Roger Garland in 2000
Roger Garland (February 28, 1950 - October 2017) was one of the illustrators for the 1982 publication of Unfinished Tales, and for other primary literature of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Biography[]
Garland spent his childhood in Somerset, South England. He pursued art at Plymouth College of Art and the University of Wolverhampton, before teaching at the Poltair School in St. Austel, Cornwall for decade. In his tenure he soon developed reputation as a recognized artist, and was engaged by Houghton Mifflin to make cover art for Smith of Wootton Major (1978), and by Unicorn / Unwin Paperbacks for Unfinished Tales (1982) and volumes of The History of Middle-earth.
The French Symbolist and Pre-Raphaelite painters were Garland's main influence.[1] Despite being colorblind, he illustrated many scenes from Tolkien's fantasy oeuvre, once receiving direction from Christopher Tolkien on accurately depicting Gandalf. Most of Garland's Middle-earth drawings are of landscapes, as he was told in an art commission that readers already have "a strong identity" with and vision of characters.[2] In 1994, Garland became an honorary member of the Tolkien Society. In 2001, he was an interviewee for Stephen Grant's documentary The Master of the Rings: The Unauthorized Story Behind J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. A personal gallery of his work is shown, and he explains his methods.
Some of Garland's art is featured in Tolkien's World: Paintings of Middle-earth (1992), and a majority is shown indefinitely at the Lakeside Gallery in Cornwall, England, which he and his wife had founded.
Cover of The Hobbit for Unwin Paperbacks, published 1987
He died on October 26, 2017 after a three-year battle with motor neurone disease.[3]
Illustration appearances[]
Garland contributed to a few of Ballantine Books' official Tolkien Calendars, such as those of 1985, 1987, 1988, and 1989.
In books[]
All items below are of cover art, unless otherwise stated.
- 1978 & 1990 - Smith of Wootton Major (interior art in 1990)
- 1982 - Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, Unwin Paperbacks edition
- 1983 & 1986 - The Lord of the Rings, Unwin one-volume and separate trilogy editions
- 1986 - The Silmarillion, Unwin paperback edition
- 1986 - The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, Unwin paperback edition
- 1987 - The Hobbit, Unwin paperback edition
- 1987 - The Lays of Beleriand, Unwin paperback edition
- 1988 - The Shaping of Middle-earth, Unwin paperback edition
- 1989 - The Lost Road and Other Writings, Unwin paperback edition
- 1990 - The Return of the Shadow, Unwin Paperbacks edition
- 1990 - Farmer Giles of Ham, Unwin Hyman edition (cover and interior art)
- 1991 - The Book of Lost Tales Part One, Grafton edition
- 1998 - Tolkien's World: Paintings of Middle-earth (ten illustrations featured)
External links[]
- Roger Garland's official site
- Lakeside Gallery on facebook
- Lakeside Gallery on Instagram
- ISFDb profile, listing complete literary contributions
References[]
- ↑ Tolkien's World: The Paintings of Middle-earth, "About the Artists"
- ↑ The Master of the Rings: The Unauthorized Story Behind J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, 0:35:09
- ↑ The Tolkien Society - Tolkien illustrator Roger Garland has died by Daniel Helen at 10:54 on 27 October 2017