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John Howe
John Howe (born August 21, 1957) is a Canadian book illustrator, living in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. One year after graduating from high school, he studied in a college in Strasbourg, France, then at the École des Arts Décoratifs.He is best known for his work based on J. R. R. Tolkien's worlds.... show more



John Howe (born August 21, 1957) is a Canadian book illustrator, living in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. One year after graduating from high school, he studied in a college in Strasbourg, France, then at the École des Arts Décoratifs.He is best known for his work based on J. R. R. Tolkien's worlds. Howe and noted Tolkien artist Alan Lee served as chief conceptual designers for Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, and Howe also did the illustration for the ""Lord of the Rings"" board game created by Reiner Knizia. Howe also re-illustrated the maps of The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion in 1996–2003. His work is however not limited to this, and includes images of myths such as the Anglo Saxon legend of Beowulf (he also illustrated Knizia's board game Beowulf: The Legend). Howe illustrated many other books, amongst which many belong to the fantasy genre (Robin Hobb's books for instance.) He also contributed to the film adaptation of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. In 2005 a limited edition of George R. R. Martin's novel A Clash of Kings was released by Meisha Merlin, complete with numerous illustrations by Howe.Howe has illustrated cards for the Magic: The Gathering collectible card game.For the The Hobbit films, former director Guillermo del Toro and current director Peter Jackson have been in consultation with Howe and fellow conceptual artist Alan Lee to ensure continuity of design.Howe is a member of the living history group the Company of Saynt George. Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Stefan Servos (File:John Howe 2003.jpg)[CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons.

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Birth date: August 21, 1957
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Community Reviews
K.
K. rated it 12 years ago
Now, I'm a terrible artist. I leave all that to Eric. I picked this up because John Howe is a legendary figure in fantasy art and I wanted to get into his head a little. Also, I wanted to look at the pretty pictures. I got what I wanted. ;)
XLeptodactylous
XLeptodactylous rated it 14 years ago
I would hope that other translations would fare better than thou. Seamus Heaney seems the best way forward. I will keep thee informed.
The Art of Isis Sousa
The Art of Isis Sousa rated it 14 years ago
As a fan of Tolkien works and Fantasy at it's best, John Howe's workshop couldn't be missing!I liked to read how the artist thinks, the ideas behind the paintings, how he did to achieve the results of the images/artworks presented in the book. Really nice to have a look on behind the courtain and le...
Kaethe
Kaethe rated it 15 years ago
The KitKatPandaBatWolf picked this one out, and we started it last night. It's a bit like the -ology books she loves. Beautiful artwork by the somebody-or-other from the Lord of the Rings movies. [There's no way Camelot looked like Neuschwanstein, but isn't it pretty?:] We selected bits at rando...
Tower of Iron Will
Tower of Iron Will rated it 15 years ago
A few of these essays are brilliant, but there is a depressing recurring element to a lot of them. Repeatedly the authors reveal themselves to have been teenage loners and social outcasts who discovered Middle Earth at a critical stage and it became the perfect escape. If you are like me and brist...
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