Monday, June 4, 2012

The Hobbit: Over Hill and Under Hill

14 x 36 in., oil on masonite

This was one of those assignments that I just had to take. My schedule was already crazy and I knew it was going to be a lot of work but there was just no way I could turn down the chance to do my take on The Hobbit. It was also a really nice break from a long string of stark, gory and grim assignments that, while I love that stuff, can definitely wear on you after a while. 

What the Art Director asked for was basically a portrait of the Shire, including the Green Dragon Inn and Bag End, with Bilbo riding out still looking optimistic about the adventure.

detail


You can see on the final product that I wound up painting out past the frame on the box, so that the designers could pop out certain elements and wrap the image around the sides of the box. Plus it made for a better composition on the actual painting (which, by the way, my wife claimed before it was even finished).

16 comments:

  1. Wow, you nailed it man! Great piece!

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  2. Really excellent painting. I love the the color mood you created.

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  3. This piece just makes me happy. It's so good!

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  4. It's beautiful! Great job. So nice to see as you say, something not so grim from you. :) - Gina (Matt's better half)

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  5. Thanks everyone! I've been dying to show this one for a while.

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  6. Um. Hell yes. That's all I have to say. Hell. yes.

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  7. Fantastic!!! I can imagine the NDA for this one was quite frustrating.

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  8. Wow! This is a welcome break from the dark gory stuff. Beautiful.
    Betty might have claimed an original but can I at least buy a print?

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  9. Love it! It must have been a ton of fun to paint.

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  10. Absolutely brilliant Chris. I'm loving your work more and more with each post you make!

    Any chance we can get an even closer close-up on Gandalf and his horse?

    Cheers.
    Scott

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  11. This is great man :)

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