien fans, regardless of whether or not you are a fan of the movies of the books, Alan Lee does a wonderful job of explaining his origins as you flip through the remarkable raw sketches of what helped form the universe of Tolkien visually, primarily for the sets of the films but also from the heart of his inspiration. It definitely helps to get inspiration if you are an artist yourself, or are making a fantasy franchise of your own even. Sky is the limit, and this book proves that.

I’ve never really seen a book like this before. If you’re a Lord of the rings fan, I highly recommend! The illustrations are just beautiful and the information is so interesting and entertaining to read. We are using it as a coffee table book for our middle earth inspired nightly rental. Really cool book!

The sketches in this book are beautiful. Since I bought the book for myself I’m keeping it, however if I’d bought it for someone else I’d be returning it. When you buy a NEW book from Amazon, you expect it to be in pristine condition. This book obviously had come from a reseller, as it had the remains of a price sticker on the front cover! I paid for a new book…..

Me llegó en perfecto estado, se demoró un poco en llegar pero sin problema. Un libro definitivamente precioso, si eres amante del universo del señor de los anillos es espectacular, un libro con los bocetos originales para todo el arte y los mundos tan mágicos que se hicieron para las películas. De verdad es una fantasía de libro y es impresionante ver cómo le pusieron tanto detalle a cada raza y espacio que aparece en la película para hacerlo real. Se convirtió en una de mis joyas en mi colección de libros y vale totalmente la pena.

Tres bon livre.

Yo lo compre por los dibujos, pero lo que te cuenta el autor es cautivador, muy recomendable.

The drawings, sketches and artwork are as wonderful as you could expect, but not expected was the joy I had in reading Alan Lee's descriptions. Alan's approach has been to pretty much lay things bare in terms of the everyday challenges and delights he found during his six years in New Zealand working on Tolkien's (and Pete Jackson's) world. Many of the sketches and all the artwork pertain to the 1991 illustrated version of the Lord of the Rings, with updated works and commentary that brings us up to the time of the completion of filming of the LOTR films. Lee goes to some lengths to ensure due credit is given to all the folks who worked on the art and sets for the films, and this brings in some wonderful insights into how things were in those heady, and frantic, days. A delight to read and a reference book to keep that will amply reward repeat perusals.

Alan Lee, along with John Howe and Ted Nasmith is a very talented artist and depicts Middle-Earth brilliantly and with ease. This book is littered with astoundingly masterful sketches and a few incredible watercolours taken from the edition of the Lord of the Rings which he illistrated about fourteen years ago. The book deals with how he illistrated the book and, with the help of Howe and other talented artists, designed the Lord of the Rings films. The sketches are massively inspirational, and demonstrate just how good an artist he is. They are sensitive and detailed, some are highly refined some are very sketchy but all are beatiful. His detailed drawings of the realms and peoples and of course creatures of Middle-Earth are great to look at. Alan Lee also writes an interesting text to accompany his excellent artwork, which is informative and insightful. The only thing I would say is that it would have been nice if he would have focused more on telling the reader about illistrating the book, rather his work on the film. I say this because we can find out about that on the extended edition DVD's and in neumorous other books (such as Gary Russles equally brilliant 'Art of lord of the rings books') Also the format of the book is rather on the small size and it should have been bigger. However, this is an unmissable book by a extreamly talented artist whom without not only would we be without a fully illistrated Lord of the Rings, but also the films wouldnt be so visually impressive. P.S sorry for any spelling mistakes.

bez foli