229 – Always Reaching: An Interview with John Howe

Alan and Shawn welcome John Howe to the Prancing Pony Podcast! Over the past several decades John has established himself as one of the most enduringly popular Middle-earth artists, and his work has appeared in numerous books and calendars (including the Tolkien Calendar 2021), and earned him a role as a conceptual artist for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings movies. We talk to him about artistic inspiration, capturing reality through fantasy, and his new not-a-how-to book, John Howe’s Ultimate Fantasy Art Academy.

Listen to the episode here, or in the player below:

Subscribe to the podcast via:

Comments or questions for Barliman’s Bag:

  • Visit us at Facebook or Twitter
  • Join our subreddit
  • Comment on this blog post
  • Email barliman (at) theprancingponypodcast (dot) com

Recommended Reading:

John Howe John Howe’s Ultimate Fantasy Art Academy: Inspiration, approaches and techniques for drawing and painting the fantasy realm (David & Charles, paperback)

Tolkien, J. R. R. (Christopher Tolkien, ed.) Unfinished Tales Illustrated Edition </em (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, hardcover)

Hammond, Wayne G. and Christina Scull. J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator (Mariner Books, paperback)

Scull, Christina, and Wayne G. Hammond. The Art of the Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, hardcover)

Scull, Christina, and Wayne G. Hammond. The Art of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, hardcover)

Tolkien, J. R. R. (Christopher Tolkien, ed.)Pictures by JRR Tolkien (reissue) (Mariner Books, hardcover)

Join the discussion

1 comment
  • What was the name of the book John Howe was talking about that we should listen to in episode 229? I can’t find anything and am intrigued! Thank you!

More from this show

Interviews
The Prancing Pony Podcast