Friday at the Mathom-House: Abe Papakhian

Friday is here again folks, and this time we're enjoying the amazing illustrations of Abe Papkhian. You can check out all of Abe's work over on Deviantart.com. Continuing last week's theme of hand-drawn art, Abe's illustrations are all pencil or watercolor. Now, I'm not sure if you'll agree, but I feel like there is definitely something Brother's Hildebrandt about Abe's style. I'm a fan. Jump past the break to see even more awesome Hobbit and LOTR art.

Friday at the Mathom-House: Ulla Thynell

Friday has come, and with it some fantastic Hobbit and LOTR art by Ulla Thynell. This artist caught my eye while I was perusing the interwebs . . . I hope you like the work as much as I do. Really there are two things I appreciate about these pieces: first, they're not the normal digital art we see so much of nowadays––not that there is anything wrong with digital work, it's just refreshing to see some good-old hand drawn stuff now and again; second, Ulla's style reminds me of Tolkien's own work . . . that that is really fun to see. Jump past the break and enjoy!

Sneak Peak: The Desolation of Smaug

Not sure how long this will be up, but enjoy it while you can!

Strangers in a Strange Land: Thranduil and Legolas

So, before I start this post, two funny things: first off, if you're hoping to find a good picture of this father-son elf duo, just be aware that googling "Legolas and Thranduil"will lead to a pile of garbage you'll have to dig through to get anything remotely resembling a descent photo; second, I decided to do a post about Thranduil and Legolas last night, and then to my surprise I found that Stephen Colbert had scooped me! Jump past the brea and take a look at this funny April Fool's video from Mr. Jackson (Colbert jumps on at 1:27):

In Defense of Radagast the Brown

What's up with all the hating on Radagast? I mean, I guess I can understand how he might not be some people's cup-o'-tea . . . but sheesh! Some people actually compared the poor dumpy wizard to Jar Jar Binks. That's right. Jar-freaking-Jar Binks. I don't get it. I went into the movie a little apprehensive about this new wizard on the block, but I was completely blown away. Jump past the break to read why:

Fridays at the Mathom-House: Devin Manning

Its Friday at the Mathom-House again, and we've got some awesome Thorin concept art for you, by Devin Manning . . . check out the rest of his great artwork over at his site, and jump past the break to see some sweet renditions of everyone's favorite (until the lust for gold consumes him, at least) King Under the Mountain!

Bilbo's Contract: Full Text PDF

Pipeweed and other such luxury items shall be provided by Burglar; indeed, not only for himself, but for the other members of the Company if such can be obtained along the way by means pertinent to his profession.

––Bilbo's Contract 

One of my favorite moments in the The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, is when Balin presents Bilbo with the Deed of Contract. Its a classic moment in the book, and although the movie puts its own spin on it, I think that Martin Freeman still carries it off wonderfully. Jump past the break to get access to the full text of the Contract.

Fridays at the Mathom-House: Liz O'Connor

The Mathom-house it was called; for anything that Hobbits had no immediate use for, but were unwilling to throw away, they called a ‘mathom’.

–The Fellowship of the Ring; Prologue 

Yes . . . it's true. It has been AGES since I've visited the Mathom-House. But I stumbled across some sketches of our favorite characters from the Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and I could not resist posting them. The art is by Lisa O'Connor . . . and it is fantastic. Jump past the break to see more.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug––What Do We Know So Far?

Well, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has come and gone. It was awesome, and now we'll all have to wait a few more months until it comes out on Blu-Ray (or longer if you're like me, since I definitely fall under the 'strapped for cash' category and will by saving my pennies for the Extended Edition coming out towards the end of the year) before we'll be able to see it again. Luckily, there's another whole movie coming out in just ten short months! So there is plenty of speculating, theorizing and geeking out ahead of us.

So, I thought I'd round up all the hints of The Desolation of Smaug we've already been given, and remind myself of all of the awesomeness that the next installment of The Hobbit has in store for us. Jump past the break for a quick refresher of all that awaits our hero, Mr. Baggins:

An Unexpected Journey: WETA Digital Effects

Past the jump you'll find three incredibly interesting (and informative videos) about the techniques that WETA used to create the Great Goblin, Azog and Gollum. I was particularly interested to learn that switching Azog to an all-digital character was a very late-in-the-process move. Enjoy!