Hobbitses, precioussss WARNING,occasional extreme cuteness..

[coryjustcory]

For a couple of months every year I decide to finally adapt Tolkien's books to comic format.








After a couple months of furious activity, polishing a script, generating thumbnails and sketches like these, it occurs to me this is an awful lot of work to devote to a story somebody else already wrote. Oh well. Here're some Gandalfs and Dwarves;

[SteelVenom180]

I love it!! Your dwarf at the bottom is awesome-his proportions made me laugh just cuz of his midgitness. The hobbits were really good too-their cuteness is close to vomit level but still they are good. They seem to all have that same annoying grin on their face-like manakins kind of. Makes me want to hit them.....Still they are all amazing. By far tho the best drawing is the dwarf-i think i might have to save him to get a good laugh at every once in a while (his proportions arent wrong-their just entertaining to look at).

Nice work-its definitely Lord of the Rings-just more of a kids cartoon version. Obviously what u were going for

[Poofler]

yeah its definatly one for kids...
I would really like to see your take on one of the mean characters, like and ork or golem
golem would still have a hint of cute to him.
I really like the style u drew them in..really cute. Gandalf looks awsome

[coryjustcory]

migosh, you're right about that maniac grin which predominates! Here's a couple pages with slightly more varied expressions



I could only find one Gollum sketch, and that an older one, but I know I have more recent somewhere...


orcish/trollish types


and a few more Dwarves, "battle-mode"


About the "for kids" take, that's how I see THE HOBBIT, which these were designed for, and I'm sure you know Tolkien did intend it as a "juvenile" take, where LOTR is "adult".
The "kiddie take" is my natural response to THE HOBBIT, but in adapting LOTR I find I get more "realistic".

One more pic, one of my favorites. It was going to be the first panel of the first page of THE HOBBIT adaptation;

the text was to read "One morning long ago, in the quiet of the world, when there was less noise and more green, on a Tuesday, the old man with the staff came by..."

Oh heck, one more because I like the panel relationships and the close-up of Gandalf


Thanks for commenting!

[SteelVenom180]

i shall never get over your dwarves-they are by far my favorite. Especially the one all decked out in battle clothes-i think if i were fighting him id break down in tears from laughing so hard. Do you mainly just draw LOTR? I personally have never seen another artist capture the characters from the lord of the rings in such a pleasing way-and ive seen a lot of art inspired from it. Usually the images are always so mature or evil-looking, which makes urs even more fun to look at. Kudos to you on all the hard work (tho i dont really kno what that exactly means....) and GREAT job on the dwarves. Is it possible for u to not draw cute? of course if u did do sometihng more realistic it would probably just make me sad. I love your drawing style-post some more

[coryjustcory]

well, Steel, since you ask...















As you see the movies were quite an influence for a while, because while I had some SERIOUS reservations with a lot of Jackson's choices, he did well to have Alan Lee and the other fellow whose name escapes me design the production for him! It's driving me nuts I can't remember his name, as I actually like his work more than Lee's...
Anyway, one reason I did the first pix posted here was to get back to creating my own designs.
My single favorite chapter of the whole story is KING OF THE GOLDEN HALL. I have sketches just adapting that chapter so safely put away I can't find 'em, but they show what I mean about LOTR inspiring me to adopt a "realist" approach, vs the cartoony vibe I get from THE HOBBIT.
Glad you enjoy my Dwarves. I noticed I have a greater affinity for them than Tolkien's Elves, who seem "stuffy" to me, and that's all I seem to convey when I try 'em.

[coryjustcory]

I just wanted to add this page because of the Galadriel and Arwen heads, even if I did miss the Liv Tyler likeness...

..and after looking at it after so long I'm none too sure about the Kate Blanchet likeness...

[coryjustcory]

Gollum and Orcs




More Dwarves and early takes on Hobbits



And more Hobbits, and on the last page a try at Elrond, then a generic "merry" elf to counter Elrond's stuffiness.



BAH I hate my Elves!

These are Strider and Gandalf studies for LOTR

[AlanS]

I LOVE THESE SKETCHES!!!!!!

Nice work CORY!!

Alan

[MADMAX21]

Man i love your sketches, my fav is Frodo in the tree

Keep it up

Teo

[da peacekeeper]

some real nice work here.

[ajaxyomama]

some seriously great work. word.

[thechromeman]

coryjustcory,

I'm loving the dwarf weilding the sword in your 6th attachment, and Gandolf walking to town in your seventh. Those are my faves! The rest are amazing, you've been very busy! Are your color studies pastel or colored pencil? Nice work!

Ken

[yukon]

well, it may be someone else's story but just think how much more you've gotten accomplished because of it-- if you had to write the story yourself too, you might not have gotten around to drawing anything by now :)

instead you've got quite a bit-- I'm impressed and I especially like the kinda Smurfy hobbits and such... hope you keep going with the comic idea, although that IS still a lot of work, na?

[thechromeman]

coryjustcory,
Yukon has a point, but have you considered making up your own story and create the characters for it? The advantage of being an artist and author is that you can decide what the characters look like and see them, making it easier to write about them. Just a thought. I'm working on several projects that probably won't see daylight until after I get my Bachelor's degree. It is quite a bit more work but the upside is that you don't have share the $ with the author, cause you're him.
Ken