John Howe, the world reknowned Tolkien illustrator, responsible for the art for War of the Ring as well as for the expansion Battles of the Third Age, was kind enough to let me do an interview with him. Before the interview I asked you, the gamers, to submit questions you wanted answered and I received quite a few (thank you). Hopefully your questions got their answer. On to the interview:

Kristofer: First of all I would like to say that I am a big fan of your Tolkien drawings and really appreciate the work you have done on the War of the Ring game.

John Howe: Thank you!

Kristofer: Let's begin in the general Lord of the Rings area and then move towards the games at the end. Which is the question you get asked the most?

John Howe: The question I get asked the most is "Who is your favorite character from the Lord of the Rings!"

Kristofer: OK, so, who is it?

John Howe: I suppose Sam would be my favourite, but I am honestly incapable of choosing.

Kristofer: Who is your favorite character to draw from the Lord of the Rings, and why?

John Howe: Of course the more extreme characters offer more possibilities, but I don't really have a favorite character to draw. My idea of a dream commission would probably be to do large portraits of the whole cast of the book

Kristofer: Which is your favourite "scene" or part of the book, both as a story and to draw?

John Howe: I really prefer the more obscure passages – Legolas shooting a Nazgûl across the river Anduin, for example. I am also VERY much attracted to scenes like Faramir and Éowyn walking on the ramparts of Minas Tirith. It is a beautiful scene, where so much is happening. They are falling in love, and the world, as they know it, may be ending. That kind of scene is much more powerful than any battle scene, of course, but doesn't get used a lot in games.

Kristofer: Which character or characters do you find the most difficult to portray?

John Howe: The Elves, of course. By definition, they should be too beautiful for us to even imagine.

Kristofer: Before the movies each reader had his own specific idea of what each character looked like, now the movies have given us a generic Strider, Saruman etc. Do you find it more difficult to draw the characters now?

John Howe: For some characters, yes! Those for whom I had not a strong image in mind and who are vividly portrayed on the screen are the most difficult to draw. Saruman is the worst. I can't imagine a better portrayal than Christopher Lee's.

Kristofer: While we are on the subject of character depiction I think I see a resemblance between the Boromir image from War of the Ring and a certain famous Tolkien illustrator, am I right?

John Howe: That portrait does look familiar doesn't it?

Kristofer: Is there a story behind it?

John Howe: It is from a book called "THE MEDIEVAL SOLDIER" by Gerry Embleton, good friend of mine. We always said to each other that we would find ways to use the photos from the book in our illustrations. I have used myself for Boromir a few times, one day I hope to do a proper portrait of myself as Boromir. So much of the work for the cards, always illustrations that are either details or small paintings, makes me wish I had the time to treat the subjects more thoroughly.

Kristofer: OK, now the questions about making art for Lord of the Rings games: Could you, briefly, describe how you go about to do the art for a game like War of the Ring?

John Howe: It's fairly straightforward. I submit sketches for the main imagery, and then work from those when they are approved, or make the changes demanded. I went through two versions for the expansion box cover, for example.

Kristofer: Will both versions be used, if so, why the two versions?

John Howe: No, these were only sketches. The first sketch wasn't appropriate for a board game box. I will hang on to it though; it might come in useful some day! I did two paintings for the box cover of the main game, though.

Kristofer: But there are two versions of the box cover on the Internet?

John Howe: The German one is probably not the definitive cover. The second one is a detail from the Lord of the Rings boardgame.

Kristofer: How long time does it take to actually do the artwork for a game like War of the Ring from Nexus Games or Knizia's Lord of the Rings?

John Howe: A couple of months, I suppose. A box cover takes two or three weeks, the rest depends on how much material is needed for the game play. That portion of the exercise can be the longest if maps are needed.

Kristofer: How long did it take to create the War of the Ring map?

John Howe: The Map itself? I suppose a few weeks. It is not the most exciting of jobs to do, to be sure, but it is an important part of the whole, so it's worth taking the time to do well.

Kristofer: How much freedom do you, as an artist, have when creating the art for the characters in a Lord of the Rings game? Do the designers often have particular demands as to how you portray certain characters?

