"Strider"

Long time no post! After taking a break from the oils for a while I decided to dust off my graphics tablet and spend some more time working in digital. This painting was just finished today. It's a depiction of Strider from Tokien's The Fellowship Of The Ring, from the scene where Frodo and his companions first encounter him. It's one of my favourite parts of the book and I've always wanted to have a go at illustrating it. Tolkien's passage describing Strider is wonderfully evocative, and worth quoting in full:

"Suddenly Frodo noticed that a strange-looking weather-beaten man, sitting in the shadows near the wall, was also listening intently to the hobbit-talk. He had a tall tankard in front of him, and was smoking a long-stemmed pipe curiously carved. His legs were stretched out before him, showing high boots of supple leather that fitted him well, but had seen much wear and were now caked with mud. A travel-stained cloak of heavy dark-green cloth was drawn close about him, and in spite of the heat of the room he wore a hood that overshadowed his face; but the gleam of his eyes could be seen as he watched the hobbits."

My digital painting skills still feel like they've a long way to go, but I'm fairly happy with how this one turned out. Onwards and upwards hopefully!