John Howe: I do have pretty much total freedom on how they actually look; the main restriction comes from the situations in which they must be placed. It has to be appropriate for the game. The warriors, for example, are dressed as such – it is a battle game after all, Aragorn in his slippers is perhaps not quite what's needed.

Kristofer: Does it happen that a piece of work gets rejected by the designers and you are forced to re-do it?

John Howe: Of course – especially when I change my mind partway through and do something else! Generally, though, the changes take place at the sketch level. Generally, box covers have to be a little more dramatic than I am accustomed to doing.

Kristofer: So then, how will Gothmog, the Lieutenant of Morgul be portrayed in Battles of the Third Age? He is a character hardly mentioned in the book and any description of his appearance or even his race is non-existent.

John Howe: Hmmm, I'm wondering if I should answer this, some things are better left unspoilt and left for the gamers to find out for themselves. Actually, no, I will answer it. I've done my research over again, and it appears I was thinking of the wrong Gothmog (or perhaps those movies got in the way). I've got better reference now, and since there are still a few days of grace and I can squeeze it in, I hope to do a new version. So, you can have the new Gothmog credited to your very pertinent question!

Kristofer: OK, all of the gamers out there who don't agree with the image know whom to blame then! Do you get information of what the game is about and the game-mechanics prior to doing the art and if so does it influence you or help guide you in your work?

John Howe: This is generally on a need-to-know basis. Whenever possible it's always good to test play the game at least once, but normally, understanding the intricacies of the game is not necessary for the illustrations.

Kristofer: Have you played War of the Ring and if so what did you think of it?

John Howe: No, I haven't played the game, much to my regret.

Kristofer: Have you played any other of the games you have illustrated and if so?

John Howe: Yes, I usually have the opportunity to play the prototype at some point. I always enjoy that quite a lot, since the inventor of the game is there to explain, which of course is something that doesn't come with the box! Normally, though, I find it hard to set aside the time to play games of any kind.

Kristofer: Have you had any times you really wanted to depict a character or battle scene/landscape in a certain way that really appealed to your personal vision and interpretation of Tolkien's work but had to compromise or modify it for commercial necessity and if so how do you deal with this as an artist?

John Howe: Of course! Illustrating is always a balance between what you wish to do and what the client requires. Occasionally, the two are identical but not always. Quite often, much is dictated by the layout, so I often end up doing much larger pictures, a portion of which can be used on the cover or box, but letting me treat the subject properly, Even if only a portion is used, I'd rather spend the extra time doing a bigger image if the scene calls for it.

Kristofer: The cover art for War of the Ring depicts the battle between Théoden and the Witch-King at Pelennor Fields; this is a very popular scene and has been drawn many times before. You drew at least two versions of this scene, one appearing on the box cover and one on the rules booklet. When drawing a scene like this what do you do to make the art seem fresh and not repetitive?

John Howe: I could do that scene ten more times and not get bored! Each illustration generally leads to another, and halfway through any given picture, many more images jump into your mind, but of course you can't just throw out the picture in hand and follow a new idea.

Kristofer: The one area where the art for War of the Ring has received critique is the map; the game board seems too much like a desert. The Shire and Rohan, which are portrayed in the book having green fields, are arid on the map. Do you agree with the critique that Middle Earth seems a bit too arid?

John Howe: That colour was intended to imitate a parchment background, but in the end, something greener would undoubtedly have been better. I was worried about too much detail confusing the legibility of the board, but more green would not have hurt.

Kristofer: Will the boards for the upcoming expansion, Battles of the Third Age, show more vegetation than the original game board does?

John Howe: The new boards are much more naturalistic. It rained so the grass is much greener now.

Kristofer: When the Lord of the Rings is made into games the maps sometimes have to be slightly changed to accommodate the games, how do you feel towards this alteration of the "truth"?

John Howe: This is difficult at times, but of course it must be playable. Sometimes it is hard to reconcile the details of a game board with the desire make a map that stands on its own. I would love to do a really detailed map of Middle Earth sometime, with all the cities and different landscapes, but it would have to be yards square to fit it all in.

Kristofer: OK, that was all the questions. Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions.

John Howe: You're welcome!

For more information about John Howe and his work please visit his website at http://www.john-howe.com/.

Written by Kristofer Bengtsson

Some images copyright John Howe and/or Nexus Editrice.